(gentle music continues) - The garden started just as a demonstration place to show people the trees and shrubs we sell during our tree sale and how to implement into your yards.

And I'm pretty good at selling a stick with no leaves on it, but having them planted and growing out here and showing how you could incorporate it into your landscape was a huge plus.

(gentle music continues) Well the garden was an empty field and I started it in 1997.

They showed me this piece of property, asked what I could do with it.

So it was just a dumping ground for the county, cement, huge pile, a half acre of garbage.

And we just started, a lot of help from the master gardeners at that time, and we just started making different garden beds and it just expanded.

- [Adam] To say Patricia and her team are passionate about their work is an understatement.

Their mission is to assist the people of Otsego County in the wise use and management of their natural resources for a healthy environment.

They are dedicated to raising awareness of the benefits of using plants that are native to Michigan, meaning plants that predate the European settlers of the 1700s.

- They're from here, they're adapted to our climate, they're adapted to our weather, and they're adapted to our wildlife.

So the deer, the rabbits, everything here that's native, they live in kind of a symbiotic relationship.

(gentle music continues) - [Patricia] The root structure on native plants, like a grass, may have a root structure of maybe two, three inches, where native plants could be three to eight feet.

If you put, like a buffer along a lake or stream with native plants, even if it's only 10 feet wide or something, you'll be able to capture any nitrate, anything from septic systems, anything coming downhill.

Everything flows downhill around these lakes and streams.

It'll capture all those nutrients that will go to the plants and stay out of your lakes.

- [Adam] The county that charged Patricia with creating a demonstration garden had another request.

"Instead of just preaching about using native plants, "let's consider growing them."

- [Patricia] And they're pretty tired of hearing me talk about it 'cause there was no place to buy them.

And so the community also got together with me, a lot of grant writing to build this small greenhouse, so that we could offer a source for the native plants that I've been, you know, preaching about for, it must have been 10 years.

- [Adam] With the help of the community and key stakeholders, the native plant nursery was born.

Every spring for the last dozen or so years, the greenhouse opens its doors to sell over 50 species of native plants.

And people come from all over the state for the sale.

But before the sale can happen, volunteers are hard at work making sure there's a product to sell.

- We are blessed with an amazing community that feels very strongly about the greenhouse, native species, and conservation in general.

- [Patricia] We have volunteers that come to plant, so we have trays that hold 200 plants each.

And they take one or two little seedlings and put in each one of these.

It's all hand done, the trays are hand packed with soil.

- [Kelly] And in six weeks we have plants that are ready to go into a plug-sized container, which is what we sell.

(gentle music continues) - [Adam] It's hard to believe that this land was once a dumping ground for the county.

The Otsego Conservation District is a one of a kind green space, a three-acre garden home to native flowers and trees and a variety of gardens to explore.

(gentle music continues) - This place is so full of life and it is really a testament to community.

This place was built by groups of children who are now grown with their own children and bring them back here.

It was built with hard work, dedication, and passion.

It wouldn't be what it is without the community that comes and maintains it.

We have volunteers who maintain our flower beds.

We have volunteers who come out and help us weed and rake and keep it beautiful.

And it's a space open to the public.

And I think that that is absolutely incredible, that you can come and you can learn for free, and come and bring your kids to a safe space where you know that they're gonna experience something unique.

(gentle music continues) - The district has bought in, you know, to all my dreams, you know, they just believe in it and believe in how much it is useful for educating the people.

Whether it's forest management or wildlife habitat or just water quality or what it is, it's a good place to bring people and show them what we're talking about, 'cause we do preach a lot as you could see, but it is good to show people and not just talk about it all the time.

- I get to spend my days sharing what I'm passionate about.

I'm from Michigan, I grew up here, lived in the same place my whole life.

And I think that this is one of the greatest states in the country and probably one of the greatest places in the world.

We have incredible natural resources, from our waters to our plant life, our forest, fields, wildlife.

And I just feel very passionate about it and I get to share that excitement with people of all ages.

And I get to learn something new every day.

'Cause I don't know everything, I don't think I'll ever know everything, but I get to learn constantly.

- And just the other day there was three different groups from different places here and kids laughing and running and playing and it was like, just brought it all home that this was the reason for all of it, you know, is just to get kids outside and enjoying nature.