Commonwealth Capital

Richmond to Fredericksburg

We took a rest day yesterday and spent the last two nights with the Ashes, a family Austin knows from Worcester, Massachusetts, his hometown, who had moved to the Richmond area (Chesterfield, to be precise), several years ago.

They were wonderful, as our hosts typically are, and cooked us real southern food!  I tried (non-instant) grits for the first time, and was surprised by how much I liked them.

With the Ashe family.

We spent our off day wandering the streets of Richmond, a real city (so much authenticity in this post)!  I stopped in a grocery store, Ukrop’s, for a peach, and got so much more, including information about their lovely compost program.  They began collecting their organic waste in 2002, when they formed a partnership with Watkins Nursery, located in a Richmond suburb called Midlothian.  The actual composting process occurs at the nursery, and then Ukrop’s and Watkins both sell the finished compost product back to the community.

There was also a salvage grocery store, called Fresh to Frozen Grocery Salvage, located a few miles from the Ashes’ home.  It was quite similar to the one in Sonora, Kentucky, and sold similar products: dented canned goods, bent cereal boxes, overstock, and other foods that had recently passed their expiration dates.  They also sell a selection of non-salvage foods, such as milk, produce, and bread.  They’ve been open since 2005 and, according to their slogan, are a “Solution to Saving.”  I think they meant saving money, but saving food is quite important as well.  Check plus, Richmond.