Alternate waters sources, diversification and collaboration help growing spaces survive and thrive.
Gardening with Xpress: Preserving peppers, growing Brussels sprouts and saving squash seeds
DIY projects for using fall’s bounty of peppers and chiles to spice up your pantry. Also, advice on growing Brussels sprouts in WNC and saving squash seeds.
Green Roundup: ASAP’s Farm Tour spotlights local growers
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is gearing up for its annual Farm Tour in September. Also in local green news, a new solar lending program from Sugar Hollow Solar, the West Asheville Garden Stroll spotlights the Horney Heights neighborhood, N.C. Arboretum hosts Monarch Butterfly Day and more.
Exploring the great outdoors, 3,600 feet at a time
Our reporter and his musician friend see what Navitat Canopy Adventures is all about.
WNC is ground zero for wilderness skills education
In February, Mountain BizWorks’ MADE X MTNS partnership, which seeks to expand WNC’s outdoor industry, released a study that noted outdoor activities such as backpacking, day hiking and vehicle camping generated an economic output of $4.9 billion per year for the region and resulted in 48,000 full-time jobs.
Conserving Carolina seeks photo contest entries
Conserving Carolina’s fifth annual Habitat at Home spring photo contest is underway. Plus: Hendo Earth Fare returns to Hendersonville; G5 Trail Collective adds 10 new miles; and more!
Q&A with Joshua Arnold on climate studies, agriculture and bee hotels
Warren Wilson College’s environmental studies department will begin offering a master’s degree in applied climate studies in summer 2025. The program will draw on the college’s natural sciences and social sciences programs to prepare students for mitigating the effects of climate change. Students will attend two summertime intensives, and the rest of the coursework will […]
Police officers struggle to afford Asheville addresses
Roughly 86% of Asheville Police officers live outside of the city limits, according to Asheville Police Department spokesman Samantha Booth.
D. Tyrell McGirt discusses programs, opportunities at Asheville Parks & Recreation
D. Tyrell McGirt, director of Asheville Parks & Recreation, discusses opportunities for staying healthy in 2024.
Green Roundup: Local biologist receives national prize to combat turtle trafficking
Conservation biologist JJ Apodaca and his locally based organization, Tangled Bank Conservation, recently received a $100,000 prize to further develop genetic sequencing techniques that will help save three of the most poached turtle species in the United States.
Green Roundup: Community leader releases book about developing sustainable cultures
Hood Huggers International founder and CEO DeWayne Barton, released his new book, “The CAP Playbook: Phase One,” on Aug. 14. The book’s Community Accountability Plan lays out a vision of creating a sustainable, inclusive and economically empowered culture in historically marginalized communities. Barton notes that the book is set up similarly to a football playbook, but instead of scoring touchdowns, the “plays” help achieve community goals.
Green Roundup: Conservation groups prepare for lawsuit over Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of MountainTrue, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity, sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue to the U.S. Forest Service in relation to their Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan.
A father and son’s soaked journey through the 2023 Firefly Gathering
Firefly Gathering is the largest earth-skills gathering in the country. Held at Deerfields, the 940-acre retreat center in the Pisgah National Forest near Mills River, the annual event transforms a quiet mountain hollow into a self-sufficient village.
Wellness roundup: Sweeten Creek mental health facility hires director
The Sweeten Creek facility, which is anticipated to open in August, brings 38 additional acute behavioral care beds to Western North Carolina.
WNC goatscaping services offer sustainable land management
Grazing goats are an increasingly popular means of eliminating invasive plants.
The elusive morels: Their season was exciting, challenging — and way too short
The thrill of the hunt keeps the morel pursuit engaging, frustrating and thrilling, all at once.
Thinking green: All hands on deck
Joe Franco is a senior at UNC Asheville, majoring in international studies with minors in political science and environmental studies.
Thinking green: Take heed
Anne Craig is an environmental activist.
Thinking green: adaptiveness and resiliency
Roger Helm is an instructor on global climate change at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville.
Q&A: Woman creates Mon-stors to ‘eat’ toys
“I knew that if I wanted my child to use whatever toy storage solution we had, it needed to be fun and like a game. “
Plan charts future of Pisgah, Nantahala forests
The latest Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Land Management Plan was implemented last month and outlines land use for the next 20 years.