Category Archives: Neighboring States

The Last Barn Dance (and post?)

Posted on January 5, 2015 by didaniel

Greetings and Happy New Year. Perhaps it’s fitting that one of my final posts here will be about “The Last Barn Dance,” a lovely film in the making. Here’s the synopsis: “Randy Lewis knows that losing his dairy business would … Continue reading →

Posted in Alamance County, Books, Media, Tennessee | Tagged | 1 Comment

Everyone is clucking about local turkeys

Posted on November 16, 2013 by didaniel

I’ve seen plenty of wild turkeys in my day, but I’d never been around farm turkeys much until I wrote “Farm Fresh North Carolina.” When I was researching the book, in 2008, regular folks getting farm-raised turkeys for their Thanksgiving … Continue reading →

Posted in Brunswick, Chatham County, Cooking, Durham County, Livestock, Meat, Orange County, South Carolina, Wake County | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our NC peaches are peachy keen

Posted on June 18, 2013 by didaniel

Back in the day, North Carolina’s peach crop, concentrated mainly in the Sandhills area around Southern Pines and Pinehurst, used to be shipped up the East Coast. Those days are gone, but luckily for us, the peaches are not. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Coastal Region-Sandhills, Farmers, Fruit, South Carolina | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Blueberry fields forever … and this weekend

Posted on October 19, 2010 by didaniel

When I received my review copy of Jim Minick’s “The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family,” I have to admit that I wasn’t all that hopeful about the book. Now that I’m familiar with Jim’s writing, I won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, U-pick farms, Virginia | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s most famous farm welcomes you

Posted on October 7, 2010 by didaniel

UPDATE for 2010: There’s now a tour fee of $10.50 for everyone age 13 and higher, and now more tours. Well worth it! Want a guided tour of, arguably, the country’s most famous farm? Well, it’s yours for the asking, … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental, Food, Poultry, Virginia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Food miles drive him to thinking

Posted on August 24, 2010 by didaniel

Virginian and “liberal curmudgeon” Stephen Budiansky had a piece published in the New York Times op-ed page last week about food miles that has, not surprisingly, riled up a lot of folks. Budiansky, who, raises his own lambs and most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental, Food, Virginia | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Big reward for little effort at Great Smokies

Posted on October 13, 2009 by didaniel

October is a peak season at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most heavily visited national park in the country, with more than 9 million visitors a year. Despite all those people milling about, it’s still amazingly easy to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental, Family travel, Road travel, Tennessee, US/Canada national parks | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A joy ride, complete with pain

Posted on July 23, 2009 by didaniel

At 74 years old, our beloved Blue Ridge Parkway has its problems. But it is still a glorious 469-mile joy ride along the Appalachian Mountains, from Virginia to North Carolina. Next year, during the 75th-anniversary hoopla, there will be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bicycling, Environmental, Road travel, US/Canada national parks, Virginia | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments