Winter 2008
Cover |
Contents Page 1 |
Contents Page 2 |
Other Issues: | Autumn 2007 | Spring 2008 | Summer 2008 |
Slideshow:
The Land in Winter, curated by Mary Winston Nicklin
Articles from this issue:
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From the Piedmont's fertile soil springs many questions...
T
he winter months provide the perfect time to tend to certain woodland and garden cleanup tasks difficult to dispense with during the growing season. There are reliably a handful of terrific warm days during these early months of the year and trees are bare and underbrush is at a minimum. Look for green. You’ll see it in conifers, of course, but you’ll also see it in some of the most offensive of the invasive plants—Japanese honeysuckle and English ivy. Go forth with a sharp knife or some really good pruning shears and a weed knife/grubber. Read more...
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Landscaping Good Enough to Eat On the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge, gardeners and foodies converge
W
hen Ken Harnad, a professional chef who raises some of the food he uses, drives his tractor across his six-acre farm, he sees all around him the natural beauty of his trees and shrubs. He also sees something equally pleasing: ready-to-eat—and healthful—snacks. “When I’m mowing,” he says, “I reach from the tractor and pick.” And why not, when your choices include quince, elderberry, apple, pear, walnut, currant, blueberry, gooseberry, Japanese persimmon, white cling peach, and eventually, fruit from his new mulberry tree? Harnad admits he’s planted so much that he’s forgotten what he has, so his wife may temporarily ban him from shopping at his favorite nursery: Edible Landscaping. But Harnad reaps what he has sown: a kitchen full of seasonal ripe fruits and vegetables—and nuts—to fuel his culinary creations. Read more... |
I
t sounds simple: horse-logging. What could be complicated about it? Get a horse, pull a log. But it is not a simple thing. The horselogger must know as much about his horses as the racetrack trainer, as the show rider. He or she must know how the animals think, what they feel, and why; how long before they tire each day, what individual quirks each has developed. Read more...
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I
had voice mail, a message I wanted to hear. “Luther Cash, Montebello Fish Hatchery. Need to set up a time to help sling some fish.” I’d caught plenty of fish in my life, but had never put any into a stream. I had never slung a fish. Read more... |
When You're Away, the Dogs Should Play
"W
hat’s up with the dogs?" friends from more Northern locations have been known to ask when visiting our Virginia home. They just can’t understand why dogs accompany their owners everywhere around here, whether to work, to attend a party, or to walk the land enjoying its beauty. I can’t resist telling them about my neighbor who takes his quartet of Jack Russells to the oh-so-proper tea hosted annually by the Warrenton Antiquarian Society. Nike, Gaia, Buster, and Sparta are introduced to all the other (human) guests as if they were equals. So it is only fit and proper that a magazine celebrating the Piedmont should have a regular department celebrating the Pets of the Piedmont. Read more... |