Published in The 9th Street Journal
By Sophie Endrud on December 17, 2024
The message went out over a neighborhood listserv this fall with an unusual request: a plea for native tree seeds.
“These seeds will be grown into saplings that will be used in local plantings or given to the public — for FREE!” the message read.
The seeds in question are planted by Clay Bordley at Panther Creek Forest Farm, a 28-acre expanse of land in Durham. Bordley leads the Durham Community Seed Collection Project, which has collected native seeds ranging from red buds to pawpaws since Bordley began the project last year. The seeds grow into seedlings at Bordley’s farm and the resulting trees are then planted across Durham with the help of Keep Durham Beautiful.
Bordley, a pediatric emergency physician at Duke Children’s Hospital, bought the farmland 10 years ago as a joint venture with his 35-year-old daughter, Eliza Lawdley. Leigh Bordley, his wife and a former Durham school board member, assists on the farm along with the rest of Bordley’s family. The land, a former tobacco farm, had been left unattended with limited biodiversity.