Think Globally But Eat Locally Because Quality Nutrition Is Important For Exercise And Health

Hi folks,

Visiting VineYards at Southpoint Winery, where Guy showed Deb and I around this great facility

My online work is nicely complemented by involvement in the local grocery store, coffee shop and general hangout, Johnny’s Gone Fishing, in Carrboro, North Carolina, USA. The advantage of this business activity includes meeting lots of interesting people, whilst one disadvantage is the fact that emergencies happen, and then you have to deal with them NOW! Such an emergency occurred a few days ago as the weather was warming up and a new shipment of beer was on the way. Our biggest, but very old, display refrigerator went on the fritz. My business partner, Erica, succeeded in finding a couple of second hand machines, and off Deb and I went to check them out – I don’t like serving coffee and foodstuffs, but I do enjoy solving problems. The one I chose to buy was about 60 miles away, in Siler City, and it belonged to a guy named Guy who runs a wine business called VineYards at Southpoint. In fact, he makes all his own wines, and he kindly showed us around his winery, which reminded me of making homemade wines from various fruits, flowers, and vegetables back in my mid-twenties. I even bought a couple of bottles of an excellent product, a dry red made locally. So this was one business disaster that turned into a fun trip.

David and his assistant, Thant, of Brightside Bamboo gave me some great insights into controlling and eating bamboo.

Once the refrigerator crisis was over I headed home, and whilst in the yard I noticed a bamboo shoot within six feet of the house. NOT GOOD! We have a bamboo forest looming over the property, and normally it stays at a respectful distance. We just have to knock over a few shoots in the spring, and it stays at bay. This year, however, our septic tank filled, which we think resulted in increased water in the soil, and bamboo chases water anywhere. So, we called the ‘Bamboo Guy,’ David Benfield, of Brightside Bamboo. In the end we decided to follow his advice and have a bamboo barrier installed in the soil to protect the house, but more importantly David and Thant gave us a free tutorial on bamboo. It turned out that we could have been eating those bamboo shoots all this time. They are great. They are free. And eating them helps to control the growth of those pesky rhizomes.

FitOldDog with bamboo shoot for the kitchen

FitOldDog’s advice is that you remember that there is nothing like trying something new, inexpensive, local, delicious and highly nutritious. Just get involved in your community and you never know where it might lead.

-k @FitOldDog