About the Nursery
How It Started
Rolling River Nursery was started by Marc Robbi and Corrina Cohen in Humboldt County at their permaculture farm and homestead.
Marc and Corrina have been collecting a diverse selection of plants for many years. Most of our selection of plants comes from their hard work and efforts to provide farmers and backyard gardeners with a vast selection of edible and useful plants.
Marc and Corrina have done amazing work through the years in propagation, homesteading, and gardening, and we are so grateful to have the nursery be passed on to Planting Justice. They are continuing to be very supportive in our transition with all of their advice and knowledge, and will continue to be mentors to Planting Justice for the next few years.
Continue Reading Our Story
As a loyal customer of Rolling River for many years, Planting Justice jumped at the opportunity to acquire and take on the work of the Nursery in October of 2015.
We purchased Rolling River Nursery with a deep commitment to continue Marc and Corrina’s mission of offering a tremendously diverse collection of certified organically grown perennial fruiting plants, and a vision for sharing this incredible, diverse collection of plants with our community in East Oakland.
Planting Justice has planted our 5 acre food forest farm in El Sobrante with at least 2 trees of each variety, and this farm will now serve as the mother farm for Rolling River Nursery. These plants will produce hundreds of thousands of pounds of food annually for our community, and all the seeds and propagation material we need to produce tens of thousands of young new trees each year, for generations to come!
Marc and Corrina have built a thriving business with nation-wide distribution and clientele, and they are committing to 3-5 years of intensive training to transfer this endangered and vital knowledge of perennial plant propagation to Planting Justice’s diverse staff and community.
PJ’s new nursery will create many more dignified living-wage jobs for formerly incarcerated people, and we’ll ensure that these rare and heirloom plants are put in service of the food and economic justice (r)evolution, as communities across the country transform from themselves from dependent consumers to empowered producers.
Planting Justice is a grassroots organization with a mission to democratize access to affordable, nutritious food by empowering urban residents with the skills, resources, and knowledge they need to maximize organic food production, expand job opportunities, and ensure environmental sustainability in the Bay Area.
Planting Justice works through our 5 programs: food justice education, holistic re-entry, transform your yard landscaping team, grassroots canvass, and urban farms & training centers.