When Susan Vidal left her job as a cartographer for the federal government, she thought she’d be a pumpkin farmer. She and her husband had bought their farm as a getaway from Northern Virginia and future retirement home before they finally moved there full-time and began their commercial operation with one acre of pumpkins eight […]
When Susan Vidal left her job as a cartographer for the federal government, she thought she’d be a pumpkin farmer. She and her husband had bought their farm as a getaway from Northern Virginia and future retirement home before they finally moved there full-time and began their commercial operation with one acre of pumpkins eight […]
The Shelton family loves apples. “We make apple pancakes all the time,” says Chuck Shelton, one of three Shelton sons who retired from full-time employment in North Carolina to manage Vintage Virginia’s apple orchard, Rural Ridge, and its new cidery, Albemarle Ciderworks, along with his sister, founder Charlotte Shelton, his 90-year-old father, Bud Shelton, and […]
There are local farms with cute monikers and logos that we all recognize, and then there’s Rob Brown. You might not know his name, but if you’ve toured the Monticello vegetable gardens, you know his work —he was a gardener there for seven years until this past February. You probably also know his booth at […]
The closest many of us around here get to actual agriculture is at the pick-your-own fruit farms and orchards, of which we have several in the area. Strawberries, apples and pumpkins are all ripe for the picking at various places when in-season, but we really have the Chiles family and their peaches to thank for […]
Gail Hobbs-Page, who is an activist for small farms and a vocal proponent of local food —the “Vote with your Fork” section of the CaroMont Farm website and blog links you straight to government officials on the topics of small farm agriculture—is a great spokesperson for the movement. As a trained chef (most recently at […]
L’étoile Executive Chef Mark Gresge is a big fan of Megan Weary’s tomatoes, and not just because the beautiful Striped Germans, Cherokee Purples and other heirloom varieties as well as classic Romas and cherry tomatoes that she and her husband Rob cultivate at their four-year-old Roundabout Farm in Keswick are flavorful in a way that […]
Planet Earth Diversified is a study in the new science of small farming. Arriving at the Stanardsville site, you’re struck by both the primitiveness and dirtiness with which small scale agricultural businesses must survive, but also, the creativity and innovation. On the one hand, there are the fields of crops, the noisy chickens, the old […]
We know what it’s like. Sometimes even the thought of frying an egg (free range and local or not) is too much for your tired brain. It’s then that you turn to the telephone and instant grub gratification. And why not? Interesting delivery options abound around here, beyond basic pizza. Here are nine such dishes […]
From lead guitarist Kirk Hammett’s firestorm leads on “Creeping Death” to the apocalypse thrash of “One,” very little has changed about the four horsemen of Los Angeles metal since 1981—save a few hard habits and a bassist or two. But any longtime, capital-“M” Metal-head should’ve been struck by two changes during the invigorating headbanger’s ball […]
The press release accompanying my copy of Juliet, Naked describes the novel as Nick Hornby “writing about what he does best: rock ’n’ roll, extreme fandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about love.” I disagree. Juliet, Naked is about the Internet. Sure, music plays a role. The story centers around Tucker Crowe, […]