We finally took off Sunday evening, with Mo graciously seeing us off.  We drove into the sunset, marveling at the beautiful blue ridge, just making it over the West Virginia border before calling it a night.

The bus is running beautifully, though with the steep climbs in the Appalachian Mountains our fuel mileage isn’t what we’d like.  We’re getting ready to pump another 30 gallons of filtered oil into the tank.

At dawn on our first full day, we found ourselves in the beautiful Mononghela national forest, and set up camp for the day at a stand of virgin spruce.  We needed some recuperation, so there was a lot of sleeping, tea, and being outside.  We also met some really nice folks, including a gas station attendant name Lucille, a friendly forest ranger with a love for bats, and some honeymooning herbalists going mountain biking.  No one was hungry when we offered food, but we did manage to find some foster homes for our extra beet plants.

Then, last night we drove further on US250, exiting the park and ending up in Fairmont, WV for the night.  After a few discouraging moments, we found ourselves in the midst of happy and welcoming folk in the Mission soup kitchen.  We’ve spent the day sorting canned goods, talking with people, and admiring their beautiful tomato garden.  Now we’re heading to help serve dinner, and then if there’s time head to the farmer’s market in town.

Sorry for the lack of posts!  We’ve been working 20 hour days for the past little while, putting the finishing touches on the Waste Veggie Oil conversion, passing the state inspection, and centrifuging WVO for fuel.  It’s been messy, difficult, and very rewarding.  Pictures of the filtration process forthcoming!

Come one, come all and get your limited edition Nourish(meant) T-shirt, screenprinted by Emily’s wonderful aunt Wendy!

They’re printed with white ink on recycled cotton tees, part of Anvil’s carbon neutral series.  Because all the fibers are recycled and not re-dyed, the green color varies slightly throughout the tee, like a heathered material, but overall has a light olive tone.  Very pretty, in my opinion.

The front says Nourish(meant), and the back asks, “what does nourishment mean to you?” with the woodcut logo at the top.

Adult sizes S-XL are available for $10 + shipping.  Email nourishmeant@gmail.com with your size and mailing address if you want one!

Thanks to all who came out for our launch party last night!  And a huge thanks to those who helped us prepare.  It was a great, heartwarming success, and it made our imminent departure feel quite real.

The party spread included tons of homemade delicacies: beet risotto, sauteed squash, curried broccoli, a cheese and fruit platter, fresh salsa, kale, *and* peach cobbler!  And lets not forget our forays into fermentation:  lacto-fermented beet ginger relish (YUM), graham’s deliciously refreshing mead varieties, and some pickled green beans.  The food was made almost completely with local gifted, foraged, or dumpstered ingredients.

As the evening wore on, and the home-brewed cider was uncorked, the Ruffin hall courtyard transformed into many things:  a stage with quite theatrical lighting, a magical garden (well, maybe it already was that), a soccer field, a sidewalk mural.  Most of all, it was a place to be- the bus finally felt like a home (our newly-welded grate its back porch)- and we enjoyed giving tours.

Come see us off on our voyage!
There will be lots of great, home-cooked food, home-brewed mead, and other tasty morsels.  Music, good friends, dancing (on the bus!), and art.  Feel free to bring food, drink, musical instruments, and talents to share.

Come celebrate a summer of hard work and community!

6pm Thursday, July 16
Ruffin Hall Courtyard, off of Culbreth Road
Contact:  Emily at 704.578.6235

Check out a cool blog that Kristen Dickie of New Jersey is writing.  It’s called The Omnivore’s Experiment. She will be doing her best to eat additive free and mostly local for the month of august and posting about her experiences and what she learns.  She draws some of her inspiration from Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. We think it’s great work.  Check her out!

Barbara Kingsolver did a similar experiment, and wrote about it in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which you might find interesting.

Cheers!

Last night, I was up on the rooftop garden, transplanting some lettuce and thinning out the radishes. It had been a somewhat rainy day, and as I poked around our densely packed growing space, lifting the leaves of the eggplant and chard, I came across a few patches of little mushrooms! I’m not sure what kind they are, or if they’re edible, but they’re tiny and gray and adorable. We think the mulch from Panorama Farms we put over the soil had been inoculated with mycelium. It’s just thrilling to see an ecosystem develop up there!

Wow, it’s been an incredible couple of weeks.

Right after speaking at Nature Camp in VA, we headed straight up to DC to catch a flight to Alaska, graham’s home state.  The visit was adventuresome (apparently unavoidable in a place with 22 hours of sunlight a day), relaxing, and just really lovely.

We began the trip in Anchorage, where I worked on a few grant applications, did some reading, and caught up on sleep.  Oh, and cooked and ate amazing food, which brings me to graham’s activity of the week:  launching a smoked salmon business with his dad.  Alaska has the best managed fisheries in the world, and thus have the highest yield of wild salmon (and lots of other fish).  It’s beautiful, delicious, sustainably farmed, and wildly good for you.  I ate it three meals a day.  I could go on and on about how amazing it is, but I’ll just leave it at that.

Then, graham took a trip to Naknek, the site of all that salmon-catching.  This year, they’re going to catch 30 million fish in one month, letting plently swim upriver to spawn.  And me?  Well, I went south to Homer with graham’s mom, Nancy and her friend Audrey, and they took me on a wonderful kayaking expedition in Kachemak Bay.  I learned how beautiful the land up there is, how to get into a kayak without getting wet, and why camping in Alaska in the summer is the best ever:  you never have to worry about a flashlight.

So, now we’re back in Charlottesville, continuing to prepare for our voyage.  The WVO conversion is well under way, and we’re putting the last finishing touches on the interior.  We hope to leave this week- info about the launch party will come soon!

Visit our World section of the blog to check out a great article about the concept Food Sovereignty, which has great insights on a more holistic approach to solving problems in our world food system.  We nabbed it from the Chronicles of Urban Evolution blog. Enjoy!

Just a quick plug for The Korean House in Cville- past the mall near Cville Market. The aroma hits you as soon as you walk in the door. Anything on the menu is good. We recommend putting your fate in the hands of Audrey, the super-friendly, knowledgeable, and kind waitress. She’ll be sure to bring you something delicious!