Hal and Beverly Hunter are the Rappahannock News‘s 2009 Citizens of the Year. The paper states that “…the Hunters have…put in countless hours looking after the continued health of Rappahannock’s watersheds, its farms and viewsheds, its hungry people and its educational and arts communities.”
A year ago, Rappahannock Plant a Row for the Hungry was a glint in Hal Hunter’s eye. Last New Year’s, the need for a Rappahannock Food Pantry was increasingly clear. Hal figured out what needed to be done and did it. He enlisted farms and orchards, volunteers, and gardeners in Plant a Row. He spoke to any group that would have him about Plant a Row. He was instrumental in getting the Fauquier Community Action Committee to open a Food Pantry in Rappahannock. He made sure that the Food Pantry had the freezers, refrigerators, computer, shopping carts, furniture, and supplies it needed to operate. He recognized all volunteers and growers with handsome certificates at a harvest party this October. And Hal continues to be the “go to” person for anything Pantry director Mimi Forbes needs. He never stops thinking of ways to improve the Pantry and help the folks it serves.
Beverly Hunter made regular contributions of her garden’s bounty to the Food Pantry – even seeing that her vegetables were gleaned and brought to the Pantry when the Hunters were away.
So, tonight raise a glass to Hal and Beverly Hunter and what they have accomplished – particularly for those in need in Rappahannock County!
Profiles
Rappahannock County residents Jack and Sally Price are both Master Gardeners, trained by Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech to provide information and answer questions about all aspects of gardening for home gardeners.
Sally has been a Master Gardener for nine years and has provided over 500 hours of volunteer master gardener community service. She also served as co-president of the Four County Master Gardener Association, which covers Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, and Orange counties and, for a year, wrote a column for the Rappahannock News.
Jack has been a Master Gardener for four years and has over 250 hours of master gardener community service. Both are members of the Virginia Master Gardener Association. Jack is also a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist and is currently President of the Old Rag Master Naturalist chapter. They have lived in Sperryville for over four years. They have conducted pruning demonstrations for Rappahannock residents and did a presentation at the Rappahannock Library on invasive plants in March.
Profiles
Rob grew up farming in the County of Norfolk, England. As part of his college education in Agriculture he was one of four students chosen by Sir William Fellowes, The Queen’s estate manager for Sandringham, to spend a year at The Royal Farms in Sandringham, Norfolk. Since then he has spent many years in Horticulture as a Designer/Construction Manager.
Rob started The Edible Gardener in 2008. The business is based on vegetable gardening the way it used to be done. No chemicals, attention to healthy soil, and the use of organic certified seed and seedlings — the fundamentals of good, time-tried healthy vegetable gardening. Visit http://www.theediblegardener.com or call 540-270-7360.
Profiles
Sylvie Rowand
She gardens because she likes to eat.
Although interested in – and growing – many ornamentals, Sylvie Rowand’s first love is the kitchen garden. She’s been “seriously” food gardening for almost 2 decades, and since moving to Rappahannock County has been establishing two large kitchen gardens with the triple goal to become self-sufficient in fruit, herbs & vegetable for her family, provide fresh seasonal produce for her cooking and personal chef business, and sell the extra. She grows a wide variety of herbs, vegetables and fruit – without pesticides – using time-tested methods of crop rotation, cover-cropping, composting, interplanting, succession planting, and other techniques. She grows year long, selecting species and cultivars carefully, and starts the vast majority of her plants from seeds (some saved from year to year) or cuttings. From Amaranthus (amaranth) to Zingiber officinale (ginger) via sorrel & lovage, from asparagus to zucchini via cape gooseberries & sweet potatoes, from currants to yard long beans via chayote & tomato, there is a good chance she’s grown it.
Sylvie shares her love and experience in food gardening through her kitchen and garden blog, her gardening workshops offered throughout the year, and through private coaching. She may be contacted via her website (http://www.LaughingDuckGardens.com) or via phone at 540-675-3725.
Profiles