Last Saturday was our fifth maintenance day for the WeGrO project. We pulled out the baskets and scraped the barnacles and vegetation off of the baskets and let the oysters sun themselves for a while. The oysters are not quite big enough to be in the cages by themselves, but they are well on their way. We hope to remove them from their bags in two more weeks. Our next maintenance day is Thursday, June 26th at the usual location. I had to move it because I have a conflict next weekend. I thank you for your continued support and help. Stay tuned for more!

8 Weeks and Counting...

Hi everyone. I apologize that I haven't blogged in a while. But I just wanted to give a quick update on how the oysters are doing. Last Saturday, June 1st,  we had our third maintenance day where we paddled out in kayaks and canoes and checked on the oysters. As of right now they are between the size of a quarter and a half dollar coin and are almost ready to leave the grow-out bags. This Saturday, June 14th,  is our fourth maintenance day and we will be taking the oysters out of the bags. I strongly encourage people to come out and watch, help, and/or visit to see how big the oysters have gotten. We will meet in front of 425 Riverside Dr. Portsmouth, VA 23707 at 1:00 pm. Stay tuned for more!

Second Maintenance Day

Last Saturday was our second maintenance day. We pulled up the baskets and cleaned them as well as the grow-out bags. The oysters have already doubled their original size, and it has only been a month! I had some great help from fellows scouts and family. I am so grateful for all of the help and support thus far. Stay tuned for more!

Maintenance Day Saturday

Sent out by Cam earlier this evening via email: Hi everybody. I just wanted to remind you that the second oyster maintenance day is this Saturday from 9 am to roughly 10:30 am. We will be cleaning the grow-out bags and letting the oysters "sun" themselves for awhile. We will meet at425 Riverside Dr. like we did for the build day. Wear clothes that you do not mind getting wet and/or dirty and closed-toed shoes! Sun-block is also highly recommended. I would really appreciate your help. Thank you so much! 

Visiting My 24,000 Friends

Today was a very nice day out on the water for checking on the oysters. It was awesome riding out in the canoe to check on their progress and I am very thankful for the assistance of my father. The oysters have grown noticeably the last two weeks and will be ready to be in the cages by themselves before we know it. The next maintenance day is May 17th at 425 Riverside Dr. at 9:00 am. We will actually pull the floats and let the oysters "sun" for a while which helps to control the growth of harmful organisms that can affect the growth of the oysters. Please feel free to come out and help, and stay tuned for more details!

A few shots of us at work today:

Oyster Maintenance Days

Greetings WeGrO Partners. I'm now in the maintenance phase of my project and have set a maintenance schedule (see below). Please feel free to come out and help, but if you could e-mail me first that would be great. Most of the work will be done from the water by kayak or canoe, so bring one if you have one - just be sure you have a personal flotation device (pfd). If you do not have a kayak or boat, that is okay, come out anyway, there are plenty of other opportunities to work. For instance, we will need someone to take pictures on each of the maintenance days, so if you are willing to help with photography, just let me know - we will supply the camera. The first workday is this Saturday, May 3rd, from 9:00 am to about 10:00 am. All maintenance days will meet at 425 Riverside Dr. Thank you!

WeGrO Maintenance Days:

May 3rd - 9:00 to 10:00
May 17th - 9:00 to 10:00
May 30th - 1:00 to 2:00
June 14th - 1:00 to 2:00
June 28th - 1:00 to 2:00
July 12th - 1:00 to 2:00
July 27th - 9:00 to 10:00
August 9th - 9:00 to 10:00
August 23rd - 9:00 to 10:00
September 7th - 1:00 to 2:00
September 20th - Harvest Day TBD

Launch Day Recap

Saturday was a very productive day. We finished 15 Taylor floats (we built an example float the day before) and then proceeded to tie them to the piers at each host site. I had a lot of help and support from members of Troop 207, my family, and friends, as well as some host site volunteers. I would like to thank everyone who helped that day, especially given the weather conditions, and a special shout out to the Winch family and Ms. Hamed for putting all 256 hog rings on the wire mesh cages which, for those of you without experience with hog rings, is not an easy task. While the biggest single day of activity is behind me, the next 22 weeks will involve 11 maintenance days to check on the oysters and the floats. Stay tuned for more information on how to help with that aspect of the project!

Me demonstrating how to attach the hog rings

Chase Phillips, a new Tiger Cub, measuring out seed oysters into the grow-out bags

Heather Bruce (Mom) showing off one of the finished floats

Dan Cronin (Troop 207 Scoutmaster), Ryan Colston (Eagle Scout), and Blake Trevino (new Scout and long time Troop 207 Mascot) launch one of the Taylor floats.