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Monthly Archives: December 2007

The right kind of rain

USGS Now here’s the kind of rain that’s so badly needed. Nice rains on Dec. 23, Dec. 26, Dec. 28, and Dec. 30, with the rain on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 pushing the Dan River above its median. This is the kind of rain that soaks into the acquifer and beats back drought.

Carroll County cabbage

Southwest Virginia Farmers Market Let’s see. We’ve got Stokes County sweet potatoes and Yadkin Valley wine. From Carroll County, Virginia, just up the road from Stokes, we get apples and cabbage. Carroll County cabbage is incredibly good and amazingly cheap when the crop’s in season. At high season you can buy it in 50-pound sacks […]

How to can

Boomers like me who grew up in the country have memories of watching our mothers and grandmothers can, but how it’s done is a mystery. This web site has some videos on how to can homegrown food. It also sells canning supplies. We young’uns had to work at canning time, though. We were given big […]

Beatrix Potter — conservationist

A farm in England’s Lake District If you haven’t seen the 2006 film “Miss Potter,” I highly recommend it. The film is historically accurate in reminding us that Beatrix Potter was a conservationist. As a child she spent summers in England’s Lake District, and after she became rich and famous she bought a farm there. […]

Animals in the road: the toll is rising

The New York Times has a disturbing story on how accidents caused by hitting large animals increased by 50 percent between 1990 and 2004. Most of these accidents occur on two-lane rural roads, and most involve deer. The main cause for the increase: suburbanization.

A little Christmas crooning…

http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf Too cute to resist…

Delicious in Danbury?

Winston-Salem Journal The Winston-Salem Journal has a featurette this morning on Artist’s Way bakery and cafe in Danbury. My vote for the best eats in Danbury, though, would have gone to the cafe across the street that had amazing hot dogs. Unfortunately that place has closed. In my opinion, Artist’s Way tries just a little […]

Living off the grid in Ashe County

The Mountain Times has a nice article on a woman who lives off the grid in Ashe County and produces almost all of her own food. “I left a career in nursing to pursue a primitive lifestyle. Since leaving public employment, I have gained my sense of humor, my health and my life,” she said. […]