Carrboro Green Space (carrborogreenspace.org) hosts its second Urban Farm Tour from 3 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12. The group, a “center for community and sustainability,” wants to expand the definition of viable farmland to mean more than huge stretches of wide open spaces. This free event showcases more than 15 sites in Carrboro and Chapel Hill where backyard agriculture thrives.
“People are keeping bees, raising chickens and tending gardens that sustainably produce delicious healthy food (as well as herbs and other key crops),” the group says on its Web site. “Urban farming can be a key way to not only have healthier local food, but greatly reduce unnecessary carbon emissions and petroleum use.”
The tour begins at CarrboroRaw, the bamboo-fenced lot between Weaver and Main streets (across from Weaver Street Market) where you can pick up a map and purchase a raffle ticket. The stops feature the work of local artists and several skill-sharing workshops, including honey harvesting, lasagna bed gardening and even chicken slaughtering.
Bring your bike or some walking shoes and a local food dish to share. Tours depart at the top of each hour, followed by a potluck at 105 Dillard St. around 7 p.m.
Also this weekend, UNC-Chapel Hill hosts more than 100 authors for the North Carolina Literary Festival (www.ncliteraryfestival.org). According to the Web site, programming includes food writers, writers talking about food and chefs speaking about life in the kitchen. (Check the festival’s Web site. All venues are on campus; see www.unc.edu.)
At 10 a.m. Sept. 12, Kelly Alexander and Randall Kenan lead a discussion titled “Writing Food” in Manning Hall. Alexander reads from her biography of food writer Clementine Paddleford, and Kenan talks about the importance of cooking and the cultural role it plays in his stories.
The following day, Cassandra King and Janice Owens discuss “food, fiction and friendship” in Gerrard Hall at 11:10 a.m.
Also on Sept. 13, at 12:20 p.m., Ann Prospero and two local chefs, Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner and Bret Jennings of Elaine’s on Franklin, discuss Prospero’s upcoming book, Chefs of the Triangle: Their Lives, Recipes and Restaurants in Carroll Hall. For more coverage of the festival, see “The North Carolina Literary Fest returns.”
Prospero has several additional events scheduled surrounding her book’s release. From 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 16, Chef Scott Crawford of Herons (100 Woodland Pond, Cary, 447-4125, www.heronsrestaurant.com) hosts the author along with other chefs featured in the book, for a reading and tasting of their dishes. Cost is $25 per person and also includes a signed copy of the book. Reservations are required.
Then, at 7 p.m. Sept. 25, Durham chefs Shane Ingram of Four Square and Jim Anile of Revolution join Prospero for a free reading and sampling at the Regulator Bookshop (720 Ninth St., Durham, 286-2700, www.regulatorbookshop.com).
Contact Now Serving at food@indyweek.com to list your events.
