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Read About Our Grants
We also sponsor the Ballyshannon Fund Forum
at Piedmont Virginia Community College
WELCOME TO THE COUNTRY! We asked  our neighbor Frank Levering to write a guidebook for newcomers to our countryside. Frank runs a Patrick County cherry orchard (now 100 years, still a family business.
Frank's utterly charming new book introduces urbanites to "country culture"... sharing the unwritten rules by which rural people live. (Take a peek at Chapter One, here.)
Order a copy from Amazon Books or Barnes & Noble. Cost is about $5.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling.
For bulk sales of 72 books per case: please email your request to Albemarle Books.
This charming new book is by the Virginia author Frank Levering, who runs a Patrick County cherry orchard (now 100 years, still a family business). Frank's new book introduces urbanites to "country culture"... with Frank's warm welcoming style, sharing the unwritten rules by which rural people live and get along.
On PBS TV "NATURE - Silence of the Bees"
Want to discuss serious problems? Here is one: Honeybees are dying in large numbers and science does not know why. Lose our honeybees and we lose many of our fruits, berries, nuts, and vegetables. The other wild pollinators (butterflies, etc.) simply cannot do the job. Honeybees (yes, they are gentle and non-aggressive) are among mankind's best friends as FORTUNE magazine reports, also.
Ben and Jerry's ..."Saving the Family Farm"
This is such well written satire, greatly amusing to those of us who have actually operated rural enterprises. Many of the issues alluded to are the ones Ballyshannon will attempt to address. Coffee Heath Bar Crunch is our favorite, too.
Death of a Sawmill
An Economic Tragedy: Read it and weep. A town dies from good intentions. The author, Mr. Jim Petersen, is the founder of the non-profit Evergreen Foundation and the publisher of Evergreen Magazine in Montana. He is far ahead of Ballyshannon Fund, as you can read here. We are so impressed by his intellect and clear thinking that we asked Mr Petersen to speak at our second Ballyshannon Fund Forum
The Tragedy of the Commons (reprinted from The Economist.com)
"Property Rights May be the Way to Preserve Forests...As with ocean fisheries, so with tropical forests, everybody’s business is nobody’s business." We suspect that human nature is surely just the same, here in our Appalachian forests.
Teddy Roosevelt on the proper managment of federally-owned forests.
ENVIROTHON
An interesting educational competition for young people, coordinated by the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
Our Forests are Changing!
A serious discussion of our Virginia hardwood forests by our friend and neighbor Tom Dierauf. Tom is retired from the Virginia Division of Forestry. He remains an active leader of the Virginia Native Plants Society and other local environmental groups. A life-long researcher of Virgina forests, his ideas are worth listening to; a walk in the woods with Tom is a particular treat!
The New American Gentry
"Wealthy folks are colonizing rural areas, bringing cash, culture -- and controversy" by Conor Dougherty in the Wall Street Journal.
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