When the weather warms, it’s festival time in the South. And while Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN is the four-day long heavyweight, there are a couple of other options if you don’t feel like camping with 80,000 of your grubbiest friends.

Confession: I tolerate venison. But, if I’m being honest, I’m more intimidated than delighted to have a freezer full of it at the end of deer season. In past years, I’ve had no problem plowing through the ground meat via chili, burgers, and meat sauce. It’s the other cuts that I haven’t quite mastered. However, a couple of weeks ago, we made this Matt and Ted Lee recipe for what are essentially venison fajitas. Now I wish we had even more meat

In August we sent Garden & Gun contributing photographer Jim Herrington on assignment to Morgan Freeman's farm just outside Charleston, Mississippi. Jim has shot several stories for G&G, including Justin Townes Earle, Shannon Whitworth, and Apache Relay. We knew he would come back with fantastic portraits, but one in particular caught our attention.

Yes, a few friends, a well-stocked bar, and something to snack on is all we really need for a good party, but if we’re honest, a stylish space can make all the difference, which is why we love this backyard redo.

Jessie Baylin lives in Nashville but there’s hardly a twang on her wistful, atmospheric new album Little Spark. Steeped in the laid-back sounds of 1970s California with a sprinkling of classic pop and a little blue-eyed soul, Little Spark is that soft-as-a-pillow record you put on late at night (or early morning if that’s your thing). Here the New Jersey native talks about making Grandma proud and how she won over her rock star husband.

Not that long ago, first aid kits and tackle boxes were about the only ready-made rigs on the market. Now, there’s a customized (and compact!) collection for every person and scenario imaginable. From tool rolls to cocktail sets to travel essentials, here is a selection of the coolest new kits on the block (including one seriously stylish rescue pack for old times' sake)

In the last two weeks I’ve hunted ducks in Arkansas (three times) and Louisiana (twice), and the action at the two spots was far from fast and furious. 

Here are the top shows this weekend throughout the South.

Between April and December, the highlight of each week is picking up my bag of farm-fresh CSA produce from the folks at Rosebank Farm in Johns Island, SC. Before I even get back to the car, I’m rummaging and sniffing around to see what I have to work with. Then I call my husband to describe the loot (he pretends, at least, to be as excited about bok choy as I am). Although the farmer’s market and CSA season is done, I’m making a serious effort to continue cooking with as much fresh in-season produce as possible. This week’s obsession is sweet, earthy turnips

To say chef Marcus Samuelsson been “busy” in the last few years is akin to saying William Faulkner “wrote some stuff.” At 24-years-old, Chef Marcus Samuelsson was the youngest chef ever to receive three stars from the New York Times. The James Beard Foundation attached the accolade of “Best International Cookbook” to his 2006 African-inspired title, The Soul of a New Cuisine, and he served as the guest chef at the first state dinner held by the Obama administration in 2009. In 2010, Samuelsson won BRAVO’s hit cooking show Top Chef Masters, and simultaneously opened his Harlem Soul Food restaurant, Red Rooster. The secret to success at Red Rooster, however, has not been in the sauce, but rather in The South.