Grayson LandCare

Permaculture Meeting and potluck August 14
2025-08-14 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly meeting and potluck Thursday August 14 at 6pm. Contact Cynthia at cynthia@graysonlandcare.org for more more information.
Permaculture meetings are generally the 2nd Thursday of the month and include a potluck meal. Members take turns hosting.

Permaculture Workday August 16
2025-08-16 09:30 - 12:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly workday August 16 from 9:30-noon. All workdays are in the Permaculture garden at the Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333
Permaculture work days are generally the 2nd Saturday of the month from 9:30am to noon. The best way to learn anything is by doing. Lend a hand and learn about permaculture. Contact Cynthia Taylor for more information. Cynthia@graysonlandcare.org

Root Cellar Tour, Monday August 18, 6:45 pm
2025-08-18 18:45 - 20:00
Have wondered about installing a root cellar? Here’s your chance to tour one and learn about the process. Charlotte Hanes will let us take a look at the one she installed last year. Meet at 6:45 at 3419 Gold Hill Rd. The driveway is directly across from the Bridle Creek boat landing.

Permaculture Meeting and potluck September 4
2025-09-04 18:00 - 19:00
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly meeting and potluck Thursday September at 6pm. Contact Cynthia at cynthia@graysonlandcare.org for more more information.
Permaculture meetings are generally the 2nd Thursday of the month and include a potluck meal. This one was changed due to the date of the Ag and Art tour. Members take turns hosting.

Ag & Art Tour at the Permaculture Garden September 6
2025-09-06 09:00 - 16:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Be sure to include a stop at the Permaculture Garden during the Ag & Art Tour this year. Meet permaculture group members, take the tour of the Food Forest and pollinator garden. Learn about seed saving and plants for pollinators and permaculture. The garden is located at the Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333
Vendors at the garden will include: Emily Papadopoulus-Mt Air Farm with lavender products; Kurt Card-Drac Studio, pottery and jewelry, Vanessa Hollifield VH glass-artisan glass and jewelry

Permaculture Meeting and potluck October 9
2025-10-09 18:00 - 19:00
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly meeting and potluck Thursday October 9 at 6pm. Contact Cynthia at cynthia@graysonlandcare.org for more more information.
Permaculture meetings are generally the 2nd Thursday of the month and include a potluck meal. Members take turns hosting.

Permaculture Workday October 11
2025-10-11 08:00 - 17:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly workday March 15 from 9:30-noon. All workdays are in the Permaculture garden at the Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333
Permaculture work days are generally the 2nd Saturday of the month from 9:30am to noon. The best way to learn anything is by doing. Lend a hand and learn about permaculture. Contact Cynthia Taylor for more information. Cynthia@graysonlandcare.org

Harvest Moon Social, Auction and Annual Meeting is SATURDAY October 18. YOU are invited!
2025-10-18 17:30 - 20:30 | Grange Hall, Troutdale Va, 840 Grange Hall Rd, Troutdale, 24378, United States
You are cordially invited to join Grayson LandCare Saturday, October 18, 5:30 – 8 pm at the Goodwill Grange #959, 840 Grange Hall Road, Troutdale VA, 24378. Doors open at 5:30 pm. Please bring your friends and an appetite! The schedule for the evening:

5:30 Doors open
5:30-7:30 Heavy Hors D’oeuvres
5:45 Welcome
5:30-7:00 Silent Auction
7:15- 7:30 Annual Meeting
7:30-8 pm Live Auction
8:15 Check out

Come learn more about LandCare, enjoy delicious food and beverages, have fun, and support our initiatives in the community. For more information, please contact Michelle Pridgen at 276-768-0597 or email her at director@graysonlandcare.org

Annual Permaculture retreat Nov 13
2025-10-24 14:38 - 2025-11-08 19:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture group for their annual retreat. Details to follow

Plant American Chestnuts Nov 7
2025-11-07 08:00 - 14:00
Are you interested in American Chestnuts? Help plant some trees with the American Chestnut Foundation and Clint Morse. Here are the details: Note, the area where we are planting is steep and footing is uneven. But, it should be a fun time! November 7 @ 8:00 am – 2:00 pm, free!

We will plant about 130 seedlings from the American Chestnut foundation. These will be predominantly progeny from large surviving American chestnuts that may have some elevated resistance and then some susceptible Americans and Chinese as controls. These seedlings will get inoculated with blight in about 5 years and we will see what happens!

We will also plant the grafted trees Clint grew this year from superior Chestnuts.

Please register here:https://tacf.org/event/planting-in-independence-va/

Garden cleanup workshop November 15, 9am to noon
2025-11-15 09:00 - 12:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Do you wonder how to best prepare the garden for winter to help protect pollinators and other wildlife?
Join the Permaculture group for their monthly workday November15 from 9am to noon pm. Learn by doing! Pitch in and see how they prepare the pollinator garden and food forest for the winter. All workdays are in the Permaculture garden at the Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333
Permaculture work days are generally the 2nd Saturday of the month from 9:30am to noon. The best way to learn anything is by doing. Lend a hand and learn about permaculture. Contact Cynthia Taylor for more information. Cynthia@graysonlandcare.org

Last Winter Market Dec 6 11am to 2pm
2025-12-01 08:00 - 17:00
The December 6th Market will be held on Saturday December 6, 11am to 2 pm to help kick off the Town of Independence events. We’ll have IFM Kids Bucks and a free Kids Activity. Kids can color and take home a wooden ornament. The weather looks ALOT warmer than the previous 2 Winter Markets, I hope you’ll come out and support the vendors. Amanda of Slightly Askew, will be cooking Asian inspired food at the Gate Center Kitchen if you’d like to pick up lunch.

Free Market Gift Shop Dec 6 11 am-3pm, Gate Center
2025-12-06 11:00 - 15:00 | Gate Center, 122 Davis Street, Independence, United States
The Free Market in Independence will hold its annual Christmas Gift Shop on Saturday, December 6th, from 11 am to 3 pm at the GATE Center, 122 Davis Street. The purpose of this event is to give children and their parents an opportunity to select presents for their loved ones, at no expense. The first two hours, 11 am to 1 pm, are reserved for children ages 5 through 14. Volunteer “elves” will assist each child in finding just the right gift for the three people on their list. Gifts will be bagged and tagged, and parents can meet their children at the exit. From 1 pm to 3 pm, parents, older teens and anyone else can come in to select gifts for three people. During this time, we will also have “stocking stuffers,” smaller gift items, available. Christmas cookies will be offered to all, courtesy of the Culinary Arts students at the CATE Center. The Free Market sets aside all their best donations for the gift shop. If you know a child or adult that would like to shop, please pass the word.

Permaculture Book Club-POSTPONED TO JAN 16
2026-01-16 17:00 - 18:30
Looking for something interesting to read? Join the Permaculture group for their winter book club January 15th at 5:00 at the home of Ann Watson in Independence. Please call Ann at 276-768-8171 for more details or to RSVP. They will be reading Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by poet Camille T. Dungy. It is a memoir that explores themes of race, motherhood, and environmental justice through her experience of transforming her garden in a predominantly white Colorado town.

Fruit tree pruning February 28 from 11 am until 1 pm
2026-02-28 11:00 - 13:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join us Saturday, February 28 from 11 am until 1 pmat the Permaculture Garden at Church of the Good Shepherd. The Garden is located at 9441 Grayson Parkway in Baywood. Casey Johnson will lead the workshop. Casey has a degree in Horticulture from Penn State, manages the orchard at River North, and is President of GLC.

We’ll focus on fruit trees. If time allows blueberries will be included. Casey will demonstrate proper pruning during the first part of the workshop. If you’d like to help prune, plan to stay after the presentation and bring pruners or loopers if you have them. Dress warmly.

Bookclub MARCH 12, 5pm
2026-03-12 17:00 - 19:30
This month’s selection is Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Meet at 5pm at the home of Ann Watson. Please call her at 276-768-8171 to RSVP. It’s a potluck, Ann will provide soup, please bring something to share

Garden Planning workshop Saturday March 14
2026-03-14 09:00 - 12:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture Group at Church of the Good Shepherd as they plan a plant guild to surround the asparagus plantings to be installed in April. What is a plant guild? Come and find out!

Are you interested in restoring American Chestnuts?
2026-03-21 13:00 - 14:30 | Independence 1908 Courthouse, 107 E Main St , Independence, VA, 24348, United States
Are you interested in restoring American Chestnuts?
Are you interested in helping to restore the American Chestnut in Grayson County? Come to an information meeting March 21 from 1-2:20 pm at the 1908 Courthouse Baldwin Auditorium.
Clint Morse, citizen scientist has been working with the American Chestnut Foundation and Matthews Forest on this project. How can you help? Clint will discuss lots of ways for all ages and skill levels.
This includes collecting pollen and nuts, grafting, thinning existing trees, and continuing to locate and mark surviving chestnuts in the woods in and around Grayson County. In addition, there are some nuts available for a few people to join the raised bed project that started last year. And we’ll continue testing and monitoring those plantings.
This will be a multi-year project and will require a lot of volunteers. I hope you will join us and help to support this exciting work.
Other workshops are still in the planning stages. Check the events page on the GLC website, graysonlandcare.org and the facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/graysonlandcare/ for full details and updates. Or contact Michelle Pridgen at director@graysonlandcare for more information.

Seed Library Open House March 28, 11am- 1pm
2026-03-28 11:00 - 13:00 | Grayson County Library, 147 S. Independence Ave, Independence, 24348, United States
The open House at the Seed Library will be 11am to 1 pm Saturday ,March 28 at the Library in Independence. Everyone is welcome! If you are a new gardener or seed saver, you might not have seeds to swap or donate. That’s perfectly fine! The notion of the seed library is that you’ll “check out” some seeds early in the season and ‘return’ the seeds that you saved from your harvest. Come enjoy some light refreshments, learn about seed saving and take some seeds home. Tesse, the Children’s librian, has a special activity planned as well AND the library staff has put together a garden themed gift basket. Come by and get a raffle ticket. We’ll announce the winner about 12:45.

Garden Planting Workshop April 11
2026-04-11 09:00 - 12:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture Group at Church of the Good Shepherd April 11 from 9 am to noon as they plant asparagus crowns surrounded by guild plants and other vegetables. Asparagus is a long lived perennial and needs special planting techniques to thrive. Come learn how in this hands-on workshop. Bring your favorite garden tools.

Wildflower Walk and Picnic dinner, May 7 1-6pm Postponed to May 8
2026-05-08 13:00 - 18:00
The wildflower hikes led by Cynthia and Rick Taylor are often a popular annual meeting auction item. This year, you can enjoy one for free. This will be a relatively easy walk and it will end with a bring your own picnic dinner. More details will be forthcoming. Save the date.

Spring Garden Clean up Workshop, May 9, 9am-noon
2026-05-09 09:00 - 12:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Join the Permaculture Group and Grayson LandCare for this hands on workshop at the Permaculture garden located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333 on Saturday May 9 from 9am to noon.

Have you wondered about the best way to prepare your perennial garden for spring? Have you wondered which plants to divide, and how to mulch correctly? Learn how to weigh those decisions and pick what works best for your own garden. In addition, we’ll be sheet mulching to battle a persistant buttercup weed problem.The workshop will be led by Cynthia and Rick Taylor, the creators of the Permaculture Garden. Bring gloves and your favorite garden tools.

For more information, contact Michelle at 276-768-0597 or Cynthia@graysonlandcare.org

Potluck, Meeting and Tour of the Permaculture Garden Thursday May 14 5:30-7:30 pm.
2026-05-14 17:30 - 19:30 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
It’s a field trip, cookout, plant swap and tour! Everyone is invited to the permaculture garden for a cookout and plant swap. The cookout begins at 6pm at the garden at the Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA 24333., please bring a side dish to share. This will be followed by a tour of the garden beginning about 6:45pm. It is not necessary to attend the potluck to tour the garden. The plant swap will feature YOUR favorite garden plants and seeds. Bring what you’d like to share with your friends and neighbors. The permaculture garden features a wide array of native plants and most are excellent for pollinators as well.

All Grayson LandCare presentations are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise. For more information about Grayson LandCare visit the webpage, graysonlandcare.org, email director@graysonlandcare or call 276-768-0597.

CANCELLED-Regenerative Practices and Permaculture at Home, a series of workshops
2026-05-16 09:00 - 13:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the workshop is CANCELLED
Part one of this workshop series will be May 16 from 9am to 1pm at the Permaculture Garden at Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Parkway, Galax, VA 24333
Learn about the soil food web and techniques for improving your soil health, including cover cropping and composting. The workshop includes a demonstration of how to create your own compost pile.
The workshop is free but registration is required. Please email permaculture@graysonlandcare.org to register or for more information.

Part 3: Regenerative Practices and Permaculture at Home,Homesteading and Herbal Medicine
2026-07-11 08:00 - 17:00 | Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson Pkwy, Galax, VA, 24333, United States
Part three of this workshop series will be July 11 from 1-4pm at the Permaculture Garden at Church of the Good Shepherd located at 9441 Grayson Parkway, Galax, VA 24333
Explore Permaculture methods for building healthy soils, planting a food forest, planning fruit tree guilds, & distributing water with swales & rainwater catchment systems. Discover how to utilize your forest & garden
for herbal medicines. 1-4 pm
Registration Required. For more information email: Permaculture@graysonlandcare.org
Workshops will be held at the Permaculture Garden @ the Church of the Good Shepherd, 9441 Grayson PKWY, Galax VA

Chestnut Hike and Picnic July 11
2026-07-11 15:00 - 18:00
I am thinking that the American Chestnuts will still be blooming on July 11 in the higher elevations. To that end, I would like to hike from Hale Lake to Comers Rock overlook.
I understand that there are some good sized chestnuts on that hike. It will be cool to find some big ones and start our chestnut chasers group going!
Also, when we get to the overlook, I want to launch a drone to see if it can spot any flowers from the air while we relax and picnic.
Please email Clint Morse at clintonmorse@gmail.com if you are interested. Meet at Hale Lake at 3pm and plan to picnic at the overlook around 5.
Directions
GPS Coordinates: 36.760151, -81.249606
From Independence, head north on US-21/N. Independence Ave, turn left onto SR-658/Comers Rock Rd, continue straight onto SR-672/Blue Springs Rd, in approximately 2.3 miles, turn right onto FR-57/Hales Lake Rd, and the parking area will be on the right in approximately 0.6 miles.
