This past week we saw the hottest day recorded in history and scientists predict we’ll continue to set records through the remainder of the year. July always feels a little unbearable here in Virginia. Those cool evenings are gone and we’re left with a blanket of humidity that truly dampens the spirit. The solution? How about a weekend at Smith Mountain Lake and the greater Bedford Area.
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Thanks for reading, happy eating, and enjoy your weekend,
Lisa - Publisher & Editor
*EDIBLE EXCURSION*
Bedford & Smith Mountain Lake
For our Summer Edible Excursion, we partnered with Destination Bedford and Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce to create a weekend itinerary packed full of edible favorites.
From strolling through the shady, whimsical Wharton Garden in downtown Bedford and then lunching at Electric Co. Bistro (and maybe finding some local artwork to take home with you!), to having a cold beer at Beale’s, you can stay out of the sun and get to know this historic town.
To beat the worst of the heat spend the night at Peaks of Otter Lodge and wake early to hike Sharp Top Mountain, one the area’s most popular hikes.
After your hike, head to Feathers & Fables Winery for a flight of wine and some board games before heading to Smith Mountain Lake.
Fish, swim, kayak or rent a boat and some tubes and enjoy the cool waters — It’s a great option for families or if you need a romantic getaway (or friends weekend). For more information of places to eat, drink, shop and explore, read the article in full.
EVENTS
Have an event you’d like us to share? Email: info@edibleblueridge.com
7.08 Horse & Hound Wine Festival - Bedford
7.08 Caturday Market - Roanoke
7.08 The Native Plant Series - Harrisonburg
7.08 Festival of Imagination - Harrisonburg
7.09 Rosé Luncheon at Pippin Hill - Charlottesville
7.14-7.30 Sinkland Farms Sunflower Festival - Christiansburg
7.15 3 Centuries of Southern Women Chefs - Crozet
7.22 American Craft Sake Fest - Charlottesville
JOB ALERT: GARDEN VARIETY HARVESTS
Garden Variety Harvests (Roanoke) is seeking to hire two young adults ages 16 - 22 for a two week work-study program focusing on agriculture and community. The dates are July 31 - August 12, 30 hours a week, Monday - Friday plus one Saturday morning. Earn up to $720. Work takes place primarily at Lick Run Farm, 1626 10th St NW. Participants will: assist with community garden projects, create a garden tool at the Virginia Western Community College FAB lab, develop culinary skills and knowledge, work with an urban farm and sell at a local farmers market, and receive workforce development coaching. Learn more and apply here: lickruncdc.org/take-root-program
MORE TO CHEW ON
🥜 boiled peanuts are not just a Southern staple - from The Bitter Southerner
🌳Roanoke’s tree canopy has seen a stark decline in recent years. Can the city and volunteers help fight the heat by planting more trees? 🌳 Roanoke Rambler reports
Sub Rosa Bakery in Richmond 🥐 enjoys some national love - EATER
WHAT WE’RE COOKING FREEZING: Wineberry Popsicles!
Wineberries have a short season and we are at the tail end of it. An invasive, wineberries look like hairy version of their cousin, the raspberry. Pick as many as you can to help stop their spread and make these refreshing yogurt pops.
Makes ~6 popsicles
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh wineberries
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups plain (or vanilla) Greek yogurt
Instructions:
Place wineberries, maple syrup and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse to combine. Chill mixture thoroughly. Pour wineberry mixture into bowl and add yogurt. Gently stir to combine. If you want your popsicles to have the tie-dyed, swirl look, do not fully blend mixture. Pour mixture in popsicle molds or ice cube trays. If your popsicle tray has slots for sticks, insert them before freezing. If not, —or if using ice cube tray,— freeze for two hours and then insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for an additional 4-6 hours or overnight. Eat on a hot day and enjoy!
POEM OF THE WEEK
MY FATHER PLANTED TOMATOES IN COAL ASH Harry Humes All through March and April he’d carry bucket after bucket of ashes to the place below the pigeon coop, icicles of sap still hanging each morning from split ends of maple limbs. He’d take each bucket and scatter it inside the line he’d strung, then stand watching his pigeons circling clotheslines and slate roof, the dust over the mine where he worked. For weeks he was a man unsettled by a world stubbornly keeping to its ways, unwilling to be turned by spade or hoe. Nights he’d play poker, clinking his winnings into a mason jar. A dozen plants grew leggy on a basement windowsill. I’d go down and touch the leaves, the odor over my fingers like the day in late July when my father, his face black with coal dust, would walk down the concrete walk and sit on the grass with salt shaker and can of beer. What he must have been thinking, those years of dark tunnels and dynamite fumes. He’d look a long time at that first tomato, easing it from hand to hand, sitting there in the reddest season he knew at last underway.
from Poetry Foundation
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