I smelled them before I saw them. I was shin-deep in a creek, just off the main road, pushing through briars and humidity. I’d studied maps and looked for the right mix of shade and wet soil, bu...
Ten years ago, the local food calendar in the Appalachian Highlands had a hard stop. Come November, the bright greens and reds of the farmers market changed into gray, and the region’s small pro...
Why cattle producers are seeing a golden period, while row crop farmers face a perfect storm of low prices and elevated expenses. If you stand at the sale barn in Wytheville on a Thursday, you might t...
We’re launching a nonprofit newsroom to preserve Appalachian Highlands heritage and support its future. The Appalachian Highlands, spanning Asheville to Wytheville and beyond, are linked by resi...
When the sun finally drops behind the ridge and the last chore is done, life on an Appalachian Highlands farm shifts gears. Today, we might turn on the TV or scroll through our phones. But for generat...
Life in the Shadow of the Mountain: The Bonny Blue Mine Gather round, friends. Pull up a chair by the fire. I want you to hear a tale about Bonny Blue, back before the asphalt roads and the internet, ...
Drive through the back roads of Washington or Smyth County in Winter, and the landscape tells you a clear story: Nothing is happening here. The pastures are brown, the corn stubble is gray, and the so...
In the Appalachian Highlands, we are conditioned to view the first hard freeze as an ending. It’s the signal to drain the hoses, close up the high tunnels, and say goodbye to the peppers and tom...
Bristol, VA—On a blustery Small Business Saturday, November 29, 2025, I was on State Street covering the annual surge of holiday shoppers. Between the quaint cafes and familiar storefronts, I discover...
ABINGDON, Va. —The rain dampened the ground on November 30, 2025, turning the late autumn sky a bruised shade of gray. It was a cold day in Southwest Virginia—the kind of weather that makes you apprec...










