Pacific Northwest Natives is a contract producer and marketer of native grass, herbaceous forbs, legumes and wildflowers adapted to Western Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Northern California and British Columbia, Canada.

We work with public and private agencies, municipalities, cities, landowners and farmers west of the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada that are involved in native habitat establishment, restoration and mitigation.

Pacific Northwest Natives accesses through contract or speculation source identified native species and contract produces high quality seed for commercial distribution. We also work to enhance the utilization of indigenous native populations and species among and within agencies of state, federal and local agencies in this region of the U.S. and western Canada.

Our Story

I spent my childhood dreaming of ending world hunger. When I entered college my expertise quickly became plant sciences, and my desire to create a better environment for our future generations continued to grow. I left the corporate world and began our family business in 1996. We had little to our name and couldn't afford a seed cleaner. My children ages 10, 12, and 14 cleaned bags of seed by hand that summer with nothing but a tweezer and some encouragement that one day it would all pay off. Now we grow our grasses, forbs, legumes and wildflowers on nearly 250 acres of land, and have clients like Anderson Erosion Control, Oregon Department of Transportation, Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and the Xerces Society. 

By: Sarah Juel Edminster-Stutzman

When I was a very little girl my Daddy started a native seed business. We couldn't afford a seed cleaner back then, so our first summer growing and selling natives we had to clean seed by hand. I remember being nine years old, and sitting outside at our picnic table getting instructions from my Pappa to "Find all the canoes and take them out." I'd take a finger full of seed, place it on a piece of white computer paper, and use a tweezer to pick out the canoes. This morning my Dad came to me with a bag of Dense Sedge. He said "Take out all the seed you can find that isn't Sedge, Sarah. I quickly got to work and discovered the "canoes" (Rye Grass) were the the culprits in this bag too. My heart filled with nostalgia and appreciation. I know the canoes don't belong in this bag, but I love the canoes.

WHERE I'M FROM     By: Sarah Juel Edminster-Stutzman

I am from slow cooked suppers,
from blue wild rye and strawberry jam.
I am from stacked firewood and Sunday work clothes.
(bounding into piles of leaves
that smelled of home and good intentions.)
I am from Great Expectations to epic failures
where Kansas to Oz became my reality,
as if there was any doubt about the power of home.

I’m from four eyes and long wavy hair
from Michele my Belle straight to Adele.
I’m from rise and shine!
and say your prayers,
from a Pa who is most definitely stronger than yours
and a Maam who’s hands and voice can take away all varieties of pain.
I’m from warm stage lights that blind and restore
with trepidation plus sheer joy,
and ten thousand lines memorized.

I am from being the youngest and
you should have been the oldest.
I’m from the Juel’s and from the Madeline’s,
strong willed and sweet natured.
From crusty sourdough with sweet cream butter
to homemade meatballs
that only exist in your dreams.

Up in their closet
old coupon books remain
saying “good for one head scratch”
or back rub or kiss--
trinkets and moments
from before I became.
There is no expiration to be found
where I’m from.