Grown Here at Home: Virginia Department of Forestry holds annual online seedling sale

CRIMORA, Va. (WDBJ) - It’s that time of year. The Virginia Department of Forestry’s online seedling store is now open. They’re taking orders until April, but you’d better act fast, because they’ve already sold out of some species.

“Right now we have a dozen species we’re already sold out of. Some of these things just happen quick. Trees are a hot commodity. Every year we sit there and go, alright, Persimmons sold out in three days, you had 40,000 of them. What do you do next year? What we end up doing is we end up planting more seed, growing more seedlings, and instead of selling out in three days, it will be three days and two hours, or something like that,” explained Joshua McLaughlin, VDOF manager of Augusta Nursery.

This year’s crop is almost 65 percent larger than last year’s – all thanks to people across the Commonwealth who donated to last year’s annual acorn collection. When you donate acorns and buy seedlings, you’re helping to keep the operation going.

“Seedling sales is what funds the nurseries. We are not tax-supported at all, so if we want to keep a good ship running, we’ve got to keep it funded,” McLaughlin said.

Click here to buy seedlings. They can be ordered in quantities ranging from five to 25,000. You can get the seedlings shipped to you, or you can pick them up at the Augusta Nursery. If you’re tax-exempt, you’ll need to call to place your order.

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