Eat local, eat well

There's something beautiful about picking food right from the plant, rinsing off the dirt and tasting the sun in produce so recently attached to the earth. There's also something beautiful about paying $1.60 per pound for organically grown strawberries. 

Last weekend, while in Virginia Beach, I spent an hour in the morning sun, crawling down rows of strawberry plants, sweeping aside leaves to check for deep red fruit. It was hard to stop picking fruit when my bowl was full. The farm also had veggies at its stand, and I left with not only berries, but also vidalia onions and two massive sweet potatoes. These are about three times the size of the ones in the store, all for $1 each.

Produce farms weren't the only local businesses I supported that weekend. About half an hour drive away, in Knotts Island, N.C., are two family-owned vineyards, more than 10 and 20 years old. The marshland itself was lovely, as was the tasting at the Moonrise Bay Vineyard. More than the boardwalk and tourist attractions in Virginia Beach, I enjoyed getting a taste of the area from the land itself.

(Knotts Island, N.C.)

(Marshland near the Virginia-North Carolina border)

(Moonrise Bay Vineyard on Knotts Island, N.C.)

(Virginia Beach, Va.)

(Bald Cypress trees at First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach)

(Photos by H. Farrell)