Heritage Harvest Festival Has Fruits, And Wines, Of Labor

By Brandon Shulleeta

Dozens of people at the third annual Heritage Harvest Festival sat on grass Saturday evening looking down on Albemarle County and a sea of mountains at Montalto, 400 feet above Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Yards away, others sampled fruits, vegetables and wine, attended garden workshops and learned tips on how to control pests without using chemicals.

For Marie Taylor, a volunteer with the Central Virginia Beekeepers Association, the festival was an opportunity to show off her insects and educate staring children who wanted to know where was the queen bee.

“All honey is not created equal,” Taylor said, explaining how different flavors can be produced.

Central Virginia Beekeepers Association member Karen Hall said part of the nonprofit group’s mission is to educate people about ways to avoid pesticides.

But members also enjoy explaining bees’ teamwork mentality.

“The whole hive dies if everybody isn’t doing their jobs,” Hall said.

More than 2,500 people attended Saturday’s free event on the big hill, according to coordinators. (Parking, however, was $5 per car.)

The large turnout had food vendors selling out their goods early in the day. Such was the case for Azibo Turner, owner of Vanguard Ranch, who sold out of goat curry, goat burgers and goat kabobs, despite having cooked two goats weighing about 80 pounds each.

Severine von Tscharner Fleming, director of the nonprofit Greenhorns, said the organization aims to support and recruit young farmers. The group had a booth in which they taught people, especially children, about growing vegetables.

“We need to succeed, to feed the future,” she said.

The festival’s location near the house of the third president, an avid gardener, was a good fit.

Jefferson had cultivated 330 varieties of 89 species of vegetables and herbs, as well as 170 varieties of fruits, according to the Piedmont Environmental Council.