5 MONTHS WITH TEST PLOT
By Kaitlyn Ray
Cal Poly SLO landscape architecture intern
DATE: Dec 15 2025
ON ART + CARE....
There is art in stewardship, in smallness, in care, in recognizing how that art becomes inscribed on a place. In short, this is what I saw at Test Plot: art inscribed upon a landscape as a result of many hands who care about their common home and about each other. The soul in the land’s caretakers, the sweetness in their interactions, and the buzzing life that springs forth from it all. These, surely, are all metrics of an artful place.
Interventions need not be immediately impressive or very large to make a difference. Small, piecemeal interventions done with Great Care mean infinitely more in the scheme of social landscapes to be loved rather than simply admired. Such interventions reach success on account of their radical outpourings of care: investment in a place paired with a desire for it to be excellent. The land needs people who care about it, listen to it, and who can form a kinship with it. This idea of small kinship is actually very big and very meaningful; this, I have understood more than ever during these last five months at Test Plot.
ON A PRACTICAL NOTE....
I became intimately familiar with the plants on our plots, refining my understanding of their character beyond identification. I was involved in cataloging and mapping existing plants, setting up iNaturalist profiles, designing ethnobotanical plant tags, and creating a huge Test Plot plant list with useful attributes for stewards. These, among other tasks, allowed me to better understand the nuance and character of ecological interconnectedness, as well as where people + care fit into it all.
This interconnectedness, the relationality of plants with humans, with each other, and with the rest of the environment, became most evident during the plant list creation. Plant-human relationships revealed themselves through a study of naming, propagation, care, and ethnobotany. A study of plant communities, ecosystems, and reproduction became a lesson in plants’ relationships with each other. A late addition, what species the plant hosts, revealed how specific plants and animals interact with and rely upon each other. Each, in some way, informed the way I see how environmental relationships develop and sustain themselves. Plant-human, plant-plant, and plant-environment: each an ecotone, representative of immense richness and diversity that can only be found in their intersections.
Understanding this made the work of land restoration so much richer; rather than simply knowing and designing for the end result, I can know and design for the interconnectedness + relationality that precedes and produces that result. It is a necessary step back; in a way, it is a way to see the bigger picture. Though, paradoxically, this “bigger picture” exists in knowing the nuance of the smaller pieces that make up that picture. Maybe “smaller picture” is better vocabulary.
Naturally, this idea also plays out in the necessity of care and the respect for labor that goes into land restoration, a manifestation of the human-land (or terrapersonal as my dear friend Ruth puts it) relationality. This, too, is something that the good folks of Test Plot uniquely practice.
ON ANOTHER PRACTICAL NOTE....
I unexpectedly became familiar with web design, (a tiny bit of) coding, marketing, social media, volunteer management, spreadsheets, procreate animation, and laser cutting. Being in such a tiny company was incredible, as it afforded me a ton of unexpected problem-solving opportunities. Did I know how to do everything that Jen asked me to do? No! Did I eventually figure them out though? Most of the time, yes! This proved to be rather empowering; while I may not have known exactly how to accomplish some tasks, I felt increasingly confident in my ability to problem solve my way through them. I am certain that, even later in my career, I will never know how to do everything; for that reason, I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to leverage my inexperience as a way to learn and to grow in confidence.
ACADEMIC APPLICATIONS....
Working here was the first time I had really come to understand what a seed bank entails. The concept was fascinating enough to inspire a term research project comparing passive revegetation strategies using native seed banks and active revegetation strategies using calculated seed mixes.
The internship also sparked a newfound interest in ethnobotany (which is good, because I spent good, quality time with the La Esquinita tags) Our Fall studio project was located on Chumash land in Santa Ynez, and, after speaking with some tribal members at the local museum, I decided to explore ethnobotany as it relates to the Chumash culture. My proposal of an ethnobotanical “mother plant” garden responded to the joint tribal desires to revitalize pathways of TEK transmission and restore ecological integrity. That idea would not have been possible without having first learned how Tongva and Kizh peoples understood their community’s kinship with their environment.
As I embark on my senior thesis project, (eek, scary!) I am more influenced by the Test Plot framework than ever, particularly as it relates to the social dimensions of land care. My time at Test Plot made it clear to me that I want to work closely with local organizations + nonprofits + charities. I absolutely adored the social aspect of my work, and I found so much joy and purpose in attending events and workdays where people can come together for a purpose larger than the individual. Going forward, I want to continue practicing “human care through land care,” building upon it to include themes of interpersonal relationships and social + environmental justice.
TO CLOSE...
I want to express my gratitude for the entire Test Plot family. From graciously moving my first interview while I was in Nepal to not be at 2am, to letting me hold onto the internship for three months longer than agreed upon, and every micro-lesson in between, they have truly been a blessing. I am exceptionally thankful for the last five months, for every lesson and wise bit of knowledge that Jen has gifted to me, and for the groundedness + care which I look forward to taking into my career. Thank you Test Plot, I love ya!
