Married to the soil in Abingdon VA

Heather here, riding the community garden high.

This week has not held a lot of interaction with participants, other than a few more garden maps and crop quality surveys I've received in the mail. At our last workshop we went over crop rotation and garden mapping and planning, and I gave each participant a stamped envelope and a piece of graph paper, asking them to map their gardens and mail me the design. I will be visiting some more gardens tomorrow as well, and hopefully collecting more pictures and video footage.

It rained so much for so long that the soil is just beginning to dry out today. Consequently, we spent today weeding and mulching pathways. It is definitely one of the more pleasurable things in life to see a well-weeded pathway.

I thank our steadfast volunteer, Nora, for this. It was pretty out of control before!

We found a few baseball bats--little guys that took off with all the rain:

In other news, our watermelon patch is still going strong. The third succession is sprouting up. Watermelon seeds are so funny looking!

Cotyledon--the embryonic leaves. Our 3rd succession is coming right along...will we get melons before it gets too frosty? Will covering with reemay help? Will the melons suddenly learn to love the cold? Only time will tell. 

 I've been reading up on different ways to use the rind and seeds...in some countries such as India and the Philippines people have traditionally sprinkled the seeds on baked goods or made a sweet melon seed paste, and used the rinds in anyway imaginable..I'm going to look more into it and see if any of these recipe ideas might be keepers...I love the idea of using the whole entire fruit but am not sure if I'd want to eat a fried melon rind or a melon rind salad...maybe. When I first started googling the idea I came across some potentially useful information:

Why cant you eat the black seeds in watermelon?

• 

  Get out of here baby cuke! This is about watermelon! Oh well, you're cute. And pokey. 
• Juliaaaa...
  

  you definitly can.
  it just isnt as good for your body.
  it pushes your digestive to work harder to digest them if you have to many.
  they are chewy and not to apitizing.
  they really wont grow a watermellon in your belly.
  so you can eat them,
  its just a all around better choice not to!

  Source(s):

  my brain!

  • 4 years ago
  • Report Abuse

  0% 0 Votes
• Enicma31...

  you can. however, it may not be very comfortable because it will cause you to grow a watermelon in your belly. no one wants that. your best bet is to spit them out... unless you like to live dangerously...

  • 4 years ago
  • Report Abuse

I haven't decided if I want to live dangerously or not.

I better decide soon though because the melons are taking over!

Our 1st Succession. The Second Succession you can kind of see right next to it. 

Well, that's all for now all you wonderful growers and plant appreciators. 

Henderson Settlement/ White Oak Happenings ~ Jackie Waldroop

Baked Tomatoes and herbs for Tomatoe Confit

If you were visiting here at the settlement yesterday you would have heard the sounds of children laughing, sweet music playing and smelled the aroma of Tomatoes cooking.

We had several events happening at the same time, our outreach department had their annual Back To School Blast, the children had a blast playing on the slip and slide,winning at games, eating cotton candy, and receiving new backpacks and school supplies. While the children were having fun , their parents were given the opportunity to take part in Grow Appalachia's latest class presented by Kristin Smith from the Whitley County Extension Office. The class was titled, "Preserving the taste of Summer".  Kristin brought several different kinds of  HeirloomTomatoes for the participants to try,
she brought, Black Cherry, Sungold, Lightbulb, and Cherry Midget tomatoes.
Some of the tomatoes were especially juicey, as I found out when I bit into one and juice squirted all over me and the four year old standing in front of me. OH BOY!, I thought I was in trouble with the four year old but he just looked at me and started laughing.

Herbs used in the Tomatoes Confit and  Pesto

Some of the class

June, Jill and Sarah help Kristin

Helping to make Tomatoes Confit

  

Trying different types of Tommy Toes 

Kristin sharing Tomatoes

TOMATOES CONFIT

1.Start with 2 pounds of tomatoes (Heirloom are best!).

2.Wash and dry them, then slice them in half. Pour enough decent quality olive oil in the baking dish so that it just covers the bottom of the dish, somewhere between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup.

3. Sprinkle in coarse salt and freshly-ground black pepper, add a few branches of thyme and /or a few sprigs of rosemary. Then line the bottom of the baking dish with the tomatoes, slicedside down. Don't be bashful; it's ok to really pack them in.

4. Peel and slice 3 or 4 garlic cloves, slice them in half lengthwise and tuck them between tomatoes. Springle the tomatoes with a bit moe salt and a small sprinkling of sugar (less than 1 teaspoon) and add a few bay leaves.

5. Bake the tomatoes in a 350 degree oven until they are soft and cooked throughout (a paring knife should pierce them easily), which should take at least 45 min.

6. Once they're soft, remove, remove them from the oven and let stand until room temperature. You can scrape the tomatoes and jucies and herbs into a container and refrigerate them for up to 4 or 5 days or use them right away. They will actually improve as they sit.

7.Use them to toss into pasta, slightly chopped, pizza or to start a tomatoe sauce.



Children hard at work too.

Hello! It’s Annie from the Big Ugly Community.

Our Summer Camp children have been very busy this week. Their gardens are doing very well and some of the children are very amazed at the results they are seeing. Bob Baber attended our Summer Camp and taught an art class. The children learned how to make murals and they turned out great! They are being displayed at the Community Center.

The week of July 16^th was Music Camp for our children. They learned how to play different musical instruments and write songs. On Friday the children showed off their talent by performing for their parents and the community. They did an extraordinary job and we are so very proud of them.

David Roberts from the WV University Extension for Families & Health came to the Community Center and held a workshop for Grow Appalachia on canning. We learned how to can green beans. He also shared a delicious recipe for peach and apple salsa. We learned a lot, and we thank you Mr. Roberts.

We finally received some much needed rain and it is really showing in our gardens. I now have tomato plants that are five feet tall! The cherry tomatoes fall off the vine when I walk by. Wow! They are delicious! I have visited several gardens in our community. I am impressed with what I have seen; beans, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, and more! Everyone is so excited and love that they have others to share their experiences and results with.

Sunflowers!

Grant Barto, one of our friends from the Appalachian Early Childcare Center, gets excited as his Grow Appalachia sunflower bursts into bloom.  Grant got sunflower seeds like the rest of the daycare kids when we shared songs and stories of gardening with them a few weeks ago.

Jammin' to the Oldies - Cowan Community Center

       This past week Grow Appalachia participants came together at the Cowan Community Center to learn safe and tasty jam canning practices from our resident canning expert, Liz Ison.  Many women, and a husband and son, showed up early in the morning to take on mountains of peaches, strawberries, raspberries and wine berries (a special berry picked by one of our friends up at the Letcher County Extension Office).  With the peaches, raspberries, and strawberries, we made traditional canned jam, setting up an assembly line once our fruit/pectin/sugar concoction was all boiled to put it all in jars and seal them up.  With the wine berries however, we made freezer jam.  The jam was essentially made the same way as canned jam but instead of canning it, we put it in freezer safe plastic containers which can be kept in the freezer and removed whenever you are in the mood for some biscuits and jam.

       In just over three hours, our group made sixty-some jars of jam, sending it home with everybody who came to help and distributing it to some of our older and less mobile participants up and down Cowan.  In addition, everybody who came by got to take home some pectin, jars, and biscuit formula so they could recreate our enormous production in their own kitchens.  One of our participants brought back supplies for her daughter to make peach jam with; she said that her daughter had several children who would love to help out with the canning process and speed things up for her.  Many hands do make light work, as we discovered that day!

Nell Fields

         One of our less sugary treats for the day was the chance to hear Nell Fields speak to the group.  Nell Fields works with a local non-profit called Faith Moves Mountains, which works primarily through the established church communities in Letcher County to implement healthful living programs.  Part of a partnership with the University of Kentucky, heir programs aim to research and understand how Kentuckians make decisions about their health, and to encourage healthier decisions.  The three main programs in operation now seek to address three things: smoking cessation, cancer screening, and healthy energy-balanced lifestyles.  Nell spoke to us primarily about smoking cessation, and the programming that Faith Moves Mountains has available to individuals who are interested in quitting.  Through the Cooper Clayton Smoking Cessation program, individuals have free access to motivational videos and patches, and Nell advocated the health benefits of attending these lectures and quitting smoking, and offered the resources of the organization to anybody who had a desire to stop smoking.  It was lovely having our very own participant spread the word about available resources to improve health in the county in a setting that was comfortable, intimate, and casual.

To learn more, go to their website!  Faith Moves Mountains

Salsa at the Breaks Interstate Park

Cowan Community Center - Salsa on the River!

Follow the link above to see our first video, featuring hiking, a beautiful river, and some delicious, homemade, Grow Appalachia salsa!

GARDEN VISITS

Hi, this is Marsha from the Project Worth/Grow AppalachiaGardening program.  My husband, Alex and I spent the last week visiting all the other gardens in our program.  Some were small and some were large.  There were as many different types of gardens as there were families.  Most of the gardens were very lovely and producing.  Some of our gardeners were disappointed in their yield due to the hot, dry weather we have been having for the past few weeks.  We have had some rain lately, so, we hope that things will be better for our gardens. 

                                                                                             

We took a lot of pictures of the gardens.  We plan to share some of these pictures with you on the blog.  Garden plants are many different colors, sizes and shapes.  I enjoy looking at them and taking pictures of them.  The participants are proud of their gardens and seem pleased to show them to us.

One of the gardens is especially beautiful and unusual.  The gardener placed horse manure and hay on the ground in the fall and then planted in it in the spring.  He didn’t even use a tiller or plow.  His garden had paths to each crop.  He has all colors of plants in his garden.  He has rocks stacked to make sculptures of sorts to make the garden more pleasing to the eye.  He is very proud and pleased with his garden and has told us to come to look at any time.  He is growing beans, potatoes, garlic, polk, ginseng and many other crops.  I was very impressed with his work.

Please find below photos of the gardens we visited this week.

April Clifford's Garden

April Clifford's Garden

                                                                         

                          April Clifford' Garden

 
Hackney-Simmons Garden Garden

                                                    Hackney-Simmons Garden Garden

                                                                     

                                           Hackney-Simmons Garden Garden

 
Lyndon & Rachel Chaney's Garden

                                                  Lyndon & Rachel Chaney's Garden

                                                                          

                                                Lyndon & Rachel Chaney's Garden

 
Patty Johnson's Garden

Patty Johnson's Garden

                                                                        

                                                 Patty Johnson's Garden

 
Willie Slone's Garden

Willie Slone's Garden

                                                                         

                                        Willie Slone's Garden

 
Jerry Redden's Garden

Jerry Redden's Garden

                                                                     

                                         Jerry Redden's Garden

I hope you enjoyed viewing these photos as much as we enyoyed taking them.  This week's recipe is listed below.  Hope everyone has a great week in their garden.

Parmesan Potatoes

4 medium potatoes (with skins), thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced and seperated into rings

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic power or garlic bulb chopped fine

Place half the potatoes in a greased, 8"x8" square baking dish.

Top with onion and remaining potatoes; drizzle with butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan chees, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Bake uncovered, at 450' for aprox. 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and tender.

Makes 4 servings.

Gloria Williams

Note:  I submit these recipes as given to me.  Please feel to substitute healthy ingredients whenever possible.  Please be sure to let me know what ingredients you would substitute.