Patriot Guardens

Nestled upon a wind-swept mountaintop-removal coal mining site in northern Nicholas County sits a unique and expansive agricultural property. Where large machinery once stripped away soil, fauna and topographical features to mine precious black gold, over 100 acres of reclaimed land now hosts a robust and active orchard with more than 25,000 maturing and producing apple and pear trees.

Eighty miles west of Muddlety in Dunbar, another unique site utilizes modern agricultural techniques, including hydroponics, aeroponics and vertical farming, to complement traditional in-ground and raised bed platforms that educate and demonstrate the possibilities of urban agriculture.

The Muddlety Apple Orchard and the Dunbar Urban Farm are just two ways the West Virginia Military Authority’s Patriot Guardens program is supporting agricultural growth in the Mountain State.

Created by the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) in 2016, Patriot Guardens is a statewide program that aligns landowners, operators, experts, resources and infrastructure to facilitate agricultural economic development and employment opportunities in West Virginia.

The program serves all West Virginia veterans and WVNG members, and although it primarily focuses on the veteran community, non-military affiliated citizens can benefit from Patriot Guardens as well. The program provides participants with classroom-based and hands-on agricultural and business-related educational opportunities—from hobbyists with a backyard garden to those operating active and growing agricultural-based businesses.

“Patriot Guardens is a proactive and forward-leaning catalyst for agriculture in West Virginia,” says Melissa Stewart, program director for Patriot Guardens. “We serve as a liaison connecting resources from across the full spectrum of the agricultural industry, including academia, state and federal agency partners and the private sector, to provide opportunities to the military and veteran communities, promote healthy and sustainable agriculture and contribute to economic development initiatives throughout West Virginia.”

Developed to bolster apple production in West Virginia, the Muddlety Apple Orchard serves as a full-scale production orchard with a host of apple varieties being grown as well as an advanced research and analysis venue for researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. In addition to apples and pears, the site operates more than 130 hives of honeybees
to help pollinate the fruit trees.

“By helping to establish commercial-scale apple orchards in West Virginia while also developing other high-value agricultural activities, including honey production, the Muddlety Property is showing the viability of large-scale and even small-scale orchards within our borders,” says Travis Stone, director of the apple program. “The knowledge and experience gained here can provide an achievable goal for additional land reclamation sites throughout the state—a potential lifeline to renew and reinvigorate struggling communities.”

The Urban Farm facility in Dunbar also seeks to expand agricultural education and opportunities with a focus on serving the community. With more than 30,000 square feet of production space including greenhouse, raised bed and hydroponic production as well as commercial processing equipment and refrigeration, Patriot Guardens participants receive hands-on training in fruit and vegetable production, post-harvesting handling market development and chickens.

The Urban Farm has more than 30 chickens that are utilized for egg production and teaching program participants proper backyard poultry housing, handling and management operations.

In 2023, the Urban Farm sold more than 1,250 pounds of produce—including hydroponic lettuce, tomatoes, flowers and a variety of traditionally grown produce­—to local restaurants, veterans and service members via monthly farmers markets.

The newest Patriot Guardens initiative is Base Innovations, a resource center and business hub for the veteran community located in downtown Charleston. Base Innovations offers agricultural education and outreach, specialized programs and workshops on business development, workforce development opportunities, hands-on training and networking. Additionally, the facility offers both short-term and long-term office rental spaces; conference room rental space to host meetings, seminars or training sessions; and marketing and consulting services to assist with business development and management.

“Our new facility will serve as a lynchpin for further community outreach initiatives and assist our program participants with much-desired professional space to grow and expand their agricultural endeavors,” says Stacy Herrick, marketing director for Patriot Guardens.

“Our doors are open, and we are ready to go.”

In addition to operating its own facilities, the Patriot Guardens team works closely with Work Force West Virginia, Jobs & Hope WV, Southwestern Regional Day Report Center’s Fresh Start Program, Lakin Correctional Center and Jail, Recovery Point and additional private and nonprofit groups and initiatives throughout the Mountain State. Together, they provide on-site educational and vocational opportunities, supporting recovery, transition and reintegration efforts for citizens.

“We see agriculture as a great way to help give folks new focus and hope in their lives,” Stewart says. “Our goal is to provide our participants a window into a world they may have never before considered and serve as a conduit to employment and entrepreneurship.”

The program also partners with youth programs such as the National Guard’s Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academies and Future Leaders Program to provide agricultural education and hands-on farming opportunities for cadets and highschool students involved in those programs.

“If we truly want to see a resurgence of agriculture as an integral part of our West Virginia culture, we need to start with our youth,” Stewart says. “By showing those younger generations how fun and rewarding growing your own food is and how each of us can have a positive impact on our families and communities through agriculture, we are building personal and societal resilience and skill sets that will reap long-term health and financial benefits.”

Stewart is joyful for the ongoing positive impacts Patriot Guardens is providing and the promise of what’s to come.

“Patriot Guardens is helping to metaphorically and literally sow the seeds of new agricultural opportunities for our fellow Mountaineers across the state, demonstrating both potentials and proof of concepts,” she says. “We are so very proud of all we can offer, and we hope more and more folks continue to make agriculture an important and flourishing part of our Almost Heaven home.”