>>We've heard Wood Thrush, Acadian flycatcher.

You're hearing interior forest birds that are telling you that this is good habitat, because they wouldn't be here otherwise.

(birds chirping) >>Whoo, look at that dude.

Alright buddy, let's find the more potatoes in here.

>>This becomes more of an experience than the teacher telling you to work on your math homework.

You may be learning still, but it's not the same type of demand.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by- (birds chirping) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) >>Welcome to "Virginia Home Grown."

We are in the height of summer, and our plants are enjoying this unusual weather as much as we are.

Today, we are exploring the benefits of time spent outside, how being in the garden or in nature can improve our health and mental wellbeing.

Before we get started, I wanna remind you to send in your gardening questions on our website at vpm.org/vhg.

We always enjoy hearing from you.

A little later, we will visit St. Joseph's Villa here in Richmond to learn how their gardening program gives students with special needs a place to de-stress, learn about nature and gain life skills.

But first, I met with restoration ecologist, Charles Smith, in Spotsylvania, to visit an old growth forest and talk about how natural processes, including native plants and animals, not only heal ecosystems, but also create health benefits for us.

Let's get going.

>>It's just so relaxing to be in these woods.

It just makes me feel so much better.

So tell me about this lovely forest we're standing in.

>>Well, this is a little bit older piece of woods.

I think that's the key, is that the quality of a resource, a natural area, has a lot to do with how long it's been left alone.

The more disturbance, the lower the quality of the resource.

So this one is an older piece of woods.

Definitely the soils are greater than 80 to 100 years or so old, well, since people have done any real disturbing activity.

>>You know, when most people think of a forest, they just think of the trees and the understory plants.

But there's so much more to a forest than that.

>>Yes, it is diversity in not only the types of species, but how they interact with one another, how they're kind of arranged on the landscape.

They layer above ground and they actually layer below ground.

It's that soil profile that's actually one of the most important parts for forest health, or almost any good ecosystem.

You cannot replace a healthy forest soil in a human lifetime.

Not only do plants share the soil profile, they actually feed the soil profile.

They pump their sugars, what are called root exudates, actually feeds the soil, and it feeds all the organisms in return.

They get the benefits of nutrients they couldn't otherwise get from bacteria and fungus.

So it's really this incredible interaction above and below ground.

>>That's amazing.

The two are just symbiotic.

>>And the irony is the smell of good dirt is a geosmin.

It actually comes from bacteria.

>>Oh, really?

>>And so when you smell dirt has that really rich smell, that's just lots of bacteria.

>>Oh, that's cool.

>>Yeah, that's usually in highly organic soil.

>>Mm-hm.

So when I walk into a, I'll say a dense woodland, a healthy woodland area, there is a smell, there's a fragrance to it.

Where does that come from?

>>Well, the plants are releasing compounds, and there are volatile organic compounds.

And there's really good studies have been done in the last 10 years that show the definitive benefits of being in a healthy natural system.

Almost anything outside can be beneficial to you.

It's understood that gardening is very beneficial to you.

But the richer and the healthier the ecosystem, the more it provides those benefits to you.

And they think it's several different things.

One is psychological, that there's the concept of biophilia, that we evolved here and that that is something that we naturally gravitate towards is healthy land systems.

But in addition, they produce chemicals that we're breathing that are actually helping our autoimmune system and they're just overall beneficial for our mental and physical health.

>>How large of an area of forested land is needed to really help benefit not only the ecosystem, but also us as humans?

>>It can be small, and right now, I mean, we're standing in a woods that's on a property that's not very big.

We're near a major road.

There is a materials business close by, so you hear dump trucks during the day.

But the bottom line is because you've got all the habitat pieces, the wildlife's happy here.

So it's functioning.

It's got some buffers that are depleted, but that landscape mosaic is often what you're looking for.

It's different pieces of habitat across the landscape complementing one another, but it doesn't have to be that big.

And I worked in park systems for years and there are postage stamps parks and little community areas that are relatively good quality that can provide a lot of good benefit.

Now of course, the bigger it is, usually the better it is in terms of the overall species diversity and abundance as well as all the ecosystem functions.

But it doesn't have to be that big.

>>My husband and I, we go to the mountains regularly to get our forest fix.

So what other places could we go to to get those benefits that just make us feel so much better?

>>It doesn't just have to be a forest for benefits.

It can be an area near water, which is the reason why people love the beach so much.

It can be meadow areas.

It can be high mountain areas.

It can be deserts.

It just has to have all the components.

It's the less disturbed systems that have the better benefits for us.

We've altered 77% of the habitable Earth.

So it's those few fragments with healthy soil profiles that have the greatest biodiversity, both in what's living under the ground and above the ground.

It's all those pieces working together that, again, produce more compounds and greater benefits for us as well as overall ecosystem benefits.

Healthy systems, you should see leaves.

You shouldn't see green all over the ground, unless maybe you're in a low area with a fern stand.

You know, but other than that, you should not see green everywhere.

You should see layers.

Those layers shouldn't be green in the winter, except unless they're may be something like a mountain laurel.

>>Or a bayberry.

>>Or bayberry, something that's an evergreen.

But the vast majority of vegetation should defoliate in the winter.

And then of course, the other thing, I mentioned deer.

Deer vacuum our forests clean.

>>Oh, gosh yes.

>>So where they're massively overabundant, they lower biodiversity.

And the other thing to remember, I think one of the common denominators people love, butterflies and birds.

Well, butterflies, a significant percentage, spend three stages of their lifecycle in the forest.

They eat tree leaves, then they go into pupal stage in the leaves in the ground, and then they emerge, of course, as an adult.

But only then do they go to your garden or a butterfly, you know, habitat that you see with wildflowers.

Similarly with birds, this time of year, they are feeding their young caterpillars.

And so you have to have a healthy forest in order to have native birds and it's critical because there can be over a million caterpillars eaten in a square mile per day of forest by birds raising their young.

It's amazing.

>>And it's so important, we as a community need to focus on increasing the number of native plants in our landscapes.

>>Yeah, native plant biomass is critical.

It's that ability of insects to eat the native plants.

It's not just providing nectar from a flower.

It's actually eating the plant itself, feeding off the roots, feeding off the stems, feeding off the leaves.

It's those co-evolved relationships between insects.

Non-natives are not problematic in the sense that it's wonderful to have beautiful plants you enjoy.

It's when they are too much of the landscape and/or they're invasive and they start to take over and crowd everything else.

>>Exactly.

>>Yeah, it's that lack of native plant biomass that we're really struggling with right now.

>>And I think people need to realize too, not having perfect plants.

We're allowed to have plants with holes in them.

>>Yes.

>>We're allowed to have plants be eaten.

And I think some people don't realize that even for trees, when it gets to late summer, early autumn, yes, those leaves need to be eaten by the insects so that they can continue with their lifecycles and the tree is done, I'll say done its thing for the tree and it has a natural cycle within itself to be able to preserve and conserve its resources for the winter, knowing that the leaves now are going to be used for insect food so that it's that circle of life, shall we say?

>>Well, the irony is that a healthy forest, when you're walking through it, you don't realize there are millions of caterpillars eating that forest every second of the growing season, but they're not harming it because, again, they co-evolved.

It's that balance, because there's tons of predators eating those insects also.

So again, that interrelationship co-evolved over millions and tens of millions of years is really the key.

>>And I think we can get it back.

It's not going to happen overnight.

But I think if we can start changing our thinking and think and understand the relationship of our landscapes to our natural forests, then I think we can do it.

>>I've worked a lot with Audubon Society, and they're really big on promoting backyard habitat and certified landscapes.

And one of the things I think that's really good is say to people just plant a mailbox garden, 10 by 10, 5 by 8.

>>Start somewhere.

>>Whatever it is, just start.

Get some native plants in there.

Get some funky ones in there.

Oh, the other thing, of course, is multiple lifecycle stages.

So you've got most of our bees, 70% of our bees nest in the ground.

They've got to have leaf litter.

They've got to have woody debris.

They don't go into a place that you would assume is like where they go.

They actually nest in the ground.

So having that just good soil profile is critical for the most important pollinator, which is bees.

>>Yes, and not our European honeybee, but our native bees.

>>Yeah, our 4,000 species of native bees, wasps, and others.

>>Here in the United States.

Yes, yes.

>>Yeah.

>>We all can play a part in reconnecting things.

And I really thank you for explaining it to us.

>>Absolutely, I really appreciate it because I know that it takes a lot of us to make a difference.

Although, each one of us can do something, and of course, we get direct benefits from all that we do individually and collectively.

>>Absolutely.

>>A walk in the woods will never be the same for me.

While inhaling that calming fragrance of the woods, I'll be looking about, trying to discern the health of the stand I'm walking through.

You know, there's always more to learn, and Charles is here with me right now to talk more about some of the native plants found in a healthy forest.

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

Well Charles, you've really brought in some unique plants here, and I know plants are such an important and integral part of health, be it for the forest, but also for us, so, you know, tell us about these.

>>Sure, well, I think it's wonderful.

We have in Virginia over 2,400 native plants.

>>Oh wow.

>>And you've got a native plant for every occasion, essentially.

>>(laughing) Yes.

>>So these are in the mint family, and I think the key to kinda emphasize is that you've got great variety.

You've got this bristly hedgenettle that is unique, and it can get big, and fill in a space, The humble wild basil, which is just a simple plant, but can bring in a lot of insects to it.

And then this one is one of your champions of late summer.

It's one of your mountain mints, pycnanthemum.

>>Oh yes.

>>And they're incredible for bringing, and they bloom for about two months.

>>They're like pollinator magnets.

>>Yeah, so really getting to know your mints, and it's an opportunity not only to improve your health, or your gardening, but also to bring that wildlife in, which greatly improves your own experience.

>>Yes, yes.

>>And then of course we've got one of our big biggest families, which are the composites, and they- >>Which are the daisy-type plants.

>>Exactly.

>>It's the best way to describe them.

>>Yeah, disc flowers usually, and ray flowers.

And you've got asters, which can grow in many situations.

This one can grow in drier soils and woodlands.

You've got ones that will grow on outcrop slopes, like this one is a rattlesnake plantain, or rattlesnake weed, and then other asters from the woodlands.

>>Right.

>>This one I think is particularly interesting.

This is blue-stemmed aster, I mean, excuse me, goldenrod.

And it grows in the woodlands, and it's tough as nails.

>>You know, I've grown that in my garden, and I've given it too much sun.

>>Yes.

>>And I've got em, you know, I've tried it again and I've put it into more shade, and it's done great with good success.

And I think everybody needs to realize, a lot of these aren't full sun plants, that they're dapple shade, part shade.

So that shade gardener's going, "Yay, they're giving me plants I can grow."

(laughing) >>Absolutely, and almost everything on this particular is table right now is shade tolerant, and actually prefer shade.

>>And the other thing is people think asters, they think fall.

>>Yeah, but we also have those big showy ones like, the black-eyed Susans, which- >>Ah, here's a beautiful composite, yes.

>>And everybody enjoys a black-eyed Susan.

So they're just a wonderful species.

Of course, the yellow here, and there's a number of these particular ones, the rudbeckias, they're really incredible plants.

And then we have, along with it, of course, we have one of our rose family members, a blackberry.

And of course wonderful food and flower.

And of course we have along with it, kinda the humble strawberry.

So our fragaria, which is the same species that all the commercial strawberries are grown from.

But this one I pulled out of the edge of my wood line, and I stuck it in the garden, and it exploded.

There's hundreds of 'em now.

>>Yes, and you know, the berries are a little bit more seeded, but they're still tasty.

>>Oh, they're very, yeah, very much so.

>>Very, very tasty.

>>Yeah.

>>And I don't know, I'm a person walking through the woods growing up, you know, blackberries and raspberries were our lunch sometimes, 'cause we didn't wanna go home.

>>Yes.

>>And just to sustain us- >>I've been there too.

>>You know?

(laughing) >>Absolutely.

>>Yeah, but you've got this purple leaf giant here?

>>Yes, so it is, the species is our native red bud, cercis canadensis, but unfortunately this is a cultivar that has a leaf color change.

>>Yes, yes.

>>Which means that native insects can't eat it.

So it's problematic from a a wildlife perspective.

>>They get confused.

>>Yeah, absolutely.

>>You know, we've got all these cultivars that are out into our nurseries, and you know, trying to take our native plants, and you know, change them slightly to make 'em a little more ornamental, trying to appeal 'em to the masses.

And they're finding through research that actually changing the color of the leaf confuses our native pollinators.

So this is a perfect example where, you know, you're trying to do a good deed, but it doesn't hit the mark all the way.

>>Right, so ecologically for, you know, for wildlife, it's not good to have that.

But also that means it could be diminished benefits for humans, just because you're not gonna have those species coming into your yard as a result of that.

And some of the other species we brought in here include, in this case I wanted to talk a little bit about good old oaks.

Our oaks are so important, they're the backbone of most eastern forests.

The insects eat those leaves.

They're critical for a central part of raising bird young, for caterpillars.

But these two particular were actually planted by blue jays.

>>Oh, really?

>>So the number one disperser of oak trees are blue jays.

>>Really?

>>Yeah, small seeded.

And then this other is actually quite interesting.

These were native persimmon, and these were actually, I harvested the seeds out of coyotes scat.

>>(laughing) Oh, fun.

>>And coyotes are a disperser of persimmons.

And it blessed me in my side yard with giving me some scat.

And as a result, I've got my own persimmons, which I'll grow and eat later on, eat it myself.

>>Well, I was gonna say, he's got very good taste for those persimmons (laughing).

>>Yeah, absolutely.

>>Well, we don't think about, you know, how seeds are dispersed, and we need to recognize that it's not just the wind blowing things around.

>>Yes, gut scarification.

>>Yes, scarification, in addition to stratification.

>>Yeah.

>>Well let's talk about two woody plants.

We've got just a minute left.

>>Okay, so cornus amomums, we're familiar with our flowering dogwood.

And the flowering dogwood has a cousin, another cornus species, this is found throughout most of Virginia.

This is silky dogwood.

And its flower is white, although they're very small, there's a whole bunch of 'em in a disc.

And it's a wonderful plant.

It prefers wet areas, but also grow in dryer soils.

It can grow in almost full shade, but also grow in full sun.

Extremely versatile and tough.

And it's cainy, you can cut it and it'll actually do fine.

>>This is a workhouse of the garden.

>>It is, and then right next to it are two others, in this one pot, we've got two of our native viburnums, dentatum, which is southern arrowwood.

So dentate leaves, like teeth.

And then the other is maple leaf viburnum.

And I do wanna emphasize that, you know, we have a tremendous number of non-native species that can be problematic.

There are a lot of invasive ornamental viburnums.

So I really encourage folks, these are wonderful natives that can fill your garden space, give you great benefit, and provide great wildlife benefits.

>>Yeah, well I think, Charles, that you've shown us some really good diversity here, and plants that we're really not familiar with.

And I thank you so much for coming in and sharing them with us.

>>Absolutely.

>>Mhm, and now we're going to get ready to answer your questions, but first, Serome Hamlin shares tips for using a flower you may grow in your garden, in ways that appeal to senses beyond sight.

(upbeat music) (water gurgles) >>The magic of a garden is one that can stimulate all of the senses.

Just imagine the smell of a magnolia on a warm spring evening, hearing the birds or the sound of water in your garden as you're working in your beds and the taste of a fresh summer tomato.

And of course, everyone enjoys that.

Today I'm going to be talking about lavender and preserving that for the smell and the taste.

All you need to do is get a bundle of lavender, which I have already done.

Try to get it first thing in the morning when everything is just nice and fresh.

Bundle it up into a small bundle.

Give this a quick tie.

Takes about two weeks.

Hang it upside down, preferably in a dark place.

That way the sun or other light won't bleach the color and it will hold its color much better.

Now another thing that you can do, and I love doing, especially in the summer, 'cause everybody love their lemonade, but making a lavender lemonade is very easy and all you have to do is make a simple lavender syrup.

So I have two cups of sugar here.

You take your lavender And we're going to just pull off the blooms directly into the sugar.

(lavender ripping) If only you could smell this right now.

I think that's going to be enough.

And what you want to do is just really get in there and mash the lavender up into the sugar.

Okay, next step, water.

And since I used two cups of sugar, I'm going to use four cups of boiling water to dissolve the sugar and take up all of the essence of the lavender.

(spoon rattling) You want to keep stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved.

And then what you want to do is just let the lavender and sugar mixture set for at least a half hour up to maybe a few hours just to give that lavender time to infuse into the sugar mixture.

I have some right here that's already made.

I've already pre-made the lemonade, (lemonade gurgling) that in, and then just give that a swirl.

So I hope everyone would give this a try and I hope that everyone would get out there and feel the magic of your garden and enjoy the season.

(Serome sipping) I wish I could share this with you.

>>Now Serome joins us to help answer your gardening questions.

Welcome, Serome.

>>Thank you.

>>Other members of our team are on Facebook right now answering questions as well.

So please connect with us there or visit our website at vpm.org/vhg.

And while you're there, remember to sign up for our monthly newsletter.

You will get timely gardening advice from the team and me and reminders about upcoming episodes.

So it's a good thing to sign up.

All righty, we've got some great questions today.

>>Yes, some questions are definitely rolling in.

So here's one I'm gonna throw out.

Regenerative agriculture is great for soil health, but can it play a role in restoring healthy ecosystems?

>>So regenerative agriculture I think is a really important step towards sequestering carbon, helping climate change, healthier food, it lowers the resource inputs, all fertilizer needs.

And it also can reduce the need for pesticides because it increases diversity overall, so you can lower your overall impacts on your crops.

It is very good for soil health.

It will reduce water inputs, good for the environment.

They are working on ways for regenerative agriculture to include native species more and more.

There's some pilot programs here in Virginia.

Bee-Friendly Beef is one of them where they're actually incorporating native plants into pasture land so that they were mixing livestock in and they're no-till.

And it's actually a way to increase biodiversity within those same spaces.

So it's not primarily focused on biodiversity, but it can help a lot on building soils, reducing resource inputs, healthier food, lower pesticides, and starting to sprinkle back in native species within those landscapes.

>>That's an awesome program, I love it.

>>Yeah, that's great.

>>It's starting to blur that edge.

>>Absolutely.

>>Just more resources like that that we need to get more public so that it's more aware out.

Now here's one, anybody's thoughts on collecting seeds, native seeds in the wild?

>>So seeds are one thing, but really caution against taking plants from the wild.

And that also includes foraging.

It's often popular, but they're not often keyed in on what the impact is of a lot of people going out and removing things from the wild spaces.

So I would suggest not collecting plants from the wild, seeds are fine, but don't take too many.

And there you can certainly propagate from seed in a limited number and get them going in your own space.

And there's some great suppliers out there.

More and more people are carrying native plants and they're more available.

So I think it's really good to patronize those responsible growers who are really trying to get those out so people can use them and have them in their spaces.

>>And people that really want more native plants go to your nurseries and say "hey, can you start carrying this?

I am looking for that."

And really just getting the word out and more and more people will start carrying it if they know that there's a demand for it.

>>Exactly, plus, as I always say, the Native Plant Society on their website lists the nurseries in Virginia.

So you can find a nursery in your community that is selling seed or is selling the plants.

>>Yes, and I'm a member of Native Plant Society and some of the plants we brought today were from Earth Sangha, which is a local nonprofit in Northern Virginia that propagates from seed.

So there are an increasing number of nurseries that are trying to do so.

>>Awesome.

That's really nice to know.

Especially since the demand for native plants are really starting to get big now, which is definitely a good thing.

>>Which is good.

>>All right.

Helpful to cut back understory plants in a forest.

>>Only invasive species.

So do not remove your understory.

I think it's one of the saddest things you see is when people, the deer are already vacuuming out our native species.

So in most forest stands you already have a denuded understory, which is problematic.

And you think about all of those animals who require those layers within the forest, all the different plant species that are removed.

And you remember that's the future of the forest, it has to regenerate.

So you need every layer.

And so the answer I would suggest is do not remove them, let them really encourage your local native plants in that system.

>>Yeah, don't make our forests pristine.

>>Nature has its own way of taking care of things.

>>Exactly.

Let it be.

>>Let's see if I can pull out another one.

Poison ivy.

What is the best way to prevent the spread of poison ivy in a lawn without using harmful herbicides?

>>Well interestingly enough, I mean, poison ivy is often an indicator of disturbance.

So it's disturbed edge is it's preference.

So I have it in my yard too.

I think it's one of those things, I would just encourage you to pull it obviously using gloves, cover your arms, but you can pull it effectively, remove the roots is the key, is getting the roots out and just over time you can reduce the prevalence and putting back in other native species that can fill the same space so there's more competition and that will help reduce the overall abundance of poison ivy.

>>Yeah.

Poison ivy loves to germinate in bare soil.

>>I think it just loves to germinate anywhere.

But always remember you gotta be very, very careful.

>>Yes, yes.

Well I use the bag method, I use one of those grocery store bags, I put it on my hand with my hand in the bag, I grab the poison ivy, and as I pull it, I push the bag across.

So now it's all contained in the bag.

And of course I have gloves on and long sleeves too, but that's one way for people to be able to manage their poison ivy.

>>Yep.

Just put it in the bag, roll it up.

>>Roll it up and get rid of it.

>>Exactly.

And catch it when it's small.

Don't wait until it starts climbing trees.

>>And that'll be a whole nother-- >>We'll have another discussion on that.

>>Someone is harvesting wine berries this week.

They know that they're not native, but how can we contain their tendency to spread rapidly?

>>Well I always say when you have an invasive species like wineberry that actually tastes quite good, eat all of them you can to prevent the birds from eating them so they won't be spread as much, but it's good to be aware.

It's wonderful if people are aware these are invasive species.

So reducing them when they can, controlling them, reducing the number and abundance.

But certainly if the berries are there, eat them because otherwise the birds will eat them and spread them around.

>>Here's a good one.

Carol from Ashland has asked what is a good first step making sure that the forest area becomes and stay healthy long-term?

Is there anything you should avoid doing?

>>Yeah, you wanna minimize ground disturbance over time.

And that's one of the biggest problems with our native ecosystems is when the ground is disturbed and the soil profiles are disturbed, you lose a lot of the integrity of the system.

So over time you wanna build up leaf litter, you wanna leave that woody debris in place, get more native plants back in that system.

They work together, their roots share space and they actually, having that diversity in the system builds that soil and it really builds the health of the system over time.

>>And I love the way you talked about how everything coexists and feed off of each other in order to make their little ecosystem survive and work.

>>Absolutely.

>>Yes, it's all interconnected.

We have seconds, do we have a real quick one?

>>Put me on the spot.

>>I am.

>>Here's a quick peach tree.

What is the most organic way of combating peachtree borers?

>>Oh my, no, that's a long answer.

I will get back to that one.

First thing is don't grow them in Richmond, Virginia.

Well that's all the time we have right now, Serome.

But we will look forward to answering more questions later in the show.

So please keep them coming.

And Charles, I wanna thank you for being with us tonight and for teaching us about healthy forests and the relationship we have with them, which improves our wellbeing.

>>Yeah, my pleasure.

Thank you.

>>And now Shana Williams takes us to St. Joseph's Villa in Richmond to learn how gardening benefits students with specialized education needs.

(wind chimes ringing) (birds chirping) >>Alright, Xavier, you can put them in the bucket, buddy.

Nice.

Alright, let's set those down.

Alright, buddy, let's find more potatoes in here.

There you go.

Nice!

Good job, man.

Alright, let's look and pick some more, man.

In the general public school system, there's just a box and everyone has to fit in that box, and a lot of the students here at the Villa don't necessarily fit in that box.

And so we're trying to do it in a different way, right, and that requires a lot of patience, it requires a lot of empathy.

I think that's the most important piece.

Nice!

>>That kiwi tunnel produces a hairless kiwi.

>>Okay.

>>And basically, it takes us all year to October and we eventually in October will get the sweetest kiwi you'll taste.

>>Oh, wow.

>>If you actually step in the tunnel, it's about 10 degrees cooler inside that tunnel.

It's a shelter space.

It's a shadow space.

It's more of a therapeutic space for them to engage and get a respite from the sounds around, they get a respite from the people who are around them.

They just need that escape for a moment, and that tunnel kind of can kind of serve as that escape point for them.

>>You have a beautiful space here at St. Joseph Villa and this garden got started a number of years ago.

Will you please share with me the history of this location?

>>At one point, what we're standing on, it was a sand volleyball court and a bunch of clay with construction vehicles parked on it.

We looked at this space and we said, "What can we do here that could benefit our students?"

So about 10 years ago, we took the whole entire area, leveled it, and literally built up from the dirt up what we have today on campus here, and basically it became a learning therapy and production space for our students on campus.

>>Wonderful.

And I'm seeing that the students have so many different things to engage.

You mentioned to me earlier about a production part of your garden.

Can you expand on that for me?

>>So everything you see here in our garden beds, the kids have had one opportunity to plant, water, or just just weed around the plants that you see here.

But after we're done getting them to grow up a little bit, we might use this stuff in our various activities, either through our cooking classes or through science classes.

Everything you see here can be used in one way, shape, or form in whatever space we have on our campus for our students.

>>That has to be exciting for the students to see things grown up; they've planted it from seed and then they grew it up and then they get the chance to actually utilize it.

I understand too that you mentioned that you provide these to families that have need?

>>Yeah.

We actually can harvest our spinach, our lettuce, anything that's in here, and send it home with the families with their grocery bag every week.

>>Oh, that's fantastic.

But what other things do the kids can connect with, touch, feel, taste?

>>So as you walk up from the northern side of the garden, you actually walk through a production space.

In those spaces, you have vegetables, you have some fruit trees up that end of it.

When they walk through in the morning, they come out of the buildings, they can actually grab the fruit off the tree; and if we have a pear, they can eat that pear after they wash it off.

And we have like tomatoes, cherry tomatoes up the end of the garden, and some of the students when we have those cherry tomatoes, they'll actually eat multiple tomatoes in one sitting, >>Wonderful!

>>and it's just a really cool experience for them to try something new, try something different.

So we can actually have them do that here on our campus.

>>Cheers.

>>Cheers!

>>What it taste like?

They don't even got no flavor for real.

>>You gotta eat the whole thing.

>>The whole thing?

>>Because the flavor I've found is in the stem and like the bottom.

It's like sweet.

How was it, Iker?

>>Flower.

>>It's good?

(laughs) >>Yeah.

>>One of the big tenets of the Villa is just to meet our clients and our students where they are and we do that in the garden as well.

So varying levels of difficulty in terms of one step, two step, three step directions.

Some of our students are actually hand-over-hand watering.

Do the best thing for the individual student; meeting them where they're at.

>>Good job, buddy.

>>Something as little as picking up a pile of leaves, putting it in a wheelbarrow, and then transferring that to the compost, that is a success for some of our students.

Just having them outside is a success: having them here, listening to the birds, smelling our mint, even just trying a Blackberry, that's a success on a micro level.

And then on a macro level, just creating the space for community and having a good time; that's a success for me, that's what I'm looking for, just that relationship.

>>Last year, you got greenhouses added, and I know that the students get an opportunity to grow most of the things from seed.

Can you please expand on what you guys actually do in your greenhouse?

>>This now allows us to year-round gardening.

So typically, we had to stop gardening when it got cold, when it got rainy, and now we can actually have, we have solar panels that we can utilize on top of those greenhouses that provide power for us to do year-round gardening.

We kind of have a lab space on the one greenhouse where it's really grown to see it's putting together the plants for our spring produce.

And then the other tunnel, we're trying to help teach them the job skills on how to create flower arrangements.

Growing our own flowers behind the greenhouses, bringing the kids inside of that greenhouse and actually creating those bouquets.

We recently had a prom, and at the prom, we actually had all of our own flowers for the bouquets, the boutonnieres, and things like that for the students.

>>That had to be exciting.

Now tell me more about the skills that the kids are translating or learning from the garden.

>>I think the biggest skill is working together as a team.

One of the biggest things we've heard from our community partners, especially in the workforce, is most adults and young employees are having difficulty working together.

So if they're coming together as a team aspect, they're actually working through those issues: conflict resolution on the job, showing up for the job on time.

Those are some of the biggest things that they have to utilize, and then all the other life skills come into play: raking and sweeping, wiping down tables.

They all are a part of life skill building too, and then you add on to those life skills.

Well, if you want to get involved in the garden, now you're planting a seed, you're watering the seed, you're weeding around the seed.

Eventually, you're gonna harvest that seed and maybe cook it in our restaurant environment that we have here on campus.

>>As they do each step, they're actually learning skills that translate to other areas of their life.

>>Absolutely.

>>Wonderful.

>>And it helps us make the connection for the student once they leave us, or once they transition back to public school.

We can work with our community partners to say, "These are all the skills these kids have mastered here on our campus.

Let's help support you in your next phase of your development as a student, or as a young adult.

>>You have a beautiful sensory garden behind us.

The students have such an opportunity to learn so much in this space.

Please share with me what they're learning and how they can connect with nature.

>>The coolest thing about the sensory garden is from the moment you step in the garden, you start to smell the different herbs we have, from the rosemary, we have lemon thyme, we have some curry back there.

The students actually get to experience that touching, feeling, learning that bugs are not bad and is a good thing, learning about pollination and how important it is that we have bees and bugs to do that pollination.

So it really serves as not only just a learning space but a production space, but therapeutically, it gives an oasis away from the other areas of the garden too.

>>So when your kids need to de-stress a little bit or de-escalate maybe some of the emotional stresses that they're undergoing, they have different areas in the garden to escape to.

>>Yeah, and I kind of look at the whole entire campus as an opportunity for not just training but also therapeutic spaces for our students to be able to say, "I need a break for a moment."

And that helps them process those feelings and emotions until they can develop better coping skills to handle that behavior next time.

>>A lot of learning seems to be happening here and as well, the kids get an opportunity to relax, de-stress as we say, and find different ways to just be at peace with their surroundings.

>>It's also a great space for us to have activities for the kids to engage with each other from different services.

For example, on Friday, we're having karaoke underneath our outdoor classroom with the students while we're drinking tea that we've made from our own chamomile from our garden here.

So that allows us to incorporate various techniques into our learning processes for our students.

>>Thank you for sharing your garden here with us at St. Joseph Villa.

>>You're welcome.

Thank you for coming out.

>>First garden, then take a break.

>>First garden, and then we're gonna have lunch.

>>What a great space with many opportunities for learning and engagement for the students to enjoy.

Now, Tyler Berkeley is with me to talk more about plants grown in the sensory garden.

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

Well, Tyler, you've got an array of plants here, and you know, when we talk and think about a sensory garden, not everybody understands what a sensory garden, you know, actually is focused on.

So please share with us a little bit.

>>Yeah, yeah, so yeah, I picked five different type staple pieces that we have from our garden, in terms of sensory, in our kids, we're trying to get them to integrate into the wider world, and to utilize the things around them.

So here we started out with taste.

So here we have a thornless blackberry, so we have our kids coming and utilizing this to eat and taste.

It's a little sour, so the kids don't like it too much.

It's actually right outside of our playground.

>>Oh, fun.

>>And so the kids are able to like, reach over the gate and to eat it outside of the garden class.

So that's a really fun piece.

>>Excellent.

>>And also able to utilize a delayed gratification, like as you could see, some of the red ones, they aren't really ready yet.

>>Yes.

>>And so teaching them like, no, you gotta wait 'til they darken up, so.

>>That's a hard lesson to learn for all of us.

>>Yeah, yeah, no teeth have been broken yet, thankfully.

>>(laughing) Okay.

>>Yeah, and then we have over here, we have some false indigo, or the baptisia, which we utilize for sound.

It makes a maraca-type sound.

>>I love it, yeah.

>>Yeah, in the fall when it starts to die off, and we're cutting it down, the kids like to use it to play around, so.

>>What a fun game to go around- >>Yeah, yeah.

>>Just make noise.

>>Yeah.

>>And be kids about it.

>>(laughing) Right.

Yeah, and so for visual, we just got a beautiful celosia.

Obviously, like the texture is great.

It's really beautiful to look at, the color's popping.

And so the kids really like to look at that.

>>You know, some people don't really grow the cockscomb as much.

>>Yeah, yeah.

>>And it's such a fun plant to grow, and you're right, it adds a texture to the garden to look at.

>>Truly, truly, yeah, we have a array of different flowers, so that's a beautiful one.

And for touch, we have a- >>I have to touch.

>>Yeah.

>>I have to.

>>Biggest, one of our biggest fan favorites for the students and staff at The Villa, you know, obviously it's great for the tactile, like having the kids to overcome the fears of, you know, bugs and plants, and realize that, you know, it's good for you, you know?

>>And lamb's ear is so easy to grow, and so many people don't realize that it's a plant that may not be native, but it's great in the garden, just to soften things.

>>Yeah, we do make some exceptions, you know.

We try to keep it native, but you know, this is, it's perfect for, you know, the senses, so.

>>Yes, yes.

>>And then over here we have our, we have a bouquet of our different herbs.

So here we have some beautiful dill.

>>Ah, fragrance.

>>Yeah, yeah, the flowering dill, that's great, the kids love that.

Another staple piece we have is the lemon balm here.

>>Which we make tea out of.

>>Yeah, yeah, we actually do that a lot with the kids.

And then also the spearmint, another mint we use, we utilize to make teas and- >>I love it.

>>Yeah, so, you know, it's an experiential learning space.

So on top of just, you know, experiencing, they're able to get in there, and to learn how to do functional things, like make teas, and utilize the herbs for different things, yeah.

>>Right.

And I wish people could smell (laughing).

>>Right, yeah, no, it's great, it's great.

>>Yes, it is.

>>It's a contrast to me in my, you know, working outside all day, so.

>>(laughing) You're fine.

But you also have some dried herbs over here?

>>Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, like I said- >>The rosemary right here?

>>It's a experiential space, we do production, right?

So we have some rose rosemary here.

This, coupled with some of the other herbs, we use our hands with the kids to crush up, and to make into our very own Villa pizza herbs.

>>Ooh, fun.

>>So that's a cool way for the kids to, you know, use their hands, and to see the fruits of their labor, as they say, so.

>>Yes, what else do you put in that pizza?

>>Yeah, so we have sage as well.

>>Right.

>>Which the kids actually grew from seed in our greenhouse.

>>Oh, fun.

>>And so, yeah, and then we also have some oregano here, which, you know, we have a lot of that in our herb garden.

And so they're able to smell that on a daily basis, and then, you know, use it.

>>Do they get a chance to cook with it?

>>Yeah, yeah, we actually have a pizza oven in one of our cottages.

>>Oh, really?

>>Which is utilized to, you know, take some of the things from our garden, and you know, some of our basil, some of our lettuces, to, you know, make some cool fun pizzas with some of our other CAT stuff.

>>You're making me hungry.

>>(laughing) Yeah, yeah.

>>But then after a good pizza, you have to have a cup of tea.

>>Yeah, truly, yeah.

So on top of our spearmint, and our lemon balm, we have some chamomile.

It's really flourishing in our garden right now.

And so that's a great way for the kids to use their hands, the tactile motions, to pull off the chamomile, and to get a good whiff and to, you know, really, you know, smell some good stuff.

>>You know, I don't think people realize just how much all of the senses are engaged when you're gardening.

As you've been saying, you've been saying a lot about tactile, even the fragrance, and the touch and such.

And fragrance gardens are very special places for people to calm down.

You can just, a place to relax and enjoy.

>>Truly, truly, yeah, we have kids that, you know, varying levels of ability and behaviors.

And so I like to think of the garden as like a leveling space, a space where kids can go, and hear the birds, hear the leaves, hear the baptisia, and then, you know, able to kinda calm down, and use the wider world to, you know, regulate themselves.

>>That's fantastic, and it's all about learning to regulate.

>>Truly, yeah.

>>Tyler, thank you so much for coming in and sharing this.

>>Yeah, thanks for having me.

>>Appreciate it.

And now we're going to get ready to answer more of your questions, but first Amyrose Foll explains the importance of keeping seedlings in proper sized containers, and how to pot up if you're not ready to plant them in the ground.

(upbeat music) >>Today, we are going to be up-potting.

It is a beautiful day out here in Virginia, wonderful weather, and we're gonna spend some time outside.

Gardening is an amazingly healthy way to get time outdoors, and you get the added benefit of having all this beautiful produce.

So today, we're gonna start working with cucumbers, some gourds and some Okinawan okra.

They're a little bit stressed because they've been in these tiny little seed cells for too long.

So the first thing we're actually going to do is kind of assess what is going on with these and trim off the not so healthy looking leaves.

You want to start with a tool that is clean.

You can use something as simple as a little bit of rubbing alcohol, or some hydrogen peroxide, and just wipe it off with a clean towel, because we don't want to transfer diseases directly to these plants while we're trying to take care of them.

So I'm gonna just look at one of these little guys, and very carefully and closely, snip that off, clean them up a little bit nice.

And basically, we're just gonna put this potting soil little bit down in there, plop it in, In this potting soil, I do have some phosphorus and that'll help the root growth.

And basically, that's all you need to do.

So these guys will probably sit out for another week or two, get a little bit bigger, a little sturdier and healthier, and then they will be transplanted into our garden to enjoy all summer long.

This guy's not too bad.

He's a little bit yellowed, so we will snip him.

These little paper pots are great, because they're biodegradable, but they do dry out pretty quickly compared to the reusable cells.

So I'm just gonna plop this whole thing all the way down in there, give him a little more potting mix, and some of those good nutrients.

And, voila.

These guys, because they have been stressed out in here, they do have some not so great looking leaves.

I am not gonna cut those off though, because we only have a couple leaves on each one of these.

And leaves are the solar panels of the plant.

They provide the energy to the plant to grow.

And overall, they're not too terrible looking.

They'll recover from this damage and have probably pretty great robust growth.

And theyll be so much happier in this new potting soil with more room to grow, more room to spread their roots.

So since we're adding more soil, I am going to water these in, and encourage them to spread their little roots.

And I want to encourage you to try this at home.

Growing your own food is a really great, healthy way to get outside, spend time in nature, and they have the added benefit of providing you with good, healthy food for your kitchen where you control everything that goes into those plants.

Happy gardening.

>>Gardening should fill you with joy and contentment.

On a beautiful day, even the simplest of garden tasks are a great way to de-stress and enjoy nature, just like a walk in the woods.

Now let's get to more of your questions.

And I have Matthew Kreydatus here.

He's joined us, so let's see what we have.

So Matthew, we've got one right off the top from Karen from Chesterfield, and she asks, "What are the basic features, characteristics of therapeutic design that need to be included when constructing these gardens?

What else should we consider when designing a sensory garden?"

>>So we, when we designed our garden, we were trying to think about ways that we can engage all the senses into the space and have spaces that could actually be therapeutic spaces, quiet if they wanted the quiet space, cooler if we wanted the cooler space.

So we were looking at various ways we could design the space to inhibit the students from basically having space to go to when they're feeling upset or angry or they just need a place to cool off.

So literally we created a therapeutic tunnel out of kiwi for them to go underneath, and it's like 10 degrees cooler under there.

So that was a beautiful space that allowed a student to have that oasis away from everything else.

>>So it's thinking about reactions from the students more than the plants that are there.

>>Yeah.

>>It's trying to meet their needs with having tactile situations, but also to be able to cool them down.

What about the spaces where they're actually doing some gardening and work?

Do you ever put tarps up if it's too hot or do you?

>>We have an outdoor classroom actually that has a sail cloth on it for the students that they can go underneath and kind of get a little chill space over there.

And we put some misting stations out there as well during the hot summer months that they can run underneath the misting station and cool off a little bit there too.

>>Yeah, and in the wintertime that's the last place they're gonna be (laughs).

>>And of course, occasionally the students do find the hoses so they squirt each other with the hoses.

>>Yeah, well, that's good.

>>Of course.

>>Takes the fun of it (laughs).

What other considerations would you suggest?

I'm gonna design a garden.

Let's pretend.

>>I would say it's something that you can grow year after year that can become stronger and durable because our space is utilized every day by over 120 students.

So we wanna make sure the space is gonna be there for them.

But also you can modify it.

If you decide there's a need for one of your students like you want more smells, well, let's have a space that can be that transitional space throughout the school year for our students.

>>And the raised beds, I noticed the raised beds were very high.

What's the height of those beds?

>>So the beds, the smaller raised beds are about 17 inches off the ground.

But then we have larger raised beds.

They go up to allow students who are on wheelchairs to kind of garden next to them.

So they're made so you can fit between 'em and you can actually engage in learning as well if you're in a wheelchair.

>>That's excellent.

So that you're thinking of every possible need you can accommodate.

That's very excellent.

I have a question though.

I was noticing in the video that some of the staff were carrying around iPads, and I'm just curious, you know.

>>So some of our students have communication boards, so that allows them to like push a button and it might say I need to use the restroom, or it could mean I want to go to the flower bed.

iPads have various designs for whatever that communication tool is for that student.

Also, we do data collection on our students as well 'cause we're trying to transition them back to schools.

We're trying to figure out what might cause something, behavior to occur and how can we fix that next time?

>>Uh huh, excellent.

I was just curious 'cause I noticed some had 'em and some didn't.

So if you were wanting to add one more thing to the garden that you have, what would that be?

>>I wanna add more water feature to it.

We have a small water feature right now and I think just the sound of water is so nice to have.

>>It's so soothing.

And I have a water bed in my backyard I've just created, and I love the sound of it outside, and I think it'd be nice for the students to hear that sound.

>>Well, along that line of sensory, there's a question about lavender, Serome, okay?

And it's, when is the best time to cut the flowers of lavender and to be able to dry them and enjoy them?

>>You want to, it's best to do it early morning and when the flowers are fully opened.

But as you're going down the stem, just be careful because lower down in the stem you would notice that there's a second set of buds that's there and you don't want to cut those off.

So just be really careful and really look down and see what you're cutting.

>>So this isn't something you could grab the hedge shears and take a whack at (laughs)?

>>No, no, and if you're pruning lavender in general, try not to get into the woody part of the plant.

That's when you're really going to have some dieback and you'll be really unhappy with that.

>>Yes.

What kind of soil do you use to grow your lavender in?

>>Lavender likes a really, really well-drained soil.

So you've got to have well-drained soil for lavender to be happy.

>>Contrary to our heavy clay here >>Exactly.

>>in central Virginia.

(Peggy laughing) >>Amend the soil.

Yes, I've amended the soil where the lavender is just for that plant.

>>Or grow it in a pot.

>>Yep.

You can grow it in a pot.

>>You can grow it in a pot.

There's so many plants that don't tolerate our heavy soils that thrive in a pot.

>>Oh yeah.

>>'Cause then we can control that porosity of the soil.

That's great.

Well, I have one more question.

And do you have any crepe myrtles at the sensory garden?

>>No, we do not.

>>Oh, I'm glad to hear that (laughs).

>>We do not.

>>On top of crepe myrtle bark scale, we have a question about the crepe myrtles "in the yard of my new house where pollard means they were cut back severely for many years and have ugly knots.

How do I restore to normal growth?"

>>I personally would just get rid of them.

>>Well, if you really love 'em, this is drastic and sometimes I'm a drastic gardener, you can cut them down at the bottom.

And as they start to grow back, you can choose five shoots and they will grow back quickly, I promise you.

But to be able to cut below that knot you're still gonna get a ton of new growth and you're gonna have a very difficult time getting that plant to look the beautiful, soft pristine look that it is.

However, it is not a native and it's susceptible to to our crepe myrtle bark scale.

And so you might wanna really think twice about putting in a different plant.

>>Yes.

There's lots of options out there.

>>Yes.

So we're trying our best.

That's a repeat.

Sorry.

And then I wanna ask you, I don't know, you've got a native plant garden at home you told us, Matthew.

So what is your favorite native plant that's in your garden?

>>Well, it's my wife's garden really, but I like the bee balm that she has in the backyard.

It's pretty nice.

>>Would you consider that the easiest plant that she grows?

>>Well, she grows a lot of the plants, so I think it's one of the easiest 'cause it's grown really strongly in the corner, but it likes, it's near a drain pipe so it comes back every year nice and strong for us, so.

>>Sounds great.

>>Mine this year has become the cup flower.

>>Oh, I love that.

>>I've really, really been enjoying mine in my yard.

It's gotten about eight feet tall and it's just a nice easy plant to grow.

And it's just very interesting the way the leaves are offset so that it really holds water in the center of the two leaf sets.

>>Hummingbirds love 'em >>Yes.

>>because they can get a little drink.

>>Yep.

And so does the bees.

The bees will crawl in there and start drinking out of the cups.

>>My favorite plant is, it's called Blue Star Flower.

It's Amsonia, and it actually is the color of the sky when it blooms in the early spring.

And because I have such a deer problem, the deer never mess with it 'cause it's in the milkweed.

And so those are my favorite plants.

>>So of course that's good for fall color.

>>Yes.

I hope we've given you some good suggestions because we are out of time.

And Matthew, many thanks to you, and Tyler for being here and we appreciate that.

And there are benefits of connecting with our natural world: soothing rhythms, ease stress, in tending then enjoying or sharing what you grow is extremely gratifying and good for each of us.

Before we go, I wanna remind you though to visit our Virginia Home Grown Facebook page for upcoming opportunities, including tours, classes and my speaking engagements.

If you're not watching on Facebook already, then switch over to catch Randy Battle.

Take what you have and make it work.

This month he explains simple methods for protecting tomatoes.

Thanks again to our guests today and thank you for watching.

I look forward to being with you again next month when we will visit farms and gardens focused on growing healthy and delicious produce.

Remember, gardening is for everyone.

We are all growing and learning together.

Happy Gardening.

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