Walnut was one of the staples of the pioneer family, along with black locust and apples. Walnut and locust both served needs for durable fenceposts, tool handles and various wooden implements. You’ll find these old pioneer trees as evidence of abandoned homesteads all around the Willamette Valley, and you’ll see all three naturalizing nearby along … Read more

Hi Folks It’s been a busy time. We’ve been prepping fields, collecting acorns (and WALNUTS! – more on this soon), and generally trying to navigate the day-to-day at the farm. At the same time, we are also attempting to move the needle on big-picture issues that affect the long-term trajectory of this industry, which is … Read more

So as I mentioned earlier, ( https://schollsvalley.com/notes-from-the-farm-21-september-2025-climate-adapted-willows/ ), willows are absolutely essential to ecosystem functions in the Willamette Valley, and are especially vital for healthy wetlands and streams. They are also taxonomically and ecologically complex. The selective forces that maintain the identities of various willow populations (“species”) are subtle, and barriers to hybridization among them … Read more

Of all our current native Willamette Valley trees, Garry oak (Quercus garryana) is your best bet to thrive in today’s hotter, drier summers. Here is a comparison of tree conditions of eight important Willamette Valley tree species: The upper row of graphs shows the distribution of tree health scores by species of hundreds of trees … Read more

At this specific point in time, here in the Willamette valley, there is no more important group of plants than the willows. Here’s why: Beaver + willows + sad, warm little ditches = 1000 X more water + fish + better water quality It really is that simple. We will never achieve our water quality … Read more

Scholls Valley has been developing and producing climate-adapted plant materials for nearly a quarter century. We have focused our efforts on species that have demonstrated resilience to our increasingly hot, dry summers. The summer of 2025 was the fifth-hottest in the ~100-year climate record for the Tualatin Valley, and was also among the driest. The … Read more

Hi Folks I’ve had a number of people comment to me directly about the new blog. Almost all of the comments have been very positive, but some folks have asked why the focus on the big negatives? That’s not going to sell plants.. Well, maybe not. I think all of us need to keep an … Read more

Dear Friends I am joyful, truly joyful, to share with you a little about my good friend Leo Hernandez, who is leaving us after over 20 years of faithful, reliable service to this farm and our family. Leo is one of the best men I have ever met. He has stuck with us through thick … Read more

And unfortunately it’s not a good one. All the hard work folks in Oregon have done to manage landscapes sustainably, and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on water quality and salmon recovery don’t amount to a hill of beans. Why? Two reasons. First, we aren’t learning as we go, a necessary step toward … Read more

Hi Folks, Yep, it’s a beautiful world. If only we can keep the sociopaths from destroying it. But that is a topic for later in the week. What can you do today? How about you buy some cherries?! The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var demissa) is another great climate-adapted local plant that is actually thriving right … Read more