Blue Ridge Country July/August 2021 - 42

LAUREN STONESTREET | WWW.ELLEEFFECT.COM
ABOVE: JQ Dickinson Salt Works in Malden, West Virginia, is run by a seven-generation salt-making family.
LEFT: Ramps area a major attraction in Richwood, West Virginia, " Ramp Capital of the World. "
Vegetable - Can you find Richwood
by the smell of this edible? Some say the
" Ramp Capital of the World " is renowned
for its garlicky spring odor as well as its
May Feast of the Ransom ramp dinner.
After all, the national association for the
pungent allium was organized here. Folks
scarf down ramps with beans and cornbread
and go head to head competing in
the ramp recipe contest. Throughout the
Appalachian South-especially West Virginia-ramps
are hailed at community
suppers and festivals. Collecting ramps
for personal consumption is legal in West
Virginia's Monongahela National Forest
as long as the harvest is confined to less
than 20% of large clumps and a total of
one small grocery bag.
Mineral - Was this mined in West Virginia
even before coal? Yes, salt mining
started 100 years earlier. Now a seven-generation
salt producing family in Malden
has revived JQ Dickinson Salt Works, tapping
into an ancient subterranean ocean
and using the sun to crystalize gourmet
salt. Salt flavors include West Virginia
ramp. Visitors can tour the production
campus, including sun-powered drying
houses and the old salt well, and partake
of Malden Salt Fest in May.
VIRGINIA
Animal - Does this critter make " snow "
on Buffalo Mountain in summer? If you
see what looks like summer snow peeking
through the grass on this Floyd County
mountain, look for a rare bug. A tiny female
mealybug secretes the waxy, snowwhite
threads. Buffalo Mountain Nature
Preserve is the only place in the world to
find the Puto kosztarabi scale insect. The
1,140-acre property is open for day hiking.
Vegetable - Can you see 29 of Virginia's
biggest all in one place? Visiting the
Virginia State Arboretum near Boyce is
like touring the state fair of trees-you'll
see 29 of Virginia's biggest, champion
trees designated with blue ribbons. The giants
of their species include a mountain
magnolia, sweet chestnut and mountain
silverbell. Visitors can amble among more
than 6,000 trees and shrubs, including a
third of the world's pine species, any day
of the year.
Mineral -- Is this natural wonder hidden
on top of a mountain near Abingdon?
The sandstone maze at Channels Natural
Area Preserve sits hidden in the forest atop
Clinch Mountain's Middle Knob -elevation
4,208 feet. The deep crevices formed
as ice expanded and thawed, fracturing
the stone cap over millions of years.
What's left is a walkable, 20-acre spooky,
wonderful labyrinth of slots and crevices
winding through moss-covered rock.
RIGHT: Floyd, Virginia, is home to Puto kosztarabi or mealy bugs.
BELOW: A champion mountain silverbell grows at the Virginia Arboretum.
42 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

http://WWW.ELLEEFFECT.COM http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

Blue Ridge Country July/August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country July/August 2021