Tag Archives: Chesapeake Bay

Record Support for Clean Streams

Free flowing streams of clean water

Free flowing streams of clean water

Only a few months back, the Loudoun County Soil and Conservation District, by a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors authorized $580 thousand dollars to underwrite the cost of best management practices (BMPs) for Loudoun County farmers and landowners, to keep our water free of waste and to resist the erosion of our top soils.

At its last meeting, only days ago, the Board approved eight cost share grants totaling an additional $146 thousand dollars.  The voting Directors were James Christian (Chair), James Wylie (Vice Chair), John Flannery (Treasurer), Marina Schumacher, and Jim Hilleary.

This year the Board has authorized about $726 thousand dollars of the Million Dollar grant authorized for Loudoun County from down state.

This is the largest dedication of funds to clean water and rich soil this district has achieved, and we have more authorized funds yet to approve. Continue reading

Scrub the Water, Enrich the Soil

The Potomac from the Virginia side

The Potomac from the Virginia side

The Chesapeake Bay carries a load of “nutrients,” waste, that compromise the Bay.

Virginia has recently decided to devote $73 million to underwrite voluntary efforts by farmers and landowners to follow best management practices (BMPs) to keep the water clear and the soil rich close to home so that our streams emptying into the Potomac don’t compromise the Bay.

This soil and water conservation program is for farmers and landowners in Loudoun County.

There are similar programs across Virginia, in Maryland, and in every state across the nation.

Loudoun County has been assigned $1 Million to do what it can to make a difference; this is a serious effort; last year the allotment for Loudoun County was about half that amount.

So this is a great opportunity for property owners to make a real difference for the better in Loudoun as the waters here flow into the Potomac and then into the Chesapeake Bay. Continue reading

Oysters and you!

Jessy Diaz preparing some oysters at the King Street Oyster Bar

Jessy Diaz preparing some oysters at the King Street Oyster Bar

What do folk like to do on a Friday evening, perhaps downing a “happy hour” beverage and that iconic bivalve, an eastern oyster, from the Chesapeake Bay?

Don Peterson, from Brunswick, Maryland, said, “I didn’t like oysters when I was a kid.  But I went down to Jacksonville Beach, in Florida, and found I like them, and like them best, raw, and I eat them as white as you can get ‘em.”  Some favor the Blue Water Daquiri and Oyster Bar in Jacksonville.

Closer to home, Magnolia’s at the Mill in Purcellville, get its oysters from the War Shore Oyster Company, according to Magnolia’s floor manager, Julie Dalrymple, and they almost always “get them once a week and serve them as ‘specials’.”

Lovettsville’s Market Table Bistro gets their oysters from Chincoteague and further up the east coast from Nantucket, according to Eddie Johnston, the “front of the house” manager at the Bistro.  Continue reading