collards, asparagus, berries and lots more—including herbs from the herb garden and eggs laid by her flock of hens. This, plus the goods collected from other area farmers (such as Young) turn into menus that sound not pedantic but delicious—not to mention environmentally sound, full of organic and wild meats, sustainable fishes and local cheeses.

The view from Billand’s glassed-in restaurant is stunning. While eating a five-course meal of wild meats and greens and strawberry rhubarb shortcakes, diners look out over the Potomac River toward Maryland. And if you go back to the farm itself, just past the blueberries, you’ll see West Virginia.

And Now for Something
Completely Different

Bear Garden Farms is in Capon Bridge, W. Va., on the Cacapon River, about 90 minutes from D. C. It is owned by Terrie and Greg Reynolds, who moved to the farm from Colorado and Texas, respectively, about three and a half years ago, when Greg’s job took them to the area. The couple brought an old dog, Posa, with them—a dog that wasn’t allowed inside the house and that got lonely outside. Terrie wasn’t sure what to do, until she saw an ad on TV for alpacas.

“Greg resisted and resisted,” she says. “When we got to our first alpaca farm, he didn’t look at the alpacas. He looked at my face.”

“I knew,” says Greg, before heading out to repair some fences on their large, alpaca-filled farm.

About nine months after they moved to the farm, the couple bought their starter alpacas from another West Virginia farm. They kept buying—and breeding and selling—and aren’t exactly sure how many alpacas they have now.

“If I think I have 10, I’m OK,” Terrie says. “If I think I’ve got 45 or 50, I get overwhelmed.”

Terrie gets out of being overwhelmed by selling alpacas to her neighbors and to other people who stop by the farm, lured by the sign. One neighbor bought his wife a pair of alpacas to keep as pets; another bought some alpacas to keep up the road at a new bed and breakfast, the Good Time Ridge Alpaca Farm. A neighbor bought a pair of alpacas so that she could knit with their fleece. Alpacas don’t produce a tremendous amount of

fleece, 10 pounds per year or so at most, but a pair of alpacas makes just enough fleece to keep a home knitter happy.

Or you could just buy a sweater. The Reynolds’ have a shop full of alpaca goods—sweaters, blankets, socks and scarves.

Posa the dog, incidentally, now sleeps inside.

Below: pan-seared
salmon-beet risotto,
wilted greens
and carrot frites.
Bottom: Green
tomato, mozzarella
and basil salad with
Parmesan tuile.
All from Patowmack
Farm.