Oyster Gardening
The oyster gardening program encourages community participation in restoring local oyster populations to the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Volunteers who live along the IRL learn how to grow and monitor juvenile oysters (spat) off their docks to help us bolster local oyster populations and reef restoration projects.
Oyster Gardening
Workshops
Local residents living along the IRL are trained to become Oyster Gardeners.
The Next
Generation
Gardeners receive oyster shell covered in juvenile oysters (spat) to grow.
Volunteers
Make it Happen
Oysters are placed off docks and pilings for approximately six to nine months to grow.
Data Points to the
Best Homes
Data collected from the gardeners’ oysters points us to the best locations for building new oyster reefs.
Providing a
Sturdy Foundation
Oysters are collected back from gardeners and used to establish populations on restoration reefs.
Building for
Success
Through careful monitoring and care, the Oyster Gardener project has grown over 500,000 live oysters.
Help Us With Reef Restoration
Oyster Gardener
This work isn’t possible without volunteers like you! If you are a lagoon-front resident that lives in Brevard County, you may have just the right location for oyster gardening and play a key role in sustaining the success of the project. Oysters thrive in the brackish water of the IRL, so freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, and creeks are not applicable.
Can you say YES to all these questions?
If you answered a resounding YES to all these questions and would like to train to be a part of the Oyster Gardening project, helping Brevard Zoo’s Restore Our Shores program clean up the Indian River Lagoon, you’re in the right spot!
- Oyster Gardening Training has ended for the 2024-2025 season, but if you are interested in participating next season you can sign up below to receive information about when you can register for the 2025-2026 season.
- We will reach out to you next summer as trainings are being scheduled so that you can officially become a gardener then.
- After attending a workshop in Fall 2025 where you will make Oyster habitats, we will contact you to come and collect your baby Oyster Spat (baby oysters) which you will place into the habitats and hang from your dock. You will receive equipment to help you clean and care for your oysters over the 6-9months, and then return all the grown oysters during our Homecoming event. This is when we will take them to an Oyster Reef to plant them in their forever home.
- If you are a gardener who has already attended training or skipped any recent seasons, you do not need to sign-up on this list or attend another training – just reach out to restoreourshores@brevardzoo.org to be added to spat distribution list.
- If you are currently raising oysters, we will email to ask if you would like to participate in the following season.
FAQs
How much time do I need to commit to being an oyster gardener?
Less than 2 hours each week to clean and maintain your oyster habitats (not including the time your habitats will spend drying out).
How many oysters do I grow?
You will receive approximately 35-60 oyster shells with oyster spat (baby oysters). There could be as little as none to as many as 30-40 spat on each shell. Once you have picked up your spat, you will distribute half of the oyster shells into one habitat and the remaining half into the other.
Who do I contact if I have any questions?
Please email Restore Our Shores at restoreourshores@brevardzoo.org. Email is the best way to communicate. You may also join our Oyster Gardening Facebook page and post questions there. Please click here to join the Oyster Gardening Facebook page.
How long will I keep my oysters?
You will keep and take care of your oysters for 6 -9 months. You will be notified and asked to return your oysters when we are ready to begin constructing oyster reefs.
How do I care for my oysters?
Everything you need to know to care for your oysters is in the Oyster Care Guide. You can also watch the Oyster Gardening Care 101 video to refresh your memory. If you attended an oyster gardening training session and need a refresher class, please email restoreourshores@brevardzoo.org.
May I eat my oysters once they’re big enough?
These oysters are not for human consumption. They will be used to populate oyster reef restoration projects in the Indian River Lagoon. At these oyster reef sites, they will provide numerous benefits including water quality improvement, habitat, and food for important members of the food web, and as spawning adults they will help to restore natural population levels of oysters in the lagoon.
For more information about caring for your oysters check out the below videos
Oyster Gardener
Live in an HOA community that has a dock?
Please read and complete HOA Resident Gardener Form.
Please be aware that not every location is suitable for Oyster Gardening. Sites are regularly evaluated, and it may take time to determine if your location is a candidate. If your home is not selected, we invite you to become an oyster buddy, or consider some of our other Conservation Programs.
No dock? Become an Oyster Buddy.
Don’t have a dock on the IRL but still want to help out with Oyster Gardening? Sign-up and we’ll train you to become an OYSTER BUDDY! They help assist our gardeners and the members of the ROS team with the Oyster Gardening project.
Oyster Buddy
If you have any questions, please email Restore Our Shores, restoreourshores@brevardzoo.org.
We look forward to having you join our lagoon-loving community!
Special Thanks
Funding from Brevard County’s Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan has gone a long way since its inception: supporting the project’s staffing, equipment/supplies, and the education of thousands of community volunteers who, after training, become our “Oyster Gardeners.” As a science-based program, we take a citizen scientist approach, equipping volunteers with the knowledge and the tools to further discovery and understanding of our natural world.
Help Us Restore Our Shores
We always need volunteers for our lagoon restoration projects. Our work would not be possible without the help of volunteers. We encourage you to investigate what availability we have for participants in our programs. We look forward to having you support Restore Our Shores. More Questions? Email us.