Virginia Home Grown

Randy Battle | Co-Host
Creator, Gardening with SkinnyBoyRandy
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia Zone 7, I love to garden and grow anything I can. I have been gardening in one way or another my entire life. Growing up spending the summers in NC on my Grandparent’s farms we always had our hands in the ground. I used to work the fields in the summer while school was out and when I came home I wondered why food was not free like on the farm.

Well, I decided to start growing seeds from things in the refrigerator and bag beans. In 2019, I decided to record myself planting tulips and the response was amazing! By request I continued to record tutorials and grew my Youtube channel to over 18,000 Subscribers and Facebook with almost 5,000 followers.

My garden journey has taken me across the country to California and landed me a spot in a national TV commercial for Youtube and allowed me to share with community and elementary schools gardening projects. Gardening is my passion and I love how calming it can be. I am thankful to do what I love and share with the world.

Amyrose Foll | Co-Host
Executive Director, Virginia Free Farm
Amyrose Foll is seeking to dismantle and transform the regional foodshed and create community-driven systems based on collectivism and respect for nature. Amyrose is the Executive Director of Virginia Free Farm, which works to provide free nutrient dense food assistance to those in need and plants and seeds (free of charge) to community gardens, schools, and community-based organizations. It is a hub for educating young people in the Richmond metro area about indigenous agriculture and lifeways. Amyrose’s strong background in healthcare and her native heritage (Penobscot/Abenaki) is what prompted her to begin advocating for food sovereignty, security, and preservation of indigenous food culture through seed saving and distribution. She has authored several books on agroforestry in the Ancestral Gardens: Millennia of Agricultural Genius series including Berries, Trees, and Shrubs.

Amyrose is also a U.S. Army veteran, former fire fighter-paramedic, and nurse. She has a background in Biology & Healthcare, in addition to a Master’s in Health Information Management, and digital marketing. She holds certificates in viticulture & fruit tree production, poultry production, as well as woodlot management from Cornell University.

Serome Hamlin | Co-Host
Owner, The Enchanted Garden
I have been in the “green industry” for over 25 years. Growing up in Amelia County, I found a passion for gardening from yearly planting projects with my mother. I also had a love for art. After spending some time in VCU’s art program for painting, I had the opportunity to work for a small landscape company. This sparked my love of plants again and I needed to get my hands dirty in the soil.

Later, I got to work at a local wholesale nursery, Sandy’s Plants, where I spent about 12 years learning about many plant varieties and their habits. Making a change from just plants in the nursery industry I found myself back landscaping working for a company for almost 8 years.

Now, I’m the owner of The Enchanted Garden, a fine gardening company. With The Enchanted Garden I get the opportunity to help homeowners and companies with their gardening. I get to work in some amazing gardens, what’s not to love about that. I also make and sell miniature landscapes I call “Mini Worlds”. These creations really challenge me to combine my love of plants and art to make landscapes in miniature form. Creating “Mini Worlds” gives me the opportunity not just to sell, but I get to give workshops and talks on the art of miniature gardening to garden clubs, local nurseries and wineries.

For the past 24 years I have been working on my personal garden in the Northside of Richmond. This garden is filled with a collection of dwarf conifers, Japanese maples, and hostas (my first love in the plant world). Now as I have been editing my garden and learning more about the importance of native plants I have been adding more and more. We are all stewards of this planet and it’s so important to protect our ecosystem. If I’m not in the garden I love spending time with my family, and fur babies. I also love to go camping and visit public gardens. But mostly you will find me in the garden, I always must keep my hands dirty.

Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger | Co-Host
Professor, Bridgewater College
Robyn Puffenbarger received her bachelors of science in biology from Virginia Tech and PhD in molecular immunology from the Medical College of Virginia. After a post-doctoral research fellowship at SUNY-Stony Brook, she joined the Biology and Environmental Science Department at Bridgewater College.

In 2011, she completed the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener training and is active in the Central Shenandoah Valley Unit.

Shana Williams | Co-Host
Founder & Manager, Garden Learning Center, Williams City Farms
Growing up in South Jersey, I developed a love for gardening from helping my family in our backyard garden, going to my aunt’s farm to pull weeds, playing among the fruit trees beside my grandmother's house, and watching my aunt work in her garden. I have always enjoyed the peacefulness of gardening and seeing and tasting the fruits of my labor.

As a professional track athlete, I traveled the world enjoying the culinary arts that the many countries had to offer therefore encouraging the “foodie” in me.

Later, I moved to Richmond, Va and began teaching health and physical and technology integration as well as bringing my farm mentality into my backyard. After sharing tons of plums, veggies and plants from my backyard garden to my neighbors and fellow teachers, my desire for a small farm was calling me.

In 2018, I purchased some land in the city and created an educational farm to teach everyone how to grow their own food. Sharing my gardening passion with my community, helping them jump start their gardens, and giving to others all came naturally to me. Hence, the Williams City Farms grow out of that passion. The Williams City Farms is a non-profit organization which believes that one of the best ways to learn is to “Learn by Doing” as we educate and inspire you to grow your own food.