ASAP: Winter Farmers’ Markets
Bundle up! With pandemic precaution still critical, winter farmers tailgate markets are mostly staying outdoors (or partially indoors with ample airflow). Though there are fewer of these markets, you can still find a solid mix of seasonal fruits and veggies. Expect to see plenty of storage crops, like sweet potatoes, potatoes, apples, winter squash, turnips, beets, and carrots. Some farms make use of greenhouses or high tunnels to continue producing salad mixes, lettuces, and dark, leafy greens throughout the colder months. Meats, eggs, cheeses, bread, and artisan foods are also widely available.
JOIN OUR PROGRAMS at MOUNTAIN TRUE for Action and Advocacy
Programs
Through a focus on sensible land use, forest health, and water quality, MountainTrue advocates for policies that allow people and the environment to thrive. MountainTrue unleashes the power of people’s voices to protect the natural heritage of our region through knowledge, action and collaboration. We convene key partners — nonprofit and community groups, government, and private industry — to devise the best strategies to improve the quality of development and preserve the unique rural character of our region.
7 East Coast Escapes for a Socially-Distant Fall Road Trip
in HERE
These seven getaways on the East Coast will help you take the break you need this fall—while still adhering to social distancing guidelines.
How Will the Travel Industry Reinvent Itself Post-Coronavirus?
By Alexandra Marvar in HERE Online
As the coronavirus pandemic brought travel to a screeching halt, an industry that had been growing rapidly thanks to budget airlines, the sharing economy, and Instagram culture (to name a few reasons) suddenly had to reckon with a future that looked permanently altered. But with this pause comes the opportunity to reroute—to address the social, environmental, and economic issues that arise from tourism, for better and certainly for worse.
GIRL TREK Healing, Movement, Sisterhood
This is our effort to mobilize a million Black women to save their lives. To honor our bodies and our histories and our futures. So lace up your sneakers, sis, and walk with us – and share that graphic and spread the word.
5 Things Travelers Can Do Now to Combat Racism
by Tiana Attride in HERE
Five first steps travelers can take to be an anti-racist ally wherever they go.
As the Black Lives Matter movement gains traction worldwide, industries across the board are gearing up to diversify at last—and the travel and hospitality industries, like most, have plenty of work to do.
While many changes need to take place on an industry level, individual travelers can still do their part to work against racism on their own personal trips. Although there are countless ways to combat racism in everyday life, these first five steps present a clear path to rearranging the way you—and your fellow travelers—think and act when you go out into the world. CLICK TO CONTINUE
USE OUR MAP to Support Local Sustainable Farmers Near You and Madison BioBlitz!
Protect Our Rivers By Supporting Sustainable Farms
Many small farms in our mountain region have lost business due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, large-scale meat operations in North Carolina are one of the leading contributors to water pollution in the state. Buying from sustainable local farms now is a way to not only feed your family but to protect our environment.
We’ve compiled a map of farms in our region that feed us while using practices that support healthy rivers, lakes and streams. Check out the map to find sustainable farms in your local watershed, and sign the pledge to support sustainable farms here.
OVERLANDING – 17 Things to do to Reduce Your Impact on the Environment
Sustainable travel is a very important issue these days so we’ve covered this subject from an overlanding perspective. Overlanders usually use large vehicles, with either gas or diesel engines with low mpg’s.
While using hybrids or even electric vehicles for overlanding is still in the distant future (and those type of vehicles may not even be desired by the overlanding community), there are still several things that overlanders can do to decrease their impact on the environment. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
THE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA NATURE CENTER – Vision 2020
“We do not love what we cannot name, and what we do not love we will not save.” Robert MacFarlane
The Western North Carolina Nature Center is proud to present 2020VISION: A new strategic plan for our future. Highlighting the unique wildlife of the Southern Appalachian region both past and present, the Nature Center will become a true gateway to the incredible world of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
NEWS AND BLOG
THE MUSIC TRAILS of The Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Music Trails are nestled within the North Carolina mountains and foothills, a region known for its spectacular beauty, moderate climate, Cherokee heritage, handmade crafts, small family farms, and, of course, its rich musical traditions. The geographic footprint of the Blue Ridge Music Trails consists of twenty-nine counties in the western third of the state.
ASHEVILLE TRAVEL BLOG
CLIMATE, CLIMATE, CLIMATE and What’s Affected By It
in AVL Today a part of The City Council’s making moves
Building upon their Climate Emergency Resolution from January of this year, City Council also approved a decision establishing a zero-net loss tree canopy policy. Its goal? To establish tree canopy coverage of 50% by 2040 in order to fight canopy loss and ensuing “heat islands,” which can disproportionately affect minority communities. This resolution supports the establishment of a Comprehensive Urban Forestry Program in the future.
Want to dig in further? Check out the video of the meeting here.
Welcome to OAK Outdoor Adventure Kids at the Arboretum
A SAFETY-FIRST YOUTH DROP-OFF PROGRAM
The North Carolina Arboretum is excited to announce a new weekday drop-off program for children ages 6 – 9 years old beginning this fall. OAK (Outdoor Adventure Kids) is a safety-first approach to exploring the natural world with other kids. The Arboretum’s team of expert environmental educators will lead small groups of students through inquiry-based, outdoor learning by exploring the Arboretum’s 434-acre campus.
Asheville Wellness Tours – Covid update
LIVING WEB FARMS – We Stand With #BlackLivesMatter
DIGNITY OF EARTH & SKY Dale Lamphere, South Dakota Artist Laureate
The Dignity sculpture is a stunning combination of art and history. Located on a bluff between exits 263 and 265 on Interstate 90 near Chamberlain, the stainless steel, 50-foot-tall statue was specifically designed by sculptor Dale Lamphere to honor the cultures of the Lakota and Dakota people.
ASHEVILLE ARTISTS June 6, 2020 – Pictures Worth Thousands of Words
Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without, and know we cannot live within.
People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned. James Baldwin
THE BIRDS OF THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER PARK
Fall, 2011
Nature guru Worth McAlister and expert birder Bob Wilson embarked on early morning journeys into the exciting world of avian friends, along with about a dozen local nature enthusiasts. Armed with binoculars and field guides, the groups headed out from French Broad River Park to see how many bird species could be encountered, in just a few hours’ time, along the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay. The crews were amazed and thrilled with what they found.
THE NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM Exhibits and Events
For more than 30 years…Cultivating Connections between People, Plants and Places…amid a 434-acre public garden, The North Carolina Arboretum is located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest just south of Asheville and adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 393. Surrounded and crisscrossed by forested coves and meandering creeks in the botanically diverse Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum is set in one of the most beautiful natural settings in America.
BLACK BEAR PROTOCOLS – Quick tips from the National Park Service
This is what we tell volunteers when they are working on the Blue Ridge Parkway:
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