The Local Food Movement in Western North Carolina

There were many things that caused me to move to Western North Carolina to seek my fortune...my time spent in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia taught me that I enjoy life in the rolling elevations and sloping hills.  Many of my friends had visited or spent a bit of time living in Asheville and I often heard about how much I would love this odd little town with it's vibrant art scene and it's appreciation for it's green places.

One of the things that I have most come to appreciate about western North Carolina is the vibrant local food scene.  The farming community here is strong, and made up of folks whose families have been working the same spots for generations, but equally represented are the suburban organic gardeners and small-scale city farms.  A lot of the people here are very aware of everything that they consume, and do their best to ensure that it is organic and as locally-sourced as possible.

After a couple months of living here, it dawned on me that my honey-infusing hobby might actually be a viable business in a community like this.  With the help and support of my friends (Modern Scribe Photography) and family and with time, trial and error, I find myself a busy pixie with a small but increasingly stable business.

As such, I've been honored to be the newbie vendor at a great little farm market.  The Woodfin YMCA is hosting an indoors Winter Market through the end of March, and I have been learning a lot.

I've also been meeting some amazing people, farms and food producers who are well-known and much-appreciated in WNC for their amazing products.

Home Grown Goodness!

For example, for lunch today I had a slice of Farm & Sparrow market bread, with Spinning Spider Creamery plain chevre spread on thick, and topped with slices of Hickory Nut Gap Farm's pepperoni.  Freaking amazing, simple, and such good quality food!  Each of these places are located within an hour's drive of my home.

I'm going to be doing a couple of posts to highlight some of the farms I've met in this market.  Keep posted, and if you live in the area, please come meet me at the Woodfin YMCA Farm Market (Saturdays, 10-noon, through March) and support your local food producers!

Apple Picking & Processing 2011

J.H. Stepp Orchards, by Modern Scribe Photography

I live in an incredibly beautiful and bountiful area.  Western North Carolina has so much to offer in the way of local, healthy food that I'm becoming quite happily spoiled by my diet.  There's hop farms for brewers, local bison ranches, and in Hendersonville, North Carolina, you can't throw a stone without hitting an apple tree.  The winding roads around Lake Lure and Chimney Rock are a verdant place where orchards and small farm markets thrive.

My love and I recently went winding down that road with our housemates, a friend, and his six-year old daughter to pick apples from J. H. Stepp Orchards, a beautiful old orchard we picked from last year.  We missed the really sweet apples of late August and September, but still delighted in the bushel of Golden Delicious, Fuji and Rose Cameo Fuji apples that came home with us.

Stepp Orchards also has a wonderful common room in their barn, with a fireplace going to keep icy fingers warm, hot cider on tap, fresh apple juice, apple cake, and accessories such as apple peelers and corers available for purchase.  I picked up a handy dandy apple-corer and gorged on butterscotch apple cake while we all got assembled and directed to the proper picking places.

Calliope, by MSP

By the by, if you have an enthusiastic and bright child to bring along apple picking with you, I highly encourage it.  Boy, can they pick like little devils! And run. And climb trees. And not carry heavy apple baskets, at all.

Once we were laden with big, gorgeous apples, we didn't linger long at the orchard, because we had plans...oh yes, we had plans.  The bushel of apples, the gallon of apple juice, and a bag of fresh, clean sweet potatoes made it home with us in no time.

The rest of the day involved relaxing, for the most part, but I just couldn't wait.  Within a couple of hours of being home, we were diving into a still-warm pan of German Apple Cake!

In the month since picking, we're down to about 5 apples after we made everything...but we still haven't made all that we wanted.  We might just have to go again so we can have apple pie filling!

The complete list of what my housemate Sarah and I made from a bushel of apples:

Dried Apple Rings:  Soft and chewy, melt in your mouth, super-yummy apple rings!  And then the dehydrator started making the most TERRIBLE sound...time for a new one? Any suggestions from you food-preservation people out there?

German Apple Cake:  Nuh-uh. No way.  Not this recipe...if I tell you, I'll have to kill you.

Apple Sauce: (which became Apple Butter)  Easy to do...chop apples, put in pot with small bit of water or apple juice.  Cook down with a lid until soft.  Strain if needed, and ta-da!  If you want to turn it into apple butter, transfer it to a crockpot and season the ever-loving sense out of it with brown sugar and cinnamon and cloves and such, and then let it cook on low until you like it.  SO EASY, and smells soooo goooooood.

A happy apple crew, by MSP

Apple Pectin:  (Check out this recipe on Mother Earth News for reference) We did not succeed completely at this task...but we used up all the peels, cores, and otherwise unwanted bits of apples on hand in the attempt.  Our pectin didn't clear or settle well, because our apples were too sweet. Apparently, this works better with sour or crab apples, which I would have know had I read the entire recipe. Whoops!

Apple Cordial:  This is so fun, and so easy.  I peel my apples by hand, and leave flesh clinging to the peel.  I put the peels in a jar.  I put spices in the jar sometimes...othertimes, just apple-y goodness.  Then I fill the jar with vodka (or rum. or brandy.) and remember to shake it occasionally.  Once I've forgotten about it for a while, I strain out the peels, add sugar or sugar syrup to the alcohol, and bam! Apple cordial.

Apple Mead (Or Cyser):  A grand experiment has begun!  The jug o' juice that we picked up from Stepp Orchards was wonderfully tasty, but we stopped drinking it when it was half-empty.

Next, I heated water and melted a large pour of honey into it to make a must (un-fermented mead) and poured it into the gallon jug, and added one single solitary allspice bud.

I popped an airlock on the jug, and pitched the yeast the next morning.  We've got a perfect spot to keep the jug warm (between 80-84 degrees) and it's been bubbling merrily for about a week.  It will soon be bottled (if we can save enough...we keep tasting it and it's already dwindling rapidly).

Check out your local farm offerings for a U-Pick near you.  I used the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) to find Stepp Orchards!

Scenes from my yard, or Why I Haven't Been Blogging!

Our new yard friends! Photo by Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography

Our yard friends give us eggs, by Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography

Lavender, soon to be in bloom, by Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography

Akasha surveys her domain, by Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography

Chickens, Eggs, Compost heap, Cats, Gardens, Craft Fairs, Farm Markets, Honey Jars, 

Wildcrafting, Bumble Bees, Midnight Car Accidents on our Road, Entertaining Guests, 

Gem Mining, White Water Rafting...and I know there's more!

This sure is a busy spring! 

I hope to be chatting with y'all later, but for right now, I'm just going along with the tide! 

Much love to you and yours and...

May the Best Manifest!

Mid-April Gardening Update

Well, it's been a beautiful couple of days here in Western North Carolina. The sun has been warm, and the breeze cool - the perfect spring weather that paints the hillsides around me greener every day.

My blog is currently bereft of images, as I've come to rely on Sarah for her wonderful photography skills, and I have no digital camera.  She's been covering some studio portrait sessions in Virginia, the adorable results can be seen on her blog; "Stopping the Moment."

So you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that most of our seedlings are up and happy. The babies are thinned out, are the strongest seedling are merrily growing:

• 7 "Mortgage Lifter" Tomatoes - These guys are the big, solid, meaty heirloom tomatoes that will be sliced onto fresh sammiches! MMM....

• 17 rambunctious Basil babies - Some of these are going to be given away, but why get rid of then when you can make pesto and freeze it for later use?? I love pesto, especially with fresh goat cheese...drool...

• 17 "Baxter's Bush" Cherry Tomatoes - Oh, these are going to be gooood on salads and for making sweet salsa. My tummy is starting to rumble...

• 2 "Evergreen" heirloom tomatoes - Ok, so we'll have a LOT of 'maters, but since I love to make homemade spaghetti sauce, I think we'll not be wasting any!

• 5 "Black Beauty" eggplants - Hmm...this will be an experiment for me, as I've not been over fond of the aubergine experience in the past. But tastes change, and I'd rather grow and try than give up now. Plus, the roommates are excited about them, so it'll all work out!

•  Broccoli - I just sowed these today, so they aren't up yet! But I've got my fingers crossed.

• Salad Garden - Mesclun Mix, Spinach, and Crisphead Iceberg Lettuce were direct-sown into our first raised bed today! It's only one corner of the raised bed, which will soon be full of the aforementioned basil babies! I hope they'll come up soon so I can EAT THEM. I'm rather like a bunny in spring, fresh greens are in trouble around me! 

• Catnip and Chamomile plants are now settled - the catnip in a rocky, clay corner of the yard that gets good water - in my experience, catnip loves challenges...so we'll give it a good one! The Roman Chamomile  (Anthemis Nobilis) is thriving in a container on the front porch. That one is kept in a container so that I know it is chemical-free for future use in my Vanilla Bean Chamomile Honey, as well as in my own tea blends.

I've spent a lot of time tromping around the yard and identifying things as they pop up. In doing so, I found a new plant that I couldn't immediately name.

When I first noticed this plant, I found a clump of leaves that had no flowers. I got all excited, because at first glance, I thought I had finally found violet in my yard! Unfortunately, the next patch over was much more grown, and it looked like this other picture below, with tiny yellow flowers and smaller, long leaves at the top of the stem. Hmm, definitely not violet, but she sure is familiar somehow!

This plant is a common weed, the "Smallflower Buttercup."  This cousin of the more familiar "Meadow Buttercup" isn't good for much as far as I can tell - but if you know better, please leave me a note!

I was able to identify this plant with the help of the internet, and the exhaustive NC State "Turf Files" which are great resources for identifying common plants. They also tell you how best to eradicate them with chemicals, but if it causes no harm I prefer to let it be.

Step by step, this land is showing me what it has to offer, and bit by bit, I'm giving it what it needs to be a stronger and healthier place. I'll keep y'all updated as I learn and grow...

Notes, Updates, and Other Blather!

A couple of Notes!

Just so you know, my blog background, banner, and most of the photography on my blog are created by Sarah Thomas, from Modern Scribe Photography.  She now has an Etsy shop with adorable Pre-made banners, Etsy avatars, and other OOAK graphic design creations. She even does photo editing on demand...she can give you pointed ears or adjust lighting and background.

How can you resist the chance to have Inky as your shop banner and avatar? I mean LOOK at HIM! *squee*

Sarah is also the designer for the brand new Asheville Etsy Street Team logo, as seen on Etsy and on their new Facebook page. Yay!

The Asheville Etsy Street Team is on the preliminary planning stages of a local Street Team show, probably in late summer, early fall of this year. As more details are set into stone, I will share them here. :)

Also, the Pagans of Etsy Street Team is having a SPRING SALE! Click HERE to see the many wonderful handmade goods on sale for you to purchase! This sale ends on April 19, so check it out now! Over 400 items are on sale in honor of this lovely season.

Threads of Magique was sweet enough to give me a blog award: the Sunshine Blog. I don't continue chain posts or awards, but I DO hope you go check out Threads of Magique and see the awesome things made and shared there!

I'll be updating soon with my April To-do list, some pics of our chicken coop-in-progress, and more. It's just so hard to write when there are ever-long-growing days full of gorgeous sun to wallow in and dirt to play in!

Earth in her Self-cleaning Cycle

The moon is waxing, closer now to full...

There are daffodils swaying on the hillside, and lilies of some sort poking their green lances up through the clay...

I woke to a birdcaphony earlier this week, and made a mockingbird mock my whistle three times!

Therefore; tomorrow morning, bright and early, I am going to put dirt into some freecycled plastic pots (Yay!) and start some of the chilly weather plants for our first garden! The seeds were also free, which is wonderful. Free food just waiting for the ideal conditions to manifest, right from the very ground!

Well....maybe from the ground. I'm not sure. You see, I've been trying to figure out why it feels like my yard does not want a garden in it.

I just can't sort it out. There's a couple of very good spots for a garden, full of sun and with light windbreak...but it doesn't feel right. The groundhogs, birds, and rabbits certainly WANT me to have a garden in the yard, but I keep balking at something.

So I've been thinking and walking and looking and listening.  Secret Agent Amber has been put on the task to investigate the local flora and learn the names of new weeds and strange flowers...counting mockingbirds and marking the difference between crows here and crows in the swamp. I've been breathing the air and feeling the vibrations that go down through the clay and bounce from rock to rock. I listened to the space on which I live and hope to grow sustenance, and it said gently, kindly, "No."

So I've looked even closer and I keep finding a problem...as I've mentioned before, our yard is chock full of trash from the previous tenants.  Eric's found a truck bed shell, a chain link fence, a doghouse, and three bicycles in the long dead grass on the edge of our yard, and that's just the BIG stuff.

The worst kind of trash is the bits of rusted metal, broken glass, chips of plastic and even strips of tarps left to rot under just an inch or two of clay. Overall, the yard feels like a beaten creature, cowering and hoping it will be ignored and passed over. This land isn't ready to nurture.

I gaze around at what IS growing, at the weeds: poke that grows with a force to be reckoned with, bittercress making a white haze over the earth from her flowers, clover patches cracking the clay and the biggest dandelions I've ever seen swaying in the March winds.  "Ditch weeds," I think to myself.

All I know about ditch weeds is that they grow where there is cleaning that needs to be done. Filtration systems for the ecosystem, and for our bodies.  For example, Dandelions are liver cleansers, blood strengtheners...what is it finding in this soil that is making them grow to Audrey-like proportions? What is the astringent, nutrient rich bitter Pokeweed pulling from the ground and offering up so that the birds won't eat it's berries? They always ate the poke berries in Virginia...

I think my yard is in the middle of a cleanse.  Let me give you an example of WHY I think and feel this way...

This is the result of my digging around in the picture above. In less than a square foot of clay soil, all of this was at the surface, completely visible to the naked eye. In less than one minute, I had two handfuls of sharp, rusty metal to throw away.

So it's been decided. This yard deserves a break, and while we are still going to keep the poke trimmed back a bit, we are going to allow the earth here to do what it must to clean itself. I'll keep picking and throwing away the mess left by others.

We will use raised beds for our garden this spring, summer, and fall to produce the food that will help to sustain us, and the local ecosystem.  We will know what is in the soil it grows up from, and have more control over growing conditions and predator control.

I'll try to get Sarah to take more pictures tomorrow of the first raised bed and the seedlings that will soon be reaching up towards this lovely Spring sun!

Appalachian Spring: Plant Identification 1?

Alright, so I am currently habitating in and about Enka-Candler, NC on the edges of the Pisgah Forest. It's a beautiful place, and I am really enjoying watching it wake from this long and very cold winter!

We arrived on this ridge in early August, just in time to watch the mountains around us begin their change from green to gold to red to brown, to covered in snow and ice...snow is still visible on the ridges of the mountains on the horizon, even with these warm days of the past week.  And I have noticed that plants are generally much hardier here in the Appalachians than in the fertile wet earth of the Dismal Swamp...roses and honeysuckle and primrose were in my yard, blooming as late as October!

Akasha by Modern Scribe

So now I'm watching my yard with keen eyes to see what pops up as the earth thaws under my feet. I've been pulling up the bull nettles and thistle from the spots that we care to tread regularly and tossing their rootballs into the wild field next to us where they can grow with no harm. Eric chopped the hell out of the dead poke last fall, but keeping the poke under a semblance of control is a full time job! I don't mind it sharing space with us, we just have to make it share more of the yard. Our steady traffic in the yard should help with that somewhat.

Yesterday afternoon and Eric and I were finishing up in the back yard, Sarah decided come outside and photograph some of the wild flowers that are coming up in patches all over the red clay yard so that I could work on identifying them. So she lay on the ground, lost her cigarettes, and suffered many travails to capture the flowers exquisitely! Flowers, and also my kitty, when she SAT on a patch of wildflowers we were trying to capture in the fading light.

Veronica persica by Modern Scribe Photography

So, first off, there's this dark green patchwork all over my yard, with lacy leaves and delicate flowers that range from purple to light violet to a rich blue. These guys are shallow-rooting, and their rose-like clusters of leaves remind me of succulent plants. I know just from seeing how prolific and hardy they are that they are probably a hated weed! And you know how I just love to harbor hated weeds.

I looked around a bit and found the name of this plant all on my own!
Veronica Persica is indeed a hated weed and a loaf-about, good-for-nothing scoundrel. Of course, they aren't much trouble either, unless you want your yard to look like a putting green. *shudder*

I googled "NC blue wildflower" and managed to come across "Southern Appalacian Wildflowers," a photography gallery by Rich Stevenson. Luckily, Veronica here was the first picture on his page...but I went through them all. I'm also looking for another flower which isn't proving as easy as Veronica...

? by Modern Scribe Photography

These beautiful little flowers just reach up for the sun out of the long, grabby grasses and dried chaff of last years leavings.

The stems are green and reddish brown, with those lovely dark fingers cupping the white petals. They are no taller than 3 inches from the ground! Does anyone have any idea what this little lovely is called?

In this picture on the left, she is snuggled up with Veronica on the mud-slab steps leading down to our lower lot.

I'd love some help figuring out this little flower, and I'll keep you posted the more I find out! Soon to come: Chicken Coops and Raised Bed construction. Whoo hoo!

Oh, March...you are going to be busy!

Modern Scribe Photography

So far, March has been a damn sight better than February!

Now, mind you, we woke on Tuesday to snow that didn't stop falling until it was 6 inches! So we did the logical thing; played dress-up, went outside, and had Sarah direct a photo shoot of me mincing around in the tumbling snow! It was a great way to spend a cold, gray day - cause I can tell you, the fascination of just staring at the snowflakes gracefully falling went away about mid-December...

But this evening, as I gaze around, I see more green on the ground than the frosty white and muddy red clay. The birds are out thick everywhere, singing and fussing and picking the ground for the insects that are rousing. It has certainly been warm enough to imagine their reemergence - we were just at 60 degrees on both Saturday and this fine Sunday afternoon.

I left myself sleep in until 11am on Saturday...it's been a long week, after all! Post-coffee, I  set myself busy to making some Chai Honey. I have to fill the abundance of Etsy orders that poured in last week! Then I get the call that I have empty shelves at the local shop, the Candler, NC "House of Herbs."  I put three jars of honey in just about a week ago, and two of them have already sold!

Feeling motivated and accomplished, I put on jeans and boots and ambled down to the lower lot to poke around the future garden plot.  I turned the compost and found a couple fat and wriggling earthworms living in there. I welcomed them, thanked them for their hard work, and set off to work with Eric.  He has been checking our scrounged lumber, pulling apart pallets, and measuring out designs for the chicken coop.  As he worked away at our free lumber supply, I got busy picking up trash out of the dirt. It's something I do every time I visit the lower lot, yet I've only barely made a dent.

You see, whoever lived here before us wasn't as conscientious as we are with the disposal of trash...there's was a burn barrel that got dumped regularly. We are forever picking up bits of plastic and glass, metal cans, aluminum foil remnants - it seems like an inexhaustible supply of tiny trash bits that have malevolent intent and really want to stick in your finger when you pick it up!


Until we get the yard clean, raised beds are one of the garden projects that we'll be using the pallets for.  As we develop our plans, I'll be sure to post the progress...for now, here's our To-Do list for March:

• Build Chicken Coop (scrounged lumber, fence panels, pallets)
• Set up rain barrell
• Modify pallets into Raised Beds
• Gopher/Vole/Groundhog proof the garden beds
• Varmint-proof the Coop
• Feed and work the compost pile
• GET CHICKENS! 
• Buy local, heirloom veggies that will thrive here (zone 7b)
• Herbal First Aid Class (March 15, 6-9pm @ AB Tech, Madison campus, Free!)
• Spring Garden School (March 20, 8:30-3:30 @ AB Tech, Ferguson Center, $10)
• Healing From the Hive, Apitherapy Class (March 22, 6-9pm @ AB Tech, Madison campus, Free!)
• Continue to invest time in building and promoting my Etsy shop 
• Invest time in my local community by joining farm markets and supplying local shops with my products
• Take other classes that come up that can help me with chickens, bees, gardens!!

Phew! All that, and it isn't even technically SPRING yet...what do you all have planned for your March?

Visit "The Pixie's Pocket" on Etsy!

Photo and Design by Modern Scribe Designs

Stopping the Moment - Modern Scribe Photography

"Self" by Sarah Thomas

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to someone who's been a friend to me for many years.

Sarah Thomas of Modern Scribe Photography has been a great help to me in building my infused honey shop at Etsy, "The Pixies Pocket," with skillful product shots and a keen business sense.

As we share a love of flair, fantasy, and the timeless game of Dress Up, I have been slowly, but surely, growing more comfortable in front of her camera lens. She's captured belly dancers in magical moments during performance, frozen time with candid shots from Renaissance Festivals, and completed family portraits with ease.

"For Amber" by Sarah Thomas

We have collaborated on many photographic projects, from head shots for modeling portfolios, to indulging our imaginations with character and fantasy shoots, and of course, just being goofy in front of a lens.

I love to watch her do her work, becoming quickly and deeply absorbed and focused on her model and the details that are waiting for the right moment to be shown. Trained in classical art techniques, traditional 35mm film development, and well versed in modern digital techniques, Sarah uses each of these realms to create masterful compositions.

As the weather grows more consistently warm and the ice gives way to rushing waters, Sarah plans to spend some time among the rocks and trees of the Pisgah Forest with her camera. Asheville is among many other things a very picturesque place to live.

Sarah has begun a blog of late: Stopping The Moment.  She's been using this blog to share some of her work, to tell the story behind the picture, and she even explains techniques and shares her equipment details for some of you photo-geeks out there. It's all magic to me!

"Mustang at Cruizers" by Sarah Thomas

Contact Links:

• Sarah Thomas, Modern Scribe Photography, Professional Portfolio on Flickr

• "Stopping the Moment" - Blog for Modern Scribe Photography

• Model Mayhem Photographer Profile

Pixie's Pocket Spotlight: Mother Love Honey

Photo by Modern Scribe Photography, Sarah Thomas

A gift from the moon, Mother Love Honey is available for purchase at Pixie's Pocket.

This new electuary is for those sore of heart, exhausted from stress and grief and emotional trauma.

Motherwort is a gentle nurturer...holding you close while you weep deep, cleansing tears. Oatstraw is a strong nutrient, green like spring and bright. It holds you up when you are sagging down to your knees with exhaustion. Lavender is the gentle hand brushing your hair back from your face - soothing, sweet, and humming soft melodies to you while rocking you to sleep.

You can read about the birth of Mother Love Honey here.

Branching out...

It's real, ya'll...I'm here to testify.

Here I was, a sick, tired, sad little retail-worker - oppressed with corporate regulations and demands, exhausted from 10.5 hour days, worn out too much to do what I love and make the things that beg to exist from the pile of components in my craft closet...

So I quit.

In this day and age! Tsk. In this economy! The shame of leaving a steady, well-paying job tried to get me down, but you know what?

I'm so much happier without it!

Now, I still have my one Job of Awesome, and that is Biblio.com.  And I spend two or three days there a week, helping people find their dream books, or track their used textbooks, or walk a customer through an order. If you need a used book, try searching at Biblio - they offer carbon-neutral shipping, build wind farms, and start free libraries all through South America. It's an awesome, ethical company who supports the independent booksellers of the world who list with them.

Graphic by Modern Scribe Design

And I have my Etsy shop, "The Pixie's Pocket."

Since I put my notice in two weeks ago at the evil corporate retail job, I have had three orders from my shop! I got business cards printed, and once the snow melts, I'll be going around and seeing who wants to carry my honey in their shops.

Huzzah for hope and for achieving dreams! May yours also manifest!