IRVINE, Calif. — Land used in the strategic battle against wildfires, a farm that started on a burned-out avocado orchard, got burned itself. Two years later it’s reopening.

What You Need To Know

  • The native seed farm is where seeds are harvested, processed and banked to restore thousands of acres of wildlands

  • This strengthens the environment with less flammable indigenous plants

  • This weapon meant to proactively fight wildfires got burned itself during the 2020 Silverado Fire

  • Recently, the farm reopened to the public

Earlier this year, the Limestone Canyon Nature Preserve in Orange County welcomed people back inside once again. Within weeks of each other, the Silverado Fire and then the Bond Fire rolled through, leaving almost no acre unburned in 2020. Together, these wildfires did incredible damage, but the long recovery in the region just hit another major milestone.

Volunteer Anne Whitehair pulls weeds at the native seed farm, just a couple of acres filled with things that normally grow in the area much like her garden at home.

“Meditation is really hard for me because my mind is just monkey all the time," said Whitehill. "But out here, I’m not thinking of anything. I’m not worrying about anything. I’m just enjoying the plants."

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy nonprofit established the native seed farm where seeds are harvested, processed and banked to restore thousands of acres of wildlands. This strengthens the environment with less flammable indigenous plants.

Then, this weapon — which is meant to proactively fight wildfires — got burned itself.

Despite personal experience with evacuation orders, this time was different for program coordinator Ritika Singh.

“By having the fire out here, it was kind of like a big thing for us," said Singh. "It actually even went almost up to our offices, and thankfully, nobody was out here at the farm. Nobody got hurt, but it kind of was a wake-up call."

Lush fields turned black. The Silverado Fire also destroyed the irrigation system, thus closing the farm to the public. Yet some species, like the white sage, refused to die — proof they're meant to be here.

“These plants are amazing because they’ve adapted to wildfire,” said Singh.

Now people are allowed back into the native seed farm, which is vital because if you tried buying all these seeds, it would be very expensive — if you could even find them all for sale in bulk.

While the native seed farm has come a long way, there’s more work to do. The irrigation system has been repaired, but it’s still not functioning, meaning there’s been no running water for almost two years. They hope to turn it on in a couple of weeks.