Although the U.S. Forest Service has recommended that most of Big Ivy be managed for conservation or recreation, approximately 4,000 acres in the North Fork and Snowball Mountain areas has been flagged for potential logging.
What’s new in food: Franny’s Farmacy South Slope grand opening
Franny’s Farmacy continues its expansion. Plus: Cultivated Community Dinner Series launches latest Spring Series; Asheville Truffle Experience returns; and plenty more!
From CPP: Forest Service unveils long-awaited plan for WNC
The U.S. Forest Service offered four alternative management plans for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in 2020. It has decided to go with a fifth alternative.
Green in brief: King’s Bridge offers new public land in Mills River
Hendersonville-based Conserving Carolina transferred the 87-acre property, a former sod farm on the banks of the French Broad River, to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission after purchasing it for $440,000 with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fred and Alice Stanback.
What’s new in food: Faux Lox Foods launches in Asheville
Vegans and vegetarians craving a lox bagel now have options thanks to Faux Lox Foods. Also: television personality Samantha Brown visits Asheville; Metro Wines hosts its latest tasting; and more!
What’s new in food: Molly Nicholie discusses her new leadership role with ASAP
ASAP prepares for its new executive director. Also: Mother Earth Food expands its mission with recent grant; Chow Chow announces 2022 dates; and more!
Green in brief: State budget brings millions in environmental funding to WNC
Among the largest allocations are $12.2 million to accelerate the purchase and opening of Pisgah View State Park in Buncombe County, $7.2 million for the removal of hazardous dams in WNC and $5 million to upgrade the city of Hendersonville’s wastewater treatment plant.
Q&A: Charlie Jackson, founder of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
At many grocery stores in the area, consumers can find at least some local produce, meat or dairy products. Plenty of restaurants tout local ingredients on their menus and farmers markets are ubiquitous here. But it wasn’t always that way. “It’s hard to remember what it was like 20 years ago, but there was not […]
What’s new in food: Smasheville food truck brings the beef
Smasheville sets up shop at Wedge Brewery Co. Also: Nine Mile wins big with hot sauce; Katie Button debuts on Magnolia Network; and plenty more!
Soothe winter dryness with Asheville’s skin care shops
Everyone knows Asheville is the place to go for craft beer, outdoor gear and anything a person could possibly want with a black bear emblazoned on it. Less attention is paid, though, to the many businesses selling locally made skin care products.
Local tree companies design backyard fun
While an undisputed highlight of living in Western North Carolina is proximity to the great outdoors, there’s something to be said for one’s own backyard. (Better bathroom facilities, for one.) Chances are that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have spent more time outside than usual. This year, the best holiday gift might be a […]
What’s new in food: Holeman and Finch Public House opens on Biltmore
When chef Linton Hopkins opened H&F Burger on Biltmore Avenue in December 2019, it was in part a reference to the cheeseburger made famous as a late-night-only special at Holeman and Finch Public House, which he and his wife, Gina Hopkins, opened in Atlanta in 2008. While the burger may have been the calling card to […]
WNC wrestles with light pollution
With the notable exception of the IDA-certified dark sky park at the PARI in Transylvania County — one of only two such facilities in the state — no sky in Western North Carolina is untouched by light pollution. Central Asheville can reach as high as a 6 on the Bortle Scale, in which 1 is complete darkness and 9 is the Las Vegas Strip.
From CPP: Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest Plan nears completion
Groups in Western North Carolina are continuing their projects while the U.S. Forest Service finalizes its choices for the comprehensive 20-year plan.
What’s new in food: Cultura continues Cultivated Community Dinner Series
Contemplating the mostly unused space that was and eventually will again be home to Cultura restaurant on Coxe Avenue, chef Eric Morris envisioned monthly collaborative pop-ups with local chefs, particularly those cooking from personal cultural traditions. “I wanted to get more perspective on what other people are cooking, give chefs without their own brick-and-mortar some […]
Takeaway is here to stay
Like every small town and big city in America, Asheville faced unprecedented challenges when COVID-19 turned the entire restaurant industry upside down, sending many to a takeout-only model that required a dependence on food containers, bags and disposables. Unsurprisingly, that had a significant impact on waste and recyclable collections.
Flooding destroyed crops, but support of community grew resolve
In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred, Gaining Ground Farm lost 85% of what was in the ground and about 30% of its gross revenue for the season. Despite the heavy hit, the farm bounced back thanks to the support from locally owned restaurants.
Avian lovers committed to making Asheville bird-friendly
On an upper floor of Zeis Hall on the UNC Asheville campus is a small room containing many birds. None of these birds are alive. Each one is dead, preserved through taxidermy and stacked side by side in individual Tupperware containers. The room, smelling faintly of formaldehyde, is a biological specimen laboratory. The collection is […]
Green in brief: Ecusta Trail land purchase complete
On Aug. 12, a subsidiary of nonprofit Conserving Carolina completed the $7.8 million purchase of the currently unused Ecusta rail line, stretching 19 miles between Hendersonville and Brevard, from the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad.
Local chefs find excitement and calm on the river
Local chefs discuss the joys of fly fishing and fish cooking techniques.
Q&A with Tracy Swartout, Blue Ridge Parkway superintendent
Working in the National Park Service has taken Tracy Swartout all around the country. But in many ways, her new role as superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway, based at the service’s office in Asheville, is a homecoming. Swartout grew up in Columbia, S.C., and has many fond memories traveling along the park’s 469-mile route […]