Sylvie & Keith Rowand are residents of Rappahannock County, Virginia, USA, a stunning still-rural area in the Northern Virginia Piedmont.
After 15+ years in corporate Washington DC, we moved to the country where we started a business centered around wholesome food: cooking for others while sourcing our ingredients locally whenever possible; teaching how to cook fresh seasonal food and how to preserve; and providing workshops on kitchen gardening. Of course we also grow a lot of our own vegetables, herbs, and berries.
Our canning workshops attracted the attention of the local newspaper and resulted in this article “Preserving Food, Preserving Traditions”
Keith focused on developing the hardscape of the gardens and the homestead, including a greenhouse, hoophouses, a chicken coop, woodsheds, and cold frames – so we can eat fresh all year long – and sell our surpluses. Once Keith left the corporate world for good a few years later, he developed the apiaries, managing them intensively but with as few chemical inputs as possible.
We know that local seasonal fresh food, raised or grown in a sustainable manner, is good to eat, good for us (body & soul), good for our neighbors, our community – and the world at large. Wholesome food feed our bodies in a healthy manner, and bring us together.
Sylvie you are an inspiration. I’m working on a similar plan on the other coast: growing, cooking and making a living from the soil and good food around me. It doesn’t happen overnight, but seeing you thrive, gives me hope and makes me smile. Brava!
Ohhh Ohh Ohhh I have been trying to locate the yellow primrose/cowslip that is in your photos for three years now. My mother grew them in her yard and when she died I was only able to bring down to Madison the sweet red ones that have the same growth habit. Will you tell me where you got those or be willing to trade for some of the red ones?
Hi Bonny, there are some of my favorite flowers, I have them in different shades of yellow, and one hose-in-hose. I started them years ago, from seeds I got either through the American Primrose Society or through the North American Rock Garden Society. Yes, I’d be willing to trade. I’ll e-mail you.