(bright music) >>It has the highest energy burden in the city.

And the other thing we know is that 10th and Page has some of the highest rate of heat-related diseases and also pollution related, such as asthma.

>>What I teach the youth is there can't be a challenge without a solution, right?

Duality exists.

We identified that we live in a food desert, but then we also identified the fact that a community garden or growing your own food is a way to provide a solution.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis and Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund and by.

(birds chirping) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) >>Welcome to "Virginia Home Grown."

I hope your gardens are surviving in this hot weather and flash drought.

My how it became abnormally dry just so quickly.

Well, today we're visiting two groups working to improve their communities by growing plants.

We'll be answering your questions a little later, so go ahead and send those in at vpm.org/vhg.

They can be for our guests or other questions about growing and gardening that you may have.

In the second half of our show, we will learn about Petersburg Oasis Youth Farm and how they empower students to take part in the local food system.

But first, I visited Charlottesville to see how ReLeaf Cville is working to plant trees and bring shade to an underserved neighborhood.

Let's get going.

>>This is the 10th and Page neighborhood.

I've lived in this neighborhood for 64 years.

I remember more fruit trees, particularly pear trees and apple trees, which there aren't any now.

I think of the coolness of a shade tree.

I think of the health benefits of having more trees, in general, in this area.

Also, the mental and the emotional health benefits, the therapy that comes with the birds, singing in the mornings, and the squirrels playing in the trees.

So all of that is beneficial because we are living in a world where our planet is getting much more heat.

>>It started in 2021.

I was on the tree commission, which is a city body, and we'd been doing tree canopy studies since 2004 to look at the canopy all over the Charlottesville.

And then what we realized about then, in 2020, was the canopy was decreasing terribly.

It had gone from 50%, in 2004, to 38%.

We also looked at each neighborhood, and 10th and Page has one of the lowest tree covers in the city, it's only 18%.

>>Oh my, yes.

>>So the city plants trees, but only on public property.

So some of us on the Tree Commission decided, well, we needed to step in and plant trees on private property because that same study that did the tree canopy said that 75% of the land available in Charlottesville for new trees was on private property.

We looked around at other organizations in Virginia, what they were doing.

We looked at Southside ReLeaf in your city- >>[Peggy Singlemann] My dear Richmond.

>>And then we decided, okay, this is our mission.

We believe that trees save lives, and our mission was to improve the health in neighborhoods, such as 10th and Page, that don't have many trees.

>>Excellent mission.

>>From the rising heat.

>>Yes.

>>And how do we do that?

We have three things.

We plant trees, we preserve existing big trees, and we do a lot of education, particularly of teenagers and youth.

So the Green Team is a summer program for two weeks.

We teach them about trees and nature in the city.

We teach them how to canvas neighborhoods, knock on doors.

We had 70 homes.

We got 40 trees.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] You just answered my question.

How many said yes?

>>40 trees.

>>That changes things.

>>That changes things.

And then they help us plant the trees, in November.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] So you get permission to come to private property to plant the tree on their property?

>>Yeah.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] And the students, the youth are helping to plant the trees.

>>Right, right.

>>That's wonderful.

>>Yeah, so they knock on doors, they leave flyers, door hangers, if the people aren't home, so they can contact us.

We put up posters in the neighborhood, telling everyone to contact us for a free tree.

So it's been very successful.

>>I heard about ReLeaf Cville when I read a flyer that was left on my door.

I called and found out that they were in this neighborhood, particularly because it had been identified as a hotspot, which I wasn't really aware of.

And I'd looked at the data and I really could believe in the data that it was proving, 'cause I'm living here.

I could feel the heat.

They set up an opportunity for me to get a tree, gave me a selection to choose from, and they came with a crew of young people, which that was very good to see the young people out here planting the trees, and they were supervised by the ReLeaf staff, but they did all the work.

This tree is a London Planetree and this area is a very damp area, and I intentionally wanted this tree planted here, selected it out of numbers of other trees that they have because of the dampness in this area.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] When you approach a homeowner, asking them, we'd like to plant a tree, what do you offer them?

>>We offer about 10 different kinds of trees.

We try to do big trees, shade trees, because they're gonna be the most important.

So we have white oaks, willow oaks, London planes, American basswood, tulip poplar, those are just a few, because we want long-lived trees that don't require a lot of maintenance, and they're native to the area.

>>And grow a little quick.

>>And grow a little quick, yes.

>>Yes, yes.

Peggy, once ReLeaf plants a tree and they've explained to the homeowner the care of it, but do you really leave them hanging?

Do you just walk away?

>>No, no, no because we know that if you don't follow the trees, they may not live.

So we follow them very closely.

Like on Arbor Day, we get my own family's tree company, they come and they check on all the trees.

They put more mulch down if they have to, they do a little pruning, structural pruning.

And we also get the kids to come too and knock on doors, and say, "Have you watered your tree?"

(laughs) You know?

>>Yes.

>>So we do that for a couple years until the tree gets a really good start.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] Great.

ReLeaf is really making a difference in this community.

Are the neighbors involved?

>>Yes.

We do a lot of that.

For instance, when we first came to 10th and Page, we met with the Homeowners Association.

We got some leaders in the neighborhood, like Michelle and James Bryant, who's on our board, who have lived in this neighborhood forever to talk it up.

Because you know, if your neighbor's doing it, you might wanna do it too.

(laughs) >>[Peggy Singlemann] Exactly, exactly, and if your neighbor's involved, you might wanna get involved too.

It's a good thing.

>>Yeah.

We're really proud because just in two years, we planted 168 trees, both in this neighborhood and a neighborhood called Rose Hill, which borders this neighborhood.

This fall we're starting a really innovative program.

It's called a Tree Preservation Program.

We've modeled that over Arlington County and we're going to offer free tree care to selected homeowners.

>>That's excellent.

So many people are afraid of their tree, and they shouldn't be.

>>[Peggy Van Yahres] And we know that preserving big trees, mature trees is even more important than planting small trees 'cause they take 15 to 20 years to give you the same benefits.

>>Yes.

>>We did an experiment at a local school.

They have two playgrounds.

One is completely in the sun.

That's for little kids.

The other one is in the shade.

So we took a thermometer out on one hot day in September.

In the shade, it was 80 degrees.

In the hot sun, it was 102 degrees.

That's 22 degrees difference.

That's what trees can do.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] I do have to ask you, looking forward, what do you see in the future here with ReLeaf Cville?

>>Okay, well some of us are a little old, (chuckles) and we laugh, we say have four more years.

(laughs) So we are in the process right now, doing a strategic plan about how we can grow.

We're becoming our own 501-C3.

So we hope to be able to, right now we're all volunteer, but for it to continue and to expand, we know we've gotta have some paid staff.

So are you looking for a job, Peggy?

>>(laughs) No, I've got one, thank you.

I just applaud you.

I applaud everybody involved and I'm just so grateful that the people in these neighborhoods, who deserve to live just like any other neighborhood in the same community.

So I say thank you.

>>Well thank you.

And thank you for highlighting ReLeaf Cville.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] Oh, anytime.

Planting trees are so important, and they save lives.

>>[Peggy Van Yahres] Yes, they do.

>>The cool shade of a tree on a hot day is often taken for granted, until it's not there.

With neighbors helping neighbors, newly planted trees can create these cooler spaces for all to enjoy.

And now Jake Van Yahres is here to talk to us about different mulches.

But before we get started, remember to send in your gardening questions on our website at vpm.org/vhg.

Well, Jake, this is an interesting display for us.

A lot of mulch, a lot of dirt.

So what do we have here?

>>Well, we have an experiment that's taken its course over time.

And you're right, we have a lot of dirt.

But before we get to the dirt... >>Yes.

>>We gotta start out with the foliage.

>>Love it, always start with greenery.

>>And the end result.

>>Yeah.

>>So we're gonna be talking about wood chips and their effect on soil.

Wood chips versus mulch that you buy in the store.

>>Yes.

>>So this is a tree.

This is a small white oak that we've had at our shop, and every year it's struggled to grow.

So it's grown about this much every year.

You can see the bud scars.

>>Yes.

>>So we started putting wood chips on this tree, not mulch, wood chips.

>>Right.

>>Right here.

And this year's growth.

>>Oh my.

It's quadrupled, almost five times.

>>As you can see, is way more.

>>Yes.

>>So that's one example.

>>Okay, I'm gonna put this one over here.

>>And we have a middle-aged ash tree.

>>Uh-huh.

>>So this was three years ago.

>>Mhmm, just a few inches.

>>This is the growth.

We started putting wood chips on right there.

You can see this growth.

And then, this year it's really exploded, and you can see all that green is the growth from this year.

>>Wow, that's amazing!

So what you're doing is making a difference.

So, please, tell us what you're doing.

>>So that was the end result.

So this is kind of the beginning.

So this is an experiment that's been running for only a month.

So what you have here is bare soil.

You have mulch on one side- >>That you buy at the store.

>>That you buy at the store.

>>Mhmm.

>>And then, you have wood chips on the other side.

>>Which are from arborists.

>>From arborists like me, and we grind them up in a chipper and it comes out.

And so we're gonna see the result of after a month, are there any soil changes from wood chips versus mulch?

>>Okay, what did you find?

>>So you have, and we're starting out, this is not good soil.

>>Well, yeah, and the conditions have not been good.

>>They haven't been great.

So with mulch that you buy from the store, >>You pull it back.

>>You pull it back and it's not a lot of difference.

It looks kind of the same.

>>Okay, so what about this side?

>>So now you go to wood chips- >>And you pull it back.

>>And you pull it back, and you can actually feel the warmth- >>'Cause it decomposes, right.

>>And you can actually see my finger going down.

>>Going down, yes.

>>And if you compare it- >>It's not going anywhere, yes.

>>So, you know, one of the things that urban trees really struggle with is compaction.

>>Yes.

>>So you can see in a month, and it has been terrible conditions, in a month, you know, it literally has already kind of changed the whole makeup of the soil.

>>So I'm gonna ask why or how did this happen?

But we're gonna pull this over to help you explain.

>>So this is wood chips.

This is about a year, a year and a half, that's been on the ground.

And as I scrape away, you'll be able to see kind of the story.

So it starts out with wood chips up top.

>>And not too far down.

>>And not too far down, you'll start seeing all this white stuff.

>>Okay.

>>And so that is called mycelium.

>>And what does the mycelium do?

>>Mycelium is breaking down the wood.

So it's the fungus, it's basically the roots of the fungus that are really getting to work and breaking this wood down.

And if you go farther, all the way down here, you'll start to see how dark this gets.

And basically the darker the soil, the more organic matter it has, the more organic matter, the healthier it is.

>>The richer it is, yes.

>>Exactly.

So when you pull it all back, you can kind of see the story of the wood chips and how they work.

>>And, also, with all of this organic matter from the wood chips, you've got wood, but you also have leaf debris or needle debris.

So you've got organic matter, you've got all the components to break this down naturally.

>>Exactly.

>>And it will actually feed the microbial soil, the microbes in the soil underneath.

>>Exactly, it's like, mulch is basically a frozen patty of beef.

>>Yes.

>>It tastes good, it's great.

There's benefits to it.

>>Looks pretty.

>>Wood chips are fresh ground beef.

>>Yes.

>>It's always gonna win.

>>It is, well, let's go back to our mulch a minute to show people, you might wanna move that over one more, to show people just how the difference is.

This is all friable, it's easy, the water penetrates it quite simply, you know, this is wonderful.

I've used it for decades in my gardens and on the properties I've taken care of.

But that over there... >>So this is mulch that was laid down about two years ago.

And this is something common we see happen with mulch, which is, if you can hear that, it's hard.

It creates a mat, and you can actually pick that mat up and- >>Kind of like a pancake.

>>Like a pancake.

But what it does is it actually prevents water from even getting into the soil underneath.

So it creates this mat layer.

And there's been a lot of times, you can go up to a mulch pit and you can knock on it, and it sounds like you're knocking on the door.

>>It does, it does.

It's so compacted, it's come together.

It's kind of merged itself together to be as hard as a piece of wood almost.

>>Exactly.

>>Where again, this is just wonderful.

>>Exactly.

>>It enriches our soil, which enriches our plants.

And we all know, healthy soil is healthy plants.

>>Exactly.

>>But this is wonderful.

I love the fact that you've done this explanation so clearly so people can start to understand.

I'll be honest, right now at my house, I have a huge pile of chips waiting to be moved one wheelbarrow full at a time.

But, on the other hand, I know the value of it, so I'm willing to put the time into it.

>>Exactly.

>>So thank you so much for making this so clear and easy to understand, that chips are much better than mulch.

>>Yes, they are.

And we're just on the start, kind of, of this journey.

You know, the new research has come out probably in the last five to seven years, and most people still do not know about this.

So it is, even though it's as old as time, as old as chippers, you know, it's really kind of revolutionary right now.

>>Mhmm, a secret weapon that needs to be revealed once again.

>>Exactly.

>>So, thank you.

And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions.

But first, Jen Naylor has a tip to share for creating a beautiful, comfortable, and functional garden space, she refers to as her living pantry.

(soft music) >>Today, I am in my garden.

I call this my living pantry.

When I need something to cook with, seasonings and whatever have you, I try to grow them myself.

And that way I can just come out here and pick it and go straight to the kitchen and start cooking.

Now, I have a couple of structures here that I built.

First, I have this structure that's built with this steel stake.

You can pretty much get it at any garden store or farm market.

Once you put that in, it's gonna be very sturdy.

And what you do is you just go out there and pick a limb from a tree, and then what you do, just tie that onto that stake, and then just create this natural-looking curves.

And that way the plant that you're gonna be planting, it's gonna follow that curve and create this beautiful, beautiful arch.

Now, the other structure is that I use cattle panel, which is very simple.

What I do is I stake one side in, and then just bend it over and stake the other side in.

Now, once this is fully grown and it covers the entire trellis, it creates a shade underneath.

It's almost like 10 degrees cooler.

It's just absolutely beautiful.

Now, I also have light strings, and these are solar-powered, so you don't have to plug it in.

And at nighttime, it just creates such a beautiful ambiance, and you can have your friends over and you go underneath and sit and enjoy and dine.

Now, I have my herb garden over here, which has all kinds of herbs growing.

I have oregano, purple and green basils and sweet basils.

I have lemon balm and Thai basils 'cause I love cooking Thai food.

Cilantro, parsley, rosemary, you name it.

I got herbs growing in here.

And that way if I need a certain kind of herb, all I have to do is come on out here and pick it and take it in and cook.

Growing over here in this structure is hyacinth vine.

These are very strong climbers, and they're just absolutely beautiful.

Once it's fully grown, it's going to have these beautiful purple clusters of flowers and also the pod filled with beans when they're young and they're edible and they're delicious.

They taste like edamame, which is soybeans, and I just absolutely love them.

Now, over here is nasturtium.

Now, these flowers are edible.

They're just absolutely gorgeous.

So what I do, I just pick these, and they're all different colors.

Look how beautiful these are!

I am going to use these for a salad that I'm gonna be making later.

And just the presentation, just put it over the salad.

People eat with their eyes.

When they look at the dish and it's beautiful, most likely they want to go ahead and try that dish.

Why not create something like that so that it makes people happy?

Life is just absolutely wonderful.

Enjoy it.

>>You can always connect with us on Facebook.

Members of the team are there now answering questions as well.

And you can also send your questions in through our website at vpm.org/vhg.

And today we have Shana Williams with us and I want to say welcome Shana.

So where do we start?

We've got some good questions.

>>Well, we do have some great questions, but I wanted to ask, I always use mulch and just wood chips in general.

You know, is there any particular ones that I need to stay away from?

Say, for instance, if they cut down a city tree and because it was dying, do I need to stay away from those wood chips?

>>You don't have to worry about that.

There's been tons of studies that even if you have a diseased tree that falls down and gets chipped up, the diseases do not spread to other trees.

So you don't have anything to worry about.

>>Oh good.

You know, that leads into the next question.

What are some of the other myths about using, you know, wood chips or mulch?

>>So one of the first ones is it ties up nitrogen in the soil and then it won't allow plants to grow.

This has been a common misconception for a really long time and it's actually, it's not true.

There's been no scientific studies that have proven that it ties up nitrogen and it doesn't allow plants to grow.

In fact, it does the opposite.

It adds nitrogen to the soil and makes plants a lot healthier.

>>Yes.

What are some other pros about using wood chips?

>>One that people might not think about is wood chips act as almost an irrigation system.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>So you have wood.

When wood gets wet, what happens?

It swells up.

Over time, that water triculates out.

So those wood chips, they're acting as irrigation systems.

So when it rains, they swell up, and then they slowly triculate water over time.

So as we showed in that example, under wood chips, it's going to be a lot, you know, more moist than it would be under mulch or without wood chips at all.

>>I love that you just said that because I just went with a friend.

We got some wood chips, and you know, the city provides free wood chips.

All you have to do is just go and pick 'em up.

And because it's been so hot, just laid wood chips along all the flower beds, just so it'll help retain some of the moisture and stop a lot of evaporation.

So, great.

>>But I also think we need to understand is that's a good point.

It also buffers the soil temperature by shading that temperature, you know, shading that soil.

The soil itself does not heat up as much, which helps with moisture retention and everything.

Cooling that garden soil helps with those plants.

>>Yeah.

>>Keeps those roots cool.

>>Yes, and I've noticed that a lot of the plants in my garden, they look more healthier than the ones that don't have wood chips around them.

So especially, it's been so hot.

Well the next question that I have here.

Cheryl wanted to know.

What is the difference between mulch and wood chips?

>>Mulch is what you would buy at the store.

So traditionally it's dark brown.

If you look around right now, you'll see mulch on most of the urban trees.

Wood chips can only be found in one spot, which is it's fresh wood, trees, leaves that have gone through the chipper and they come out, you know, completely fresh, without any process at all.

So that's the main difference.

>>Loaded with tons of microorganisms.

>>Exactly.

Loaded with, I mean, one, here's a fact.

One Christmas tree has 10,000 species on it.

Just a Christmas tree.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>So just imagine, you know, let's say a big oak tree, and that going through a chipper, how much is going on in that tree is now going to be transferred back into your soil.

>>Yeah, just bringing life back into the soil.

>>There you go.

>>There you go.

>>But I'm also going to add to further answer the question.

Some of the mulch is double shredded hardwood mulch.

Some of the mulch is true bark off of trees, from the lumber industry.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>All right.

>>They're not cutting trees down just to make mulch.

But the mulches that are dyed, our reds our oranges and our blacks, which some people really prefer.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>Those are actually ground up pallets and they're grinding up pallets and then dying them.

>>Yeah.

>>And so you've got to.

>>You don't know the source all the time of the pallets.

So it's very, I want to say it's a precarious choice in some ways, which is another reason that I prefer wood chips.

>>Yeah, makes you want to make sure you read those labels on the bags.

>>Absolutely.

Always read those labels on the bag.

(laughing) >>Yeah, well you just answered that question.

Basically Mike wanted to know was it okay to use dyed mulch, and you just provided us the answer.

>>You know, there are certifications on the bag that you can look for and you can read what's on the bag.

Some people really like that color, and I have in the past put wood chips down and then a thin layer of that mulch on top, like a veneer.

>>Hmm.

>>Uh huh.

>>To be able to get that color.

Because some people just want the color, or some people want that finer look.

And that's fine.

They can just use like a frosting on a cake.

>>A thin layer.

>>I see.

>>If that's really what they so desire, with still using those wood chips underneath.

Yeah, so.

>>Well, Elizabeth wanted to know.

How long does she have to wait before she can use the fresh cut wood chips from her cedar tree?

And what the second part is that is can she do anything to girdle the roots to wrap around the tree, to protect it?

'Cause I know a lot of times people pile up, and this is, I'm just adding, they pile up a lot of wood chips around the trunk of the tree.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>So if you can.

>>Well, to answer her first question, is the sooner the better.

The fresher, the better.

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>In terms of the second question, the girdling roots, that's going to be.

What you're trying to do is expose the root flare.

Every tree's going to have a root flare.

Some trees are more buried with soil and mulch than others.

But what you want to do is you want to start out finding that root flare first.

And then what you want to do is put your wood chips not on the root flare, a little bit off of it and around like a donut.

That's the best way to do it.

>>Okay.

Want to add anything to that?

>>No.

>>All right, now.

>>Giving me an idea 'cause sometimes I just throw the mulch up there and you just want to just add as much as possible.

But it's important.

Make sure I back it off a little bit.

>>What it does actually, what many people might not know is when you put mulch against the base of a tree, is it eventually, when it gets hot and there's moisture, it will start to really like decompose the bark And it will like literally eat into the tree and then it will choke into the vascular system.

And so it, but it won't happen like next year.

It happens, it's like a slow burn.

And that's what people don't understand is they say, "Well, I have a mulch volcano, it looks fine.

"Like thee tree looks fine."

Come back five, 10 years later and you'll really start to see the damage.

>>Because one of the benefits of putting mulch down is we want it to break down.

We want it to convert back to soil.

So if we are just adding all of that around the base of the tree, basically we're destroying the tree over time.

>>Exactly.

>>Yeah.

>>I think people forget the life processes of the tree are right under the bark, immediately under the bark.

It's not further into the tree.

So if they disturb the bark, they're disturbing the vascular system of the tree.

>>Exactly.

It'd be like leaving your hand in water for a long time.

Eventually it's not going to work so well.

>>Yeah.

>>Well this question is, where should I site a tree to get the most shade, but also be able to get the warmth in the wintertime?

>>Where should they place it in your yard?

>>Yes.

>>To get the most shade?

>>Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>Well then you have to look at the sun pattern.

>>That's what I was going to.

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

>>So in your yard, hopefully you'll know where the sun rises and where it sets.

And within that, you know, you can plant a tree.

It also depends on what type of tree too.

'Cause if you have a small ornamental, you're not going to get as much shade as a shade tree.

So looking at your yard and where the sun rises and falls, you know, that's where you want to.

>>Then they may need to put a tree in the front and a tree in the back.

>>And a lot of people think, a lot of people are scared to put trees by their house.

But it's a common misconception.

Trees can grow just fine right by houses.

And the closer it is to the house, the more shade it's going to give you.

Also, if a tree ever falls on the house, the closer it is to the house, the less damage it's going to be.

>>Oh, that's interesting.

(laughing) >>Yeah.

The less momentum.

>>So, yeah.

>>Yes.

>>Well, Shana, that's all the time we have right now, but we look forward to answering more questions later in the show.

So please keep them coming in.

And thanks for being with us tonight, Jake, and expanding our knowledge about mulches for trees.

And next, Randy Battle visited Petersburg Oasis Youth Farm to talk with Tyrone Cherry III about his work to create a community garden in the middle of a food desert.

So let's take a look.

>>I love being in nature.

So anything where it's like I get to like feel the dirt a little bit, it's always a great experience.

I think it is important that this area is here because especially since kids can come in and people like me can go learn about different types of food and see how, like though it takes a lot of effort to grow some of these things, but that it's actually like, it doesn't have to be too hard and just see that food is actually more plentiful than we believe it to be.

There's always another path to do things.

Nothing is what your first choice is.

>>He talks a lot about how like Petersburg is a food desert.

A lot of what I take away from this place and Cherry is less about like the actual act of growing things and more about what that does for the community and the earth around us.

>>So when I found out that we lived in a so-called food desert, like we lacked access to nutrient dense food, the solution that I found was to grow your own food.

So we started in our front yard with a community garden and over the last 10 years it's grown into this youth farm.

>>And for those who may not know what a food desert means, can you explain that a little bit?

>>Yeah, for sure.

Thanks for asking.

If you have to go more than 3.1 miles to get access to nutrient dense food, not just produce, not just food, but nutrient dense food, then the USDA designates you as a food desert.

Right?

>>Okay.

>>Another term for that is food insecurity, right?

So in the state of Virginia, Petersburg has the highest rate of food insecurity.

We have 30,000 people in the city of Petersburg.

We have one commercial grocery store.

>>Wow.

>>So this experience in urban agriculture, you know, the efforts that we're implementing and the ideas that we're implementing are super important.

It can show the community how to survive in the food desert.

>>Okay.

>>You know what I mean?

So the initial goal is how to survive in this food desert, growing our own food.

Then the next level is how do we thrive in this food desert?

>>Awesome.

Now, I've had the opportunity to walk around this amazing space.

I have seen onions.

I've seen greens.

I've seen cucumbers.

You have a lot going on.

>>Yeah.

I couldn't even tell you how many plants we have.

>>Okay.

>>And that's honestly the goal.

The goal is for the youth to come here and get inspired and encouraged to grow.

You know what I mean?

>>Right.

>>So we have the Medicine Maze.

It has herbs in it.

It's a conversation that we have about how food is medicine, but it's a way to get them into gardening, right?

They get to taste the rosemary, they get to taste the mint.

We get to talk about how that tastes like the gum that they eat.

Then we go over to try the kale or pick a sunflower.

We just want to show them how things grow and how easy it is to grow.

Like I was telling you earlier, you gotta sow to grow.

>>Okay.

>>So we try to teach them that.

>>Sow to grow.

>>You got it.

>>I like that.

I like that.

>>You gotta sow to grow.

>>I'm gonna take that and use it.

>>Okay.

>>And the mint tastes just like gum.

>>Oh, there we go.

>>It really does.

>>There we go.

That's how it should be.

Yeah.

My goal, so my favorite movie is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

>>Okay.

So my goal with the Medicine Maze was to play Willy Wonka, right?

>>Okay.

>>Everything's edible.

Everything's eatable.

You can eat everything.

>>Okay!

>>I like to snack on the strawberries and the peas and the herbs.

My job is garden manager.

My sister, Ellie, she is livestock manager.

So she takes care of the animals.

My little brother, Justice, he trains our dog, Freedin, for the farm, and Jade is the manager for me, Justice, and Ellie.

>>When I grow up, I want to be a yoga teacher.

That's what I want to be, probably.

I think I would have a garden.

I should have some chickens, sheep, duck, rabbits.

I should have maybe all the animals.

My dad teaches us about our history and like our bodies and the farm.

It's fun.

You get a good workout on farms.

You get to eat good, like healthy snacks and you get to like connect with Mother Nature.

>>So I understand that you have four little children that help you out with the garden.

>>Yeah.

So we're homeschooling our four children and it's all about life skills, right?

We teach them that life is the lesson.

So home is school.

So they start their days off here at the farm.

They start off with mindfulness and breath work, and then each one of them have a job or responsibility here on the farm.

>>That is awesome.

Now, I understand that you have named different areas of this space.

Some of them mean a lot to you.

Tell us about that.

>>Yeah.

Yeah.

They all do.

They all do.

So they're all named after loved ones that helped me get to the space that I am now in urban agriculture.

>>Okay.

>>So we have the Mama Cherry Reading Garden.

We have the Khulu Kevin Medicine Maze.

>>Khulu Kevin.

>>We have the Papa Kelly Vegetable Garden.

>>Papa Kelly.

>>Yep.

We have the Classics Chicken Coop, which is-- >>Classic Chicken Coop.

>>Yeah, Classics.

>>Okay.

>>Yep.

Local business here in Petersburg.

You hear El Ray in the back.

We have the George Washington Carver Outdoor Classroom.

>>Okay.

>>Okay.

That's literally our outdoor classroom in honor of George Washington Carver in regenerative agriculture.

>>Okay.

>>We have the Happily Natural Outdoor Learning Lab.

That's like our science lab.

>>Okay.

>>As an educator, my first class was science, so that I know that lab part, that experience, being able to touch things makes a difference.

>>Right.

>>We have our Trash to Treasure compost station where we teach the youth about composting, vermicomposting, worm farming, JADAM liquid fertilizers, things like that.

We have the Papa Graves Community Kitchen where we go from soil to stomach or garden to gut, where we actually pick things out the vegetable garden and then prepare them and break bread together.

And then we also have the mobile farmstand, the Petersburg League of Urban Growers Mobile Farmstand.

>>That is absolutely wonderful.

Now, with so much going on in this space, how can I get involved?

How can the community get involved?

Where do we start?

>>So the most direct way to have impact on the space is to come to the space and exchange energy with it.

So every Monday, we host a volunteer day from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

>>Okay.

>>We call it Mondays for Many Hands.

That's a play on the Haitian proverb "Many hands make for light work."

And what we usually do is we send those volunteers home with fresh produce from the farm.

So in exchange for their energy, they get some energy from the farm.

>>That is absolutely amazing.

Now, tell us a little bit about your vision.

What do you see in the future for this space?

>>To be honest with you, I don't even want that to be on me or be on us as an organization.

I want that to be on the community.

Right?

>>Okay.

>>I want this space to be a reflection of the community, you know, what it is that they feel like they want, what it is that they feel like that they need.

The more events that we host here, the more youth that we have come through here, like I tell everybody that comes here, this is still a blank canvas and it's hard for them to understand that 'cause there's so much growing on.

But this is still a blank canvas.

There are still crevices that could have some things growing in it.

If you had an idea or a vision while you were here or after you leave here, please share it with us and then we'll apply that.

You know, I had a youth come here one day and say, "Cherry, I would love to be able to climb up in that tree and read a book."

So we got a Eagle Scout that's working on a project to build a little small tree house so that kids can go and read inside the tree.

So I just want it to be a reflection of the community.

I want you to say, "Hey, I came out there one day and I told Cherry that I wanted this and I came back the next day and it was there."

You know what I mean?

So-- >>Absolutely.

>>What it looks like in the future, I'm excited to see.

I just want to make sure that Petersburg is growing.

>>Petersburg is growing thanks to people like you and your community.

We appreciate you.

We appreciate everything that you're doing and I hope you keep it up.

>>Appreciate it.

>>Thank you so much for having us.

>>No, thank you.

>>I've seen kids come up here, like you would think would never step out foot here, and they've learned to love it.

>>Even people who were scared of bees a while ago, it took 'em a few minutes, a little bit longer than a few minutes, but eventually, as we were all just staring, learning a little bit about bees, we got 'em to walk closer and closer, be like, "Hey, these bees are actually kind of chill."

Now it's a whole nother world that you didn't know before.

It's great to be able to see that.

>>One thing I want people to know about this place is that it's not just this place.

Like this place is more about the idea than it is the physical ground underneath us.

You are bigger than the space you have provided.

You are bigger than just what you can do.

If you can get there and do stuff with other people, you'll be able to make something bigger than you could have ever dreamed of for yourself and for others.

>>The practice of small-scale agriculture for the benefit of the local community of individuals and families in need is no small undertaking.

But to do this while empowering youth is a feat I applaud Tyrone for achieving.

>>Thank you.

>>Yeah, and now Tyrone is here to talk to us about herbal teas, infusions, fertilizers, and bouquets.

But before we begin, I wanna remind you to send in your questions through our website, vpm.org/vhg, or through Facebook.

Tyrone, alls I can say is this place smells wonderful.

(Peggy laughs) >>Thank you, thank you.

A little piece of the farm here.

>>Yes, they do.

So what do you have for us here?

>>So we brought some herbs from the farm.

We have some mint, we have some rosemary, some echinacea, some lemon balm, some sage.

Just clipped some herbs from the farm that we use for our bouquets in a bottle.

>>Oh, bouquets in a bottle.

So how do you put that together?

>>So the first thing is repurposed bottles.

>>Mm-hm, excellent.

>>You know, definitely can just repurpose that from home, from a bottle that you used at home.

We developed a relationship with a local hotel in Petersburg.

So we receive their bottles.

>>Excellent.

>>So it turns into the community, you know, being able to contribute to that.

And you start off with your bottle.

We like to recommend using rainwater.

That's the only water that we use with our plants.

It's the most nutrient dense.

So rainwater.

And then I tell the little lights that come to the farm to choose the herbs that are choosing them.

So if the echinacea is getting your attention, it's attracting you 'cause of the color, go ahead and clip you some.

>>Yeah, go ahead.

>>Take the leaves off, throw it in the rainwater, give it a little drink, and then see what else is talking to you.

So before I got here today, what was talking to me was the sage and the sweet mint.

That's probably what you smell now.

As well as a little bit of lemon balm.

>>Love lemon balm, yes, yes.

>>Yeah, yeah.

So once you clip those, you've got the leaves removed from the bottom of those, you can go ahead and place them in your bottle and you've got a bouquet in a bottle.

>>Nice and quick and easy and not complicated.

>>Super simple, yeah.

>>And it's gonna last a long time.

>>Exactly.

Yep, I tell the youth, like, the things with, like, the sage and the mint, you get them going in this rainwater, they'll start growing roots and now you can start your own plant as well.

>>Easy to propagate.

>>There you go.

>>Pretty and useful, we'll say.

>>Yeah.

>>But what else can you do with the herbs?

>>So I'm working with youth, right?

And all kids like to eat, you know, like to drink.

And we're trying to encourage them to do it in a healthy way.

So after we experience them through the smell and the sight and maybe even watching, like, the pollinators do their thing with it, we talk about how they can use it at home.

So, and the best way for that is infusions.

It could be something as simple as pulling some mint leaves off and throwing them in your bottled water or your water at home.

Or it could be making an actual tisane or a tea, right?

So grabbing two or three tablespoons of fresh herbs, boiling some water.

I tell the youth we're looking for fish eyes, not fish eggs.

So when those bubbles come in that water, you want the real big bubbles.

Once you got that, you put your herbs, your leaves, inside of your pot or inside of your cup, pour that hot water over, let it steep for at least five minutes, let it sit for at least five minutes.

The longer, the stronger.

So the longer you let it go, the stronger the infusion will be.

And then after that, you enjoy it.

>>Sounds great.

Now, here we have some dried herbs.

And so, here, I'll take the bottle, yeah, and I'll swap you that.

>>Yeah, that's actually for you.

>>Thank you.

Isn't it lovely?

So with the dried herbs, how is that different from the fresh herbs then to be able to make an infusion?

>>Good question.

So it doesn't take as much.

So with the fresh herbs, we're probably going for like two or three teaspoons to make a cup of tea, to make a batch of tea.

With the dried herbs, it's only gonna take you about a teaspoon.

>>Ah.

>>Right?

So I brought some of the fresh just to, you know, show you what they look like once you've clipped it.

And what we teach the youth to do is, you know, strip the bottom leaves off just like when you're making the bottle, the bouquet in a bottle.

And then what we do is we wrap, you know, when I first started, a shoestring.

I would wrap a shoestring around here, put a thumbtack up on the wall, hang it up.

You just wanna keep it out of direct sunlight.

Once you do that, all the energy will go to the leaves, 'cause that's what we're trying to store, the energy.

The energy will go to the leaves, they'll dry out, and before you know it, you'll have something, you'll have dried herbs.

>>Yeah, and what people don't realize is because the moisture is, of course, leaves of the plant, you have nothing but the concentrated oils that are left.

>>Exactly.

>>So you don't need as much dried as you do fresh.

>>Sure.

>>So, yes, very, very good.

Now, finally, though, we have another one that I'd like to share.

>>Yeah.

>>So we've got another little project you can use with these herbs that I think most people don't think about.

So let me swap this out with you.

>>No problem.

>>And where do you wanna start?

>>So this is our JADAM liquid fertilizer.

The way that we teach the youth to do this, we're all about regenerative agriculture.

We're all about saving money.

We're all about supporting the environment.

So when the kids come to the farm and they're talking about weeds, we tell them that there's no such thing as a weed.

Just might be something that we didn't plan on growing.

So those things that maybe we didn't plan on growing or those things that are done growing, we could use those to make liquid fertilizers.

So I grabbed some of the herbs that we weren't gonna use for the bouquet.

We've got some lettuce here, some kale here that we didn't feed to the chickens.

So if we put those in a bucket with rainwater and then we add a little bit of leaf mold, about a handful of leaf mold, and that's super simple to get.

Move some leaves out the way.

You'll see the white.

Throw it in there with that rainwater and your green material, let it sit for a week, you have a liquid fertilizer.

And every week after that, it gets stronger.

>>Excellent.

Do you just keep adding rainwater as you use it?

Do you keep adding herbs?

How do you keep perpetuating that?

>>So what you're, honestly, these things keep growing.

The weeds keep growing.

And it could be, it could be the grass that you're cutting at your grandma's house.

It could be the chickweed that you're pulling up around your grandma's garden, right?

Any green material.

So we just continue to make more fertilizer, yep.

And that one bucket, that five-gallon bucket, you're gonna cut that, you're gonna dilute it with water, so that goes a long way.

>>Oh, I can only imagine.

And all of that wonderful nutrients that are in that water as well as the microbes.

Because we need to feed our soil with microbes.

>>Exactly.

>>You know, people don't realize that our soil is alive and that it's not just dirt.

>>Exactly.

>>It's actually a living entity, and that biome is so rich.

The richer it is, the better our plants.

Better our plants, better our gardens.

>>Exactly.

It's how it should be.

>>Well, Tyrone, thank you.

>>No worries.

>>I think you've given some people ideas on what they can do with the herbs that they have in their garden, or maybe inspired them to go out and get some herbs to grow on their garden.

That would be great.

>>Yeah, yeah.

>>Alrighty.

And next, we're going to be answering more of your questions.

But first, Serome Hamlin has some tips to share for keeping aggressively growing plants in check in your garden.

(upbeat percussive music) >>Everybody has those plants in their gardens that can be, let's say, a little thuggish.

An easy way to take care of that is throughout the season, check your plants, and when it's started going into more seed production than flower, then you know it's time to cut it back.

This is a campanula here, and it can be very aggressive in the garden.

So I tend to wait until mid-season, just when you could see it's only a couple blooms on the stalk and start cutting it back.

So that's what I'm going to do today, is just go through and just start cutting things back close to the base of the plant and get rid of some of these stalks that have blooms.

Yes, you will lose some of the blooms, but you get rid of a ton of seeds that you're not gonna want coming up in your garden later.

Now, this will work with plants like this.

I also have things like Tradescantia that can be very aggressive, and it's that time to start cutting those things back too.

And now that you have this cut, you can see that it's more seed than flower.

So you can just get rid of this, put it in your compost bin, or if you're worried that it's not going to be hot enough to burn off the seeds, then just go ahead and dispose of it in the trash.

But then the next thing I need to do is you can see here I have lots of babies, so I don't want these growing around some of the plants that's in the garden.

So what I'm going to do is actually get rid of some of these.

You just take your hori hori knife or your trowel and get in there, dig up the plants, and you want to be very strategic about getting up all of the roots.

This really works too with plants that spread by rhizomes.

Go through and just dig up pieces and will really shrink the clump down.

So go out, check things like your turtleheads, your salvias, echinacea, even your daisies.

If they get too big of a clump to take up too much space, just go through and just start digging things up.

Really, don't be afraid to do some editing to your garden.

Even in the fall, you can do Coreopsis that would bloom throughout the summer, but by fall you would start having more than what you need.

And this will really help with your maintenance in your garden.

Go out, get your hands dirty, and start editing and cleaning up your garden.

>>Whether your garden feeds a community or is a small plot of land, preventing overcrowding is the easiest method to increase airflow.

Enabling air to flow between plants will reduce diseases.

So please don't hesitate to remove seed heads and thin young plants.

And now, let's get to more of your questions.

We've got quite a few here, Tyrone.

And I'm gonna start out with one that says, "What are some easy plants to get kids to start growing?"

This is from Lori in Powhatan.

>>Yeah, so I would say things that they're already eating or interested in.

So I think you heard in the video how I talked about the mint and made the analogy to the chewing gum.

So anything that can capture their attention in an area that their attention was already in.

So I would say the herbs, 'cause they appeal to the senses.

>>Yes.

Any of them fast growing?

There's another question here asking, "What are some of the fastest growing vegetables and such that kids could do?"

Instant gratification.

>>Yeah, I love the sugar snaps.

I love it.

I like them to be able to see how they vine.

It turns into an opportunity for us to have a conversation about how they can be companion planted with other taller, stronger plants.

But then when they get to taste, they can take those right off the plant and try 'em.

So I would say the peas.

>>Nothing better than that.

>>A lot of beans and stuff and lettuce, there's some quick-growing things that they'll get instant gratification from.

>>That's a good point too.

And good old radish in the spring.

>>There you go.

>>Definitely.

>>Yeah, you can't beat the radish.

>>They may not like it, but.

>>They may not like it.

>>It's a little different (Peggy and Shana laughing) when it's fresh out the ground though.

>>Well, Nancy from Sandston wants to know, "Why do you feel it's so important to teach kids about gardening?"

>>Yeah, for a few reasons.

Obviously because the youth are our future, right?

And without our future, without gardening, without growing, without farming or agriculture, we have no future, right?

So to connect those who are gonna be the leaders of our future with the necessity of the things that we need in order to grow in the future, I think is important.

I also think it's a way to connect the youth with the past, you know, with our history, with our ancestors, doing it through the land.

And then that's the third part, it's connecting 'em with the land as a practice in mindfulness, you know, introducing 'em to earthing, and introducing 'em to how what they put in their body has influence on what comes out of their body, may it be their mind, their mouth, or their actions.

So just making that connection, I feel like it prepares them or puts them in a position where they can grow in any direction that they want to after that.

>>Yeah, and I also feel that we're putting them in the garden, teaching 'em gardening, they have such an appreciation, and as they grow older, and they're starting to make decisions about the ecology, they start to, they've got that connection.

They understand how important it is for us to protect Mother Earth.

>>Yes.

>>And it's there in their heart already from when they were young.

>>And there's so many life lessons that they can learn from gardening, just simple ones from, you know, just seeing something grow and caring for it, and at the same time caring and nourishing a friendship with someone.

>>Yes, absolutely.

>>Yeah.

Yeah.

>>And some hard lessons too.

If you don't take care of it, it dies.

>>Exactly.

>>Very true.

>>Take care of what you have.

>>Yes.

>>Very true.

>>Give it what it needs.

>>Exactly.

Well, we have a question from Saunders at the east end of Richmond and they said they have raised beds and have never had so much trouble getting tomato plants to grow and they're not growing at all.

And then we replenish the beds before planting.

Do you have any ideas?

>>Yeah, one would be, since we just talked about the JADAM liquid fertilizer, and that's capital J, capital A, capital D, capital A, capital M. In that book, it says tomatoes like tomatoes.

So what that was is if you take maybe those old tomatoes, or the vines from the tomatoes that you grew the last season, you make a JADAM liquid fertilizer outta that, and then use that to fertilize the next season's tomato plants.

You know, tomatoes like tomatoes.

So I would suggest that.

If you know you got your soil down, you got your watering down, the sun is doing what it's supposed to do, then maybe it's just, it's the feed, maybe it's that nourishment that we're giving, or lack thereof.

So I would try to nourish it with what we know it likes and see what happens.

>>And I wanna add, they may wanna check the root ball.

It may be so compacted that that's why it's not growing.

So sometimes you gotta just.

They might need to pull it back a little bit, check it, and if it's still compacted, try to loosen it up a little bit.

It could just be experiencing transfer shock as well.

>>True.

>>Yeah.

And I mulch mine, I mulch all of my tomatoes, because I find, A, it helps feed the soil, it helps hold the moisture, which tomatoes need more than we realize.

But also, it creates an environment where the roots can grow far more easily, 'cause the soil is more porous.

I know they changed the soil out, I don't know what type of soil they have.

But all of these things will be able to, should solve their problem, so thank you.

We have another tomato question from Matt from Midlothian, 'tis the season.

(Shana chuckling) He was outta town for a week and returned to his tomato plants looking pretty brown.

They were just starting to sprout tomatoes.

Is there any hope of saving them?

>>All right, so what I tell the little lights, the youth that come through, we don't ever give up hope.

If we see green, then there's potential there.

So if there's any green there, maybe it means that we just need to cut back a little bit.

Those brown areas, those dead areas, cut those back.

And to make that analogy to life, when we teach it to the youth, it's we're giving our energy, our attention, to something that's not contributing to our growth.

So let's go ahead and cut that off.

That could be like a friend who's not really acting like a good friend.

Let's cut, let's focus our energy on what is providing growth for us.

So I would say the same thing with the tomato plant.

You know, try to get, remove those dead things, and then let's focus on the life that we can save.

>>Yeah, plus, I don't know about you all, but I limb my tomatoes up.

I want lots of good air underneath.

I take the bottom leaves off about this, you know, about 14 inches so that I make sure that all of those wonderful, you know, the air, the drying of the air, and such, can get to those tomato plants, and it reduces a lot of problems with my plants.

>>Oh, good to know.

>>Yeah, I'm noticing that starting to happen to one of my tomato plants, and I'm thinking, all right, stop sitting on the couch, go ahead and clip it off.

(Peggy laughing) You know, those yellow browning leaves, because the top part looks beautiful and lush.

>>Yeah.

>>You know, get to it now before it starts to affect the rest of the plant.

>>Exactly, exactly.

Pull it on up.

Well we're gonna go from tomatoes over to straight neck squash.

Anybody have grown that vertically?

Obviously Poppy on Facebook has been growing it along the ground and she wants to know about vertical growing.

>>I mean, I grow a number of things vertically, and I love it, but I've never grown that one.

I've grown butternut squash, and it's grown beautifully vertically.

>>Okay.

Do you have to weave it regularly?

>>No, I didn't.

I just went ahead and supplied like cattle panel or whatever and just skirted it up.

And every so often when certain branches choose to go where I don't want it to go, I just redirect it.

>>I grow sweet potatoes vertically, and that's a very heavy crop, so I make sure that I really anchor the panels that I use.

And I use just about anything that I can get my hand on.

And I'm actually growing cucumbers vertically this year, and just trying, again, to get it up so that I can, you know, get that air circulation, but also have the space to grow other things in my garden.

>>Yep.

>>I only do raised beds.

I only have a finite amount of space, so it's very important.

>>I'm doing cucumbers and beans that way right now.

>>Ah.

>>Nice.

>>It's a lot easier.

>>It's a lot easier to harvest, absolutely.

>>Yeah, yeah.

(Peggy and Shana laughing) >>Well folks, we're out of time.

And Tyrone, I wanna thank you for being with us this evening.

>>Thank you.

>>Thank you.

>>Thank you all.

>>Thank you.

>>And Shana, we always appreciate you being here.

It's always a pleasure having you with us and sharing your expertise.

>>Thank you.

>>And I thank you for watching.

There are several ways for you to connect with us until we're back again.

Our Facebook page is full of useful gardening information, and you can also sign up for our newsletter at vpm.org/vhg.

The team and I share extra tips and ideas for your garden there, once a month.

Saturday, June 29th, we'll be at the RVA Big Market in Bryan Park in Richmond.

Stop by and say hi, make a seed ball, and then learn about our green production practices.

And I hope to see you there.

I look forward to being with you again soon.

And until then, remember, gardening is for everyone, and we are all growing and learning together.

Happy gardening.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) >>Production funding for Virginia Homegrown is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis and Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund.

And by.

(birds chirping) (gentle folk music) (gentle folk music continues) (gentle folk music continues) (light music)