Hidden in the blue Ridge

Southern Living, May 2003 by Vanhooser, Cassandra M

Come with us as we explore this undiscovered village in the mountains of Virginia

They call it God's thumbprint. This fertile Virginia valley, encircled completely by a single mountain, stretches some 10 miles in length and 5 miles in width. Nearly 300 lucky souls dwell within the reassuring embrace of these rounded peaks. Silos, barns, and houses punctuate the rolling rhythm of the verdant farmland. Thick clumps of bluegrass blanket the pastures, and wild hawthorn bushes embroider the hillsides with glistening white blossoms.

Indeed, from high above, the gentle oval of Burke's Garden looks as if the Lord Himself might have laid His hand upon Virginia's Blue Ridge and created this Eden for His own divine pleasure.

The Making of a Garden

Lifelong resident John Rhudy stands atop the pinnacle of Briary Knob, one foot propped on a fallen log, surveying the community of Burke's Garden below. He studied the earth-first as a farm kid, then in college-and he understands the mighty forces that formed this geological wonder he calls home.

"It's not a volcano," John explains. "It's not a meteor crater. It's not an ancient lake bed. At one time, this was all one mountain. We're sitting in the guts of it now."

The land lay largely undisturbed and uninhabited until James Burke happened upon it in 1748. Some believe he was chasing a wounded elk. Others say he was simply tracking the valley's abundant wildlife to feed a hungry hunting party. Yet when Burke crossed the mountain-no matter his mission-he discovered a paradise.

At one point during the trip, Burke buried potato peels around his fire. When another group came upon his campsite later that fall, they found that a crop of potatoes had taken root. Here was Burke's Garden.

John pauses, watching silently as the brooding clouds of a spring squall roll across a ridge far in the distance. The valley, the story, the unfailing beauty-these things never cease to stir his soul. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever been," the 32-year-old farm manager confesses. "I may be a little biased, but it really is. Everywhere I go, I compare to Burke's Garden. This place has got a hold on me. I can't deny that."

Living in a Garden

Over the years, Burke's Garden has proven powerfully seductive to those who crave the beauty of the natural world. That was certainly true for newcomers Gordon and Charlotte Whitted, who moved here in 1999.

While traveling, the couple had come to love the South Island of New Zealand. Burke's Garden so resembled that faraway land that they were smitten from the beginning. "When we drove over that mountain and saw Burke's Garden, we thought, "Why bother going to look anywhere else?'" Charlotte recalls.

A bouquet of yellow-and-white daisies graces the Whitteds' kitchen table. Plates of bacon and sausage join jars of homemade preserves for the morning meal. The open 'windows catch the cool morning breeze, filling the little white farmhouse with the sweet smell of spring.

As Charlotte opens the oven door to extract a pan of biscuits, Gordon calls to daughters Emily and Anna, who shuffle sleepily to the kitchen. Talk turns to the day's chores as the platters are passed. There's the garden to plant, eggs to gather, and lambs to feed.

"This is my dream job," Gordon admits. "I'm a real outdoors person. Sitting behind a desk for five years nearly killed me. My health was poor. I had back problems. I was always looking out the window, wanting to be outside."

Gordon and Charlotte now sell pasture-fed lamb, chicken, and eggs to upscale restaurants, such as Fabian's in Winston-Salem, as well as at the Tazewell and Winston-- Salem farmers markets. They named their farm Weatherbury Station-"Weatherbury" as a literary salute to Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd and "station" after the New Zealand term for "farm."

"When our friends ask what it's like living here, I say it's like the 21 st-century Waltons," Gordon says. "I've got the satellite dish on the roof. I've got a modem for my computer. I don't lack for any modern conveniences. Time hasn't forgotten us here."

You Can Go Home Again

In any community, some people stay, and some people go. Marvin Meek is the exception. He started life in Burke's Garden more than 80 years ago, then he and wife Ella left to pursue their destinies. Along the way, they raised three daughters and spent 21 years managing John Wayne's 26 Bar Ranch in Arizona, a spread nearly three times as long as the entire community of Burke's Garden.

A few years ago, Marvin and Ella came home. When they returned to Burke's Garden, they had been away more than 40 years. "This little place that we live on has been in my family since 1813," Marvin says. "My roots go pretty deep here. When we bought this land off my dad in 1968, it was more or less an insurance policy for us. We knew that someday we would come back."

Marvin has no regrets. When he returned to Burke's Garden, he built a house on the old homeplace with a big picture window that lets the valley come inside. As he thoughtfully admires the view, he pushes his tattered cowboy hat back, revealing a thatch of white hair. "Most people work for money, and I didn't," he says. "If I had to do it all over again, and I was young enough, I would. I enjoyed every day of it, but this is a good place to end up."