Table Talk The Parish in Hernando

winging north on their spring migration. As summer approaches, bee balm, purple coneflowers, blazing star, blunt-toothed mountain mint, and Joe Pye Weed bring in butterflies and bumble bees. “While people aren’t usually crazy about autumn’s goldenrod and think of it as a weed, it’s a vital part of the pollinator food chain,” she says. “Think about other fall-blooming flora, like ironweed and sunflowers. Not only do they produce pollen, those fertilized flowers turn into seeds that ensure more plants in coming years, and sustenance for wildlife.”

Celebrating Hummingbirds Strawberry Plains hosts its annual festival, the 21st Annual Hummingbird Migration and Nature Celebration, on the weekend of Sept. 11-12. While its main purpose is to educate the public about the fall hummingbird migration, the celebration offers much more. Other activities at the event include animal shows, nature-themed arts and crafts vendors, and a chance to view ruby-throated hummers up close. The autumn native plant sale encourages visitors to expand their home landscapes with pollinator and bird-friendly plants. “This is the peak time for the hummingbird migration in our area,” Green says. “We’ll have vendors selling arts and crafts, speakers, exhibitions, a native plant sale in our nursery area, as well as researchers banding and collecting data on hummingbirds both days. It’s a great opportunity to purchase native plants best suited for our local landscape to attract a wide variety of pollinators. And the data collected through the capture and banding of the hummingbirds adds to more than 15 years of research of hummingbird migration habits through our region.” The small metal bands fitted around one of their legs are inscribed with unique identification numbers, so that if that bird is ever recaptured, information about when and where it was originally banded, its age at the time, and other biological measurements can be accessed through an international database. Each year there are a few recaptures from previous years, proving that if the proper habitat is available they will return to the same areas year after year.

Bring Pollinators to Your Landscape Creating a pollinator habitat in your own landscape can be a fun way to help nature. Green suggests starting with native plants, those that are indigenous to your area.

“When considering plants for your landscape, aim to provide a combination that covers every season,” Green says. “Plant a mixture of nectar-producing plants and those heavy with pollen so that you’ll attract a range of pollinators. We strongly recommend focusing on native plants to attract pollinators.” Perennials, such as rudbeckia, tickseed, milkweeds, and lobelias give back big rewards, coming back each year. Some reseed themselves; others resprout from last year’s roots. For a vertical attractor, grow trumpet vines, cross vines, or natives like coral honeysuckle. Shrubs like American beautyberry, hollies, and huckleberries may have small flowers, but they produce berries to feed birds and wildlife. Include some fragrant flowers in the landscape, such as native mints and scarlet or blue sage, which can attract pollinators to your garden. And to ensure that your vegetable garden brings in bees, butterflies, and other insects to pollinate your beans, tomatoes, and squash, planting a few brightly colored annuals, albeit nonnative, like marigolds, or zinnias can be helpful. Pollinators are important in so many ways, consider how to invite them into the landscape. Not only are they beautiful to look at, they’re working hard to ensure the continuation of plants, wildlife, and human food sources.

strawberry.audubon.org

Atlanta-based journalist Pamela A. Keene is a master gardener and photographer who enjoys getting up close to pollinators in her landscape with her camera. This year, she added annuals to her food gardens and saw a marked increase in her harvest of heirloom tomatoes and blueberries.

Miles McMath

The Parish in Hernando

By Karen Ott Mayer | Photography courtesy of Adam Mitchell and The Parish

Miles McMath pays homage to Louisiana seafood and rural dishes in his new Hernando restaurant, The Parish.

For anyone who has lived in North Mississippi for the last 20 years, the name Miles McMath means only one thing: good food. And not just any kind of food, but culinary traditions that are as rooted in the land as he is in the kitchen. Raised in Alabama, McMath has never strayed from his Southern roots. He’s forged his career running several area restaurants in North Mississippi and Memphis, including managing the entire kitchen at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for a decade. In earlier days, he was instrumental in setting up Pearl’s Oyster House in Memphis and worked at Brennan’s in New Orleans. Most recently, McMath assumed managing Junior’s in Hernando, a well renowned meat-andthree establishment that has built a loyal following that never abated throughout 2020 and continues strong today. “The plate lunch idea for Junior’s came from the Big Star in Hernando,” McMath says. “Everyone used to go there for those lunches.” McMath’s latest endeavor is The Parish Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Hernando. While Junior’s menu is firmly rooted in a traditional southern style, The Parish reflects the best of rural Louisiana and McMath’s personal enthusiasm. Fresh coastal seafood is brought in daily, including crab claws, shrimp, fresh fish, and of course, fresh oysters. And then there’s McMath’s rich andouille gumbo roux that resembles chocolate pudding.

“I make it in 10-gallon batches, adding chopped oysters and shrimp,” he says. For the adventurous, fresh turtle soup awaits. McMath doesn’t stop there, however, adding a crème brûlée as a final choice.

“I’ve always loved making crème brûlée,” he says. The oyster bar serves up ice cold raw oysters or chargrilled with butter, sherry, and Romano cheese. Rounding out the menu are soups, salads, catfish plates, seafood platters,