QUESTION: Can you give me a quick overview of how the Oyster Gardening Program works?

ANSWER: Oysters are the Chesapeake Bay's best natural filters. They also provide essential habitat for fish and other Bay creatures. Unfortunately, though, today's oyster population is estimated at only 2% of its original level. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Oyster Gardening Program gives people the opportunity to help bring back this vital species by growing oysters alongside their docks. Once grown, the adult oysters are returned to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for planting on sanctuary reefs.

Gardeners attend a 3-hour workshop where they build a float or several cages in which to grow oysters. When you leave the workshop, you will have everything you need to grow oysters, including about 4,000 spat (young oysters). Keeping oysters in floats or cages allows them maximum exposure to oxygen and plankton, which means they will grow faster than they would in their natural habitat on the Bay bottom. These bigger oysters have a greater chance of surviving once they are planted on sanctuary reefs than they would if we simply took them right from the hatchery and planted them.

After several months of growing your oysters, you return them to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for planting on sanctuary oyster reefs. If you attend the Herrington Harbour workshop in June, you will start the program on a slightly different schedule than most other gardeners. Your schedule will be as follows:

Yearly Schedule for Herrington Harbour Gardeners

June 10: Attend workshop, build garden, receive spat, and place garden alongside your dock. Begin tending your oysters.

August 2001: Return your oysters for planting onto a sanctuary reef. A date will be set in August when you can return them the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Oyster Return at Herrington Harbour. If you can not make the date at Herrington Harbour, you can bring them to a different Oyster Return location. You will receive a schedule of Oyster Return dates and locations via mail or e-mail. At the same time you return your oysters, you will also pick up a new batch of spat and tend them until the following August.

August 2002, and every August thereafter: return your oyster and pick up new spat at any of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Oyster Returns. There is no charge for new spat, and we encourage gardeners to participate in the program for as many years as they would like to.

What type of dock and water conditions do I need to grow oysters?

ANSWER: You must have access to water with a salinity of at least 3 parts per thousand year round for your oysters to thrive. Most places in the Bay meet this requirement, but there are boundaries beyond which you can not grow them. The boundaries are as follows:

You can not grow oysters

• north of the Patapsco River;
• above Round Bay on the Severn River (that is, northwest of, or upstream of, Round Bay);
• above Brown's Creek on the Chester River;
• above the Route 301 Bridge on the Potomac River.

Your site must also have a minimum water depth of one foot, even during extreme conditions. This is because oysters will die if they freeze out of the water (they will not die if they freeze in the water). If winter tides and winds combine to push the water in your creek below the one-foot level, your oysters will die. You can tie your float or cages to a dock, pier, bulkhead or pilings. Oysters can be grown at a marina, community dock, vacation home, friend's house, etc., on the Chesapeake as long as you make sure you tend them regularly. This includes keeping an eye on them all winter long.

QUESTION: How much time can I expect to spend tending my oysters, and what other commitments are involved?

ANSWER: Oyster floats and cages need to be kept clean. When the weather is warm (May through September), you can expect to clean your oysters at least once every two weeks. Each cleaning takes about two hours. Whenever oysters are feeding (about April through November), you should shake or tumble them every few days to dislodge any sediment and pseudofeces. This takes only a few minutes. During the winter months, you should keep an eye on your float to make sure ice flows and severe weather does not damage it. And YOU HAVE TO BRING BACK YOUR OYSTERS!!!

C.B.F. will set up dates and locations where you can bring in your old oysters and pick up new oyster spat for the next year. We want to make sure your adult oysters are among those living, filtering and reproducing on sanctuary oyster reefs, so please bring them back to us.

QUESTION: Where will my oysters end up once I return them to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation?

ANSWER: C.B.F. will plant your oysters on sanctuary reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. We have to be very careful about moving oysters around the Bay, because moving them can spread oyster diseases. We generally try to put oysters onto reefs on or near the river in which they are grown. Oysters can be moved from fresher water to saltier water without risk of spreading disease; they can not be moved from saltier water to fresher water.

QUESTION: Can I eat the oysters I grow?

ANSWER: The Maryland Department of the Environment recommends against eating oysters grown from private piers for health reasons. C.B.F. suggests all oyster gardeners follow this recommendation.

QUESTION: How can I get started in oyster gardening?

ANSWER: Come to one of the scheduled Oyster Gardening Workshops (usually August, September, October and early November; there is also one on June 10, 2001 at Herrington Harbour Marina). There is a one-time fee of $75.00. This includes all the materials for building your oyster garden, spat for as many years as you remain in the program, the workshop, written materials, and ongoing consultation.

QUESTION: Why do you usually offer Oyster Gardening Workshops only in the late summer and fall?

ANSWER: Oyster seed, called spat, is usually only available in the late summer and fall due to the oyster's natural spawning cycle. The workshop at Herrington Harbour on June 10 is an exception. There is a small supply of spat left over from last year. Since these oysters will already be about nine months old in June, you will only keep them until August. At that time you return then for planting, pick up a new batch of spat, and continue on the same schedule as the other gardeners. (See "Yearly Schedule for Herrington Harbor Gardeners."

If you can not make the workshop at Herrington Harbor on June 10, please contact Stephanie Reynolds for a schedule of other workshop dates and locations in August, September, October and early November.

QUESTION: How can I register for the June 10 workshop from 9:00 - 1:00 at Herrington Harbor?

Please complete the form below and send it, along with a $75.00 check (payable to Chesapeake Bay Foundation), to the attention of Stephanie Reynolds at the address below.

Name

Workshop Location:

Home Address

Home Phone

E-Mail