Text and photos by Amanda West I’d heard about Flying W Farms in Burlington, West Virginia from my parents, who regularly bought butchered meat from them over the years. However, I’d never been to their store. This summer, I got that chance when my dad suddenly decided he wanted a lamb. Flying W is a [...]
By Amanda West/ Photo by Brian Widdis for The Wall Street Journal Recently the Wall Street Journal covered a plan in Detroit to use large pieces of land in the city that have been abandoned by de-urbanization and population loss consolidated into urban farms. As a veteran in community revitalization and an urban farming advocate, this [...]
By Amanda West The day finally came when I received my very own bees: a ‘nucleus’ of bees, which is a small hive of a queen bee and her workers and drones, already set up house on five frames, ready to move into their new digs. It’s the best way to get bees as their [...]
By Amanda West/ photos by Amanda West Sometimes getting a hold of fresh local products means taking advantage of buying something when the opportunity suddenly presents itself. Recently I was exploring some back roads in Faquier County and came on a roadside sandwich board sign reading “farm fresh eggs – self serve” Speed reading this [...]
By Amanda West/Photos by Amanda West I’ve been working away at my garden plot at the community garden in northwest Washington, DC over the last weeks. I noticed a difficulty with my seedlings raised indoors adjusting to the harsh realities of planted life in the garden. Several tomatoes I transplanted several weeks ago when it [...]
By Amanda West / Photos by Amanda West Last Saturday I attended my second beekeeping class. I continued my fascination with bees as I learned more about ‘husbanding’ this tiniest of domesticated creatures. Honeybees cannot live without human interaction: an outbreak of a parasite called the varroa mite in the last decade effectively wiped out [...]
By Amanda West/ Photos by Amanda West I’ve always thought bees were mysterious and wonderful. And when I began to pursue my interests in local and sustainable farming, I considered bees as probably the smallest animal husbandry option available. Later, when I found out at this year’s Rooting DC garden event that urban beekeeping was [...]
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