Garden Journal

Disappearing farms: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Carolina lost 1,000 farms during 2005 (the latest year for which statistics are available), tying Florida and Tennessee for first place in the nation. That figure continues a trend in the state, which lost 3,000 farms in 2004, also first place in the nation.

Disappearing bees: Agricultural experts in North America and Europe are racing to discover the cause of Disappearing Hive Syndrome, a mysterious malady that has wiped out thousands of hives. The New York Times has reported hive mortality of 70 percent on the east coast of the U.S. In WNC, Sandy Mush beekeeper David Cowart tells Xpress we have lost 30 percent of local hives since last fall. Cowart has lost 50 of his 60 hives in that period and says that beekeepers are struggling to pull together enough hives for apple-pollination season. If honey bees—our primary pollinators—disappear, humans will need to come up with an alternative to eating.

Common ground: The North Carolina Council of Churches Rural Life Committee will explore what churches, farmers and soup kitchens have in common. Three one-day, regional sessions will make up the conference. Biltmore United Methodist Church will host the western session on Friday, April 13. The $10 registration fee includes a locally grown lunch and a trip to Flying Cloud Farm, which produces vegetables, fruit and flowers, and Hickory Nut Farm, which raises pastured meats. Speakers include Rev. Brian Cole, sub-dean at All Souls Cathedral; Charlie Jackson, executive director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; and Kitty Schaller, executive director of MANNA FoodBank. To register or for more information, visit cometothetablenc.org or call Clay Smith at 389-8336.

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About Cecil Bothwell
A writer for Mountain Xpress since three years before there WAS an MX--back in the days of GreenLine. Former managing editor of the paper, founding editor of the Warren Wilson College environmental journal, Heartstone, member of the national editorial board of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, publisher of Brave Ulysses Books, radio host of "Blows Against the Empire" on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM, co-author of the best selling guide Finding your way in Asheville. Lives with three cats, macs and cacti. His other car is a canoe. Paints, plays music and for the past five years has been researching and soon to publish a critical biography--Billy Graham: Prince of War:

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