>>The idea is the grow the produce we need for the restaurant.

We have been working here like five years and growing and growing.

>>I didn't have like, "I'm gonna grow up to be a farmer" attitude.

And then when I realized that we had this resource here on the farm, I felt that I needed to come back home to the farm to build this farm back up because my ancestors put a lot of work on here to obtain the farm and maintain the farm.

So I felt like, if they could do it, I could do it.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by.

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

Today we are highlighting food production as we visit two farms that take great pride in growing quality produce.

First, Shana Williams takes us to Browntown Farms in Warfield, a fifth generation family farm committed to connecting with the community.

Their motto is Know your farmer, know your food.

Let's take a look.

>>Working with my dad is always an adventure.

He has a lot of wisdom, he has a lot of knowledge that I've learned, and picked up from, and learned every day, so I'm very fortunate and blessed to still have my dad around to be able to be, you know, the leader and the legacy provider here on the farm.

Me, I'm more innovative and more focused on the marketing, and how we're gonna go to the next level, and really, it takes both of us to make this operation work, and that's been a real key to our success.

>>He's that foundation for you, and you're that future to allow y'all to branch out and grow.

>>Exactly, exactly, and I have a one-year-old son.

I'm hoping he would love to continue it on as well.

That would make me super happy for all the hard work that we've put down >>Definitely, definitely.

>>here on the farm.

>>It started when my grandparents bought this place in 1908.

It was in June, 1908, and they purchased 348 acres of land here for $1,000.

And I think the tax on that was, like, 56 cents or something like that, so.

It's been a long time ago.

I guess it's in my blood, and I'm just so happy a lot of people come by and buy their fresh vegetables, and they know what I put on it, you know?

It's just like, you know your farmer, you know your food, you know what you're eating.

It's a big difference in the food that you raise here and the food that come from Mexico, and I'm not saying it's bad, but they have to pick it half-green in order to get it here.

>>We're walking amongst some peppers, and what are you doing with some of these peppers?

>>Yeah, so these are bell peppers here.

We'll be utilizing these and dispersing 'em to the local markets.

We sell here off of the farm, and then, we have some wholesale markets in Richmond and in the Tri-Cities that we distribute to.

And we sell products all the way, anywhere traditionally from Raleigh, to Richmond, to D.C, or even Baltimore, Maryland.

The main thing that we produce and that we're known for is strawberries.

That's our main crop.

That's our spring crop.

And in the summertime, we kinda transition into grape tomatoes, peppers, and other summer crops, and then, in the fall, we get into kinda like the greens.

Collard greens, kales, and things of that nature.

>>Wonderful.

And I see that you have some habanero peppers over there.

>>Yeah, these are habanero peppers.

We love growing habanero peppers because they really produce well.

We normally get a pretty big yield off of habanero peppers.

And the great thing about these peppers is that we utilize these in our jam line.

So, when we grow strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and all these crops, we create a value-added product, which is our strawberry and other fruit jams, and we utilize this for one of our jams, and a lot of people love that variety, that strawberry habanero variety to cook with.

>>And you've mentioned other crops as well.

So, you have your blueberries, you have your strawberries there for production, but do you also have tomatoes?

>>Yes, yes.

We grow tomatoes, we grow slicing tomatoes, and also, we do a lot of wholesale grape tomatoes.

So, we are able to ship those to our regional markets that's further away as well.

>>Okay, wonderful.

Now, please explain to me a little bit further of how are you going to really connect and expand this?

I understand that you are building a larger facility.

>>Yeah, so we just laid the foundation for our new multipurpose facility that will be constructed before the end of this year, and the goal of that facility is to allow us to move more produce, retail and wholesale.

It also will provide a place for customers to come to the farm, not only to purchase, but have a community space where we can teach people about farming, educate them, have different events and activities going on to get people acclimated with farm life.

>>And once again, know your farmer, know your food.

>>That's it.

>>Wonderful.

I see that you have a lot of open space here.

How do you plan on tapping into that space as you grow in the future?

>>Yeah, so a lot of open space we have here at the farm, it can be used to expand our operation.

So, as we grow along with our demand and our customer base, we hoping to open more land up so we can grow more produce to supply more retail customers and more wholesale customers.

Also, some of the open space that we have here on the farm, we hoping to utilize it for agritourism, so we can bring people to the farm for different activities, like camping or farm-to-table dinners, and things of that nature.

So, our goal really is to use every inch of this farm to make it useful and accessible to the public.

>>You have a beautiful facility here.

What does it mean to you to be, to have a century-old farm?

>>Oh wow, that's an amazing question.

You know, to be a Black century farm, it's very rare.

Black farmers make up 2% of the total farming population in the U.S, so for me to be in this space is very special to me, and that's one of the reasons why I invest all of my time and energy, and I'm all about all things agriculture, because I know that I'm making a difference, and I'm creating something for the future generation to see, because this very well could be lost.

I mean, it's not a lot of Black farmers, and we need the next generation to come in and continue to farm.

So, for me, it's all about legacy, but it's more importantly about showing everyone else what's possible and Black farmers do exist, because when I travel out, and I go out and I tell people I'm a farmer, and they say, "Well, you don't look like a farmer," and I ask them, I say, "Well, what is a farmer supposed to look like?"

So, it's all about changing the narrative, and giving people a realistic vision of what we're doing here in Warfield, Virginia.

So, it's very important to me to carry on that legacy and that Black farmer history, 'cause Black farmers have a lot of rich history here in Virginia and throughout the nation, so it's up to us who's still on the farm to keep it going and spread the word that we do exist.

>>As the future of this farm, as the leader here, and you've shared some of the innovative ideas, what additional things are you going to do to continue to grow this farm?

>>Being innovative in agriculture now, on this farm is critical.

I wanna grow that value-added product line.

I wanna bring people to the farm so they can have that experience.

You know, one of the examples that I use when I see kids, and I hold up a jar of jam and I say, "Hey, what is this," and they say, they're reading.

They say, "This is jam," and I said, "This is agriculture, this is farming."

And I also wanna let everybody know that you don't have to be a farmer to be a part of agriculture.

Most of the jobs and the value of that food-dollar comes from non or off-farm businesses.

So, you can be a part of agriculture in a variety of ways.

You can go to school, you can work in an industry that involves agriculture, and work that career every day of your life, and you don't necessarily have to be actually on the farm.

And we need, as farmers, we need that form of support of businesses in the future generation of leaders to lead these businesses and lead these organizations, so as farmers, we can have all of the resources that we need.

So, I definitely encourage anybody who looking to get into agriculture, if you wanna be a farmer, great.

I love it.

But if farming is not for you, I would love for everybody to look at a option, how you can support agriculture by choosing a career in the agriculture industry.

>>Yeah, and actually, like you say, you can have a business and connect with farmers such as yourself, and continue to grow it.

>>That's it.

>>But you just mentioned a lot of the hard work and stuff that this actually has to do, but it evidently fulfills you.

So, tell me some of the things that are connected to all the hard work that you put in and what it means to you.

>>Yeah.

So, you know, agriculture is a culture itself, and years ago, I fell in love with the culture.

And in short, agriculture is food, shelter, and clothing, and as we have people come here to the farm, that's how I explain agriculture in short.

Food, clothing, and shelter.

And as we move forward, that's what we wanna do here at Browntown Farms.

We wanna expose people to what agriculture is all about so they can understand, they can come here and just get a dose of nature, and just be a part of the land, so they can understand exactly where their food comes from.

>>I love it, and I wish the Browntown Farm much success.

It's great to see small farms being innovative and thriving.

Not only do they improve access to healthy, fresh foods, but they are contributors to their community, both economically and environmentally.

Next, Jen Naylor explains how she grows sesame leaves and uses them in the kitchen to make traditional Korean dishes.

(lively rattling music) >>I love having a productive garden to feed my family, share with my friends.

It is just perfect way of providing healthy nutritional food for everyone.

These are sesame leaves or perilla leaves.

Now there's so many different things that you can do with these, that you can wrap, you can pickle, you can do so many things, and it adds so much flavor to any of the dishes that you can create.

These are just packed with healthy nutrition.

When I was growing up, my grandparents used to tell me, "Eat these because these are just a superfood."

And they are.

They're absolutely wonderful, taste absolutely amazing.

Now, the sesame leaves, they do best when they're directly sowed into the ground.

The timing is around mid to late April or you can go ahead and start to seed in the greenhouse and when there are seedlings, you can go and transplant them in the garden where you want them to grow.

Now they can grow up to my height.

I'm like 5'4".

The growing season is anywhere from like June to October, beginning of October.

I look forward to harvesting them every year because it's just so tasty and it's so nutritional.

So what you do is you basically pick right at the stem.

You don't wanna go ahead and pick that are too big because they are pretty fibrous.

So what I do is I pick about medium size that are, you know, slightly smaller, and that way when you wrap, it's soft and flavorful.

I hope you'll be able to grow some sesame leaves or perilla leaves in your garden.

It doesn't take a whole lot.

You can just go ahead and put one or two plants in and you'll have plenty to harvest.

These are the sesame leaves that we harvested earlier and there are so many things you can do with the sesame leaves.

Now, there's one that I made pickles out of them.

It's made using soy sauce and vinegar and sugar.

Now, the fresh leaves, I love using these as a wrap instead of using flour tortilla or anything like that.

Now, I'm gonna make a quick sauce basically using the sea salt and black pepper and toasted sesame oil, and just let it sit there and get all happy.

So the flavor of the sesame leaf has slight anise, basil, and mint flavor.

So it's just absolutely amazing.

So I put rice on here, and you take this pork belly, beautiful Berkshire pork belly, and you dip it into the sauce and just put it on like this, and you wrap it just like a taco and be happy.

(wrap crunches) Mm.

Oh my goodness.

I hope you all get to go ahead and grow some sesame leaves in your garden and experience this just amazingness.

Delicious.

Tasty, nutritious produce for the kitchen are some of gardening best rewards.

I visited La Milpa restaurant in Richmond where owners Martin Gonzalez and Monica Chavez grow fresh ingredients at their nearby farm to use in their authentic Mexican cuisine.

Let's go see how they do this.

>>Monica, this is an absolutely amazing what I'll call mini farm here, for the restaurant.

And you've got so much growing, you know, I see tomatoes, but I also see tomatillos.

>>Yes, we use a lot of tomatillo at the restaurant.

We use for the salsas and it gives a really good flavor.

The funny things with this one is that the peel grows first and then the fruit.

So you can see the fruit growing- >>on the inside.

>>Yeah.

>>Interesting.

>>And then they will be this size and then this is really healthy fruit and we can use like just fried, like the Southern style and we use for salsa and to make these like acidics flavor, really characteristic of the green tomatillo.

So it is colorful in the plate.

So we like very much the green tomatillo.

>>Fantastic.

And then you have tomatoes, you've got two different types.

You've got your plums and your rounds and what are your different uses for those?

>>Yes.

The round tomato is perfect for take it raw.

And you can slice just for the sandwiches, for the salad.

So just take a- >>Yes.

Good old bite out of it.

>>Exactly right.

(both laugh) >>And the plum tomato is perfect for sauces.

The flavor is more sweet.

And so for the sauces it's just perfect.

>>I like 'em myself too.

I do.

And I see what else you have here.

You've got some cucumbers growing.

>>And zucchinis.

>>Yeah.

And I see the zucchinis got munched a little.

>>Yeah, the zucchinis.

We have, I think a groundhog as a neighbor and they love the zucchinis, so we put this fence wire to put it over there, the bed.

And that could be a good idea.

>>Yes.

Well hopefully that will work.

>>Yes, yes.

That is working.

>>But not many people know you can grow cucumbers and zucchini in a partial shade area.

>>Yes.

Actually this is the first thing we harvest in 1st of June, late of May, is the first thing we collect.

>>But the logs, the logs line everything.

I think that's a great idea.

What prompted that?

>>Yes.

We have the fallen trees over the woods and we bring here to make a bed so we can control the soil.

And for us it has been a real change to have the control of the soil and not directly in the ground.

We prepare the soil, the soil is more loose to help the roots to grow.

And the soil, We have soil from the woods.

>>Yeah, it's beautiful.

>>So it's really rich.

>>Very rich.

I noticed some peppers over here.

Let's come on over and take a look at these.

I'm amazed with all of these peppers and they're growing underneath basically a shade house.

So tell me about that.

>>Yes, we talked about the collecting the rainwater.

So we think it is really important to don't have the the county water for the plants.

Because these plants we grow is with free of chemicals.

>>So it's totally organic.

>>Totally organic.

I understand we don't have that certificate, but actually yeah, it is free of chemicals.

The soil we bring from the woods and we don't use any kind of fertilizer or thing like that.

>>Everything is natural because, I'll say the produce leftover from the restaurant you bring back and put into your soil as well.

>>Yes.

We make a compost with that.

Back in the woods we dug a big hole and put the the peels and mix with the soil and that's it, we bring here.

(laughs) >>That's fantastic.

And you grow very, very beautiful peppers.

>>Yes, yes.

Actually, yeah.

We have a habanero is the spiciest one.

Serrano and jalapeno and yes, habanero grows here until late October.

Very, very good.

And the jalapenos like this size and with the shelter we collect the water over there and take the water to the tank.

And then with the sprinklers and we put the water.

>>So you're able to irrigate everything here?

Using the rainwater that you collect.

>>Yes.

>>That's fantastic.

So many of us need to start using our rainwater and our other resources.

>>Yes, yes.

Its free!

>>But besides the peppers, what else are you growing?

>>In this side we have the peppers.

Over there we have the bell pepper there and we have the green tomatillo, the tomato, the idea is to grow the produce we need for the restaurant.

>>Right.

>>The flavor is so amazing.

It's so different to eat something that was never in the fridge.

>>Yes.

>>It's really different.

>>My favorite is corn, though.

I love eating field grown corn, you know?

Out in the garden grown corn.

So do you grow any here?

>>For us is the first time we grow corn.

Amazingly, but is the first time.

And this seed, we are really excited because we're given for a Cherokee chief that came here to bless the land.

So they give us their seeds.

>>Oh wonderful.

>>Yeah.

It's real corn.

So we are really, really expecting to take that.

>>Great flavorful, yummy corn.

>>That's exactly right.

And for us, the restaurant, the name of the restaurant La Milpa is cornfield, is the meaning of that.

>>Oh, I was wondering what La Milpa meant.

>>For us, the cornfield is really important in Mexico because it's a source of everything.

And in the corn fields we grow zucchinis and beans.

So you have all the nutrients in one place.

So that's the thing we make there.

We put the corn, the zucchini, and the beans.

And everything is growing perfect.

>>Excellent.

You know there's nothing like plants helping each other to grow.

>>Exactly right, yes.

>>I try to follow that myself.

>>Yes.

It's excellent that.

And you can eat as well at the restaurant.

You can eat the pupusa, it's a Salvadorian dish and it has the corn with the beans.

And you can put the zucchini and dice it and it's delicious.

With tomato salsa that is not spicy at all, with bell pepper.

It's really yummy.

>>You're getting me hungry.

(both laugh) With all this talk about food.

Surely there's cilantro growing here somewhere.

>>Yes, Martin has this crazy idea to place here greenhouse where we can make this ancient technique that we use in Mexico.

It calls chinampas and the idea is to put like layers and we put water underneath.

Then we put a basket with hay and the soil and then the seed, so the seed can take the water for underneath.

>>That's fantastic.

It's got an endless water supply.

>>Exactly right.

>>Yes.

>>Yes, yes.

>>Are you able to grow the cilantro through our hot summer here with this technique?

>>Yes, it takes a little slower to grow, but for winter it's perfect.

>>I bet it is perfect.

>>Yes, so we have cilantro all all year round and we need a lot of cilantro.

>>I was gonna say.

(both laugh) Which leads me to the question how do you judge how much to grow for the restaurant?

What do you use as guides to say we need 40 plants or 100 plants of x, y, z vegetable?

>>It's has been like trying and error.

So we already have the right amount.

With the tomato, you don't know.

This years has been amazing the amount of tomatoes we have.

So Martin likes to canning, so we can the tomato with the juice at the moment.

So he makes the sauce primer at first and then canning.

And that's great.

>>So he is able to use it in the winter time too.

>>Yes, yes.

>>Absolutely wonderful.

Well, Monica, thank you so much for having us.

This has been an amazing experience for me to learn techniques that you've brought in and introduced to this farm here in Richmond, you know, from Mexico.

I thank you so much for sharing it with us.

>>Well thank you too for being here Peggy.

I was so impressed by the ancient floating gardens method used by La Milpa for the cilantro.

I applaud their commitment to sustainable agriculture and food ways.

Next, Amyrose Foll explains the benefits of garden fencing.

It can deter pests while providing space for vertical growing.

(playful music) >>Your harvest is one of the most enjoyable aspects of your summer garden, especially if you have a produce garden.

If you have a small space or you just wanna maximize your square footage, vertical gardening and planting up a fence is a really great way to do that.

Right here we have, these are Sunset runner beans.

They're a pole variety bean.

They're beautiful.

The bees love them.

We have a lot of mason bees and native pollinators, or this bumblebee right here.

And what we do along our fence lines is actually plant all of our pole beans, cucumbers, squash, and gourds all around the side so they can grow up and create a nice hedgerow around our garden.

And then that way we can maximize what's inside the garden with more upright varieties, such as okra, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants.

We do this to really save space.

They love to climb and grow, and you can get a lot more bang for your buck throughout the course of the season and maximize your space inside your garden.

You can see here the flowers will naturally find their way up, and it's really an enjoyable thing to look at throughout the course of the season, once this starts to grow all the way around and create a little bit of a shade barrier and a little hedge around your garden.

It's really beautiful and it's very productive.

It's gonna give you tons and tons of beans and cucumbers.

It gets those cucumbers up off the ground, which is fantastic, and it also has an added benefit.

This is pest deterrent as well.

Towards the bottom of the fence, we have much smaller wire openings.

That's gonna keep out your rabbits and your squirrels.

Towards the top, it's a little bit more open.

I think these are four by four squares.

This is gonna deter the deer a little bit, but to keep them out a little bit more, we've got wire up here.

It's not just for the beans.

The deer can jump pretty high, and if they're just coming up to browse at your garden, they'll actually be deterred by this or get startled by it.

It works wonders.

I've been doing it for several years.

If you're willing to share a little bit from the outside and let them browse out here, they won't cause as much destruction inside your garden.

When you get to the end of the season, another added benefit from having beans that are pole varieties along your fencing is that when you're coming to clean this up, all you need to do, don't pull those beans out by the roots, just clip them off at the bottoms.

And you can actually pull all of those vines right out so it's all clean for next year.

Let the bean roots break down naturally over the course of the wintertime, because what's going to happen is when those roots break down, there's nodes on there that throughout the season have gathered nitrogen, atmospheric nitrogen.

It's going to break down naturally, and through the mycorrhizal network, it will make that nitrogen bioavailable to your subsequent years' plants.

So I would suggest planting a variety like squash or cucumbers, where the beans were the previous year, and rotating your varieties around so that you get multiple seasons out of this.

And it naturally enhances your soil quality.

Without having to spend a lot of money on amendments.

So I encourage you to try vertical gardening.

Its really easy to do.

And you actually get a ton of benefits.

Including more produce.

Good luck!

We have learned a lot about growing food plants today.

I hope it has given you some ideas to try at home.

Enjoying dishes made from your own produce is self empowering.

While food products purchased from a farmer we've come to know connects us as a community.

See you soon.

And until then, remember gardening is for everyone.

We are all growing and learning together.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by.

(birds chirping) (upbeat music) (upbeat tone)