The article below was taken from the Washington Post. Although the article is centered around residents in Maryland oyster gardening is a big in Virginia. If you might have an interest in pursuing a hobby that is beneficial to the Bay then contact info follows the article. 

Homeowners in the Lusby waterfront community of Hellen Creek off the Patuxent River are growing more than 27,000 oysters under their piers in a grass-roots effort to improve the Chesapeake Bay's water quality. They hope that within a year, the oysters will be able to flush about 1 million gallons of water each day.

The residents bough nickel-size baby oysters and 3-by-6 foot floats, after receiving training from the Patuxent River chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association Maryland. The neighborhood oyster ranchers will flip their floats once a month for three years. At the end of that period, the oysters can be harvested for consumption or will be laid on a sanctuary.

The baby oysters are expected to grow to three inches in about a year. A mature oyster can filter up to 55 gallons of water a day.

The Calvert County community has been leasing six acres on the bottom of Hellen Creek and plans to build a reef sanctuary there to minimize illegal poaching, said Scott McGuire, chapter president.

The chapter also has more than 30,000 oysters floating in St. Thomas Creek. As the two projects continue, the group plans to write a guide for others interested in growing oysters. Experts say the bay's oyster population is roughly 1 percent of historic highs recorded in the 1880s.

The Patuxent River chapter meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Elks Lodge in California. For information, e-mail jcotugno@verizon.net.

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)

Sea Grant Advisory Services
Michael Oesterling, (804) 684-7165
mike@vims.edu

Oyster Gardening Organizations:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia
(804) 780-1392

Virginia CBF Oyster Gardening Program
Chris Moore (757) 622-1964
cmoore@cbf.org

Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association

Jackie Partin (804) 694-4407
hellneck@earthlink.net

Northern Neck Oyster Gardeners

Don Beard (804) 438-4820

Lynnhaven 2007

Cliff Love (757) 481-6449
oystercom@hotmail.com

School Oyster Gardening:

Oyster Reef Keepers

Laurie Carroll Sorabella, (757) 460-1200,
oysterreefkeeper@yahoo.com