(birds twittering) >>You know, we live here, not just my family but every family that works here, and we have to breathe this air and swim in these creeks and fish in the ponds around here.

These reclamation projects are the right thing to do.

>>As you travel through the entire park and our interpretive area here, you'll find unique little features that kind of help you see the beauty of this land and then kind of the story of the indigenous peoples that once lived here.

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

(birds twittering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music fades) >>Welcome to Virginia Home Grown!

Our gardens are glowing with colorful flowers and spring vegetables are being harvested while new seeds are being sown.

I just wish those night temperatures would remain above 60 degrees so I can transplant those tomato plants into the garden.

Well, speaking of planting, today we're learning about land management, and the importance of restoring, protecting, and conserving natural areas in the Commonwealth, even after drastic land disturbance.

But 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 explore a state park in Gloucester County, to learn about the range of habitats protected there, and also their mission to honor Native American history.

But first, I visited Kyanite Mining Corporation in Buckingham County, to see their award-winning land reclamation site and learn more about how mined land is restored to a natural state, which begins when the first blade hits the ground.

So let's get going... >>Gentlemen, I have never been on a reclaimed mine site.

You know, I think of mine sites as open and barren areas.

But I've also never heard of Kyanite.

So, I've got so many questions to ask.

So, let's ask the obvious one.

Guy, what is kyanite?

>>Kyanite is a ceramic raw material that is useful for its high melting point and other heat-resistant properties.

>>And how did Kyanite Mining Company come about?

>>Kyanite Mining Corporation was founded in the mid 1940s, when my grandfather and great-grandfather bought the predecessor mine which had gone bankrupt several times during the Great Depression and tried to make a go of it right at the end of the Second World War.

>>So, is this the original mine that was purchased back then?

>>No, the original mine is located about 20 or 30 miles south of here as the crow flies at a place called Baker Mountain, which was the sole mining location for the company up until the early 1950s when they started this location up.

>>Okay, so they mined this location for how many years in this exact location we're standing at before the restoration started?

>>There was no actual mining going on right here where we are.

The mining takes place on that hill that you can see in the background, and a hill over that way, which you can't really see right here.

Where we're standing here is a deposit for all of the various mineral constituencies that are mined that aren't kyanite and that we have to do something with.

And so we're kind of moving the mountain from over there, over here.

>>We're standing on a new mountain.

>>That's right, that's right.

>>That's fantastic.

So, John, how do you start the process of reclaiming a barren mountain?

>>Peggy, our overarching goal is to ensure that no sediment leaves our site.

So, our first step is to create sediment control structures like sediment dams, rock filter berms, diversion ditches so if erosion occurs we can capture that sediment in these structures and prevent it from leaving our site.

And then those minerals that we don't sell as kyanite product, or a byproduct, start to be deposited behind that sediment dam.

And as that elevation increases, we spread topsoil on those layers, creating the grassy slope that we're standing on now.

>>So, what is that seed mixture?

And how do you determine that mixture?

>>Great question.

Our mixture is approved every year by the state of Virginia's Department of Energy.

And that typical mixture includes fescue, clover, lespedeza, and whatever cover crop we might choose for that time of planting.

As you can see, a lot of our site is slope-driven.

And so our seeding needs to be respective of that slope.

And our goal is to ensure that as soon as we apply that seed and that fertilizer mix, that the seed sprouts and holds that soil in place.

Remember I lead with, we don't want any erosion of our reclamation site.

So, our mix is designed to sprout very quickly, hold that topsoil in place and allow for the perpetual use by our wildlife.

>>So, you've put down basically an annual rye first because that, to me, is the fastest way to hold the slope immediately.

>>It is, and that comes up immediately, to your point.

But then the fescue and the clover and the lespedeza isn't far behind.

And that stabilizes the soil, while also to the clover mix, enriches the soil as years go on.

>>Yes.

Do you have to do any soil testing and any modifications of the soil while you're getting this space established?

>>We do soil sampling before we apply our seed and fertilizer and lime mix so that we know what that mix should be.

Our seed mix stays the same, but our fertilizer and our lime applications vary by what those soil samples recommend.

So, we might be seeding an acre or two at a time, maybe three or four acres.

And if the number is that high, three or four acres, we'll probably take three or four or five soil samples just in case there are areas within that topsoil spread that require a little more fertilizer or a little less lime.

>>Yes.

So, you're able to fine tune it.

You're just not blindly broadcasting things.

>>That's exactly right.

>>That is so good to hear.

Warms my heart.

But you also mentioned wildlife.

So, do you do any additional seeding to bring in more of the wildlife?

>>Great question.

So, we spoke with a wise horticulturalist just last week who suggested that in addition to the soil stabilization that our original seed mix supplies, we add in some native grasses and some native wildflowers so that as this site progresses into Mother Nature retaking it, it's hosting those native grasses and those native wildflowers.

So, our seed mix now and forevermore includes a native grass and a native wildflower mix.

>>Thank you, I appreciate it.

>>You're very welcome.

Thanks for the advice.

>>You're welcome.

But how long will you keep managing the site before you do let it go to Mother Nature?

>>We like to manage our sites for many years, I would say close to a decade after we create them to ensure that there is no differential settling, no erosion taking place on a section of grass that didn't come up as well as we had expected.

And that way, if we have to go back and make a patch here or there, we're not disturbing trees that might have sprouted.

And then once we're sure that the water is going where it should go, there's no erosion, that the seed mix is doing its job, then we will by all means let Mother Nature run its course.

>>I'm just so impressed by all the work that's here.

But, Guy, what prompted your family to initiate reclaiming the property, the land?

>>Well, that's a really important question.

It's just the right thing to do.

And so that's, in its essence, why we do it.

And there's lots of things about being part of a community that make you do various things.

And these reclamation projects are one of those.

But there's all kinds of ways that this company is involved in the community.

We're very active in supporting emergency services, which in a rural place like this, the volunteer fire departments and the volunteer rescue squads need all the help they can get.

And we're honored to be able to help.

To little things, like we have a trash pickup day where we get the whole company, give them the day off and pick up hundreds of bags of trash.

And so it's all those kinds of things wrapped into one.

But it all comes back to the fact that we all live here and are part of these communities.

And it's home, and you treat it like home.

>>I applaud you for doing that.

Because having the company be just part of the community and the community then becomes part of the company.

And there's a pride.

And I congratulate you.

>>Thank you.

>>Well, I understand from all of this hard work that you have done that you've won many awards.

>>Yes, we have.

And that's a point of serious pride for me and John and everybody who works here.

This is the latest project that we've done that we've won an award for.

I believe we've won the State of Virginia Best Reclamation Award here.

And we might be in the running, John knows better than I do, for a national award here.

And we have actually won quite a few state awards in the past and even two national awards for the original mine, Baker Mountain, brought back to a state of nature.

>>Well, what a great success story and I congratulate both of you.

And John and Guy, I thank you so much for the dedication and working a site and bringing it back and allowing it to eventually progress back into nature.

And I also thank you for sharing that.

>>Thank you.

>>Thank you.

>>I am impressed with Kyanite Mining Corporation's dedication to the land and the community, and the numerous awards they have won.

They are all so well deserved.

But now we are joined by Will Clear who's the Acting-Director of the Department of Energy, to learn how his agency here in Virginia is supporting the reclamation of mine sites across the Commonwealth.

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

Well, Will, I'll be honest, nobody has ever brought in a diorama like this before so I'm really intrigued by it.

>>Thank you, yeah.

Our guys did a great job on this.

>>They really did.

It explains things so clearly.

So, you know, you're with the Virginia Department of Energy.

Tell me real briefly what does that department oversee and do?

>>We actually are an agency that's all over the state.

We actually oversee your permit to all the mining activities that occur in the state, but we also do a lot of work on the sort of research on where we go for our energy future in the Commonwealth.

>>Exciting.

That's very exciting.

>>It's very exciting right now since it's dynamically changing a lot.

>>Yes, I could see there's so many things on the table, I'm sure.

>>Right.

>>But some of the things that also need to be addressed is what we have been doing.

And some of that needs to be celebrated and educated, so people know, so typically with a coal mine, like we have a diorama here of, you know, we have a concept or perception of one thing.

But can you explain to us truly the process of the mining operation and then where it lands?

>>Sure, we can walk through this whole process.

And before we get started, I mean you have to start talking about the permit process, right?

This all begins with a very extensive permit process where the plan is filed and also the final reclamation plan, because that's really what we want to get to is what is the reclamation going to be, and ensure that we protect, obviously the water that's coming off of this, or the water that's around this and flows into our rivers, but also get the land back to where it needs to be.

>>That's great, so even before that permit is actually granted they've already got a plan to reclaim the site?

>>That is correct.

That is correct.

>>That's very helpful to know, 'cause I know this is a drastic land change and so they start the shoveling, and where do we go from there?

>>Well, we start at the top here.

If you look at this particular diorama and I'll talk about some of the things as we go down.

If you start at the top of this ridge, for example, and we start taking off the layers you can actually see the coal seams.

That's actually the dark spots here.

>>I see them.

>>And as we take that down we're gonna actually remove the coal and we're gonna first pull off the top soil, so I'd start there, we pull off the top soil.

We'll take that down.

And then ultimately what you can see is we get down to the bottom of this coal seam.

And then we're gonna start bringing back that material.

>>Okay.

>>And reclaiming that what we call a high wall, right?

>>Okay.

>>So we're actually reclaiming that and bringing that back up, and we take it back to usually back to a grade, an original contour to restore the land back to where it was originally.

>>Okay, if it can't get restored, you get as close as possible?

>>That's correct.

That's correct.

Sometimes the material, there's not enough material, but we do our best job to get it back to the, what we call approximate original contour.

>>Because also you have to keep in mind if it's too steep, erosion is just going to take over.

>>We are very concerned about erosion.

We spend a lot of our time ensuring that we don't have erosion and controlling the sediment that comes off of these sites.

>>So what are some of the practices used to control erosion?

>>That's when we go over here and we talk on this side of the diorama.

We have sediment retention ponds.

If you can see at the bottom of this here, we have retention ponds.

So as water will come down, it'll collect there, and sediment will actually deposit in the bottom of that pond, and keep the sediment from flowing to our rivers, and affecting, you know, fish and things in the rivers.

>>So it's intentional to slowly be filled in?

>>It's absolutely intentional, yes.

>>And then moving on as we're going, you know, what type of soil do you put onto the reclaimed site, and what kind of seeding, what type of plant material?

>>What we do is we do encourage the operators to use a native seed to put back, but oftentimes we're really concerned with slope stability and sediment and erosion control, right?

That's our biggest concern.

>>Yes.

>>We want to protect our waters.

So sometimes we use certain seeds that will grow fast.

Right, it may or may not be native species.

>>Like fescues and such?

>>Exactly.

>>Yes.

>>That will actually get it to a point where we don't have that sediment issue.

>>You know, if we can stabilize the slope and anywhere, even in our own yards.

So people who live on a slope, it's so important to stabilize that soil.

So you don't get the runoff.

You don't get the nutrient runoff nor the soil runoff, and then you can move back into sort of introducing, or encouraging the other species to take over.

And that's really important.

>>That is correct.

Yes.

>>Yeah.

Typically, how long, you know, do you manage this site for any period of time, or do you immediately let it go?

>>What we do with an operator is we don't release a permit until we feel like everything is where it needs to be from a stability perspective and vegetation.

So typically what we say is once we start reclamation, active reclamation on a site meaning there's no more coal being taken off a site, it can take up to five years to actually get to a point where we feel comfortable to release the operator from that site.

>>Right so, it's all the soil erosion permits that we get with construction, you know?

It's gotta be able to have support soil, which is the side that I know of.

But even here, you're actually managing the site for five years before you re even say it's okay to move forward.

This is very informative.

Do you come back years later just to double check the site, or?

>>Well, we, obviously we release the site.

We don't necessarily come back unless there are some issues.

We very rarely have any concerns or issues, but we typically don't have to come back, because we know the site is ready to go.

>>Well then I have one question real quick is what happens if the site doesn't meet standards?

How does, you know, the Virginia Department of Energy help with the mining corporation to get them there?

Is there guidance or?

>>We inspect these sites, obviously during the process.

All through the process, we have monthly inspections.

So we're always on site.

We ensure we actually write violations if something is not done, you know, for example, back to here if we're not reclaiming as we mine, then we will write a violation to ensure that we do that.

>>Understandable, well, this is all very important.

And I know the next step after this is to put it into the community to see if we can get agriculture on it and other corporations back onto the site to benefit even the community further.

So I wanna thank you so much for sharing this.

It helped me tremendously.

So I appreciate you being here.

>>Well, thank you for having me, Peggy.

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

But first, Serome Hamlin, has tips on how to prevent runoff and erosion in your landscape by planting ground covers.

Some may already be growing in your garden.

(upbeat music) >>Every garden is unique and has its own unique situations or challenges.

In my garden, I have some areas that I've had to use stone or block to retain the soil.

But over here, this is such a gentle slope that my idea is to use ground covers.

If you have a slope, you have a lot of runoff.

So that means you're going to lose a lot of soil and nutrients and water that you want to retain in your garden.

So I want to really take care of this situation.

As far as ground covers, there are many options that you can choose.

If you have a sunnier situation, maybe you can use something like this sedum, or a veronica.

Shadier situation, you can use something like this little ophiopogon.

It gives you a nice grassier look.

Now, you've got to remember this does spread slowly.

So keep that in mind.

The nice things about ground covers is that as they are growing, they will root out and start holding the soil.

So here, one thing I have done is, instead of using that is I'm using the cheapest nursery that I have, and I went through my garden and found other things that could work here.

So I have found disporopsis pernyi.

Gets about 12 to 16 inches tall.

And as it's growing, it does really, really hold in the soil.

These do have a nice woody roots.

Another little native that I like is Iris cristata with its nice blue blooms early in the spring.

And again, as the rhizomes spread, they hold on to the soil.

So I will be planting these here.

(tool scraping) (tool scraping) Now as these grow and spread, I want this to grow out and hold on to the hillside as it's growing.

So don't plant directly at the edge.

Give the plant space to spread out and get those roots really holding the soil.

Just remember, doing that you're conserving not only water, but you're also conserving all the materials and organic material that you have in your garden, and that is very important.

So I hope that everybody will just think about some ground covers and go out and get your hands dirty.

>>On Facebook right now, Serome and other members of our team are answering your questions, so please send them in via Facebook or through our website.

We look forward to hearing from you.

And now, we have questions to answer here as well.

And Amyrose Foll has joined us to help out.

You know, Amy, thanks for being with us this evening.

>>Thank you.

>>You're welcome.

>>And thank you for that wonderful presentation.

But we had a question.

Tara wanted to know, can we reuse these sites when the mining is over to help those communities impacted by coal?

>>Yes, in fact, it's really an advantage to have these disturbed sites as we try to diversify these coal communities.

As you know, there's significant impact from the loss of a lot of these coal jobs.

Obviously, the industry has significantly declined and we're working really hard to diversify these communities.

But we have assets.

These are not an, these are assets.

These sites are very sought after by for development potentially of clean energy, solar on mine lands, wind energy potentially on some mine lands, and then, you know, for additional clean energy like hydrogen production or things like that.

These are assets that we can use to diversify and bring good economic value to these communities.

>>Thank you.

There's a really great one that came in from a gentleman named Mike, and he actually wanted to know, is it safe to grow food on reclaimed mine land?

And is the soil tested?

I like that one.

>>It's a really good one.

It's a good question.

And absolutely, it is safe.

We do testing of soils.

We've done a tremendous research in this area.

It takes a little bit of time to get the soil up to a point where we can grow crops.

It's not that it's a problem to grow crops.

It's just to be productive.

We gotta get the soil conditions up to where they can support those crops.

But yeah, it's absolutely safe.

>>That's really interesting.

Oh, this is another good one.

Does the Department of Energy certify land reclamation projects?

>>What we do is we permit the process all the way through, and we talked about it a few minutes ago, about the five years.

We stay with it to make sure that it's actually done properly and then we will not release it until we know it's been properly reclaimed.

>>Very interesting.

There's so many good questions about mining.

>>Yes.

(laughs) >>I know this is a garden show, so I feel bad, like, asking you when we have you here and you're an expert.

Do you wanna do some garden questions too?

>>Well, we can do garden question and then we'll get back to our mining question.

(Peggy laughs) >>Okay.

So this one's good.

And since you are the queen of the roses, (Peggy laughs) Helen wrote in, asked, or talking about the leaves on her Knock Out Roses.

They've turned brown, curled up last year, so she cut it back, and the plant came back having the same issue.

My first thought is horticultural oils and watering only in the morning so it's not so humid.

What is your expert advice on that?

>>Well, given the situation that with the two low temperature, I'll say, events that we had, it's very likely that the new growth got burned back by those low 25 degree temperatures.

>>Oh!

>>Okay.

>>That's a very good point.

>>Yeah, we're in the springtime and that tender new growth came on and then those temperatures fell not once but twice.

It happened to us in this cycle.

And I'm gonna encourage to just keep fertilizing, keep 'em well mulched, do all the right cultural practices, and they should sprout one more time.

>>If it is something like blight, would you just do a copper fungicide or a sulfur fungicide?

>>Well, if it's a rose rosette situation, you actually have to remove the plant.

>>Oh!

>>There is no cure for rose rosette.

>>Oh, okay.

>>Okay.

If there's some other fungal issues or other questions, then I would encourage her to call her cooperative extension office so that she could bring a sample in to have it confirmed.

>>Oh!

>>But a good test for rose rosette is just hyper prickles.

Roses have prickles, not thorns.

And you can take that new growth and bend it like a rubber band and it won't snap 'cause it's so rubbery.

The cells are just so super elongated.

We won't get into the botany of it.

(Amyrose laughs) I'll bore everybody, but anyway, but yes.

>>That's really interesting, and the cooperative extension is such a wonderful service too.

>>Yes.

>>I'm going to be back to you.

Okay.

There's so many good questions here.

So another question that was brought in by Tara was, what kind of developments are ideal for formerly mined lands?

>>We mentioned a few minutes ago about solar on mine lands.

It's a great use of that, you know, reclaimed surface area because a lot of it's in rural areas so it doesn't impact a lot of people.

And we know a lot about those land.

Those lands, we know where the drainage is.

So we're a little bit ahead of the game on some of these properties, and we're not taking farmland, for example.

>>Yeah.

>>Could you be, you're almost creating it.

Could it be for grazing for cattle and sheep?

>>We could also, and we do graze cattle and sheep on those properties and we've done that in some test environments, and it does very well.

And it's actually great for soil amendments as well.

>>Yes.

>>That is really interesting.

Virginia is so (indistinct) and grass fed.

Oh, delicious.

(Amyrose and Peggy laughing) What information can you give?

Can Virginia Energy rather offer to help potential developers kind of work with the coal mine lands?

>>What we do is we interface with a lot of developers.

For example, we've interfaced with probably over 40 developers in the last two years looking at opportunities to reuse these areas.

So all you really need to do is contact our office and we'll work with you and provide you properties.

>>Very nice.

Very nice.

This is kind of reminds me of that but it's a little garden focused.

So Carol from Facebook actually wrote in and asked if cinder blocks can be used and if they're safe to make a raised bed instead of wood.

>>Yes, I agree.

Yes, I've used them.

And the thing is though, over a long period of time, they will leach some calcium into the soil and that will just make the soil sweeter.

It'll raise the pH of it.

So I have no problem, you know, what is your thoughts on that?

>>My first thought was fly ash from 50 years ago plus.

(all laughing) That's why I had to go with that one next, which I know that's not in cinder anymore.

It's actually just concrete.

>>Right.

(laughs) >>But- (laughs) But I thought that was a good one, given what you're talking about in minerals.

Are the minerals from, to make things like that mined here in Virginia?

>>You talking about- >>Like, cinder blocks and whatnot.

>>We do mine some aggregates and some limestones, yes, to make those materials, yes.

>>Very neat.

Very neat.

This is a very sad question that's next.

>>Aw... >>Deb from Highland Springs, I'm sorry, Deb, she has lost two native trees.

She wants to know what causes the bark to peel away and split back and kill the tree.

>>Here we go.

We're back to those two crazy weather events.

Understand that in this spring, you know, it's just been a crazy spring, but many months ago when we had that first warming trend the sap started to rise up into the tree because the tree went, oh, it's spring.

And it signaled the roots to start pulling up the stored energy that's been there all winter to be able to initiate growth up top which is typical and perfectly normal.

But then the temperature froze and you had all this water and moisture underneath that bark and it froze.

And when water freezes, it expands and it exploded the cells which caused the bark to then break off of it.

And you've got, it's very common.

A way to avoid that is to actually put, you know, lime, not white paint, but just the lime wash on your trunks next winter on the south facing side to avoid the trunk absorbing the sunshine after that cold snap and melting and causing the fissures.

>>Oh, that's ingenious.

>>Yes, it's an old, old problem that they've had for, you know, millennial, you know, particularly in orchards.

>>Yes.

>>Why do you see the orchard trees painting?

>>Oh, the stone fruit orchards?

>>Yes.

>>Oh, that's the bane of everyone's existence, especially with those plums and peaches.

Oh, now, let's see what else we have here.

>>One quick one please.

>>Oh, one quick.

Doug asked, oh, we actually answered this, Doug.

Doug wanted to know whether pasturing the animals on the mine lands helps improve the soil faster.

>>Absolutely, yes.

>>Yes.

Thank you, Doug.

And thank you so much for being with us here today.

>>I appreciate the opportunity.

>>I love what you're doing.

>>Thanks, Amy.

>>Thanks.

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

So please keep 'em coming in.

And I wanna thank you again, Will, for sharing your knowledge and letting us be further informed about mining practices and land reclamation.

So we appreciate it.

So, and now Amyrose takes us over to Machicomoco State Park to learn how the property is managed and to explore the various habitats the park protects.

(birds chirping) >>It's beautiful here.

Can you tell me a little bit about this place and the history of it and its significance?

>>Welcome to Machicomo co State Park.

We're here in Gloucester, Virginia.

Here at this park, we have over 645 acres that the state manages.

Right now we are standing in our interpretive area.

And this is a really beautiful area to come whenever you come out to the park.

We have beautiful view sheds and we have a lot of history that we have on display.

>>When did this site open?

>>Well, this site opened on April 16th of 2021.

>>What does Machicomoco mean?

>>Machicomoco, excellent question.

That is Algonquin language, which means a special meeting place.

It got its name from the committee that was on the design team.

The indigenous peoples of Virginia got together and came up with the name.

>>Can you tell me a little bit about how you are incorporating that into the management and preservation and conservation of this area?

>>Well, our mission here is to, obviously with state parks, we preserve and conserve the lands that we look after.

And here at this park, it's truly a unique one 'cause we were dedicated to help support the, in telling the stories of the indigenous peoples that lived here and continue to live here in the Senecamaca region.

>>So does that story include Powhatan that we all know?

How does that play into this?

>>Well Powhatan, if you travel 10 miles upstream, that is the Werowocomoco, that is the the capital of the Powhatan chiefdom.

That is where the paramount chief set.

>>I see you have a lot of native plants incorporated into your conservation and land management practices here.

What are the significance of these plants to the interpretive center at this site?

>>Right, the plants that you'll find here whenever you visit the interpretive area have a lot of special use and cultural meaning to the indigenous peoples of the day.

A lot of it is medicinal, some structural uses.

Some of the plants are the inkberries.

We have some switchgrass, little bluestem, many different different species you'll find here at the park.

>>How do those work in conjunction with the structure that you have here?

Can you tell me what that is?

>>Well, the structure behind us is a modern interpretation of a yi-hakan.

Yi-hakan is another Algonquin word that means a long house.

So that was the homes that the indigenous peoples lived in.

So the bone structures of the yi-hakan is actually made out of the black locust, of which that is what the typical tree that would've, they would've used for the studs of the home.

>>Very nice.

Tell me more about the other things we see here.

What's behind us?

>>Of course, as you go down the path to the west of the yi-hakan, you'll come across a map of Senecamaca, which is the region that we're in.

That map is made up of a Virginia mist granite.

It has some unique features and key points that is marked on the map to kind of tell you important features, like where the indigenous tribes live today, and then some other key areas in Virginia.

>>That's great.

Let's see more of the park.

>>Perfect.

Let's go for a hike.

(birds calling) >>Tell me a little bit about this.

What is this?

>>This is our history timeline.

As you walk down the timeline, you'll come across some different points throughout history that were key to the indigenous peoples.

So here at Machicomoco, we have over six miles of trails.

Right now we're on the interpretive trail.

We're gonna head over to the forestry trail where we're going to be taken to a more natural area.

Over there we'll see more views of the Catlett Islands and the waterways.

>>This is beautiful.

(gravel crunching) (water gurgling) (insects chirping) >>This is a really excellent place for bird habitats.

This year we have more than 160 different bird species.

>>Oh wow.

(birds chirping) So we saw a lot of different kinds of habitat here.

Can you tell me more about what we've seen?

>>Yeah, that's one of the amazing things here at Machicomoco is we have such a diverse habitat.

As we walk past this pathway here at the cartop kayak launch, you can kind of see those transitions.

From the road, there's the ag field, then you have the tall grass, then you have the taller shrubs, and then as we're walking into the more mature trees here.

So it's a great experience to kind of actually see the ecological succession that happens.

>>That's wonderful that you are intentionally creating plans to preserve this area for future generations.

Is it a long-term plan that you work on?

>>Right now we are in the process of planning out our long-term vision here.

What we'll do there is just kinda look at an aerial view of the property that we're managing, and determine the resources that are there, and then figure out which areas that we want to kind let grow back up into maybe a more mature forest, or maybe keep as a grassland.

So it'll be a lot of park rangers kind of getting together and kind of coming up with the best opportunity here.

>>So what are we seeing here?

>>Oh, this is an amazing spot to come.

This is our boardwalk, which leads out to a really nice cartop kayak launch.

And then the view shed is just amazing.

This is Poplar Creek here, and out there just on the other side of the creek is the Catlett Islands.

Just beyond the islands is the York River, of which back in the day was the Pamunkey River.

What we do here with the watershed is we provide kayaking opportunities, and then also some bird watching.

Off of the islands over here you can get a glimpse of one of the eagle's nests that was active last year.

We had two eaglets born.

>>I'm so glad that you're doing this for the residents of Virginia.

This is a really special place.

>>One of the great things with working with state parks is that, not only do we conserve and preserve the land that we manage, but we also offer recreational and educational opportunities for people to come out and kind of learn about the land and just kind of enjoy it as well.

And so yeah, it's an amazing opportunity.

>>It is amazing.

Thank you so much for having me out today.

>>Yeah, well thank you for coming.

You definitely brought a beautiful day with you.

>>What a beautiful site with so many attributes.

And I look forward to the day my husband and I visit the park, along with our kayaks.

Well, Terry is here with me now to talk more about some of the native plants that are returning to the park, and a few invasive plants they're working on eradicating.

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

Well, Terry, you've got quite an interesting array of plants here, you know.

I'm so excited to see trees on this table.

So what can you tell me about them?

>>Well, we definitely brought several clippings from Machicomoco that we are encouraging to grow there.

And we did bring some of the ones that we are trying to get rid of as well.

But the first couple that I'm gonna talk about are our pine trees.

These are two different species here.

>>And they're both natives.

>>Both natives to Virginia.

We have the Loblolly pine, and you can see that we have the cone that goes with it, very original cone that you see throughout Virginia.

And then one that's really beautiful that we have growing at our park, we have actually 60 acres of this.

This is our longleaf pine.

>>Very unusual to be so far up in Gloucester like that.

>>Yeah, definitely, we're at the top part of the growth pattern.

And this was actually planted by the housing developer before it became a state park, he planted the 60 acres.

And so definitely come out and experience that.

It is really beautiful.

>>But the cones for that pine, ah.

>>Oh, these are amazing.

>>They are amazing.

>>You can find these out there while you're exploring the park.

>>I have to share with you, my mother-in-law, rest her soul, she would gather these cones when she went south.

She lived in Pennsylvania.

She'd make turkeys out of 'em at Thanksgivings.

So funny, and just silly little things, whenever I'd see this cone.

Enough of that silliness.

So what else do you have growing at the park?

>>Well, right here, the next one is honey locust.

This one you'll find throughout our interpretive area.

This one we planted there.

It was planted there with the intent to kinda show what the indigenous people would use to build their yi-hakans, or their long homes.

But the honey locust wasn't really the one that they used.

They would use the black locust.

>>Yes, our native black locust.

>>But with the black locust, we didn't want to plant those in the interpretive area because they have those really sharp thorns and stuff.

>>Oh my, and those are so painful.

>>Definitely.

>>Well, you're being very family friendly then, by putting in the honey locust and telling the same story.

>>Definitely, it's a beautiful tree.

>>It is a beautiful tree, one that, I think, people should use more in their yards.

But you've got some of my favorites here, and I know it's springtime, and it's coming along.

It's doing the best best it can, given our weather conditions.

>>This clipping is of a bald cypress.

This one has a unique history to it as well.

The indigenous peoples would use the bald cypress to create their canoes and stuff, whatever they would travel on the water.

One unique thing about it, it has a feature of.

>>Of growing those knees?

>>Yes.

(laughing) Thank you.

>>You're welcome.

And they really don't understand why the knees are grown.

They've had all these theories over the decades, over time, but nobody's ever be able to confirm this is why they're there, which is very intriguing.

And the other thing that I've always found with bald cypress is yes, they like it wet and they grow in swampy areas, but they also can grow high and dry.

And so many people don't realize that, is that the dry soil has just as little oxygen as that wet soil.

So it's an interesting tree.

>>It's a really beautiful tree, one of my favorite whenever you're exploring out there.

>>Yes, and so soft.

Texturally, it's fun.

Well, we've got two here, and we've got our regular red maple here.

>>The red maple, this is a really beautiful tree that you'll find throughout our park.

Again, you'll find this one in our interpretive area that surrounds the yi-hakan.

The unique feature with this one, and the history about it, was the indigenous peoples would use this as the cross beams for their support of the house.

So it's really beautiful.

>>That is beautiful.

And I threw in, asked you to put this sweet gum in, and we'll do it real quick 'cause we wanna get over to the invasives.

But so many people confuse this as a maple when it's our sweet gum.

>>Yeah, it does look like a maple, but no, this is a maple tree.

This one again is found throughout our park.

It is a really fast-growing tree.

So it'll be in your early succession fields.

So it'll provide really nice shade if you're wanting something really quick.

>>And beautiful fall color too.

>>Very beautiful.

>>Beautiful sweet gum.

It's just lovely.

I know it has the sweet gum balls, but you can forgive it.

Well, these have been great examples of some of our positives, but we have just one minute left to talk about the not so positives.

>>So these, yes, these are the ones that are giving us challenge at the park, and it gives many people challenges throughout Virginia.

This one is our Callery pear.

It is all over the place.

It is something that we are battling with daily to try to get rid of.

It has these sharp thorns on it that are very nasty.

>>Yes, and it doesn't make up for the white flowers in the spring 'cause it's just, it's a monster.

And speaking of, we have this one too.

You have this on throughout the property?

>>We do have this one throughout the property.

And even though it's given a tree of heaven as a heavenly name, (Peggy laughing) it is very invasive and we definitely do not want it to be growing throughout.

>>The problem with this plant is it can grow just about anywhere, and you can cut it down, and then it sprouts from the roots like it's got a message to share, almost as if it's insulted.

Well, Terry, this has been great.

Thank you so much for bringing in some of our native trees that are growing at the park, but also showing some of the challenges.

We appreciate it.

>>Thank you.

>>And now we're going to get ready to answer more of your questions, but first, Shana Williams has tips on how to use wood chips in your vegetable garden to conserve soil and water while adding organic matter.

(jaunty music) >>We are now at the garden, and this is our small garden, but we wanna talk about helping you to conserve water and protect the land.

So one of the things that I like to do is, I like to use wood chips.

What I will do is I'll get some wood chips, find someone who's cutting down trees, and ask them, "Can you dump a load of wood chips in my yard for me?"

And what I'll do is I'll take some of this cardboard, make sure that I remove all the tape off of it, place it down on the ground, take some wood chips, a lot more than this, of course, and then start tossing it onto our cardboard.

But as you know, we don't always get all the weeds, so often we might have different things growing along the side.

We have to pull those up.

And if you notice, hey, these are scallions.

I gotta hold on to some of these and use these later.

I have our regular type of wood chips here, which are just freshly cut, and I like to put those on our walkway.

And then I'll have some aged wood chips here.

Those sat around for about a year, and often I might mix in some manure.

But the key thing about this is these wood chips will help me do several things in my garden.

They will help eliminate soil erosion.

So as the wind continues to blow, what happens is my soil dries out and it starts to blow around, of course, and over time, I have decreased soil.

So as I add wood chips, that'll help keep my soil in place, but another key thing that it's going to do for me is allow my soil to stay moist between waterings.

So as I water in my garden and water in my plants fairly well and as the rainwater, guess what, my soil, my roots, they'll still stay moist because the wood chips are allowing a lot of that moisture to stay in the soil, and over time, guess what's going to happen?

My plants are going to be happy because they're going to have a lot of the moisture that they need and I get to be happy because I get to water less often.

Happy gardening.

>>Being more water-wise in the garden is something we should all strive for, and mulching is an easy step to take toward this goal.

You know, we've received more questions, so let's see what we have.

I'm excited for this.

First one's from Kayleigh from Williamsburg, and she's asked, "I'm wondering what Terry's favorite bird species is at the park and why it's his favorite."

>>Oh, that's a great question.

I would have to say the blue heron.

I mean, it's just a really beautiful bird that you could find out there, throughout the park and along the waterways.

>>Particularly when it's in full mating plumage.

Oh my, it's a gorgeous bird, yes.

Yes, what other birds do you have at the park?

>>Oh, we have many different species.

With the habitat that we have there being so diverse, we have over 160 different birds species there.

So, you can get anywhere from your land birds to the water birds and some of the, there's many, yes.

>>More acquired birds.

>>There you go.

(laughs) >>Being there at Hayes, are you in the flyway for the migration, 'cause you're right there along the Chesapeake, the edge of it there?

>>Yes, yes, we are.

>>So, you must get some wonderful birding about early May.

>>We do get a lot of birding.

>>Ah, that's exciting.

I like to look at birds.

Anyway, do you do any forestation, you know, reforestation, you know, on the site?

>>Yes, we are.

We currently have planted 120 trees throughout the park, mainly in our campgrounds to kind of reforest that up to get it a little, more natural areas in there, so.

>>That's very exciting, do you have plans for more?

>>We do, yes.

We have rangers there that are excited about reforesting the land and making it really beautiful.

>>That's exciting.

>>Do you have a lot of large trees for a habitat for owls and things like that?

>>Yes, we have a lot of owls within large trees there.

We actually do Owl Prowl programs at night, and at every single program, we've got to, you know, have an owl, you know, fly over.

So, that's really- >>How can someone access that, or is it just, you go to the park and sign up?

>>Yes, if you go to our website, you can see all our programs down at the bottom of the page.

>>Okay.

>>That's wonderful.

>>Well, we'll post that site later.

>>Yes, thank you.

>>Okay, thank you.

Excellent.

Well, we've got some other questions, too.

One of them is, "Is camping allowed at the park?"

So, you have a campground, obviously.

>>Yes, we do have campgrounds.

We have 30 sites that you can choose from.

We have 13, water and electric, 14 tent pad sites, and then we have three amazing yurts, so.

>>And facilities?

>>We do have state-of-the-art facilities that you can use.

>>Excellent.

That makes for a good weekend.

(laughs) We have another question here.

Suzanne from Richmond has asked, you know, "Can ground covers like sedum crowd out iris?"

>>I think that's a good combo because irises don't, like, have wet feet.

>>Yes.

>>And sedum are pretty good with being water thrifty also.

>>Yes.

>>And you literally just led in with the mulch.

>>Yes.

>>So, I think think that's great.

Daylilies would not be so good, though.

>>No, no.

>>Not so much 'cause they need a little bit more moisture than the irises do, and, you know.

>>Yes, yeah, but I think the sedums and iris is a very good combination.

Another question is about rain gardens.

Rain gardens, "Are rain gardens supposed to soak up water where it tends to sit or are they gardens that are meant to stay wet?"

>>The inkberry that you have is a great plant to put there, and we had footage of that from the park, and it's native, so that makes it even better.

>>Yes.

>>And there's a lot of things, like there's a shorter kind of magnolia tree- >>Swamp magnolia.

>>Oh, yes, that's good, and it doesn't mind the acidic soil that happens when it does get really wet like that.

There are so many great things, blue vervain is really good, and it's medicinal, too.

So, that's a really good option, and they're all from this area.

>>They are, and you want to plant these plants so they soak up the moisture, and they also are able to filter some of the heavy metals that come in on the rain, you know, some of the less desirable parts of the runoff.

And so, yes, we want our rain gardens to soak up the water, to be able to dry out in between.

It's not to be sitting there as a pond per se, but it's more of a vernal pool, we'll call it, getting wet and and dry throughout.

And then we have another one about native grasses.

Melinda from Charlottesville asks, "What native grasses do you recommend for slopes that can be cut like a lawn," you know, "and do in an HOA?"

>>Ooh, and a slope there.

>>Ooh, yes.

(laughs) >>With a slope, too.

I would actually, if it was me, I would honestly put some erosion blankets and plant over the erosion blanket.

Probably, a little bluestem and switchgrass would be ridiculous 'cause you can't cut it, but they do make mixes for the southeast.

I don't know where you would get it from, but there's grass mixes for lawns.

I believe you could probably just search it on the internet and find something readily available.

>>A lot of our Carexes, unfortunately, if it's a full sun area, the Carex list is very minor.

If it's a full shade area to part shade, you could do Carex pensylvanica very easily, and that'll stay nice and low and meet the HOA, but the other thing is maybe really eliminate most of that lawn and put in, you know, some shrubs and some groundcovers and such.

Like, if it's on a slope, you know, Gro-Low Sumac would be wonderful, and it would run, it's native, and it stays low, and it's controlled, and it's beautiful, and people would love it.

I think it will meet the HOA qualifications also.

And then the last one is Beth from Louisa asked, you know, "What's the best way to eradicate Vinca minor," which is an invasive plant here in Virginia.

>>So, I have goats, and they will eat everything.

Not literally everything, but honestly, if you just wanted to do it simply without spraying Roundup, just occult it.

You can even use cardboard, and overlap the cardboard, or weed tarp, and just leave it on for quite a long time because of those chemicals.

Especially if you have kids and dogs and anything in your yard, you don't wanna be spraying glyphosate or anything like that.

>>I actually eradicated Vinca minor at my house by breaking up all my pine needles from my loblolly pines and putting it down, a blanket about eight to 10 inches deep.

>>Wow!

>>Totally smothered it.

>>That's a lot of pine needles.

>>It was a lot of pine trees.

>>(laughing) Oh my, it's a brilliant idea, though.

>>It worked.

>>And it's free.

>>And it's free.

>>(laughs) I love that.

Oh, my gosh.

>>Terry, speaking of pines, let's go back to the park.

(laughs) About how many visitors are enjoying the park right now?

Not literally right now, but- >>Right now, yes.

We've had, this past year, we had 96,000 visitors visit the park, so it's an amazing, amazing year for us.

>>Most of them campers or hikers or birders?

>>Many of them are day use visitors, coming to enjoy the three mile roadway that we have, that they can either run on or bike on, and birders as well, but yeah, then our campgrounds are pretty full, especially on the weekends.

>>Yes, with it being so new, you know, you're in the post-construction phase still, kind of, and I know some of the soil was disturbed during the construction, and you can't help it.

And so, do you know any of the cultural practices that your staff is implementing to be able to, I'll say, fix the soil?

Are you using a lot of organic mulches?

Are you bringing in those pine tags or- >>Yeah, we're definitely looking at the resource that is there and making sure that we manage it properly, and some of it is, we're turning it into pollinator fields.

So, we're making it really beautiful for future, you know, pollinators and stuff.

So, it's exciting.

>>That's fantastic.

That is fantastic.

Are you, you know, purchasing seed, or are you buying it from plants and using small plugs?

How are you creating that field?

>>Through the States, we do have to purchase it through a resource management crew, so they get the right stuff for us.

>>Yes, I know, I'm trying, and I say trying, I'm putting together, I have a pollinator field at my house, and I've been working on it for about three years now, and it's finally starting to look like something, and people don't understand how much time it takes for that seed to germinate, for them to grow, and I'm so excited.

My Monarda's this big, and I'm just very happy.

So, I think, with the pollinator field, I'm gonna encourage you to just be patient and give it time and to, you know, not throw your hands up in the air and say, "Where is it," 'cause it's coming, okay?

>>Oh, yes, definitely.

>>Okay, well, thank you.

>>Thank you.

>>Well, we're out of time, Terry, and I just, again, I thank you for joining us today and sharing with us a new park that we can all go and explore.

>>Well, thank you for having me.

>>And restoring and protecting land is such important work, and it's great to learn about the collective efforts of local businesses and our state agencies.

I remind you to visit the Virginia Home Grown Facebook page for upcoming opportunities, including plant sales 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 how to build a seed starting propagator.

I want to thank our guests once again, Will and Terry, and I thank you for watching, and I look forward to being with you again next month.

We will learn about ornamental water features for the garden and visit a historic mill that has been using water to grind corn and grain for over 270 years.

Remember, gardening is for everyone, and we are all growing and learning together.

Happy Gardening!

(light rhythmic music) (light rhythmic fades) >>Production funding for Virginia Home Grown is made possible by... (birds chirping) (lively guitar music) (lively guitar music continues) (lively guitar music continues) (lively guitar music continues) (bubbly outro music)