Prairie pride
by Anton Zuiker on October 6, 2024

The Allen Family farmhouse and prairie strip.
In the NYTimes, this article (gift link, so read it free) highlights the growth in replanted pieces of farmland across the middle of the United States.
The restored swaths of land are called prairie strips, and they are part of a growing movement to reduce the environmental harms of farming and help draw down greenhouse gas emissions, while giving fauna a much-needed boost and helping to restore the land.
Last month, when I visited Illinois, I spent an afternoon with my Aunt Ginger and Uncle Stoddard at their farm in Cortland. Stoddard, my cousin Tom, and I walked outside for an hour, talking about the chicken coop and pigeon roost, the concord grapes, the black walnut and other trees Stoddard has planted over 50 years, and the strip of wildflowers and native grasses that he put between the house and the corn field to the east. You can clearly see Stoddard’s prairie strip in the satellite image above.
As he identified the cone flowers and bluestem grass, pointed to a butterfly that landed nearby, and demonstrated how to crush a seedpod and scatter seeds, he was visibly proud of this strip of life. I knew he would be—he’s been teaching me about flowers and trees for more than half my life. In 2002, I wrote this on my blog:
Back on the highway, I frequently tried to snap pictures of the swatches of wildflower color that burst into my vision as I sped along. The red poppies were my favorite, but the fields of yellow or purple or white were pleasant, too. These wildflowers reminded me of my Uncle Stoddard Allen, who loves to plant flowers and trees. When I worked with him on the farm 10 years ago, my favorite task was to sprinkle wildflower seeds among the fields of prairie grass. Uncle Stoddard, the husband of my mother’s sister, Ginger, is the one who arrested Uncle John Zuiker when he chained himself to a condemned tree at Northern Illinois University, where Stoddard was a policeman. Uncle John these days takes care of trees for Fairfax County in Virginia.
Stoddard is still inspiring me. (Uncle John is retired from the tree work, but he’s the one who was in Raleigh last week for bluegrass.) Behind my own house, in view from the bedroom window, is my own patch of wildflowers, planted with seed from Garrett Wildflower Seed Farm (a North Carolina company). This week, I’ll be working on a strip of land for yellow Indiangrass.
In another sign of the times, the field to north of the Allen house, land once owned by Stoddard’s parents, is now a solar farm (look again at that photo above).
Tasting wine around the world
by Anton Zuiker on October 5, 2024
Our local wine shop, just over the hill in the Southern Village development, is called Rocks & Acid. Erin and I were there a few months ago for a tasting of “wines from the Levant” (Cypress, Lebanon, and Israel). We were there again last night, invited by friends to celebrate a birthday with tastings of New Zealand wines—a few Sauvignon Blanc (the Sandy Cove 2023, with a vibrant scent of kiwi, was quite drinkable), a Gruner Veltliner, and the excellent te Pā Pinot Noir made by a Maori winemaker.
Erin and I once toured New Zealand by campervan, stopping into wineries in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. I feel damn lucky to have seen those islands alongside Erin.
Much of the discussion around the tasting table last night was about the destruction and rebuilding in Western North Carolina, along with talk of music; our hosts were off to see a favorite band at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in nearby Pittsboro. Considering my love of live music, it’s a shame I’ve never made the effort to get to this festival.
With the tasting done, I went to the shelves to look for a Slovenian wine similar to the one I’d had at dinner earlier in the week. What caught my eye, though, was a bottle of white by Domaine du Bagnol, a winery Erin and I had walked to during our fabulous stay in the French town of Cassis. Ever since that 2016 trip to Provence, I have searched the wine shelves here in North Carolina for bottles of the wines we enjoyed in Cassis. I walked out of Rocks and Acid with two bottles
Laura, the shop’s general manager, also showed me a Slovenian bottle, so I took that, too.
Hooray for HuZu Law
by Anton Zuiker on October 1, 2024
This month, Erin is marking the 10-year anniversary of her boutique law practice and partnership, Huggins & Zuiker, LLP, but also known as HuZu Law. Erin and Molly are quite good at what they do, and I am in awe of how hard they have worked to serve their clients.
There’s no special anniversary event planned so Erin and I will celebrate throughout the month.
So, the two of us went for an early dinner at Tesoro, a cozy restaurant in Carrboro. I had a great view of the open kitchen and watched Chef David Peretin and his sous chef calmly, quietly, cooly prepare and plate our dishes and others. The foccacia to start was delicious, and the Slovenian wine I selected — Vina Stekar Sivi Pinot 2021, somewhere in the rosé and orange world — was dry and simple and earthy. Our pasta dishes were tasty, although the smokiness of the rigatoni with tomato and eggplant (the eggplant had been smoked) dish I ordered surprised us. Another glass of that wine would have been perfect.
I quite liked Tesoro and look forward to returning.
Notes from the weekend
by Anton Zuiker on September 29, 2024
I almost made it through the month of September with a blog post each night, but last night I was too tired to formulate a coherent sentence, let along a few paragraphs. It had been an active day in a busy weekend: Friday night with Ed Sheeran, Saturday at the bluegrass festival, and then Sunday for soccer, hot sauce, and more live music.
On my way to the regular pick-up soccer game (we’re playing in Chapel Hill for a few months while our usual Durham pitch, which had deteriorated to unsafe conditions, finally gets renovated), I listened to the Planet Money segment The billion dollar war behind U.S. rum about the ‘rum wars’ in the USVI and Puerto Rico. Given my regular visit to the Cruzan Rum distillery whenever we visit St. Croix, I was interested in this.
Back home, I made another batch of homemade hot sauce in the garage. The final step is to fill the canning jars. I did this in the kitchen, but Erin and I agreed I should find a way do the canning step in the garage as well since even a few minutes fills the house with the vinegary fumes.
After the kitchen was cleaned and I’d watched the Tottenham-ManU match, Erin dropped me in town for the Carrboro Music Festival. For a few hours I walked from stage to stage, enjoying the bands and short conversations with few co-workers I came upon. We had beautiful weather.
Later, when I sat down to check the news, even more photos and videos documented the devastation in Asheville and Boone and the NC mountains. I felt happy from the weekend’s activities but sobered by the destruction. One of my best NC memories (and possibly the best photo I’ve ever taken) is the week Erin and the girls and I spent in West Jefferson, NC, where we attended the Ola Belle Reed Festival.
Now Ashe County is reeling from the rains of Helene. Soon as it is safe to visit western NC again, I hope I can get there to help in one way or another.
A day for bluegrass music
by Anton Zuiker on September 29, 2024
Raleigh had perfect weather for the final day of the IBMA Bluegrass Live! Festival, even as many commented on the devastation in Western North Carolina (floods and mudslides from Helene).
I got downtown around 2:30 and headed straight for the Come Hear NC Stage on hear Unspoken Tradition. Then, into the convention center to listen to the youngsters. Later, I met my uncle John at Red Hat Amphitheater for the evening performances: Danny Paisley (IBMA male vocalist of the year), Amythyst Kiah (amazing voice, reminded me of seeing a young Tracy Chapman), Sierra Hull (fabulous!), and Raleigh’s own Chatham County Line to end the night (Steep Canyon Rangers was supposed to be the top billing but the storm kept them from traveling).
This annual bluegrass festival in Raleigh for the past dozen years has been much fun to attend. The musicians are so damn talented!
Next year, this festival will be in Chattanooga, Tennessee.