With spring in full swing, growers, DIY enthusiasts and the homestead-curious will find the perfect venue to prepare for the season as the French Broad Food Co-op holds its third annual Urban Homestead Fair on Saturday, April 25.
Cultural affairs: Carolina Mountain Cheese Fest spotlights local cheesemakers
With the popularity of locally made artisan cheese steadily growing in the Asheville area, local cheesemakers have planned a new festival to spotlight the craft — the Carolina Mountain Cheese Fest.
Dandelions for dinner: Foraging and preparing a prolific spring edible
Far from the lawn nuisance it’s often considered in our culture, the dandelion has actually been celebrated since ancient times as one of the world’s top health-promoting herbs. Chris Smith of Sow True Seed offers several tasty and nutritious ways to prepare this easily identifiable and abundant wild edible.
Mother Earth News pioneers gather at Asheville fair
Some of Mother Earth News’ earliest “Mothers” — whose roots go back to the 1970s and 1980s — got together this past Sunday at the Mother Earth News Fair, which was held at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher. Nearly two dozen former employees and families met for brunch and to share their recollections from the decades past. I was one of them.
A community orchard brings a new green space to Hillcrest
Over the years, Hillcrest Apartments has lost several trees leaving the neighborhood to feel a bit barren. Hillcrest residents knew that the environmental nonprofit Asheville GreenWorks had planted fruit trees in other public housing developments, and hoped to see a similar project come to their neighborhood. Turns out, planting an orchard in Hillcrest was on GreenWorks’ to do list as well.
Mother Earth News Fair offers attendees a taste of sustainable living
Mother Earth News Fair offered no shortage of activities, workshops and vendors to educate and entertain attendees over the weekend of April 11 and 12 during the magazine’s second annual event at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center.
In photos: Mother Earth News Fair 2015
Crowds of locals and visitors converged on the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, to take in the sights, sounds and tastes of the 2015 Mother Earth News Fair. Click through for a slideshow of photos by Tori Pace.
In photos: Hillcrest get an organic boost from GreenWorks
Asheville GreenWorks partnered up April 11 with volunteers to transform an empty green lot at Hillcrest Apartments into an orchard. GreenWorks received a grant to plant its sixth community orchard at Hillcrest, with 24 ball-and-burlap apple trees and 36 blueberries. The goal is to promote better access to food, greenspace, shade, community pride and jobs.
Interview with author of Rebuilding the Foodshed, Philip Ackerman-Leist
Author Philip Ackerman-Leist is among the presenters recruited from around the country to conduct workshops at the Mother Earth News Fair coming to Western North Carolina Agricultural Center on April 11 and 12, 2015. Ackerman-Leist is the Program Director for Green Mountain College’s Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems.
Interview with author of Drink the Harvest, Nan K. Chase
Asheville-based author Nan K. Chase is one of many area gardeners, homesteaders, and sustainability experts who will be presenting at the Mother Earth News Fair coming to Western North Carolina Agricultural Center on April 11 and 12, 2015.
Mother Earth News Fair gets down and dirty in Asheville
Mother Earth News Fair returns to the Western North Carolina Agriculture Center on Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12, marking the fair’s second consecutive appearance in Asheville. The fair is an opportunity for fans of the bi-monthly environmental magazine to get hands-on experience with the topics covered in the publication from sustainable agriculture to green home building.
The raw milk debate: An interview with food activist David Gumpert
During his decadeslong career, journalist, editor and author David E. Gumpert has written about everything from food rights to entrepreneurship to family history. But in recent years, he’s focused on raw milk.
Raw deal? Asheville’s taste for unpasteurized milk
Raw milk comes straight from the cow — it hasn’t been pasteurized (heated to high temperatures for specific lengths of time to kill potentially harmful pathogens). Though both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn against unpasteurized dairy products in no uncertain terms, the product remains in high demand.
Cool beans: Sow True Seed founder Carol Koury on the Appalachian greasy bean
Greasy beans are a southern Appalachian specialty, little or unknown outside this area. According to Sow True Seed founder and owner Carol Koury, greasy beans have been grown in these mountains probably for as long as there have been whites in Appalachia.
Hunger stops here: WNC’s war on food insecurity
From the Get It! Guide: According to MANNA FoodBank’s 2014 Map the Meal Gap study, food insecurity affects 15.3 percent of Western North Carolina. But several local efforts are looking to stop hunger in WNC, bringing the battle to the fields, the pantries, the neighborhoods and even city hall.
How to start a community tailgate market
From the Get It! Guide: Community tailgate markets are a labor of love that offer communities a place to gather while also providing access to fresh, local foods. If you’re thinking about organizing a market in your neighborhood, here’s some steps to consider.
Welcome to spring: Here’s where to find your neighborhood tailgate market
Most area markets will be starting up in the next few weeks, though a few — including the Asheville City Market, the WNC Farmers Market and the Jackson County Farmers Market — are open year-round. With the help of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, Xpress is providing a roundup of regional markets, including markets accepting food assistance programs.
Small Bites: Second Spring Market Garden offers year-round CSA
Second Spring Market Garden offers fresh veggies year-round, Blue Ridge-Asheville Movement and Flow Arts Society hosts annual Waffle-Off Championship and Plant holds vegan cooking classes.
Empowerment from the Earth: Reclaiming Cherokee health and heritage
Cherokee is a community in flux. Decadeslong high poverty and unemployment rates are beginning to decline, but access to healthy food remains limited and cultural values seem to be changing. “It’s Western civilization versus our traditional Cherokee ways,” say community leaders. But community efforts are using gardens to reconnect the Cherokee people to local food, health and a collective heritage defined by knowledge of the earth.
Welcome home: Veterans Healing Farm connects returning veterans to their community
From the Get It! Guide: John Mahshie says he realized the value of the exercise, healthy eating and time spent in the sun that comes with farming — and what that could mean for veterans experiencing isolation or even suicidal thoughts as they struggle to reintegrate into civilian life. “It’s a natural fit for this sort of healing,” he says.
How to become an urban farmer
From the Get It! Guide: The process of becoming an urban farmer offers a quick learning curve full of chances for success or for failure. Start your journey by learning how to navigate the restrictions, requirements and resources of an urban farmer.