Celebrate trees and the many benefits they provide to us and our environment! Meet a group planting urban trees to improve health outcomes in their community and learn about the important work through collaborative efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation. Dr. Robyn Pufenbarger and Jen Naylor share gardening tips you can use at home.
Peggy Singlemann talks to Amy Wentz and Sheri Shannon of Southside ReLeaf to learn how the grassroots organization brings volunteers together with other community groups to plant trees and combat the urban heat islands in Southside Richmond.
Tom Saielli, Mid-Atlantic Regional Science Coordinator, at the American Chestnut Foundation, visits Peggy Singlemann in-studio to show different chestnut tree seedlings and show how American chestnut trees are being crossed with Chinese chestnuts to hybridize blight resistance. These trees are then backcrossed with American Chestnuts to create trees that have the physical traits of American Chestnuts but retain enough blight resistance to grow in our forests once again.
Virginia Home Grown Clippings airs at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings on VPM. Episodes can also be seen at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday evenings on VPM Plus.
Virginia Home Grown is hosted by Peggy Singlemann, Director of Park Operations and Horticulture at Maymont in Richmond, and co-hosted by Keith Nevison, Farm and Natural Resource Manager at Bundoran Farm. Featured contributors also include Randy Battle, Allison Hurst, Jen Naylor and Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger.