Morven

Last Friday, during UVA Reunions Weekend, Morven Sustainability Lab had the pleasure of hosting UVA Alumni for an immersive look at the work happening here at the lab. Guests toured the Morven Kitchen Garden with manager Fiona Flynnmoore and heard from our summer interns about their work and experiences in the garden. They also got up close with the cattle and explored our rotational grazing operations alongside Morven Cattle Farmer and UVA Alum Irvin White. MSL Faculty Director Elizabeth K. Meyer shared her vision for MSL and its growing role in UVA faculty and student research and education. Grateful for the opportunity to connect alumni with the land and the mission!

In February, we co-hosted a live staking workshop with the James River Consortium, where 40 volunteers planted 1,500 native stakes — alder, buttonbush, silky dogwood, and more — along the pond bank adjacent to our Kitchen Garden. A few months ago, these were bare stakes in the ground. Now, look at them go!

Live staking is a low-cost, high-impact riparian restoration technique that uses cuttings from living woody plants to take root directly in the soil. As these species establish, they'll help combat erosion, filter runoff, and create habitat along the water's edge.

Morven at 9pm in the mist.

UVA’s Morven Sustainability Lab welcomed 20 new residents this week: a herd of red Angus cows.

For the next 12 years, the cattle will graze and help bring more life to the soil at the 2,900-acre property. https://uvatoday.me/4ulT81C

Morven just welcomed 20 red Angus cows to our 2,900-acre grounds — the first livestock on the property in nearly two decades. The herd is part of an exciting regenerative grazing initiative aimed at restoring soil health and revitalizing the land's agricultural ecosystem.

This is exactly the kind of land-centered work we're so excited to see growing at Morven. Read the full story in UVA Today at the link in our bio to learn more about our regenerative agriculture transition and what this means for the future of MSL.

Slide 1: The herd of cattle graze in the pasture at Morven.
Slide 2: Justin Mallory, UVA Foundation Morven Asset Manager (left), and Irvin White, UVA alum, local regenerative farmer, and Morven's cattle grazer.

Our Spring Mixer was an absolute dream — and it wouldn’t have been possible without each and every one of you who joined us last Friday. With over 400 guests coming through the door, the energy was unmatched.

A huge thank you to our incredible co-hosts at the Office for Sustainability and UVA Dine for helping bring this vision to life. To all our tabling groups — thank you for showing up, sharing your work, and sparking so many meaningful conversations.

Here’s to more community, more connection, and more events like this one. See you next time!

Garden Day at Morven is today!

For nearly a century, Morven has opened its gardens for Historic Garden Week—and the story begins even earlier.

From the formal and cutting gardens renovated by renowned landscape architect Annette Hoyt Flanders in the 1930s for the Stone family, to remarkable trees and sweeping views across UVA’s 2,900‑acre Sustainability Lab, Morven’s landscape tells a powerful story of past, present, and future.

Did you know? In 1913, the Albemarle Garden Club was founded right here, led by Morven owner Josephine Marshall, who first restored Morven’s plantation‑era gardens with a skilled local gardener, Lewis, who propagated Morven’s boxwoods and managed the greenhouse.

Join us today, Monday, April 20 | 10 AM–5 PM
$15 per person | Day‑of sales only at Morven entrance | Free to UVA students with their student ID!
Cash or check only (tickets not sold online)

Come walk the gardens and discover Morven’s living legacy.

Photo 1: Glass Lantern Slide of Morven House and Formal Garden designed by Annette Hoyt Flanders, ca. 1931-1949, Garden Club of America collection, Smithsonian

Photo 2: Josephine Marshall, first president of the Albemarle Garden Club, with unidentified figures, 1913, Rufus W. Holsinger, Holsinger Studio Collection, University of Virginia Library, Special Collections

Meet the farmers feeding UVA. 🌱

This spring, we're celebrating the local farms that make it possible to eat well — and eat close to home — right here at UVA. Using farm data provided by 4P Foods, students from the UVA Office for Sustainability created this Farmer Lookbook spotlighting the regional growers that UVA Dine partners with to bring sustainable, locally sourced food to dining halls across Grounds.

At Morven, we believe that knowing where your food comes from is the first step toward changing how we grow, eat, and steward the land. That's why the Morven Spring Mixer isn't just a celebration — it's a conversation about what farm-to-institution food systems look like, and what it takes to build one.

Scan the QR code at the event to explore the Lookbook, meet the farms, and learn more about the regional food network that's quietly making UVA's dining more sustainable, one season at a time.

Link here to check it out ahead of time: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p4yujnzyfctqj247q3vet/Morven-Spring-Mixer_Farmer-Lookbook_2026.pdf?rlkey=ctxfjjix30ft2fjqqzqvywjnk&st=8v9mlvvs&dl=0

Did you catch us on NBC 29?

MSL Program Director, Rebecca Deeds, was featured on NBC 29's Community Conversation last week, sharing the story of Morven and what's happening here this spring. We can't wait to celebrate Earth Month with our amazing community this Friday at the Morven Spring Mixer!

Check out the segment: https://www.29news.com/video/2026/04/10/community-conversation-rebecca-deeds-with-morven-sustainability-04-10-26/

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the workshop kickoff of Harvest at Morven! From insightful discussions to on-the-ground exploration, the day brought together researchers, practitioners, and community partners to begin shaping a shared vision for a regenerative future at the Morven Sustainability Lab. We’re excited to carry this momentum forward as we integrate ecological restoration, sustainable agriculture, and interdisciplinary research.

Harvest at Morven (Harnessing Agricultural Resilience through Vegetation, Ecosystems, and Soil Transitions) is a collaborative initiative led by Assistant Professors Meghan Blumstein and Frederick Cheng, with co-principal investigators Michael Luegering and Zoe Bergman, and funded by the University of Virginia’s Environmental Institute.