Consortium Event

 

Live Staking at Morven Farm

in Charlottesville, Va

We planted over 1,000 live stakes at Morven Farm! On Friday, February 20th, 31 volunteers met at the pond behind the Morven Kitchen Garden, part of the University of Virginia’s Morven Sustainability Lab, in Charlottesville for a live stake planting workshop. The workshop is part of the Consortium’s new Live Stake Program, which harvests live stakes locally and offers donation-based stakes to landowners and program staff. The program is led by Jordan Bennett, Restoration Manager at the James River Association and the Consortium’s Live Stake Workgroup. The program is currently piloting in Albemarle County, with the hope to expand to the Upper James in 2027. 

At the February 20th Planting Workshop, Nicola McGoff, Wild Ginger Field Services and Live Stake Workgroup member, taught volunteers how to plant live stakes the group divvyed up stakes and buckets, and headed down to the pond to put learning into action. 

600 of the live stakes planted were Alder harvested on the property the day prior. Nicola shared how we can preserve the regional diversity of each site by harvesting and planting on the same property. Live stakes are the gift that keeps on giving – by planting live stakes, you are both supporting streambank stabilization and investing in regenerative plant material you can continue to utilize on your own property or to share with neighbors. Learn more about harvesting and planting live stakes with the tips shared in this 2025 blog from a planting in Batesville. 

Thank you to all of the practitioners, students, community members, and Morven Staff that came out to support. We are grateful for our partnership with Morven Farm and are looking forward to working together in our live staking work. We are excited to see how the live stakes leaf out this spring! 

Get involved with the Live Stake Program 

Sign up to volunteer to harvest live stakes with us in February and March 2026! 

  • Friday, February 27th in Free Union (11am-3pm)
  • Saturday, February 28th in Free Union (10am-1pm)
  • Monday, March 2nd in Crozet (10am-2pm)
  • Wednesday, March 4th in Crozet (1pm-4pm)
  • Friday, March 6th in Crozet (1pm-4pm)
  • Tuesday, March 10 in Crozet (10am-2pm)

Order live stakes for your property! 

Fill out this form if you are interested in receiving live stakes from the Upper and Middle James Riparian Consortium’s pilot live stake program. Live stakes have been harvested from multiple locations throughout Albemarle County. Each live stake is about two feet in length and between ¼ inch to 1.5 inches in diameter.

Person standing at table with live stake bundles on it in front of group of people
Above: Nicola McGoff sharing about the hows and whys of live staking before the group planting

Below: Volunteers planting live stakes!

Person in green puffy coat using mallet to hammer in live stake on pond bank