Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic and then Russian hackers on our oil and beef supply created food shortages and higher prices that revealed the weak links in our globalized food system. It turns out that was just a warning. Now a war in Ukraine is testing those global supply lines again.
Grandfather Mountain is busy this June, with an events calendar that makes great use of the mild and sunny summer weather.
Western North Carolina has a seemingly endless number of small creeks and streams running through our mountains, which are home to wild, stream-born trout. Wild rainbow trout, wild brown trout and North Carolina’s only native fish—the southern Appalachian brook trout—all inhabit these cold, clear, freestone waters.
Growing up in Massachusetts, Andrea Clark had heard tell of her grandfather, an African American man by the name of James Vester Miller who built some of Asheville’s most iconic buildings in the 19th and 20th centuries. But it wasn’t until she moved south in the late 1960s that she truly understood the magnitude of his legacy.
“Recreation opportunities like mountain biking are important for the health and well-being of communities,” says Daniel Sapp, vice president of Pisgah Area SORBA. “Trails also help support our economy as many people travel here to explore and experience the abundant natural resources we have in WNC.”
Asheville author Jacqui Castle has followed up her dystopian novel "The Seclusion," winner of The Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for science fiction in 2020, with "The Chasm." The books are set in 2090 in a walled-off, environmentally devastated America under authoritarian rule.
Although Thomas Jefferson’s "Notes on the State of Virginia" inspired Suzanne Stryk’s new book celebrating the natural world with writing and art, her book bears little resemblance to its classic predecessor.
Recent books by WNC authors explore a range of topics including native plants and rewilding, folk medicine and herbal remedies, recipes, foraging and witchcraft—all to help us form relationships with plants.
The Laurel of Asheville lifestyle magazine is available in both print and digital editionsWe are delighted you have chosen us to be your gateway—both through our popular print Asheville lifestyle magazine and our website—to the arts, culture, and communities that comprise the remarkable area that is Western North Carolina. In these pages, you will find behind-the-scenes stories about the region’s concerts, theatre and dance productions, festivals, restaurants, artists, and the multitude of locally-based businesses. We also enjoy bringing you features about the people and organizations who are caring for those in need, protecting our historic heritage, preserving our rich and diverse environment, and nurturing our cultural soul.
