About Us

We aim to educate, empower and inspire communities to learn how to grow their own food while working towards local food sovereignty. We welcome you to learn about our variety of vegetable starts, grown with great love and care in Northern California.

Increasing the availability of Heritage plants and seeds

Cultural Roots Nursery is an Asian American, woman-owned plant nursery currently based in Winters, CA. We grow over 100 varieties of Asian heritage vegetables, herbs, fruit, and trees at our nursery using organic growing practices.

In addition to growing plant starts, we also grow seed crops on a ¼ acre plot in Winters, CA. Seed saving is an important aspect of our work, as many seeds are difficult to find commercially or are not adapted to our Northern California climate.

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Varieties of veggies, herbs, fruit and trees
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acre plot in Winters, ca

Meet Our cultural Roots Team

We started CRN to not only reconnect with our ancestral heritage, but to help others do the same. We hope you grow your roots with us!

Li Schmidt

Founder

Li is a first generation Taiwanese American farmer. She has a decade of organic farming and gardening experience with a Masters in community development from UC Davis. She is also a farmer member of the California Farmer Justice Collaborative (CFJC) and the Asian American Farmers Alliance, which both work towards achieving justice for farmers of color.

Chris Jadallah

GROWER/COLLABORATOR​

Chris is a researcher and educator at UC Davis where his work examines science and agricultural education. Understanding farming as a site of social, political, and ecological transformation, Chris works with Cultural Roots to grow several varieties of heirloom Palestinian crops. This work is guided by the goal of building transnational solidarities that cultivate strong connections with community and with land.

Raul Gutierrez

GROWER/COLLABORATOR

Raul is originally from Acapulco, Mexico and does seeding and transplanting for CRN. He is growing some of his favorite plant varieties for the nursery this year.

Cailyn Schmidt

EDUCATIONAL COORDINATOR/COLLABORATOR

Cailyn is an environmental project coordinator based in Honolulu, HI. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Conservation and Resource Studies and specializes in sustainable food systems, forestry, and environmental project consulting. Her personal goal is to foster climate resilient communities by connecting others to their environment through community led grassroots projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, doing yoga and being outside in nature.

Megan Schmidt

EDUCATIONAL COORDINATOR/COLLABORATOR

Megan is a Food & Nutrition and Basic Skills Coordinator and Instructor at UC Santa Barbara, where she teaches nutrition and culinary arts to students in need. In her spare time, she facilitates education and outreach for Cultural Roots Nursery, drawing from her creative background in media, organic permaculture farming, and private chef experiences.

Megan is passionate about making local and seasonal foods accessible, and sharing healthy, nutritious and beautiful meals with others.

Megan grew up in Monterey, CA and currently resides in Santa Barbara.

Interested in Establishing Your Garden?

Please click below if you would like to set up a meeting about establishing your garden or sourcing heritage plants!

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