Placer Nature Center

Meeting new plants! We love taking our students on the nature trail and introducing them to plants, be they native or naturalized. When given the opportunity, kids will open up to them and get as excited as we do! Here, the students in our After school program were meeting yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Yarrow is such an inviting plant for new aficionados - such a wonderful smell, easily recognizable leaves and flowers and an interesting backstory! Yarrow has a place of hon...or in Greek mythology as the plant in whose waters Thetis bathed Achilles. According to the Greek myth, Yarrow gave the hero, Achilles, its protective powers to make him invincible wherever the herbal bath had penetrated his skin, and in turn, Achilles healed his wounded soldiers with Yarrow. Yarrow’s official botanical name is Achillea millefolium, Achilles’ thousand-leaved plant. (From @herbalacademy) . . . . . #nature #outdoors #outdooreducation #environmentaleducation #plants #nativeplants #herbs #herbalmedicine #natureconnection #outdoorschool #nature #getoutside #placercounty #sacramento #visitplacer #auburnca #placernaturecenter

A local preschool took a field trip to visit us on Friday, and we had so much fun connecting with the colors and textures of nature! To join in on the fun, come to our Preschool Program this Tuesday May 18 from 10-11:30am! Visit our website or contact us to sign up. Parents must accompany their children. The cost is $10. ... . . . . . . #preschool #natureschool #prek #outdoors #nature #natureconnection #environmentaleducation #kids #placercounty #auburnca #placernaturecenter

Thanks for putting us on the front page @auburnjournal! You’ve clearly got a handle on the important news around Auburn! PNC is revving up for Summer Camp 2021 - and the registration forms are rolling in! We’re excited to be able to open it up to more kids this summer, while still keeping the groups a safe and manageable size (14 campers max). To slide into summer with us at PNC, visit our website and visit our summer camp page - click the link in our bio!... . . . . #summer #summercamp #camp #naturecamp #daycamp #nature #natureconnection #adventure #getoutside #outdoors #environmentaleducation #outdoorschool #placercounty #auburnca #placernaturecenter #sierrafoothills See more

We just took a troop of Girl Scout Cadettes to the creek at Traylor Ranch Nature Reserve Bird Sanctuary to get their Citizen Science badge. We learned about stream ecology, watershed health and the cultural and natural history of this land. We took samples of the creek water and tested its health, and determined that, it’s healthy! This creek was buried underground for 50+ years while cattle ranchers owned Traylor Ranch, and upon the land’s donation in 1998, was unburied. T...he land was been going through incredible restoration processes to get it to where it is today. We’re so grateful we get to help tend to this land, support the restoration by planting trees (with our school field trips) and be good citizen scientists (or community scientists, because you don’t have to be a citizen to love and study a place!) and take care of our local waters. To visit Traylor Ranch with us, schedule docent-led nature hike! . . . . . . #nature #naturehike #wildflowers #nativeplants #naturepreserve #birds #birdsanctuary #girlscouts #scouts #watershed #communityscience #citizenscience #water #ecology #birdsandblooms #penryn #auburnca #placercounty #sierrafoothills #placernaturecenter

Fall is undeniably here, and the frost has come, but some plants in the PNC garden still dare to bloom! . . . .... #flowers #garden #pollinatorgarden #nature #placernaturecenter See more

It’s a great day to find a sit spot, close your eyes, and listen with your deer ears. . . . #sitspot #listen #nature #natureconnection #wilderness #wildlife #california #sierrafoothills #visitplacer #auburnca #placernaturecenter

We are grateful for clear skies and lovely autumnal California weather... and acorns! . . . .... #acorn #wildharvest #oak #california #sierrafoothills #nature #natureconnection #environmentaleducation #placercounty #visitplacer #auburnca #placernaturecenter See more

It’s so easy to get distracted from work when everywhere you walk there are acorns to harvest! These acorns are from a blue oak right next to our restrooms, and they’re just begging to be picked up! Has anyone else noticed what an abundant acorn season it is? It seems like it's a mast year all over the country! Acorns are an ancestral food for cultures all over the world, wherever there are oaks. The native people of this area, the Nisenan and Maidu, have remarkable acorn (o...oti) traditions. They tended oaks to ensure continued abundance... but unfortunately were unable to continue those practices on their lands with the entrance of the gold rush and colonization. Learn more in Richard B. Johnson’s book History of Us, and Ooti: A Maidu Legacy by Richard Simpson. . . . #acorn #wildharvest #oak #ooti #nativeland #nisenan #maidu #foraging #tendingthewild #nativecalifornia #californiahistory #sierranevada #placercounty #auburnca #placernaturecenter See more

The sweetest little watermelon! We enjoyed this as snack at our Afterschool Program - thanks to @ntcfarm and @liveplacergrown ! . . . .... #eatlocal #golocal #organic #natureconnection #placercounty #placergrown #farmersmarket #environmentaleducation #auburnca #placernaturecenter See more

Meet our Board of Directors: Mary, Liz, Tim and Erin! We love our Board Members, and want to have more nature lovers join them - so we're recruiting! Contact us to learn more and see if being on the Board of PNC is for you!

Acorn processing during our Native Americans of the Foothills Program last week, where we recognized that we live on the land of the Nisenan and Maidu peoples, and learn how they lived before colonization. The kids were very excited by the prospect of eating acorns (which have been a staple of cultures all over the world). . . . .... . #acorn #wildharvest #wildforaging #nativecalifornia #nativeland #nisenan #maidu #nature #natureconnection #californiahistory #indigenouspeoplesday #placercounty #auburnca #placernaturecenter See more

The joy of processing acorns - full pockets from an exciting harvest - cracking and grinding in preparation for leaching - learning ancestral techniques of the natives of this land, the Nisenan and Maidu - practicing friction fire techniques . . . #natureconnection #skills #bushcraft #nativeland #nisenan #maidu #nativeamericans #sierrafoothills #primitiveskills #frictionfire #acorns #oak #wildharvest #placercounty #auburnca #placernaturecenter

Crown shyness is a phenomenon observed in some tree species, in which the crowns of fully stocked trees do not touch each other, forming a canopy with channel-like gaps. The phenomenon is most prevalent among trees of the same species, but also occurs between trees of different species.

Weaving together, iris cordage. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer shares the importance of working with a friend to braid sweetgrass. It’s the same with iris leaves - though you can do it by yourself, it’s much easier and more fun to work together. Grateful to the native Californians, Nisenan and Maidu people, who we have learned from to tend wild iris plants and use their leaves to make rope. Photos from our Native Americans of the Foothills Program yesterday, comm...emorating Indigenous Peoples Day. . . . . #indigenouspeoplesday #nativeland #nativeplants #nisenan #maidu #cordage #bushcraft #skills #teamwork #nature #natureschool #outdoors #afterschool #placercounty #californiahistory #sierrafoothills #auburnca #placernaturecenter See more