Save the Leaves, Garden with Nature!

This event we will include special guests that will discuss the relationship between regenerative gardening practices, soil health, essential organisms in our soil, pollinators and biodiversity. There will be two Q&A sessions. Doors open at 5:30. Come early to enjoy the delicious food and drink at the Lake Theater.

Matthew Shepherd
Director of Outreach & Education, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Matthew has spent nearly four decades working with people from diverse communities to create better places for wildlife. He works for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and over the last 25 years has helped build pollinator conservation from an obscure issue to a topic of dinner-table conversation and wide engagement. Matthew is author or coauthor of numerous articles and other publications, including Attracting Native Pollinators (Storey Publishing, 2011) and Gardening for Butterflies (Timber Press, 2016), and co-host of the Bug Banter podcast.

Leah Puhlman

OSU University Master Gardener

A life-long gardener, Leah Puhlman has always had an interest in sustainable gardening practices.  In 2012 Leah and her husband Mark started to transform our half-acre suburban lot from mostly grass and invasive blackberry and ivy to a habitat-friendly garden.  It was then that they got involved in the Backyard Habitat Program, and really started to learn extensively about habitat. 

In 2019 Leah became an Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener and has since focused on teaching others about gardening for bio-diversity through webinars, speaking engagements, and garden tours.