In for a Pinch, in for a Pound
byArtisan’s multi-functional wares reflect her deeply DIY lifestyle “Shearing sheep is like wrestling a 120- to 200-pound toddler, while cutting its hair that grows…
Outdoor Living
Tools for Living
byCouple finds fulfillment making globally coveted gardening accessories By: Mike Schoeffel When Ashe County-based Wheeler Munroe started making and selling fine leather tool belts, she was hoping…
Homegrown for the Win
byToday’s “victory gardens” are about the triumph of self reliance Over the last decade, scores of suburban and urban dwellers have taken to small-space gardening…
Not Just for the Goth Garden
byBlack flowers. They sound too dramatic to be real — shades of a Dickensian garden or an arty horror movie come to mind. And…
Sprouting Global Economies
byThough by midwinter most Appalachian gardeners are snug by their fires and spring-seed catalogs have not yet slipped into mailboxes, one local nonprofit is…
Sourcing the Secret Ingredient
byThe sturdy rural road that leads to Rayburn Farm in Barnardsville is like the purposeful, if serendipitous, path that led to Lauren and Michael…
Pawpaws Have Their Day in the Sun
byPawpaws do funny things to people. So says Kim Bailey, a local pawpaw farmer and environmental educator. Bailey, who owns Milkweed Meadows farm in…
Sniffing for Innovation
byOn his bucolic orchard in rural Fletcher, Brian Upchurch is about as far away from the Mafioso scene of New York City as one…
Bouquets For Days (and Months)
byIf wedding ceremonies are the bread and butter of Western North Carolina’s budding cut-flower industry, then a monthly subscription service is the scrumptious, locally-sourced…
Spores of Knowledge
byChris Parker was barely a teenager — 14 — when he took a course on cultivating Shiitake mushrooms. “I was amazed that you could…