Gardener Lindsey works in my neighbor’s organic garden near Grays Chapel, south of Greensboro. The area is becoming a center of local sustainable agriculture and locally grown food.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Category: Randolph County
Strawberries
(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Local fresh picked Randolph County strawberries sit in a bowl waiting to become a hot berry cobbler. It’s that time of year.
Spring Grass Mowing
With the warm weather and Spring rains, the photograph above is indicative of the images I see around my community these days as my neighbors scramble to stay ahead of the growing grass. Odell Routh, owner of Routh Oil Company in Lineberry, North Carolina, south of Greensboro, takes a break Saturday morning from his business to mow the road banks near his station.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Purple Iris
(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
I live in my great-grandfather’s house on the family farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, just south of Greensboro. My immediate family has lived on that farm for almost one hundred years. A lot of the plants and flowers around our house date back to or are part of the original root stock from those planted by my grandparents and great-grandparents. For instance, we have a huge English boxwood and a magnolia that have to be at least a hundred years old each. Outside of our bay window is a flower bed full of iris transplanted from my grandmother’s garden. They are an old fashioned variety and are now at their annual full bloom.
North Carolina Farmer Portrait
Portrait of my neighbor and Randolph County farmer Jack Fagg. Jack is a semi-retired farmer who raises grain, hay and straw near Grays Chapel in central North Carolina. If you live near the area and need some straw, Jack is sitting on about 4000 bales of good clean wheat straw from last year’s crop.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Raising Vegetables
My father’s cousin Thomas Routh and his wife Lula Mae live just down the road from us in Grays Chapel. In their late eighties, Thomas and Lula Mae grow a large vegetable garden each year from which they sell fresh produce at the local farmer’s market in Asheboro. Doing all the work themselves, they grow plants in their greenhouse from seed, prepare their ground, plant their plants, do all the harvesting, and sell the fresh vegetables at the market. I caught them Saturday morning as they were finishing up planting tomatoes. This year, they have about 750 tomato plants. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Of course, they also will have squash, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, corn, plants and canned goods too. Lula Mae said last year she kept track of the green beans they picked, and the total came to 2300 lbs.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Horse and Buggy
Sometimes opportunities for photographs come to you. With the Spring weather Sunday, my neighbors were out for a late afternoon ride past my house in their Amish-built buggy. Very fuel efficient.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
New Salem Pottery
New Salem Pottery, located south of Greensboro near Randleman, is owned and operated by Hal Pugh and Eleanor Minnock-Pugh. Hal and Eleanor produce a variety of original redware and stoneware pottery in their workshop/studio. They also specialize in reproducing eighteenth and nineteenth century plain and decorated redware. Their pottery has been displayed and used by universities, historic sites, the movie industry, and living history museums throughout the United States and abroad. Hal and Eleanor turn and decorate their pottery on their family’s property, which is the site of an original eighteenth century Quaker pottery run by William Dennis. For more information, directions and hours of operation, go to http://newsalempottery.com/index.html
And of course, there is family member and Australian Cattle Dog, Hannah Selinda.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Buicks
Continuing in the automotive vein of last week’s post, over the weekend I stopped by Richard’s Auto Salvage on Highway 49 between Asheboro and Denton. Richard’s specializes in salvage parts for pre-1972 American autos, and his yard is a treasure trove of old car parts. He has several old Buicks that are beautiful examples of art deco design. Even in their un-restored condition, they are subtle pieces of art. If you have an old car with chrome and fins, he has parts available. Some people see junk yards, or salvage yards, or used auto part facilities as eyesores. They are however, the original green businesses, the first recyclers. Old 50 year old vehicles wait for restoration and someone to bring them back to life, and an art form is preserved. For info, go to http://www.richardsclassiccars.com/
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Brower Meadow Feed Store
My older son Tristan and I were out Saturday morning looking to buy some chickens. We stopped by a neighbors place on Brower Meadow Road south of Greensboro. Besides raising chickens, my neighbors used to run a feed operation with a mill and a feed and fertilizer store on their farm. The old buildings still stand, empty but still interesting. It was a little early in the year to pick up chickens, but we put our order in for a half dozen production red hens.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Dan Routh Photography 