(upbeat music) >>I'd like to, when I retire from my gig as a weather guy, I would like to turn into Johnny Persimmonseed.

I want to travel the countryside and convince everybody to put a persimmon tree in their yard.

>>Plants don't take up nutrients just by putting nutrients down onto the ground.

That has to be digested through the different microbacterias in the soil to then become available to the plants.

>>Yes.

>>So that's where the benefits of biochar come in, because biochar holds microbiology.

>>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".

The summer season has begun, and after the wet spring weather, landscapes and gardens are lush with growth.

Today we're highlighting garden health and what you can do to improve it.

Often that starts with your soil.

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

We'll be answering those a little later.

In the second half of our show, we will go to Virginia State University in Petersburg to learn about a soil amendment made with charcoal.

But first, I visited with our local meteorologist, Andrew Freiden, to see how he is working to transform his traditional landscape into a more eco-friendly environment by adding native plants, reducing runoff, and improving the soil.

Let's get going.

>>You don't have what I would call a typical front yard.

>>Yeah, it's a front yard that used to be a typical front yard, then we moved in and things started going downhill.

(Peggy laughing) Although, I think uphill.

>>I wouldn't say downhill.

>>Yes!

Right?

(Peggy laughing) We've made some choices that aren't normal.

There's a couple fruit trees, these are persimmon trees in the front.

But we started out, we cut out some big long beds and we put wildflowers in, and it worked wonderfully.

It attracted butterflies immediately, and pollinators.

>>Wonderful.

>>And neighbors, like people are like, "What's goin' on in your front yard?"

And so, the other day, my wife cut some flowers and gave 'em to like a 3-year-old girl who was ridin' a bike with her dad.

And so we're talking and we're meeting people.

And I love lookin' at the front yard and seeing stuff producing instead of just being grass.

>>Yes, it's so much fun, including the vegetables I see that you have.

>>My daughter made these raised beds.

>>Ooh, great.

>>Old pallets, not treated, it was all natural stuff.

>>Right.

>>And she did it for a project.

And so, this is our vegetable garden, and vegetable gardens doesn't really work for me entirely 'cause it's work.

>>Yes.

>>Ask your gardener friends around the corner, they're working.

(Peggy laughing) And so, I like the stuff that we put in, and once you get it started, it's like, "We got this, leave us alone.

We'll live here just fine."

That's my plan.

>>Well, like your berries.

>>Yeah.

Blackberries, raspberries, and they are vigorous and they're happy.

This is their second year, we got a few berries last year.

We anticipate this year, they're primocane, so the new growth produces the berries.

There's some blossoms already.

>>Right.

>>But how cool is it to, instead of having grass, have a spot where your kids will come out and pick berries and eat them.

>>Fresh berries.

>>And I don't have to worry about them spreading.

People say, "Well, you're gonna have raspberries all in the front yard," well no, because I have turf that I'm cutting with the mower.

So anything that sprouts up just gets cut down- >>Gets cut back down.

>>It stays where it's supposed to be.

>>Speaking of turf, I see you've allowed the weeds, what we would call weeds- >>Hey!

How dare you.

>>The other plants move in.

Yes.

(laughing) >>I've heard you say that weeds are just plants somewhere where you don't want them.

>>Exactly.

>>So, I like these.

I want 'em here, I don't think they're weeds.

Clover, violet, they're all here.

>>I think it's fantastic.

>>Yeah.

>>Because what it does, it makes that lawn a little bit more diverse.

And the pollinators, they're able to come to your lawn.

Really, you're just adding to the biodiversity.

>>Yeah, so it's cool.

And it also, again the cheap and lazy part of me, I'm not paying to kill them.

So it doesn't look, as some people would say, "perfect."

>>Right.

>>But to me, it looks absolutely perfect.

It's growing and I'm not doing anything to it other than mowing it.

And I kinda hate mowing too, but that's a different story.

But, I'd love to cut more... Hopefully, you come back in a few years and there's more beds and less turf grass.

>>That would be great.

I love the fact that you're leaving things for even our pollinators.

>>Sometimes when I'm mowing and there's a really vigorous patch of clover with the white blooms on it and there's bees on it, I'm like, "Oh okay, I'll go around you.

I'll get ya next time."

>>Right.

>>Yeah.

>>It's okay, be a little flexible.

>>Yeah.

>>But I like your walkway too.

>>Oh yeah, this used to be an enormous curved asphalt driveway.

>>Oh my.

>>And one of the first things we did when we moved in here was like, "This thing is gonna take a lot of maintenance, I think we gotta get rid of this thing."

And so we got some money, some help from VCAP, Virginia Conservation Assistance Program, for the cost that it was to take that out and to put this walkway in.

>>That's fantastic.

Yes.

And the walkway you put in is bricks set in sand.

So that's permeable, so when it rains, the water goes down and replenishes our groundwater which is what we need.

>>Yes, it stays here, it doesn't leave.

And speaking of staying here and not leaving, I don't want anything to leave.

All the resources that hit here, the sun, the water, I'd like it to stay on here.

And I think of the leaves as a resource too.

So we have these big trees and they drop leaves all over the place, and I hate seeing people take the leaves and bag 'em up, or suck them up, or put 'em out on the street and get 'em outta here.

There's all that good stuff in those leaves.

>>So many nutrients.

>>Yes, so I'm like, "I'm keepin' it."

So I keep every leaf on the property, that's my plan.

>>Well, I noticed a compost pile in the back.

>>Oh yeah, some leaves.

>>Let's go take a look.

>>Let's check it out.

(birds chirping) Is anybody's compost pile pretty?

I mean, ours isn't very pretty, but we're keepin' the stuff here, that's the goal.

>>Yes, you're keepin' it here and you're workin' with it, and you're letting all those wonderful biological fungi do their job.

>>And it's not too far from our frog pond, which is like my favorite thing in our backyard.

>>And what a great frog pond you have.

>>Thank you, and I appreciate it.

I mean, we worked pretty hard on it, it was a lotta digging.

>>You showed me the photos, how deep you dug this.

(laughing) >>Yeah, so they say when you make it, you have to make it pretty deep in the middle to allow some frogs to overwinter.

You can hear the frogs there.

>>Yes.

>>That's a green frog, I'm pretty sure.

>>Okay.

>>But they're down in the middle and the middle's deep, and then there's a shelf on the outside.

>>Yes, which also allow the birds to come and bird bath.

>>Oh my gosh, I wish they were here.

I think we scared them away, but this is the prime spot where the neighborhood birds come to get clean or to play, I don't know what they're doin'.

But that's been an added bonus that we didn't think was gonna happen, is that all these birds were gonna come in here and visit all the time.

>>And I applaud you for using the rainwater off of your roof to fill your frog pond.

>>So it was a little bit of an elevation issue to figure out how to do it.

>>Yes.

>>So we had to build a little hill, but we've run a PVC pipe that goes from one section of our roof right into the frog pond.

So, it has to get really hot and really dry in the summer for us to get the hose out.

(frog honking) I know.

(laughing) >>What a ham.

(Peggy and Andrew laughing) >>Somebody's even more of a camera hog than I am.

Do you mind stepping aside so I can get set?

(Peggy laughing) But the fact that that, unless it's really hot and dry, it stays pretty full.

Like every time it rains, it just fills up.

And so it's been a nice addition to the yard and I think it's easier than people think, I encourage ya to look it up.

>>Yeah.

>>"Hey, could I put a frog pond, or at least a rain garden in my backyard?"

It's a pretty cool thing.

>>And those are two different things 'cause this has a liner, so it holds water.

Where a rain garden does not have a liner, it's shallow, more like a crater, and it has soil in it to improve the percolation of the water down into the water table.

And most times, rain gardens are dry, they're only wet when it rains.

>>Yeah, and that one, I don't think you have to worry too much about mosquitoes.

In this case, we do have to worry, so we treat them with these mosquito bits which are pretty decent, they're not like a horrible thing.

And you put it in there to make sure the mosquitoes aren't taken off in here.

>>Yes, it's just Bacillus thuringiensis, I use 'em all the time.

>>That's what I was gonna say, but okay, if you wanna... (Andrew and Peggy laughing) It's so fun to hang out with you 'cause I have no idea if you were totally making this up, but I'm gonna Google it later, okay?

>>You do that.

(Peggy and Andrew continue laughing) But also, Andrew, I applaud you because you purchased a house with a very, I'll say traditional landscape.

>>Yes.

>>People planted what were popular.

But now as you're moving through it, you're kind of infusing those native plants.

>>Yeah, we're doing our best to take out what we can and put in what should be here.

And so you've been very kind, and when you say traditional plants, I hear you say invasive non-natives that shouldn't be here.

And I feel it and I know it, and every time we're out and I look, I go, "Oh, that lily, right, shouldn't be there.

Let's get rid of it."

And you said, I have a great alternative, like right over there, that purple stuff.

>>Yes, you've got spiderwort, or spider lily, depending on the common name.

But it's Tradescantia, and it's native here to Virginia.

>>And when am I gonna split that up?

>>You can split that up in the fall, or you can just let it go to seed and sprinkle the seed.

>>Alright, I'll do that.

And then when I knew you were coming to visit, I'm like, "Peggy Singlemann is coming to my yard to judge me."

>>(laughing) No, I'm not.

>>You know, (laughing) it's like if a Picasso was coming to look at my finger paintings, right?

I'd be like, "Uh, this is gonna be a tough day for me."

But, I'm trying to embrace like gardening or taking care of your property isn't one prize at the end.

>>Yeah.

>>I'm getting little successes and little prizes along the way.

It's not like it has to be perfect, those little steps every year can move you toward a better garden.

>>Exactly, and it's the holistic picture we're looking for.

>>Yeah.

>>And if it takes just a few more years than you thought, or 10 years, but you're still making your way toward that goal.

Well thank you, Andrew, for kindly showing us your place and the work you're doing one step at a time.

>>Alright, I appreciate it.

Also, I'd like to say, thanks guys for on cue making frog noises.

Those are our green frogs of the Freiden family.

(frog croaking) >>I like how Andrew gathers neighbors' raked leaves, a sustainable resource right in the neighborhood.

Dried leaves are a source of carbon, the brown component of a compost pile.

And now Andrew's with us right now to talk with us about his favorite plant.

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

Well, Andrew, rumor has it that you love persimmons.

>>My wife and kids right now, when the word persimmon comes up.

>>Yes.

>>They go, "Oh my gosh."

And just like, they go, and they're like, "We've heard this lecture enough times."

But they've actually kind of gotten into it.

They understand what's so great about this tree, which isn't a part of most people's landscapes.

>>No, they aren't because people just think of apples and other fruits and even nuts and such.

>>And it's a tree that's like, I hear from old timers, let's say.

>>Yeah.

>>They're like, "Well, I grew up on a farm out in the country and in the winter, that was our candy.

We'd go off into the woods and we'd eat this like dried wrinkly fruit."

Super sweet.

We have to spit the seeds out, but it's like, I kind of feel like I'm tied into the history of this land.

This tree's been here for thousands of years.

>>Yes.

Well, it is Diospyros virginiana.

>>That's right.

>>Our native persimmon tree.

>>It's right in the name.

>>And you've got one here, and I understand you grew it from seed.

>>So this, I found the seeds from... We found a couple trees in some neighborhoods in Chesterfield County.

>>Cool.

>>A couple wild persimmon.

>>Great.

>>So this is-- >>Ecotype.

Good job.

>>I think, yeah.

I mean, it's just nearby.

This is from very close by.

So this is a tree that is...

This is a tree that is I think three years old.

>>Okay.

>>So what we did is we got the seeds from the fruit.

>>Right.

>>We cold stratified it.

Do you want to tell people about that?

>>Well, it's just giving it a cold period to allow that seed to rest, to actually get its winterization so that when the warmth comes, it can germinate and grow.

>>Yeah.

And it basically is.

We mirrored at home what happens in nature.

It just sits on the ground somewhere or... >>Yeah, put it in the freezer.

>>An animal takes it somewhere, if you know what I'm saying.

Then it gets planted.

>>And it gets scarified anyway.

>>What?

>>When it goes through the gut.

Anyway, we won't go through that.

>>But I'm gonna google that when we get home.

That's two things you're making me google.

All right, so it's now time to take this guy.

And I think we need to put it in a bigger pot.

>>Good.

Let's do it.

>>All right, so this is my... And I think this process, we did a couple of these this afternoon.

>>So you've got some soil in here already.

>>And you can see that it is kind of root bound.

I don't know which, if I'm on the right camera there, but there's some, so we kind of had to work our way, kind of like pushing and pulling.

>>And I love how you reused pots.

>>Oh yeah.

are, I think these are pots from our... >>Oh, come on, I don't wanna mess this up 'cause it is kind of stuck in, >>Oh, there you go.

>>There we go.

It's okay.

>>Is there a cleanup crew here?

>>Yes, there is.

>>Should we show that?

But you can see, there's some pretty decent roots.

>>Got some nice roots in here.

Really nice ones coming along.

>>And then just break that up a little bit.

It's about the right... >>Yeah, break it up a little in the pot.

>>Break it up more in the... Like this?

>>Yeah.

>>Should I try to drop the level down a little?

>>It might, yeah, but massage it a little so the roots break on.

There you go.

All righty.

>>And then this is just clean up on aisle three.

>>Yes.

>>But so obviously, if we were at home, we would... >>Be watering in between.

>>We'd water this.

>>Yes.

>>And I'll do this when I get home.

>>Yeah, and we wanna make sure that we don't raise the level.

We wanna keep it at at the original level.

But if you were at home also, you wanna chunk it with your fingers to get that soil down along that side.

>>To fill in the holes.

>>Yeah, to fill in the holes.

>>We'd water this.

So you would also, I want this to grow a strong central stem because I don't want it to kind of be a bushy, I want it to be a tall and proud persimmon.

And so you're gonna help me do that, right?

>>Yes, I am.

>>Because I have total imposter syndrome.

This is the first time that I've done this or the first year we tried it but we want this guy to be... >>Easy, easy, go easy.

(Peggy laughing) >>Yah?

>>Don't bend so fast.

>>Okay, so we have a little stake here.

>>So we have easy tools here.

We have a nice strong stake and we have fasteners.

And it can be zip ties, it can be string, whatever.

>>I'm just gonna stick it right down in there.

>>Right, and you wanna put the stake right next to the trunk, and put it in there.

All the way down.

Yep, so it's good and sturdy.

And then what we wanna do is trees have an apical dominance.

That top bud.

>>That's this guy right here.

>>Yep.

And we want to now take this and tie this trunk, starting at the bottom and going up.

>>Okay.

>>So that we are-- >>And not too tight, but not too loose.

>>Snug.

How about that for a good word?

Okay?

>>And this is just some twine.

I'm not counting on this lasting more than or needing it more than a year.

>>Right.

It's all you're gonna have.

>>Right about here?

>>Right about here.

And don't get anal and pull it all the way in to make it perfectly straight.

It's a tree and it's been growing a little, you know, catawampus for its whole life.

So we can't make it a perfect straight stick, okay?

And then we wanna get this one up here.

So why don't we put one right there?

>>Right above this or below?

>>Yes.

Right above.

And what we're doing, we're incrementally tying it.

>>How're we doing on time, Peggy?

>>We're doing great.

>>Okay.

>>We're doing great.

And now comes the tricky part because we have to gently.

We don't move it fast.

We have to gently pull this up to here to tie it up here before we do the final tie.

Now, you have to realize this is a... You know, the branches have forked.

So we've gotta pick the best one, the one that has a nice strong leaf pattern, good space between the branches.

Very healthy tree, Andrew.

I'm very impressed.

>>Thank you.

>>And a nice clean bud.

So I'm gonna tell you to pick the left side 'cause the right side's a little gnarly, a little twisted.

>>I was talking with my daughter about this today.

You're telling me that whichever one we decide will literally become the trunk of the tree?

>>Will become the new.

Right.

>>That's so cool.

And you want this one?

>>Yes.

>>I wasn't listening.

I was working.

Sorry.

>>Plants have hormones and it's the growth hormones and most plants, it's at the tip of the top bud.

And then from there, if you lose that top bud, it'll branch out.

Some plants, like on determinant tomatoes, will naturally just grow one stalk where your indeterminate tomatoes or your bushy tomatoes, vine-y tomatoes have many, many branching vines coming off of it.

But right now, we're gonna have this be that new top or dominant bud.

>>I brought my scissors.

>>Good.

Make it pretty.

>>No, but you said not to.

Should I?

>>Don't prune anything?

>>Yeah, don't cut anything off.

>>Don't cut anything.

Just give it about six to nine months.

>>Okay.

>>Then you can take it apart.

>>And then I'm gonna put it in the ground.

This fall's my plan.

You think it's about time for these to go in the ground?

>>I think it's definitely time for these.

>>And when I talk to people about persimmon, I tell them they were meant to be in your soil.

>>Yes.

>>In your garden.

>>Yes.

>>You put 'em in and you don't really have to do a whole lot to them.

They are really strong, vigorous, healthy plants and they like it right here in Virginia.

>>Exactly, and the key is do not harvest them until after a good strong frost.

>>Oh, do we have time to talk about that?

>>No, we don't but I just wanna give everybody that thing.

>>Don't eat a persimmon unless it's really wrinkly, the native persimmons or it is a miserable experience.

>>Absolutely, but this has been a good one.

Thank you, Andrew.

>>All right.

Are you throwing a commercial now?

What's happening?

>>I am.

I am.

(both laughing) And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions, but first, Amyrose Foll has a tip to share for keeping weeds down in your garden.

(light music) >>Less maintenance in the garden is always a good thing, especially when it comes to weed control.

These simple cardboard boxes can help save you money and your back, keep you from bending over to weed quite so much.

Other areas of the farm, we actually use garden fabric or landscape fabric in certain areas to plant and keep weeds down.

This is an excellent alternative, as we all get lots and lots of packages to our homes.

You can keep these outta the landfill, and it's good for the environment.

You're not gonna be disturbing the soil.

And basically, all you need to do is flatten 'em out and layer 'em up.

This is a really earth-friendly way to do it, not only for keeping that cardboard outta the landfill, but also, you are not gonna be tilling.

So you're going to preserve that mycelium network through the mycorrhizal mat that's under there.

That helps to nourish your plants, and you're going to be very simply turning all of this vegetation into green manure to nourish your garden throughout the growing season.

And one thing you wanna think about is removing the tape.

You don't want those microplastics to enter your soil or your food through the soil.

You're going to overlap about six inches, once you take off all that tape.

So that's gonna be your mat.

It's going to suppress your weed growth.

And then, what we had happen last year was, basically, we had tree damage.

Instead of the tree company taking it off to dump it somewhere, I asked them to leave it on property.

So this is going to be your paths to walk on throughout your garden.

And we use old animal bedding here.

You're gonna wanna make sure that it's aged so that you're not going to burn your plants with the nitrogen, especially if you're using litter from a chicken barn.

Also, that'll help prevent illness in the kitchen by getting those germs onto your vegetables.

You don't wanna do that.

When you're planting potatoes or sweet potatoes, you can put them directly on top of the cardboard, mound them up.

If you don't have animal bedding, you can put some topsoil on there.

And when you're planting peppers, tomatoes, you wanna just make sure you get down below the cardboard once it's had a chance to do its thing and kill your weeds.

And plant those nice and deep.

You can also use these simple cardboard boxes underneath open-bottom raised beds.

It'll help keep the weeds from coming up through that raised bed, especially wiregrass.

That's the bane of a lot of gardeners' existence.

And it will break down naturally after about a year and a half underneath there suppressing weeds for ya.

Try this because it's very easy to do, and all you really need is a pair of scissors and to get rid of all that tape.

That's really it.

It's so simple.

I encourage you to try it out in the next coming season.

(birds chirping) >>Members of our team are on Facebook right now, answering questions, so please connect with us there, or visit our website, vpm.org/vhg to submit questions.

Today we have Serome Hamlin with us to help answer questions, too.

Welcome, Serome.

>>Thank you, how are you doing?

>>Yeah, glad you're here.

>>Me too.

>>Yeah, what kind of- >>Always a pleasure.

>>Questions do we have, yeah.

>>Yeah, well let's start off with, actually, can we ask you about your persimmons?

>>Yeah, well what do you wanna know about them?

They're the greatest thing of all time.

Next question.

>>How many persimmon trees do you have?

>>I don't know- >>Different types or- >>I may have, I may have eight persimmon trees in our not-huge yard.

And we have some Asian varieties, which are Asian varieties that are grafted onto the root stock of the native persimmon.

And they produce these big and amazing-tasting seedless fruit.

>>Yum.

>>And they, basically, they're I'd like to say they're bulletproof.

They don't need to be, pesticide spray or anything and they just, they work great.

And one of, I have a lot of great memories of our kids and our house, but my daughter picking a persimmon from the tree and then walking to catch the school bus and then going to school is a pretty cool thing.

A great memory, right there in the front yard, as opposed to just a bunch of grass.

>>Yes.

>>Oh yeah.

>>And that to me is success.

You're just being so sustainable there.

>>Yeah.

>>You're providing some fresh fruit for your daughter and yet you're also eliminating some of the grass.

>>And I found people in the nearby neighborhood who have persimmon trees that may not love them.

And me and a buddy of mine and my family, we'd go and we harvest from persimmon trees.

We found some huge ones.

Some 40, 50-year-old- >>Oh, wow.

>>Asian persimmon trees that produce.

Our best harvest from my one friend's house, off of three trees, 423 pounds.

>>Wow!

>>Oh my.

>>Of persimmon.

Which we shared with friends, and I still have some in the freezer.

I'm bring you guys on next time.

>>That's a lot of jam, too.

>>Wow.

>>That is, that's a lot.

And who knew, from one of our little trees, just planted, years ago.

>>Yeah.

>>Yep.

>>So here's a question.

We saw your frog pond, so someone is asking, Nancy is asking, Goochland, about your frog pond.

When to use something as a frog pond versus a rain garden.

And is it interchangeable?

>>But, well not interchangeable.

Peggy's the expert here, right?

>>Not interchangeable?

>>No.

>>They're not, they're- >>We have a rubber liner in ours.

We want to hold the water there.

Although in a heavy rain event, it runs off into the yard and it percolates in.

But we wanted that habitat for the birds and for the frogs.

So we're keeping the water there.

And the rain garden's a little different.

>>Yes.

>>It's very different 'cause it's not a pond.

>>Yeah.

>>It's actually more of a depression in the ground.

And I call it a crater, so people don't think it's so deep as that frog pond of yours.

And we have plants in there and a special soil.

So that as the rain gathers in there, off of a downspout or another source, it can gather and then seep into the ground within 24 to 48 hours.

And then other than that it's just a regular garden.

>>Yes.

>>So it's very special plants.

The plants can take extreme dry and extreme wet.

>>Extreme wet.

So it's just choosing plants that can handle those rain events and handle the wet soil for a short amount of time, but still be able to survive when you're not having those constant periods of rain.

>>Exactly, which, speaking of Andrew, those constant periods of rain- >>Let's go.

>>Yeah, that we've been experiencing lately.

These rain events, good gracious.

>>You just came out of the wettest winter in Richmond's climate history.

>>Really?

>>That happened in many places around the state.

So we think climatologically, as winter as December 1st through the end of February.

>>Okay.

>>Leave the Equinoxes out of it for record keeping.

December, January, February, oh, I think it was December was the wettest December on record, and it was basically rain.

We didn't have any snow.

>>Yeah.

>>And then January, February, and it added up to be the most in Richmond's modern climate history.

That's 1870s, is when the record's being kept- >>I was gonna ask, when was the record?

>>Yeah, so then you have, followed up with March, which is much wetter than normal.

April was a little drier than normal, May we're running way above average.

And we're recording this.

I know people will be watching this for years to come.

But we're recording this toward the end of May of 2024.

And May's gonna go into the record books as a heavy- >>Oh, gracious.

>>Rain month as well.

>>Yes.

>>Do you feel that this is gonna be a running trend?

>>Well, so we know global warming is a thing.

And one of the things that was predicted about what would happen as we warmed the atmosphere, was that our heavy rain events would get heavier.

So you know, your top-ten rain events of the year, maybe it used to be one and a half inches, now it could be two inches.

And that's the atmosphere as it warms its ability to hold water is, great, is improved- >>Increases, yeah.

>>And then it all has to come out when it rains, as well.

So we talk about rain gardens and we talk about frog ponds and as you have more water hitting our engineered landscape, our suburbs and our cities and all these places we live, like, you gotta try to keep that stuff where it fell, as opposed to just like shooting it out a downspout across your driveway into a ditch, right into the creek and right into the James River.

>>Yeah.

>>James River gets a big pulse up and it's dirty and it's gross and then it goes down quickly.

So let's keep that water where we live.

Slowly release it into the creeks and streams if we can.

>>Absolutely.

>>Yeah, absolutely.

>>I've put in a lot of rain barrels at my house.

I'm putting in a rain garden, I'm doing everything I can at my house.

I'm on a well, so it's very important to keep that water on my property so it seeps back into the ground.

>>Yeah, a lot of people don't think about that too, well water, you definitely got to monitor what is on your property and try to keep it there.

>>Yes, clean water too.

>>Yes, well, clean water, yes, that's very important.

>>Yeah, so you want it to seep through.

Want those plants to do their jobs of removing everything.

But speaking of water, I believe we have a question about tomato plants?

>>Yes, so Benji in Richmond is having trouble with their raised garden and tomato plants.

The tomato plants are not doing well, even though they have amended soil and everything else.

So is there any thoughts?

>>Yes, definitely.

Andrew just said it's been the wettest season and with that rain comes cloudy days.

And we haven't had the sunshine that we've had.

We've also had far more water and tomatoes respond with poor growth, gnarly growth, twisted growth.

Too little water, and too much water.

I've got it at my house in my raised beds where I'm growing different types of tomatoes.

And some of them are really, I'll say struggling, and some of 'em are doing great.

Some of them can handle this moisture better than others.

And please don't ask me right off the top of my head, to list them right now, but anyway.

>>Tomatoes can be frustrating.

>>Very frustrating.

>>They taste great, but they can be frustrating, but >>Yeah.

>>I've sort of slid away from the annual vegetable gardening 'cause I've got neighbors and friends that do a great job at it.

And they deal with the heartaches that you're talking about.

That the woman in Goochland's talking about.

It's tough, it's really hard to do.

But isn't that what's rewarding when you get it right?

>>Oh yeah.

>>You get this great-tasting thing from your yard.

>>Yeah.

>>Exactly, that is the reward for all of the hard work.

>>It is.

What I've done though with my plants, with my bed is I put a trench down the middle, so that the water can hopefully collect lower.

I didn't change the tomato plant height at all, I just trenched it.

Hopefully that water will seep away from the roots of the plants.

I mean, a little bit.

>>Yeah, a little, we're not talking a storm water drain, okay.

But there's a thought for her to consider if she can do that the way they're laid out.

>>Yeah, 'cause we definitely have been getting a lot of moisture, so- >>Oh, gracious, yes.

>>Now what about pawpaw trees?

Can we grow them in our yards?

Do they need to be down by the river?

>>Pawpaw trees are my first love.

>>Yes!

(group laughing) And I have moved away from pawpaws so, oh man, how much time do we have, Peggy?

>>We have less than a minute.

>>Pawpaws and persimmon are, there's a native plum as well, are the two basic main fruit trees native to Virginia.

People think apples and pears, no.

And the pawpaw is really hard to cultivate on your property for a lot of different reasons.

So choose a persimmon instead.

But they, and they also like, they go bad.

They taste great and they're very interesting, but they go bad so quickly.

>>Short-lived fruit.

>>It's hard, it's like, ripe, you eat it right there.

>>That's why you never find it in a grocery store.

They don't have a shelf-life, >>No commercial application, unless you go to a farmer's market where someone's picked it that day and then they're gonna be good.

But they're a great thing and you can grow 'em, but it's a challenge.

>>And they do require a lot of- >>You need moisture, shade, good moist- >>A lot of moisture, >>Humus-y soil, you find 'em down in the low river bottom.

>>So, create a atmosphere that as if they were growing down in the river.

>>Yep, well that's all with time we have right now.

But we're looking forward to answering more of your questions later in the show.

So please keep them coming.

And Andrew, thanks for being with us tonight.

It's really been a pleasure.

>>Thank you.

>>It has been an honor, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for having me.

>>Certainly, and next, Shana Williams traveled to Randolph Farm at Virginia State University in Petersburg, to meet with Derrick Gooden, and learn about a soil amendment with many benefits.

So let's take a look.

>>Biochar is just biomass that has been burned at a high heat with low oxygen.

When that takes place, you're capturing pure carbon, and that carbon is what allows us to hold different types of microbacteria, fertilizers, and even help remediate soil by taking heavy metals out of it.

>>Could you show me how that process works?

>>Absolutely.

What you would need is a piece of charcoal.

>>Okay.

>>This piece of charcoal's too big.

So, the size that you want, if you put this into your soil, this is just gonna take up a lot of space.

What we really want is a size about this size, something that can be spread into the soil and that is gonna create drainage for poor soils.

So if I have clay, I can put this in there.

And even if I want to split this in half, I can split this in half, make more surface area, because this size of biochar has surface area the size of a tennis court.

Because although we cannot see this, if you put a microscope on here, there's gonna be pores all through here, it's a very porous material.

And in those different openings, you'll have the microbiology that finds its way in there, and it's able to stay in there and won't actually be washed away in the soil.

>>Okay.

>>So sometimes in the soil, if you get a heavy rain, you'll have leaching of nutrients and fertilizers.

Well, this will actually help stabilize that and keep those nutrients and fertilizers and microbiology in your soil and not be washed away.

>>And make it readily available for the plants- >>And make- >>To take it up.

Perfect.

>>Exactly, correct.

>>Perfect.

>>Correct, correct.

>>So we have the burnt char.

Now what do we need?

What's the next steps to charge it up?

>>The next step is to put biology- >>Okay.

>>Put life into here.

Because right now it's just pure carbon, that's it.

What I have here is leaf mold.

This is the easiest way and really the most accessible way for everyone to make biochar.

All they need to do is go out into their backyard, and if you don't have a backyard, go to a local park.

Find a secluded spot where there's a tree.

When you pull back that initial layer of leaves, you'll see a white sponginess.

That white sponginess will be mycorrhiza.

That's microbiology in the soil.

What we do is we put that into water.

And when you're putting this in, you don't need much.

There is a lot of microbiology in just a pin drop of the substance we have here, the media we have here.

>>Hmm.

>>So, just putting a handful in a five-gallon bucket like this, microbiology has already been added to the water.

>>Okay.

>>Really, this is all that you need.

But there are other things that you can use, of course.

Here we have dairy cow manure, but you can also use chicken manure, you can use rabbit manure.

>>Okay.

>>All of these items are gonna have microbiology in it, which are full of fungi, protozoa, bacteria, archaea, you know, some of the things I was mentioning earlier.

So, again, you don't need a lot.

For a five-gallon bucket, I just take a handful, sprinkle it in, you've added biology.

>>Perfect.

>>If you wanna supercharge your biochar, a great thing to use is worm castings.

This is some of the best and highest quality manure that you can find.

So now that we have all of our microbial life in a suspended solution such as water, when I add the char, I like to use a strainer.

>>Okay.

>>So you can use cheese cloth, you can use tea bags if you have a big enough tea bag.

But this is just a brew bag.

>>Okay, I can almost use almost any type of bag that allows the liquid to- >>Exactly.

>>Permeate the bag.

>>A sock, even, you can use.

>>Okay.

>>Anything that's permeable.

Now, you can add as much or little of the char as you want.

It's all specifically on what you need.

So we add the charcoal to the water here.

You can just place the bag over top of the bin like this.

>>Mm-hmm.

>>Mush it down.

>>Press it down in there.

>>Stir it in.

>>Okay.

How often do you need to stir it?

>>You need to stir this once a day.

>>For how long?

>>Optimally, you wanna do it for 30 days, minimum seven days.

>>Okay.

>>But the longer that you let it sit and get to that 30 days, the stronger it's gonna be, the more microbial life that's gonna be in the char.

>>So once I've created and then charged my biochar, how long does it last after I've applied it to the soil?

>>That microbial life will be there for hundreds of years.

>>Hundreds of years.

>>Hundreds of years.

>>Wow.

>>Because it's pure carbon, that carbon captures everything and keeps it in there.

>>Okay.

How would I apply it?

Can you show me?

>>Absolutely.

I have some that's been strained off here.

I will take it and spread it on the ground like this.

>>Okay.

So I don't have to think about it has to be an inch thick or whatever- >>Nope.

>>I just really need it to cover the surface of the soil.

>>That's correct, all you need to do is let it cover the surface of the soil right here.

>>Okay.

>>And now, you can do this by dumping a whole bunch in one area and then spreading it out with a rake or you can just, as I am, hand sowing it- >>Okay.

>>By just sprinkling it over top of the soil.

>>What if I just wanna replenish my five-gallon buckets or plant it?

Do I still just layer a light layer of it on top and then just lightly mix it in?

>>If you wanted to add it to just, like, a container, my suggestion would be to mix the soil with the biochar.

>>Mm-hmm.

>>And I wouldn't lay a top layer.

I'd just mix everything in.

Laying this on top here is just if you already have something established.

>>Okay.

>>If you have the ability to till it into the soil so that it's directly in there, that's the best way of doing it.

But for no-till purposes, which I know is very popular these days, would just be adding compost to the top of it.

So that way, your soil is getting the microbiology, and your compost, which already has microbiology in it, will have more microbiology.

>>Can you buy biochar already made?

>>You can.

There are people who produce biochar already made.

The only thing about that biochar is, for the most part, they aren't gonna tell you what they charged it with or even if they did charge it with anything.

It could be just charcoal that you're buying.

>>So, I could just simply go to the store and buy some hardwood charcoal and then charge it myself at home?

>>Absolutely.

What you want is 100% hardwood lump charcoal.

Take that charcoal and crush it.

And that needs to be broken down into quarter- to dollar-size pieces.

>>Okay.

>>Silver dollar-size pieces, yes.

>>Perfect.

Now, biochar is alkaline.

So if we add too much biochar to our soil, basically too much of anything can make it bad for you.

>>Absolutely.

Everything in moderation.

And I would even suggesting before adding biochar to your soil, getting a soil test done- >>Perfect, yes.

>>You getting a soil analysis done to see where the organic content in your soil is.

Because if your organic content is high enough, you might not even need biochar.

>>Okay.

>>But if it's too low and you have minimal organic matter, biochar is gonna help with that.

>>You teach classes or workshops here at Virginia State?

>>Yes, I have workshops here at Virginia State.

At least once a quarter, I do a biochar workshop.

Those are free to the public.

Even if you aren't a farmer, you can come and check out some of our workshops and some of the other cool things that we do.

>>This is good information.

>>Yeah.

>>Thank you for sharing.

>>Absolutely.

>>You know, and I'm looking- >>It was my pleasure.

>>Forward to trying this out and hey, making my soil even healthier.

>>Absolutely.

And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Virginia State University Small Farm Outreach Program.

We're here to help.

>>Healthy soil is key to healthy plants, nurturing the community of bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and protozoa in the soil improves the soil microbiome.

And now Derrick is here to show us how to make compost, one of the best amendments used to build healthy soil.

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

Derrick, you've got a lot of things here and I don't think you're making a cake.

>>Sure I'm not.

So what we have here are the building blocks of making compost.

We have our brown material and our green material.

And what we wanna do is mix these together to create a system that breaks down and that creates microbiology.

And the way that we do that is by mixing these two togethers at ratios.

You wanna do a two to one ratio of brown to green material.

>>Are you talking volume or?

>>Yes, I'm talking by volume.

Not by weight, but by volume.

So a lot of folks like to use buckets.

A popular thing is five-gallon buckets, and you would take two five-gallon buckets of the brown material to one five-gallon bucket of the green material and mix those and that's how you'll get your ratio.

>>To start it off, you know, what size bin would be best?

>>The best size bin is one you can handle.

So the best size bin to get compost started would be about a three foot bin by three foot wide.

And that will give you enough room and area to start the composting process.

>>Okay.

And to get it all going.

So what would be your first layer?

Do you put the green in first?

Do you put the brown in first?

>>What we would do is put the brown in first.

>>The carbon, yeah.

>>So the carbon, which is the brown.

And what I like to do is take the bigger wooden materials and if you can break them down into smaller pieces and start layering the woody material.

>>As best you can.

>>As best you can.

>>Why do you put the wood on the bottom?

>>I like to put the wood on the bottom, so your compost bin will get wet, and this will help soak up any of that leachate which is just leaking.

>>Kind of permeating down through the pile.

>>Yes, exactly.

All the liquid that permeates down and can actually have toxins in or pathogens and you might not want that.

So this will help soak that up, keep it in there, and help it break down.

>>Okay.

So a sponge.

>>Exactly.

It's a sponge.

So with my one part or my two parts of green or brown material, I take one part green material.

>>And you can use weeds.

You can use things from your garden.

You can use- >>Absolutely.

>>Plants that you cut back.

I even use house plants.

>>House plants, the lawn clippings.

>>Even flowers my husband gives me goes in there after they die.

>>Absolutely.

>>So I mean anything that's green and growing can go into that pile.

>>That's correct, anything green, growing, and lush along with any food scraps.

>>Vegetable food scraps.

>>Correct.

Without oil or any of the additives, but just pure vegetable food scraps works great.

>>And then what about the big brown, you know, our carbon over there?

Some of those are pretty big size.

>>Yeah, they are.

So like our leaves here, what we'd wanna do with our leaves is break these down and you'd wanna shred them up to create surface area.

The more surface area you have, the better.

So we would shred these up and then add those in.

Same thing with this brown grass material.

You wanna get it as small as possible.

Add it in.

>>You don't want that to mat.

Grass mats.

>>Correct, correct.

>>Yeah.

I ended up with a layer in my pile of grass.

>>No, you wanna get it kind of spread out.

And then you can add food scraps again, 'cause we have our two parts brown material.

>>Time to add in some green.

>>One part green material.

>>Yeah.

Or nitrogen.

>>Nitrogen.

Yes, correct.

>>Well, this is gonna be easy.

Do we leave it layered like good old lasagna or not?

>>You can leave it layered like good old lasagna, but ultimately you wanna have it mixed in together.

Layering it like lasagna will create a cold compost, and that's less labor intensive.

That's something you just let sit and break down over time.

>>Does it get as hot?

'Cause I know heat is going to be generated by these bacteria.

>>It will get hot, but it won't get as hot as actively moved compost.

>>Okay.

One that's aerobic rather than anaerobic.

>>One that's aerobic.

Exactly.

So you can get a anaerobic compost, which can lead to pathogens and disease if it isn't turned properly and if it isn't layered correctly as well.

>>Or in my case, it's too wet 'cause of all the rain.

>>Correct.

Too much rain will make things go anaerobic.

And compost has a optimal holding capacity where when you take finished compost.

>>Look at that beautiful liquid gold I call that.

>>You shouldn't be able to squeeze any water out, but it should be able to form a clump like this.

>>Here we go.

Put it over here to show the clump.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's beautiful.

That's absolutely beautiful.

Do you sort of inoculate a fresh compost pile with soil and maybe compost that's in your garden?

>>Yeah, so one thing you can do is if you have mostly complete compost, you can take this and put it through almost like a strainer, a quarter inch strainer or so, or hardware fabric or chicken wire.

And you can take the bigger chunks of wood out like this.

This can go back into your compost pile and continue to break down.

>>Recycle it.

(laughs) >>Exactly.

Exactly.

>>Well, this has been fun, but my question is, we've got these layers, we need to turn it.

What's the best system?

We have one minute to talk about turning it and temperature, so.

>>Well, the best way to turn it ultimately is with a pitchfork or a shovel, or if you're strong enough to just lift a tarp and pull a tarp over and mix the stuff from the top and outside into the middle.

So anything that's on the top or outside, we wanna take that and put that on the bottom and the middle.

And the stuff that's on the bottom and the middle, bring that to the outside so we can keep composting.

>>Sounds great.

I do have another trick though, 'cause I love this compost corkscrew, and this here makes that a lot easier, okay?

And I find it very helpful because the pitchfork method and me, I just go, hmm, with all that chicken wire, it's always getting stuck and I get a little frustrated.

Because turning it is important because that's how we get our temperature up.

We get air into it, which gets things cooking.

So what temperature, you know, do we want our compost to be and why?

>>Well, we want our compost to be a minimum of 90 degrees and a very maximum of 170 degrees.

Anything above 170 degrees will start to kill off the good bacteria.

>>Oh, we don't want that.

But what will kill off weed seeds that we have here?

>>Weed seeds, as long as it gets to 90 degrees, that will kill off the weed seeds.

>>Wonderful.

Derrick, that's great news.

And I thank you so much.

You've made composting sound so easy and it is, so I encourage everyone to compost.

So, and next we're going to answer more of your questions, but first, Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger has some tips to share for maintaining great soil and raised beds.

(playful music) >>The big three when you're thinking about gardening, are sun, water, and soil.

And the one you probably have the most control over is your soil.

Thinking about where you want your garden and what kind of substrate you have to grow your plants in is really important for successful plant growth.

Here in my garden, where I'm doing my vegetable, herbs, and flowers, one of the things I was really thinking about is how I don't want to compact the soil.

Once we've fluffed the soil a bit, and added some amendments, we don't wanna walk on it anymore.

So one of the things that we've done is put in permanent paths with mulch, and then I can just walk, or use my heavy-duty wheelbarrow anytime I want, and not worry about compacting the soil where I want my plants.

The next thing I thought about was how to keep weeds from growing.

And one of the big things I do is put on lots of leaves, or grass clippings, whatever I've got on hand.

That makes a layer that the weeds cannot either germinate or get through.

And you can see here where I've got leaves, there's no green growth.

And as we move away to the side, where the material has degraded over the fall to now this spring, you can see there's some little weeds starting to come in.

Another thing that adding compost and organic material, like this mulch, helps with is the soil moisture.

So as I start to pull the leaves away, you can see the darkness, you can feel the dampness of this soil compared to the soil here, which has been exposed to the sun, and is beginning to dry out.

Depending on what you're planting, you may have to pull the leaves completely away, because you are using little tiny seeds that will need the sunlight to germinate.

But I'm about to plant tomatoes in this bed, so I'll be able to leave this mulch all around the plants.

One of the things that I find really important is doing a soil test.

That helps me know what the soil micronutrients are like, and what the pH is like.

For this kind of garden bed I have here, just a regular neutral pH is important.

Another thing I like having is a little pocket soil thermometer.

That tells me the right temperature.

I'm here in the Shenandoah Valley, and it's just starting to warm up enough, and my soil thermometer is reading 60 degrees.

That means it's time for me to start planting my tomatoes in this bed, but it's not 70 yet, so it's not time for okra.

So one of the things, by not walking on my soil, by not compacting it, I can easily slide my soil knife right in when I'm ready to plant my plants, and just pop the soil right up.

Oh, and here's some earthworms, so they're eating the organic material, and providing their castings as extra fertilizer.

I've got some chunks of clay mixed in with my better soil that has some organic material, so I've got a nice soil bed ready to go.

Adding compost, adding organic material, and using chemicals only when necessary will help you have healthy soil, healthy plants, and a wonderful garden.

Have fun out there planting your plants.

>>Like Robyn, I use organic mulches to suppress weed growth and retain moisture while adding organic matter to my soil.

It's no secret healthy plants start with healthy soil.

Increasing microbes will greatly improve its health.

This minimizes compaction and stormwater runoff, plus improves carbon sequestration, while boosting the nutrients within.

We hope you try some of these ideas to not only create a bountiful landscape, but one which is sustainable.

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

So, Derrick, I have one for you.

Tell me more about the cold composting.

>>So cold composting, that's less labor-intensive, because you're literally just making a pile and letting it sit there.

So a couple of things that come along with cold composting is that the composting process is gonna take a longer time.

So instead of maybe 30 days when you're turning your compost every few days, this is gonna take close to six months to become finished.

And the other thing is, only the inside is really gonna get composted.

Anything on the top or bottom is really not gonna compost that well because it's not heating up.

Other problems with that is that you could get different types of, of bad bacteria in there, and stuff that can ruin your compost.

So what you wanna do with cold composting is make sure that it's getting air.

>>Okay.

>>The way you can do this is by using PVC pipe and putting PVC piping through the compost pile.

>>Kinda like down the middle?

>>Down the middle, and at the bottom, horizontally as well, so that the bottom is getting some type of air.

Some people even go as far as to get a fan and blow air into those PVC pipes, forcing air in there.

>>Wow, that's, that's pretty cool.

>>That's interesting.

>>That's very interesting.

Well, we have a question about biochar, and the benefits of...

If I want the benefits of biochar but not the change in pH, can I add another amendment to balance this out?

>>Absolutely.

Depending on which way your pH is fluctuating, you could add gypsum or you could add garden line.

Either of those are gonna help your pH get back into balance, just depending if your pH goes up or goes down.

And like I said during the session, that all depends on a soil analysis, and going from there.

>>It's so important to stay up with the soil analysis.

People don't realize that and they don't use that tool enough.

>>Absolutely.

>>And it's so easy to do.

>>It is.

>>We have another one.

What should you do with the water that you charge the charcoal in?

>>Ah, that's a great question.

Don't throw it away.

You can use this water and dilute it at one part of that solution to a hundred parts water, and you can use that charging water as a fertilizer.

>>Cool.

Okay.

It's kind of fermented.

>>Correct.

Exactly, fermenting it, depending on the inputs that you put in.

If you put it in a fish fertilizer or if you put in chicken manure, just all depends on the inputs that you used in the charging water.

>>Interesting.

Interesting.

Plus the biochar, it depends on what you use to, you know, create the charcoal with, also changes the outcome of the benefits of biochar, I understand.

Is that true?

>>That is true.

Depending on the type of carbon material that you would use, you'll get different outcomes.

So burning hardwood charcoal is gonna be different than if I burnt soft wood.

And one thing that's prevalent around here is bamboo.

You can burn that, and that's a great source to use because it is sustainable as well.

You know, no one said, "I have too much bamboo here."

(Peggy chuckling) >>Yes, (indistinct) (Peggy laughing) It's always a little too much!

>>Always a little too much!

Do you have any bamboo at your house?

>>I do not.

>>You're blessed.

(laughing) >>Yes.

And I tend to keep it like that.

>>(laughing) Very good.

>>I only grow it in a container.

>>A very strong one at that.

(laughing) >>On top of a concrete sidewalk.

>>On top of a concrete sidewalk.

Good job.

(chuckling) Well, Walter from Sandy Hook has asked, "Speaking of amendments," we're gonna go back to compost, "are there things you should not put in that compost bin?"

>>Things that you shouldn't put in the compost bin are meats, cheeses, or any type of dairy, fats, oils, anything animal product or anything that's not natural, you really don't wanna put in your compost.

>>Right.

Yeah, you wanna make sure it's...

Sorry.

>>I was gonna ask too, if you're actively turning your compost and you're monitoring it, what temperature are you thinking that it should be at to heat up enough to like kill the weed seeds, or anything like that, or to even produce the compost at a faster rate?

>>Yeah, I think a minimum of 90 degrees, but optimally, around 130 degrees is where I like to see my compost pile heating up to.

If it gets anywhere above 160 degrees, I would turn my pile again to cool it down.

So, like I said, too hot and you're killing the bacteria, too cold and you're not killing the bad bacteria and the pathogens are able to form.

>>Interesting.

And the thing people need to realize, and I'm sure you do too, Serome, when you use it, is a little dab will do you.

>>Oh yes.

A little goes a long way.

>>Exactly.

We're talking about microbes here, microscopic little beings and critters.

>>It's amazing how active just a little bit of soil life is, so just a little goes a long way.

>>I throw it around like chicken feed, you know, on the top of the soil, and then I gently just work it in very, very lightly.

You don't need to do much.

Alright, we've got one more, real quick.

We have 30 seconds, gentlemen, okay?

Nora wants to create a pond in her backyard in the alley, but she has a rat problem and she's concerned about the pond.

You have 15 seconds.

What would you do, Serome?

>>I would make sure that you have a branch or something in there, so that any creature that goes in has a chance to get out.

>>Excellent.

Excellent.

Thank you very much.

We wanna take care of our friends.

>>Exactly.

>>And those that aren't so friendly.

So, well, we're out of time, Derrick, and I thank you so much for being with us.

>>Thank you.

>>Yes.

And, Serome, we always appreciate you being here.

>>Thank you.

>>It's always a pleasure, so.

And I thank you for watching.

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

And if you're not on our Facebook page already, head over there now for Randy Battle's latest edition of "Take What You Have and Make It Work".

He shares a tip to keep the soil in containers moist for longer.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter at vpm.org/vhg for gardening information and advice from our team.

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.

(lively music) >>Production funding for Virginia Homegrown is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis & Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund, and by... (birds chirping) (lively guitar music) (lively guitar music continuing) (lively guitar music fading) (ethereal music)