FEATURESFeatures
Home Grown: Local food movement takes root in Appalachia
Backyard farmers know this well—there is little more satisfying and nutritious than food that tastes of where it has been raised. A tomato borne on hand-tended vines is a plump reward for careful cultivators. A baby crookneck squash needs only a little sautéing to sweeten up before gracing a summer plate. Across the region, farmers are using these appeals along with sustainable practices and farm-to-table marketing to reconnect consumers with their food.
Unearthing Carolina's emerald highway
Rockhounds, they say, are a superstitious lot. “Very superstitious,” remarked Tony Elwood of Charlotte, who spent a late winter Sunday at the Crabtree Emerald Mine in Little Switzerland, N.C., along with his pal Mike Ruff. The two “weekend warriors” came searching for gems of all kinds, but especially emeralds, which are rarer and, when of exceptional quality, more valuable than diamonds.
ALSO in the print edition:
Water world
The temperate rainforests of the Southern Appalachians.
Drink me
Eco-activists hope to transform the world.
