As we look forward to the coming growing season, you may be wondering what you can do to make your garden more productive, healthier, and better for the environment while it provides your family with delicious home-grown goodies.

Sustainability in the home garden doesn’t have to be complicated!

In fact, it can even simplify the work you do to maintain healthy gardens. It really comes down to a few simple areas of focus: water, soil, plant selection, and the wildlife around your garden. Here are a few easy things you can do to help both yourself, and the planet.

Say No to Water Wasting

This one is a no-brainer—we all realize the importance of water conservation. Thankfully, it’s easy to apply it in the garden! Ditch your oscillating sprinklers that spray water carelessly all over the place
and replace them with drip irrigation or soaker hoses to pinpoint the water right where you need it. Mulch your beds to help retain water in the soil and keep your plants hydrated, even on drier days. Place collection barrels at the bottoms of your downspouts to capitalize all that wasted rain that falls onto your roof! All these little things help to cut back on water waste. If you want to take it a step further, you can even implement rainscaping into your garden design!

Be Soil Savvy

According to earthday.org, the United States is losing soil ten times faster than it is replenished (see page 79 for ways our region is combating soil erosion). Soil is a living, breathing component of the garden. Keep the dirt healthy by using compost to replenish vital nutrients. Composting is simple, fun for the whole family, and eliminates a lot of household waste from your trash can. There is plenty of great information available online for how to create your own compost pile, and if you want in-person advice, Old City Cemetery Museums & Arboretum has a Compost Education Center managed by the Hill City Master Gardeners who would be happy to answer your questions. Allowing dead and decaying plants to remain on the soil to decompose is another great way to protect your garden dirt. 

That’s right: by NOT cleaning up your garden, you can improve the soil conditions for your plants! Not to mention, keeping material on top of the soil helps prevent erosion. So skip the raking and shoveling this fall. Instead, just allow those natural processes to take over and refuel your soil.

Use Flower Power Instead of Chemicals

 It can be hard to give up those chemical fertilizers and pesticides—especially if you don’t know how to protect and grow your plants without them! So here are a few pointers: 

• Use pest-repelling plants around your vegetable gardens to ward off those undesirables. For example, nasturtiums (one of my favorites) are beautiful in bloom, taste delicious in a salad, and happen to repel aphids, squash bugs, white flies, and other destructive insects. Plant them near your beans and cucumbers! Marigolds are pest control powerhouses in the garden and deter a number of bugs. I plant rows of them between just about everything I grow, but they are especially helpful with tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes.

• Once the pests are under control, it’s time to look at fertilizing your plants. Go natural by using organic fertilizers. There are several products available at home and garden stores everywhere. I was always told to put a fish head in my planting holes for tomato plants. As the fish decomposes, it constantly invigorates the plant roots with nutrients. Compost makes for great fertilizer and helps control pH levels in your soil. 

• If you’re looking for a fun family project, consider vermiculture, or raising worms for the beneficial castings (poo) they produce—it’s garden gold!

Help the Helpers

Finally, your garden can help sustain the native plants and animals that are vital to our ecosystem. Planting native plants around your garden and in your yard is a small thing you can do to make a big impact. They naturally require less watering and fertilization because they are biologically designed to thrive in our specific conditions. Additionally, they support the insects we need, like pollinators and beneficial insects. And about those beneficial bugs—you want to keep those guys in your vegetable garden to eat harmful pests like aphids. For example, green lacewings feast on aphids, scales, mealybugs, and other garden destroyers. Assassin bugs eat flies and mosquitos, and love squash vine borers, so they are great for your squash, cucumbers, and vining plants. 

Then there are pollinators, which we literally depend on for our food supply. Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, etc., all help to pollinate our garden crops. Provide for them and those other helpful insects by planting natives for shelter, and by resisting the urge to rake fall leaves, clean out garden scraps where they nest and lay eggs, and mow over those early spring dandelions, which provide food. Finally, you could consider reducing the amount of manicured lawn space you maintain around your home and replacing it with something healthier for the environment— like clover!

Going green does not have to be expensive, or difficult. In some ways, it makes our lives easier! And it’s the gift that keeps on giving as future generations learn to appreciate our planet’s natural resources. So try a few of these tips in and around your vegetable patch this season, and reap the rewards of a thoughtful garden!   

Being a teacher is more than just a job. It’s more than a just career. It’s a calling.

Our annual Top Teacher Awards are a way to honor deserving educators who have not only answered this call for public service, but they also go above and beyond to make sure their students are thriving.

This list—made up of various school districts, grade levels and subjects—is only a snapshot of the incredible teacher talent we have in our region.

Lynchburg’s First Childcare Center Continues to Thrive

Photos by Ashlee Glen

As a child of former enslaved parents, living in a time when Black Americans had to piece together their lives with what the era would allow, Mary McLeod Bethune understood the importance of preserving family and ensuring children are properly cared for, no matter their circumstances. 

Despite the challenges and injustices facing Black Americans, including segregation, Mary would go on to found Bethune Nursery School, Lynchburg’s first childcare center, in 1936.

Today, Mary Bethune Academy carries on the legacy of its founder, nestled among a quiet neighborhood on Halifax Avenue, emphasizing its place in the community.

Although it is a daycare center for families who need childcare, Mary Bethune Academy embraces
its academy moniker acting as an early learning center.

The academy partners with the United Way of Central Virginia and receives federal assistance for roughly 70 percent of families, helping to make resources for the academy and childcare rates for families as accessible as possible.

As you enter the academy, every color imaginable is splashed over the walls, tiles, and furniture to keep the young minds engaged. Four classrooms divide up children by age, from infants to toddlers, with each class overseen by a lead teacher and an assistant or two.

“I’m thinking about what has contributed the most to our center’s longevity, and I really do keep coming back to our staff and the incredible job they do every day with our children,” said Karen Fitzgerald, Director of Office Operations for Mary Bethune Academy. “They really do treat every child as if he or she is their own, and they truly have a passion for children and wanting them to succeed. They are, without a doubt, the reason our center is trusted and supported by the Lynchburg community, and has been for almost a century.”

A few staff members at the academy have been woven into the long legacy of Mary Bethune, caring for generations of families in Lynchburg over the years.

Director of Facilities and Senior Lead Teacher Mary York has worked at Mary Bethune Academy since 1994, and her dedication to the community of families and children in Lynchburg has not wavered over that time.

York was born and raised in Chicago to a single mother who had to work while Mary attended daycare. York cites her mother as her initial inspiration to enter the childcare field. She went on to receive her Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

Mary, her husband, and her three kids moved to Virginia in 1984, where she has lived since. Now a grandmother to seven, Mary says that “being a parent and a grandparent helps me to understand the concerns and expectations parents have when they place their children into someone else’s care.”

“From when I started to now, I believe I’m more in-tune with my kids. I see their potential and enjoy listening to their views and explanations on everything,” York said.

As York speaks about her work at Mary Bethune Academy, she often, if not always, refers to the children attending as “my kids.”

Considering the teachers at Mary Bethune care for and teach children in their most formative years, Fitzgerald’s thought that the academy is “kind of like a little family” is demonstrated every day the center opens its doors.

“Working at MBA has brought me closer to the community because I’ve gotten to know the families. I am fortunate that I have been at MBA for so long that I’ve had the children of former children in my class. I think we, as childcare workers, become part of a child’s extended family,” York said.

Because of her continued dedication to quality childcare, York was recently awarded the Heart of Service Lifetime Achievement Award. The Virginia-based award is granted to the individual with “longevity and overall excellence in the field, with 20 plus years of service, and a demonstrated commitment to a career of caring for children.”

York’s consistent work over 30 years likely made her an ideal candidate. Reflecting on her career, York suggests that childcare has mostly remained the same over the years, as teachers try to support the social and emotional needs of their kids, with a recent and increasing focus on their readiness for elementary school.

“I feel that receiving this award means that I have truly made a positive impact on the lives of the children and families MBA has served,” York said.

While the academy staff are experts in their field, there are many challenges inherent to the work they do. York says that the most prevalent issue is having enough space and resources to accommodate the increasing childcare needs of the community. Fitzgerald echoes that sentiment saying that there is “no such thing as a slow season.”

“We are always looking for new ways to partner with our local schools and area organizations to provide services for more children and their families,” York said.

Fortunately, Mary Bethune Academy will soon make an addition to its facility that the kids will likely enjoy much more than the parents and staff. A new state-of-the-art playground is under construction, and set to be complete by Spring 2024, thanks to several donations to the facility. 

No matter the shape of the facility, the academy is continually ensuring that Mary McCleod Bethune’s legacy of care and love for all of the community’s children is being carried on through the generations.  

Downtown Cairo is a Lesson in Taking Chances and Having Faith

Photos by Ashlee Glen

I always had a dream of opening a brick-and-mortar place,” Samir Elazazy said. 

The owner of Downtown Cairo—a Mediterranean food-truck-turned-restaurant that serves authentic Egyptian, Greek, and Middle Eastern food—Samir and his wife, Emily, opened their new, permanent location in December 2023.

“We opened our food truck in May 2021,” Emily explained. “We were in Appomattox for about six months and got an offer to go to The BackYard [in Forest] in November 2021.”

The journey from food truck to restaurant, which is located in Graves Mill Shopping Center, has been quick, with the Elazazys embracing every step.

Before starting the food truck, Samir had worked for Cook Out for 10 years in various positions, including General Manager. As he worked his way up within the chain, he learned the intricacies of running and operating a growing and successful restaurant—knowledge that proved invaluable when the food truck opened for business nearly three years ago.

“We started the truck because of the kids,” Samir and Emily said nearly in unison referring to their three daughters, ages three, five, and eight.

“It’s a really beautiful journey because I’m able to share a lot with them,” continued Samir. “My oldest comes to events with us. It was really cool to have them alongside us and sharing our dreams together. It’s an important message to them to do what you love and don’t be afraid.”

When the Elazazys decided to transition from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar location, they knew it would be a leap of faith.

“I didn’t have any money saved up to open a store,” Samir said. “So I asked God to lead the way. I called a real estate agent just to look.”

The realtor showed the Elazazys two locations, but neither gave them a confident feeling. On a whim, the agent showed them a third location that day.

“It was the perfect one,” Samir remembered. “We came here, and I said, ‘This is it.’”

With little money saved but a lot of gumption, the Elazazys were challenged with figuring out how to make their dream a reality. They offered their truck up for sale with the terms that they keep it until the end of the year with money up front and they approached the owner of the Graves Mill location with an ambitious offer.

“I knew there was no way either would be accepted. But they were,” Samir said with a gracious smile.

From the moment the dotted line was signed for 18013 Forest Road A03, it took three weeks to open. The steps for retrofitting the space into a functional counter-service restaurant fell together seamlessly and on December 21st they opened their doors.

The menu is almost identical to that of the former food truck, with customer favorites like the shawarma plate and gyros wrapped in fluffy pita. 

“We like our small menu,” Samir explained. “It gives customers the opportunity to pick and choose, but not overwhelm.”

Samir was born in Alexandria—the second largest city in Egypt and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast—and moved to the Lynchburg area when he was 15. Alexandria is a melting pot for cultures and flavors, with Greek, Italian, and Egyptian influences weaving themselves into the local cuisine. But at the heart of Downtown Cairo is Egyptian food.

“I developed my passion for cooking from my mom,” Samir said. “When I left home, I didn’t know how to cook, so my mom would tell me what ingredients to get and I would FaceTime her for hours going step-by-step making everything.”

Many of the recipes found on Downtown Cairo’s menu are derived from those FaceTime cooking lessons, though Samir is quick to admit he still hasn’t cooked for his mother, who still lives in Egypt.

“I can follow her recipes exactly and they still won’t taste as good as hers,” Samir laughed.

Samir says his mother is very proud of the journey Downtown Cairo has taken, and it’s a journey he and Emily have enjoyed sharing with their children, as well.

“There are a lot of challenges out there,” he said. “A lot of things could have stopped us, but we don’t believe in that. And, of course, God is always in the center of our lives. We want our kids to make decisions based on what God guided them to do.”

The Elazazys hope that their new Graves Mill location is just the next chapter in a long story for Downtown Cairo. In the next four or five years, they hope to expand to three locations all within the Lynchburg regional footprint. But, for now, Samir and Emily are content running one growing location side by side and creating a working environment for their staff that is uplifting and healthy.

“God will open those doors when it’s time,” Samir said.  

A foodie-centric weekend includes the Bluegrass Brunch at Patrick O’Connell’s latest addition to
the Inn at Little Washington empire and stops at the famed Red Truck Bakery and nearby wineries

By  Leona Baker / Photos by Greg Powers, Leona Baker and courtesy of Patty O’s Cafe & Bakery

They say the devil is in the details. And legendary Virginia-based chef Patrick O’Connell is known to take devilish delight in not letting even the smallest details go under-delivered in the service of a transcendent and unapologetically whimsical dining experience. 

“It’s either art or garbage,” O’Connell says in the 2023 PBS-produced A Delicious Documentary, which chronicles his renowned Inn at Little Washington’s quest for an elusive third Michelin star, a near-Herculean feat he and his team achieved in 2018 after 40 years in business—making it one of just a handful of 3-star Michelin restaurants in the country.

“Anything we do has to be extraordinary,” says O’Connell, whose tireless pursuit of culinary excellence is famously delivered with a side of quirky irreverence. Say, serving world-class, triple-crème cheeses on “Faira,” a rolling cheese cart that looks like a cow (and really moos) or populating the Inn’s dining room with well-dressed mannequins for social distancing during COVID.

I got my first taste of O’Connell’s commitment to extraordinary fun on a recent girls’ getaway, which I affectionately dubbed the “Bougie Brunch, Bubbly, and Bread Weekend.” At the generous invitation of my friend’s sister and her husband, who live nearby the Inn, top billing for our food-fueled adventure was a Sunday morning reservation at Patty O’s Café & Bakery, the long-awaited casual cousin of the Inn at Little Washington. Our trip also included stops at the much-celebrated Red Truck Bakery and some nearby wineries. 

Housed in a restored 1950s-era gas station and situated catty-corner to the Inn, Patty O’s is the latest addition to O’Connell’s microcosmic empire in the small, historic village in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains known as Little Washington, about an hour’s drive from D.C.

While dining at the Inn’s main restaurant or Patty O’s, visitors are free to stroll the 26-acre campus, which includes a hotel with more than 20 guest rooms. There are also shops, cottages, gardens, special event spaces, a small farm, farm animals, beehives, O’Connell’s restored Victorian manor house, and even a stylish chicken coop that may or may not be more architecturally notable than your own home. 

For my traveling companions and me, that walk around the grounds was much needed after indulging in Patty O’s singularly charming Bluegrass Brunch featuring live bluegrass music on the sidewalk café’s open-air patio (weather permitting). O’Connell has quipped that he opened Patty O’s so that he would have a place to eat lunch during the day when the Inn’s restaurant is closed. 

While Patty O’s shares the Inn’s playful spirit, its aesthetic is a little less Old World maximalism and more “Howdy, partner!” jollity. Think ice-cold water served from metal pitchers shaped like cowboy boots and adorned with colorful bandanas or cream for coffee dispensed from little white porcelain cows imported from France, both for sale through the Inn’s Tavern Shops, of course.

Approachability is deliberately baked in here with brunch, lunch, and even dinner prices akin to those at any mid-range to upscale eatery—compared to the Inn’s main restaurant, which only serves dinner and features a luxurious fixed-price, tasting menu starting (and I do mean starting) at around $375 per person.

Appetizers, soups, sandwiches, salads, burgers, Southern comfort food, and brunch faves share menu space at Patty O’s with seasonal main dishes in the evenings like Wild Mushroom Bolognese with artisanal pasta and freshly grated parmesan; Pan Seared Swordfish with white wine, tomatoes, black olives, and toasted couscous; or Momma’s Mammoth Meatball with creamy garlic polenta. Dinner entrée prices range from about $22 to $52.

A delicious assortment of muffins and breads, served with coffee and tea and handcrafted in the adjoining retail bakery, kicked off our brunch experience. We proceeded to sample our way through the menu including an elegant and memorable amuse-bouche—Ribbons of Smoked Salmon and Celery Root Remoulade with dill-mustard sauce and crispy caraway flatbread, served on fish-themed China. 

We also tried the Classic Quiche Lorraine served with a roasted cherry tomato topped with toasted breadcrumbs; the spicy Shrimp and Grits featuring North Carolina Shrimp and stone-ground Virginia grits with Tasso ham; the Classic Eggs Benedict with champagne brined ham and hollandaise; a decadent French Toast with blackberry sauce and mascarpone-whipped honey butter; and the Half Pound Beef Burger from Snake River Farms with crispy onions and comté cheese, cooked to pink-center perfection.

From Patty’s O’s gorgeously appointed bar, with its signature happy hoedown mural, we sipped from a craft cocktail menu including the Venetian Lace with Tito’s, Aperol, Cointreau, and lime. Other tempting libations such as the Cavendish Old Fashioned with raisin-fixed bourbon and rye and the Bloody Mary with dill potato chip–infused vodka are on the wish-list for a second visit.

Our shared dessert was a theatrical triumph when our server presented Patty O’s famous house-made Butter Pecan Ice
Cream in a beautiful silver ice cream coup. When we couldn’t decide on whether we wanted it with the accompanying caramel drizzle on top, he performed a precision 50/50 pour as if choreographed by Balanchine himself. Indeed, all the service felt like a well-rehearsed ballet, attentive but not overbearing—no doubt perfected through decades of experience at the Inn, only in a more laid-back environment.

The “bread” portion of our “bougie” weekend was actually bread, pies, cakes, pastries, coffee, sandwiches, and more at not one but both nearby locations of The Red Truck Bakery, which has been touted by everyone from Oprah to Garden & Gun magazine. Red Truck has become nationally known not only for its baked goods “made with love and butter in the Virginia Piedmont,” but for its cookbooks, including the latest, The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook, released in 2022.

Both the main location in Warrenton, home to the photo-op namesake 1964 Ford truck, and the larger Rural Bakery in Marshall (right across the street from another foodie destination, Field & Main Restaurant) are worth the 20- to 30-minute jaunt from the Inn at Little Washington. We fueled our Saturday with savory breakfast croissants and other pastry-case goodies, their signature java roasted and blended by Counter Culture Coffee, and even a whole apple cake to take home to devour later.

Any road trip to Virginia’s Blue Ridge ought to necessitate a visit to at least a winery or two. We had a fine time sipping and noshing at two of them within easy driving distance, Three Fox Vineyards & Brewery and Barrel Oak Winery and Brewery, both in Delaplane. 

Three Fox’s spacious modern tasting room, complete with foxy artwork, is perched on the top of a small hill and offers tasting flights, brick oven pizza and visiting food trucks along with a covered patio and café tables with umbrellas situated one by one at the ends of some of the vineyard’s grapevine rows (table reservations available).

I happen to be a big fan of sparkling wine, and Three Fox offers two—not very common for Virginia wineries. I enjoyed both on that “bubbly” weekend, the 2022 Sparkling Seyval Blanc and the 2022 Duality Rosé. You’ll find a Cab Franc, a Sangiovese, and a Petite Syrah among their reds and a barrel-fermented Viognier, a Pinot Gris and a Vidal Blanc among their whites.

Over at Barrel Oak, we also ordered tasting flights and took in the lovely scenery from their sloped, grassy picnic area. We were lucky enough to land there on a day when they had live music and an oyster truck called Nomini Bay Oyster Ranch. With our Barrel Oak Tasting Flight of their Vidal Blanc, stainless steel Chardonnay, BOWHaus red and white, Merlot and a Norton, we happily paired plates full of both freshly shucked raw oysters and Oysters Rockefeller and made a sunny afternoon of it.

Both wineries we visited are also breweries, so there is plenty to slake your thirst no matter your taste or mood. There are also many wineries to choose from in that area of the state, of course, including Pearmund, Philip Carter, Naked Mountain, RdV, Slater Run and more. 

While we stayed overnight with friends, there are also some nice B&B and boutique options if you’re not going for the full Inn at Little Washington experience, or it’s booked up. Some of those include The Foster Harris House, The Middleton Inn and Gay Street Inn in addition to your readily searchable Airbnb, Vrbo, and chain hotel reservations.

Patty O’s Café takes reservations with a $35 deposit for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch but also offers a walk-in waitlist (probably not worth the risk if you’ve planned a special trip, so make those reservations).

The bar, lounge, and patio are available on a first-come, first-seated basis. Reservations for the Inn itself and the main restaurant are an absolute must and often book up as far as a year in advance. However, dinner reservations are guaranteed for overnight guests of the inn.