Out of the Woods

An alternative Virginia farmer brings a variety of specialty mushrooms to market while caring for the ecosystem. By Walter Nicholls • Photographs by Molly McDonald Peterson Just behind a sizable 145-year-old white clapboard farmhouse on a peaceful lane in Cismont, Virginia, there are paths through a maze-like garden of perennials, herbs, and hybrid willows that [...]

Flavor Cafe: The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm

Beverly Morton Billand is the Capital foodshed’s ultimate, farm-to-table pioneer, and chef Christopher Edwards brings what she grows to the plate. By Walter Nicholls • Photographs by Molly McDonald Peterson In the late 1990s, organic farmer Beverly Morton Billand had what she calls “my crazy idea.” She took the otherwise farmers market–bound vegetables and herbs, [...]

Putting Their Eggs in Many Different Baskets

Having found that relying on a single income stream is risky, some farms are diversifying what they grow
and the services they offer. We look at how Virginia’s Belle Meade Farm and Maryland’s Sycamore Springs
Farm make it work.

Making the Cut

Butchers are a key link in the local food chain because they help small farmers get their meat to customers. Demand for such products in the Capital foodshed is strong enough that several new butcher shops have opened recently.

Over the last three decades [...]