Travel writer Diane Daniel provides a thorough guide to North Carolina’s family farms, produce stands, farmers markets, wineries, and orchards. Daniel visited most of the more than 425 farms and related businesses, and recommends that you do the same. Organized by geographic region, each section begins with a map followed by Daniel’s descriptions of working farms, choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms, restaurants, and bed and breakfasts. Farm Fresh North Carolina includes recipes from restaurants and farm owners, so you can make the most of the produce you bring home.
The University of North Carolina Press. 2011, 304 pages, paperback, $18.95.
Split-rail fences don’t shout “keep out.” They lean, they shift, they invite. And in western North Carolina, they remind us that some lines are meant to hold, not harden.
Each May, spring climbs nearly 3,000 feet to the seat of Alleghany County. Here, as the rhododendrons blush, a beloved mountain town welcomes visitors with its food, art, and flourish of color and creativity.
Brief but delicious, soft-shell crab season is cherished by diners as well as the folks who work around the clock to put these native pinchers on our plates.
When it comes to poultry, the best is raised close to home.
