Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest co-founder Guinevere Higgins wants to make you an urban farmer.
PHOTO BY BILLY HUNT

There appears to be a backyard revolution going on in Charlottesville, as two businesses designed to help folks grow their own food have, well, cropped up.

C’Ville Foodscapes and Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest are nearly identical in their missions and services, offering to design and build gardens, consult on planning and growing them, and assist in maintaining them. Both offer harvesting and composting advice, and the folks at Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest even offer chicken-keeping services.

But will this urban farming movement catch on as the two companies hope it will? According to Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest co-founder Guinevere Higgins, our survival may depend on it.

“At some point, our food system is going to have a very rude awakening— be it a spike in gas prices or an outbreak of food-borne illness, or a massive food recall,” says Higgins, who also founded CLUCK, the Charlottesville League of Urban Chicken Keepers. “And those best positioned to weather those upsets will be home gardeners.”

Similarly, C’Ville Foodscapes co-founder Wendy Roberman and her partners Sky Blue, Sam Pierceall, Kassia Arbabi, Patrick Costello, and Angel Shockley have approached the venture with a sense of mission.

“We believe everyone has the right to healthy food, and we want to help people achieve this,” says Roberman.

Of course, before the two businesses came on the scene, local Grammy-nominated songstress Adrienne Young had already (more)

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Executive Chef Ray Forthuber and owner JR Hadley.
PHOTO BY WILL WALKER

The secret to creating the perfect menu… starts with having a very cohesive idea of what exactly you’re trying to present to your customers. Once you have that, it’s easier to let loose with your creativity and really make your menu pop. The menu at Boylan works so well because it isn’t overly ambitious– we know that burgers are the star here, but then we kick it up with some creative side items that serve to complement the burgers.
The secret to success in the restaurant biz is… to always have an open mind. With a living entity such as a restaurant, you’ve gotta realize that things are constantly changing and your success depends on your ability to adapt. They say the wise man knows nothing at all– who said that… was it Kanye?
The secret to making Boylan Heights’ Veggie Burger is… the almond flour coating. It adds a great nutty flavor and gives the patty a beautiful golden brown color when cooked. The great thing about this recipe is that if you’re feeling creative, it’s easy to sub out a few veggies for some of your favorites. Just don’t mess with the quinoa!

Boylan Heights’ Veggie Burger
vegetable stock
3 cups uncooked quinoa
4 1/2 cups uncooked, cubed zucchini (more)

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Co-president of the Wine Society at the UVA Law School, Mark Littmann has grown tired of watching budget-conscious locals buy mediocre wines when he says there are some exceptional wines around town at exceptional prices. In the Virginia Law Weekly, Littmann recently offered his choice of wines available at local grocery stores and wine shops for around $10.

“I had selected the wines before I even had the piece in mind— the bottles were by chance among the ones I drank over the prior few months— so it was a rather casual approach,” says Littmann. “No blind tasting. I keep notes on the wines I taste normally, so I was able to use that material for the article.”

With a desire to help himself and fellow students me understand and enjoy wine, “which can be inaccessible,” Littmann says he started the Society two years ago. Since then, he says he has tried 65 different grape varietals and lectured and written on the subject.

Here are his selections:

2006 Step Rd Black Wing Shiraz, available at Whole Foods. Littmann says he was “blown away” by the ’05 vintage of this “fruit-forward and delicious” and delicious Australian wine.

2008 Kanu Chenin Blanc, available at the Market Street Wine Shop. Littmann says this South African white was the Wine Society’s most memorable and least costly. Littmann calls it “crisp, floral, and peachy” and says its goes well with “seafood or spicier Asian cuisines.” (more)

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Gaines
PUBLICITY PHOTO

As part of the Big Read’s promotion of Ernest J. Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying, the folks at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library are turning fiction into fact, or rather into Cajun-style gumbo. As the main character in Gaines’s novel— a young uneducated black man named Jefferson— awaits the electric chair after being found guilty of killing a white storekeeper; his godmother, Miss Emma, tries to comfort him with her prized gumbo. So, in honor of the book, the library is holding a “Great Gumbo Contest” on March 13 at 1:30pm.

Gumbo

Contestants are being asked to bring a gallon of their gumbo, which is basically a spicy stew of vegetables, meat and seafood flavored with okra and others spices, to the library around 1pm to prepare for a public tasting. There’ll be judges there to pick a first, second, and third place winner. Prizes include $100, $50, and $25 gift certificates for kitchen items. The field will be limited to 20, so if you’re got a special gumbo recipe, give the folks at the JMRL a shout by emailing them at [email protected]. But, of course, the real treat awaits the spectators who’ll have a chance to taste some great gumbo for a worthy cause.

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