December 5, 2024

Kirk Billingsley tasting cider at his Big Fish Cider business in Highland County, Virginia.

October’s Blue Ridge Mountain Apple Profile: Roxbury Russet

The Roxbury, which ripens in September and October depending on elevation, rarely makes appearances even in country stores these days as it is decidedly not a “pretty apple” by modern standards of beauty.
Clay Morris examining a cattail in a Shenandoah Valley pond.

January’s Wild Edible: Cattails

Cattails are native plants throughout the Blue Ridge.
15b5d9ea-b312-11ef-8894-12163087a831-White-breasted-Nuthatch-5---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-breasted Nuthatch

This “pointy” little bird announces itself with a distinctive nasal “honk.”
Male Eastern Towhee

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee is a bird of the undergrowth.
0cdfd840-b310-11ef-b112-12163087a831-Red-headed-Woodpecker---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Red-headed Woodpecker

The handsome Red-headed Woodpecker is often the “spark” species for igniting interest in birding.

Departments

Behind Blue Ridge Country

Even More Sweet Virginia Breezes

Casually cruising to Claytor Lake in southwest Virginia, I felt like I had come home – back to where it

CALENDAR OF EVENTS