Recent Posts
Ramping up Forest Regeneration with Drum Chop and Burn!
The regeneration of forests at Catawba Run continues this year with the latest drum chop and burn treatment on 30 acres. The goal of the treatment was to clear away the dense thicket of stunted loblolly pine and other unmanaged regrowth of past clearcuts to make way...
Farming Forests, Reforesting Farms: Cultivating Resilience with Silvopasture
Imagine you’re standing in a forest in the Piedmont. Oak and pine trees of different heights sway above you as long grasses, deep purple violets, and the vibrant yellow flowers of golden ragwort brush your ankles. As you walk between the wide rows of trees, cattle and...
Start Planning Now to Savor the Season: Growing, Foraging, and Preserving Traditional Fall Foods
It’s late August and the shift from long hot summer days into that “fall feeling” is just over the horizon in the North Carolina Piedmont. As the mornings grow cooler and days grow shorter, it’s natural to begin thinking of fall harvests and preserving food for the...
Native Foodways of the Piedmont
The forests of the Piedmont and nearby Blue Ridge Mountains provided a rich landscape in which to forage and farm when the first known humans to inhabit the North Carolina Piedmont arrived about 10,000 years ago. Archeological evidence suggests that these...
European Colonization of the Piedmont
This is the third in a series of five blogs that explore the 10,000 year history of human relationship to the land in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Other blogs in this series include The Long Story of Catawba Run, Indigenous Cultures of the Piedmont,...
Agroforesty at Catawba Run
Traditional farming systems that produce agricultural products in landscapes that mix annual and perennial crops, livestock, and trees are common throughout the world. These farming systems, called agroforestry in the U.S., share many proven benefits including...
Want to Lend a Hand to Our Beloved Monarch?
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the yearly count of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico for 2020 shows a decrease of 53% from last year's count, well below the threshold where migration collapse could occur. It is likely that poor weather...
First Forest Restoration Planting at Catawba Run!
Over at Catawba Run, a short walk past dense loblolly pines, newly planted chestnuts, and acres of red crimson clover, leads you to what is at first glance a stark landscape. Fallen and charred trees line 10 acres of hillside, contrasting with the young loblolly and...
Cultivating Food Resilience in a Pandemic
In the best of times, cultivating local foodways yields many benefits to you and your family, your neighborhood and your greater community. Some of these benefits include improved psychological health and reduced stress through interactions with nature and the act of...
Indigenous Cultures of the Piedmont
This is the second in a series of five blogs that explore the 10,000 year history of human relationship to the land in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Other blogs in this series include The Long Story of Catawba Run, European Colonization, Industrialization,...