Growing herbs: The Best Idea I’ve Had This Spring
It began with a little basil. Last spring, I planted some in a window box on the side of our house. The side that apparently got more bugs than sun. It had a good run, providing me plenty to sprinkle into my scrambled eggs, but not quite enough for the giant batch of pesto I … Read more
Top 10 Misconceptions about Ag & Farmers
Photos from the past year, covering Virginia agriculture. I got an ag email today that I just have to share. You see, it’s Virginia Agriculture Week starting March 17, so I’ve been getting all sorts of info goodies from the state’s Department of Agriculture (and it’s fabulous communications director, Elaine Lidholm) in the week … Read more
Kansas Country Eats — a visit to Sedan
After two weeks of holiday traveling — almost five days of it on the road from Virginia to Oklahoma to Kansas and back — there were plenty of highlights and, overall, far too much eating. There was a four-day streak of big meals in Oklahoma (we consumed so much butter that we ran out and … Read more
Highlights: Virginia Farm-to-Table conference
It took some prodding from an ice cream-making farmer I met for a story, but boy was I glad I decided to attend at least one day of the Virginia Farm-to-Table conference last week. Sure, it was a 3-hour drive to Wyers Cave, Va., but waiting there was a wealth of food story ideas and the people … Read more
Foodshed story and National Food Day
If you live in DC, Virginia or Maryland, go get the first every copy of Foodshed Magazine — formerly Flavor Magazine — and read my story about Brian Walden’s experiment with locally grown grains. He’s thinking big about locally grown, milled and baked breads, brewed beers and black beans. You can also read the story … Read more
Virginia country cont.: breakfast(s) extraordinaire and food celebrity spottings
Now where did I leave off? Oh yes, waking up to the Blue Ridge Mountains layered with morning fog… and a Keurig coffee maker waiting to meet our beck and call. It’s a happy three-year-anniversary, bed-and-breakfast style! After a morning run (those ridge roads are a bit hilly in spots), we moseyed down to the … Read more
The happiest farmer at the market
I was perusing the peppers one morning when I caught myself eavesdropping (as usual) on a conversation between a farmer and his customers at the market. I had a few clues as to what they were discussing — though they were chatting in Spanish — as he picked up the uniquely orange watermelon and handed … Read more
The taken-for-granted summer tomato
As I savored a giant slice of peppered and salted beefsteak tomato the other night — my raw tomato-loathing husband looking at me only slightly disgusted, that’s how good it looked — I found the taste taking me back to summers at my grandmother’s. The entire space of lawn that wrapped around the back of … Read more
