Barbara W. Ellis’ new book “Container & Small-Space Gardening for the South: How to Grow Flowers & Food No Matter Where You Live,” offers guidance that can help gardeners challenged by even the sandiest coastal soils.
Our Coast
Sunset Beach a ‘sweet spot’ near Wilmington, Myrtle Beach
Unlike Outer Banks beaches, Sunset Beach is a relatively new attraction, having made a name for itself in the last 70 years.
Ocracoke festival aims to keep alive carving traditions
Organizers are putting the final touches on the sixth annual Ocracoke Island Waterfowl Festival scheduled for the third weekend of April in the Ocracoke School gymnasium.
State wildlife officials seek volunteers to tally terrapins
With a little training, a kayak and a smartphone app, coastal North Carolina residents can join the 10th annual “Terrapin Tally,” a count that helps researchers assess the elusive marsh dwellers’ status.
Author documents investment fraud involving Buffalo City
Buffalo City, a now-abandoned Dare County logging town notorious for moonshine production during Prohibition, also featured in a huge life insurance company fraud case in the 1910s, author and retired forester Bill Barber has revealed.
Homecoming: Portsmouth Island descendants set to gather
The Friends of Portsmouth Island and Cape Lookout National Seashore are expecting hundreds for the event that happens every two years and this year includes a celebration of the 1894 U.S. Life-Saving Station here.
Eastern North Carolina fish stew: Both a dish and an event
It’s a precise, step-by-step process developed over centuries and an important a part of coastal culture, and if you’re ever invited, just don’t refuse the egg.
As timber declined, Buffalo City loggers made ’shine
Recently detailed by “When Ghosts Made Moonshine” author Chris Barber, loggers in the remote, deeply forested northeastern region of North Carolina supplied highly regarded whiskey to speakeasies up the East Coast during Prohibition.
Slick’s dilemma: How to save Pine Island as a bird refuge
Earl Slick, who in 1972 purchased nearly 3,000 acres spanning from the ocean to the sound, didn’t want Currituck Banks to be swamped by development.
Earl Slick: Airline founder, Banks developer, outdoorsman
The president of Slick Airways and son of a successful Oklahoma oil wildcatter purchased a longstanding Outer Banks hunt club in 1972, a decision that would have lasting effects here.
Land of the longleaf pine through a conservationist’s lens
Historian David Cecelski, using photos by his friend and conservationist Tom Earnhardt, illustrates the abundance and rich diversity of the photos of Green Swamp Preserve’s carnivorous plants and other wildlife.
Most coastal state parks report visitor growth in 2023
North Carolina State Parks recently announced that attendance grew by 4% statewide last year, with most of the nine sites on the coast contributing to that growth.
Hertford’s quiet, rural setting, rich history add to its appeal
The seat of Perquimans County incorporated in 1758 and has never had more than 2,500 residents.
Ballance to bring Ocracoke history to Core Sound’s present
“Ocracokers” author and native Alton Ballance is to talk about the isolated island’s growth from a fishing village to a tourist destination.
Bebop drummer Max Roach kept coastal NC connections
Born in Newland near Elizabeth City, the late Max Roach was a pioneer in the mid-20th century New York jazz scene, and a civil rights advocate.
Ancestral odyssey: A Beautiful MLK Day in Piney Grove
Historian David Cecelski recounts spending the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in Piney Grove with descendants of Caesar Evans, who escaped from slavery during the Civil War, fought in the Union army, and later bought 228 acres in central Brunswick County.
