Tagged: WFAEats

We've all heard about the benefits of "eating local." Well, you can't get more local than your own backyard! If you haven’t planted yet, or even if you have, we'll explore the best practices for planting and maintaining your beds for the most delicious and nutritious vegetables, even with little yard space to work with. Before you know it, you'll have more tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers than you know what to do with! So we'll fill you in on creative ways to cook them to get the most out of your summer harvest - from salads, soups and salsas to grilling and more. Join us for summer gardening advice from the experts, tips for preparing and enjoying your summer bounty, plus a look at the health benefits of eating from your own garden. Gardening meets cooking, when Charlotte Talks.

Listen to Charlotte Talks on Friday morning at 9:00am for a conversation about growing and cooking veggies from your own back yard. Recipes below for Roasted Corn Salsa, Oven "Fried" Okra, Stuffed Poblano Chiles and Buttermilk Ranch Dressing.

A twenty minute drive south brought me to the home of Raul Alatorre and his wife, Alicia, a newly transplanted couple of Mexican origin. The Alatorre’s moved eighteen months ago from Albuquerque, New Mexico to their suburban home in Ballantyne. Raul’s job of 22 years brought the couple here. He works for Mission Foods, the largest tortilla manufacturer in the United States.

I bumped in to Nan Chase at the Blue Ridge Book Festival last May. The Asheville author was discussing her book, Eat Your Yard.

Riding the crest of the Eat Local movement, she has produced an attractive, helpful book to help backyard farmers. But instead of ripping out the sod to grow squash and beans, Nan takes an aesthetic approach—mix food-producing plants into the landscape.