Isabelle Baldwin
Lisa Bright of Earth Sangha
Founded in 1997 by Lisa and Chris Bright with a mission for ecological restoration as a form of socially-engaged Buddhism, the Northern Virginia-based nonprofit Earth Sangha has an influence that extends far beyond greater Washington.
In the metropolitan area, this mission is realized much closer to home. From Earth Sangha’s inception, founders Lisa and Chris Bright have worked together to emphasize the importance of sus-tainable environmental practices, using their religious principles to provide a foundation for bettering the community.
Covering a humble acre and a half of land, Earth Sangha’s Wild Plant Nursery thrives in Franconia Park.
What the grounds lack in size, they make up in diversity: with 290 species in production — and counting.
Sangha’s nursery is the region’s most comprehensive source of local ecotypes, and, for many species, it is the region’s only source of production for wild native-plant material. The use of local ecotypes is a standard practice in ecological restoration, as it helps to safeguard genetic diversity and local adaptation in the species planted.
Isabelle Baldwin
On a tranquil Sunday afternoon in April, what’s left of the winter breeze remains in the air, carrying with it occasional hints of freshly mowed grass and warming pavements. By the time the sky breaks, the nursery is buzzing — with pollinators and people. “All plants are strong,” Executive Director and Co-Founder Lisa Bright explained to a group of volunteers as she peeled apart dried soil from a Virginia spiderwort and pointed to its entwined roots. “Their entire job is to grow.”
The nursery has a certain rhythm to it: truck beds of perennials flow in and out while groups of volunteers propagate wildflowers and customers graze the extensive plant isles.
It is not uncommon to overhear particularly enthusiastic, flash-card-bearing visitors requesting help with identifying new plants growing in their gardens.
It’s a family operation: Lisa’s husband, President and Co-Founder Chris Bright, and their son, Conservation Manager Matt Bright, also work there. Lisa and Chris founded Earth Sangha in 1997. The wild plant nursery was established in 2001. Alongside her role as the primary contact for volunteers, Lisa is a Fairfax County Certified Stream Monitor and Master Watershed Steward, and a recognized Dharma teacher by the Chogye Order of Zen Buddhism, the main Buddhist monastic order in Korea.
In 2006, Chris left his position as a Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute to work for Sangha full-time, eventually establishing The Tree Bank — a partnership with the Asociación de Productores de Bosque, Los Cerezos on the island of Hispaniola, along the Dominican Republic – Haiti border.
With the belief that their activism in Fairfax County can have a positive environmental influence elsewhere, The Tree Bank has worked to cultivate local native trees, conserve the tropical forest, and promote safe agro-ecological practices for more than a decade.
In Sanskrit, ‘Sangha’ roughly translates into “community.” At Earth Sangha, the Bright family turns this word into an affirmation. “The idea of the Sangha informs how we are organized, and how we operate as a part of a larger context of conservation nonprofits and agencies,” Matt said. “To us, being part of a Sangha means always seeing the world as a big, interconnected place, and to respect and cherish that complexity, whether that means working with a diverse group of volunteers and colleagues, or looking at a complex web of plant communities and interactions with wildlife.” Matt has been working with his parents since he was 8 years old, and he has been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to watch the organization expand.
“We have a core group of about two dozen people who have been with us for years, who I’ve grown up with,” he said. The nursery operates under an agreement with the Fairfax County Park Authority and strong relationships with the city of Alexandria and Arlington County.
The organization is volunteer-dependent and serves its own planting program as well as programs for governments, schools, businesses, and other conservation nonprofits. During the Spring season, the Wild Plant Nursery typically has 10-12 volunteers and can get up to 800 volunteers annually, with ages ranging from toddlers to retirees. “It’s such an open and welcoming community,” Matt said.
“It wouldn’t be like this if we hadn’t had help for all these years.” The nursery is open for customers and volunteers on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon (or by appointment) at 6100 Cloud Drive Learn more about volunteering, the nursery and Earth Sangha at earthsangha.org or call 703-859-2951.
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Garden Plots for All
Located in front of Earth Sangha is the Fairfax County Garden Plot program, whose residents are just as colorful and lively as the fruits and vegetables they tend to.
Sam, or “Sam the Man,” as he refers to himself, is a middle-aged Persian man with a passion for growing tomatoes and a smile that could convince anyone to join him for a cup of tea — something that he offers for my next visit.
Sam’s garden is an organized mess, where jars of seeds take center stage atop lawn chairs and aging plastic buckets hold excess soil. “My daughters used that to collect sand,” he says, recounting the days when they were young enough to require only a bucket of sand and their imagination to pass the time.
In Sam’s place, everything serves a purpose, even if only in the past. He guides me through his garden, hand-picking overgrown mint leaves: spearmint, applemint, and peppermint. Each has a unique smell — one bitter, the next sweet, and eventually, recognizable.
“This is my therapy,” he says, which explains why he’s there pulling weeds on a 70-degree, Sunday afternoon.
And with years of experience tending to his community plot, it seems to be working. The only price to pay is the seasonal honey bees — who have taken a particular liking to his pear tree — and infrequent bird’s nests.
He doesn’t seem to mind either visitor, however. “It’s their home, I just pay the rent,” he reassures me, flashing a forgiving grin as I step on his lettuce beds. Sam is one of 671 tenants in 9 host parks around the county. (A list of locations throughout Fairfax County is available at fairfaxcounty.gov, search for “garden plots.”)
Luckily, Sam is in good company. One of the dozens of resi-dents sharing the 9 acres of soil in Franconia Park is Sam’s neighbor, Maria, who is preparing her ground for pumpkin seeds. Maria is a mother, wife and retired teacher who rents a 20’ x 30’ plot and pays $130 in annual fees, which includes a shared water supply. On her land, she grows ancient po-tatoes, mojito mint, hazel and figs — which she’s particularly proud of.
According to Fairfax County Parks Authority Garden Plot Coordinator Patricia Dietly, “At 600 square feet, the plots are large enough to grow food for more than one household.” There is room in each plot for multiple crops, and, given the length of the growing season, food can be produced year-round — shared work and shared benefits. Dietly attributes the size of the individual plots as part of the program’s continued success.
