Recently, several groups of small farmers and gardeners, assisted by grants, have turned to the Internet to connect to that vast potential market of customers along the coast who want fresh, local produce.
Archives
Get Paid to Plant Juniper
The N.C. Coastal Federation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have a deal for you. They’ll pay 80 percent of the cost of planting rare Atlantic white cedar on your property.
Living Shorelines Require Careful Planning
Living shorelines offer many benefits over the wooden and rock walls that are customarily used to control erosion along estuarine shores. But researchers say they have to be carefully planned to maximize their natural elements.
Living Shorelines: The Natural Alternative
Techniques to control erosion that use oyster shells and marsh grasses are often better alternatives than the traditional wooden bulkhead or rock seawall.
Legislature Tips Its Hand on Offshore Drilling
Fracking was the energy issue of the last session of the General Assembly, but that doesn’t mean that the pro-drilling legislature has forgotten about offshore.
Counting Birds, Then Mrs. A’s Egg Bread
Wilmington back in the 1950s regularly put on one of largest and most productive annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts on the East Coast. Edna Appleberry’s egg bread awaited after a cold day in the field.
The Watery Paradise That Was Wilmington
Here’s a story about a boy’s life in a natural paradise in 1950’s New Hanover County, written by that same boy, 60 years later. Prepare to enter a very different world in the first of this two-part series.
Murray Bridges: Still Fishing After All These Years
Despite declining water quality, soaring fuel prices and increased foreign competition, commercial fisherman Murray Bridges still takes to the water early most mornings in search of beautiful swimmers.
Saving the Old Fish House
When the owners of the last fish house in Ocracoke announced they were closing, local commercial fisherman got together and bought it, thus ensuring a future for an important piece of coastal heritage.
Time for a Face-to-Face Meeting
The legislative debate over sea-level rise revealed a disturbing antipathy toward science among some legislator. Here’s one thing we can do.
From Lifeless Shells to a Vibrant Reef
Groups like the N.C. Coastal Federation spend a lot of time and effort building oyster reefs to create marine habitat and improve water quality. But do the reefs really work? Do the lifeless piles of shells actually become a sort of living organism?
How’s the Water?
Many times when they visit the coast and head out for a day on the beach, people ask each other, “How’s the water?” Drop by Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head today to get some answers.
Volunteers Protecting a River
Meet federation volunteers Kevin Talon and Phyllis Evans, members of what’s become known as the Lockwood Army, so-called because of their disciplined and tireless contributions to the health of Brunswick County’s Lockwood Folly River and Inlet.
Mixing Summer Fun With Learning
Why do some shells have holes in them? And why are trees on barrier islands so short? Kids who attend the federation’s summer day camps on Jones Island know.They also get wet and dirty.
Still Fixing the Damage Left by Irene
State transportation officials most likely will replace the temporary bridge over the breach on Pea Island left by Irene with a permanent one at the same location, but it will still be months before the long-term fix is chosen for the highway breach in Rodanthe.
Sam’s Field Notes: American Oyster Catcher
Sam Bland and a ranger friend spy a rare sight on Bear Island: American Oyster Catcher hatchlings. Come, read about their encounters.