Why we love this work we do: BDVP

Just wanted to share a sweet testimony from a client at shelter.   She is a powerful woman who is thoughtful, well-spoken and very grounded in her faith.  This woman was able to participate in our work stipend program for a week before finding an employment opportunity in her field.  She and her child have been an inspiration to me and it has really been a blessing to witness a liitle piece of their journey!  Hearing stories like this are what make me so thankful to have the opportunity to do this work! These stories also make me a little misty eyed :) 
                                                                                        -Jessica



"What can I say about the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Project? Since I arrived at the beautiful forty acre campus the experience has invigorated the essence of my soul.  The exodus from my eight year captivity leads me to liken the facility to a type of 'paradise'.  My many tears Yah has collected in his glass have been balanced with joy and pain.  I began to see a transition from the latter to the former as I embarked on a quest to self-dscovery through participation in a host of programs and groups offered by BDVP.

Time was the most precious gift I received from the program: Time to study my bible and fellowship with loved ones, allowing me to draw nearer to Yah and grow in my faith.  Time to explore my creative niche and unearth talents I was unaware I had.  Time to delve into heart issues, some that had craftily permeated my being.  Finally, time to restore order to my life and the life of my precious baby boy.  By the way, he has determined he never wants to leave the 'Gate House', as he calls it.

The highlight of BDVP for me is the garden.  I was able to contribute briefly through the stipend program that provided the program participants the opportunity to earn some income, while learning to give back to the earth.  It was a place of safety for me, my temple, where I went to meet Yah, my place of Shalom!  Although I still have a meager knowledge of gardening, I have an appreciation of  the life there is outside of what we breathe and the love and the diligence that is necessary to sustain it.  I was able to harvest some of the healing herbs grown and use them to make lotions and oils and facial scrubs.  I also witnessed how to blanch and freeze many of the vegetables, as well as how to create great recipes.  All I can say is it was a real honor and a blessing to be part of something greater than myself.

To the staff, I pray Yah's blessings, may He prosper the program richly and increase what it lacks.  I have no doubt that He brought me to BDVP to rescue me and to fulfill His promise that I would have life and have it more abundantly!  To Him I give all praise, glory, and honor for allowing such a program to come to fruition."
                                                                                                    With Love,
                                    (to protect confidentiality her name will not be posted)

                                                           

Hoop Dreams ~by Erica at High Rocks

 

One of our first time gardeners, Clay, is jumping through hoops to grow as many vegetables as possible.  Clay grew up in Pocahontas County, WV, graduated from college, lived in Korea, and has moved back with a plan to coax food out of his home soil all year long. 

He hosted an old-fashioned barn-raising this weekend, with a new twist.  His friends and neighbors came out to put up the skeleton for a hoop style high-tunnel.  Inspired by Eliot Coleman’s The Winter Harvest Handbook, and his parents’ successful homesteading ways, Clay (on the yellow ladder) intends to grow greens during our Zone 4 winter.   And, he intends to do it without electricity on his site.  This summer, he built a rain collection system for the roof of a nearby barn for the high tunnel. 

Having fresh greens in the winter is a big deal for people in the Hillsboro area as the nearest grocery stores are a long, twisty drive away.   He hopes to market his produce to area restaurants and families. 

Late Summer Peppers ~ Pine Mountain, Kathleen Powers

     Despite the tough growing conditions this summer it seems that many gardeners are getting a good late summer pepper crop, we have recently been seeing lots of pretty bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot green peppers, bright red jalapenos, and more!

    Many gardeners in Grow Appalachia grow peppers and I’m sure they have just as many wonderful ways to prepare them, however I know how easy it is to get in a rut with the way you use your fresh vegetables, and then before long you just get fed up with them all together. Peppers are easy to preserve (just chop them any way you want and stick them in the freezer), and this is always an option if you find you just can’t eat any more this summer, but there are also many delicious and relatively simple ways to prepare them fresh from the garden.

Maggie with some of the gorgeous
peppers given to us by GA participants

     My favorite way to eat bell peppers is simply to roast them on high heat and eat them; hot, cold, in pasta, on sandwiches, mixed with other fresh produce (corn, tomatoes, onions, etc.), or just by themselves.

      

Roasted bell peppers

1. Cut peppers into large chunks (slice 1 pepper into quarters), remove seeds and ribs.

2. Coat peppers generously in olive oil and spread on a tinfoil lined baking sheet.

3. Roast in a 425° oven for about 45 minutes (just keep on eye on the peppers and take them out when they are a bit blackened and quite soft).

4. After they have roasted put them in a sealed container for 15 mins. Once they are cool enough to handle slip off the skins and discard them (I don’t bother with this step, I think the blackened skin actually tastes good).

Roasted peppers will keep for several weeks in a sealed container in the fridge, or you can freeze them for later use!

• For those of you who like pickled veggies you can also do a quick pickle of your roasted peppers.
• Here is a link that David Cooke provided several months with a whole slew of peppers recipes that use a few simple ingredients each and can be prepared quickly.
• And here is a great looking stuffed pepper recipe.

Dried Cayennes also make
for great kitchen decor

Hot peppers can be roasted and added to many dishes, they can also easily be frozen, canned, or strung and hung to dry.

• Last year Maggie made a great Jalapeno pepper jelly, this link is the Ball Blue Book recipe reposted by a food blogger.
• You can also find many recipes for salsa, hot pepper sauce, and relish that use up lots of hot peppers.

So enjoy your peppers this summer (fall, already?), and if you have any great pepper recipes let us know, we always love to try something new!

Henderson Settlement/ White Oak Happenings

 Henderson Settlement Farmers Market, the weather and loss of crops has caused a low turn out both for customers and vendors. However we plan to continue for a few more weeks with the Farmers Market.


Charles and his wife
 

 
 Charles is one of our gardeners from White Oak, his garden did not produce enough vegetables to sell, so he brought his carvings to the Farmers' Market.

Okra

Grow Appalachia Club at Red Bird Mission School

Week One:  It was not “business as usual” for the fifth and ninth graders at Red Bird Mission School.  For them, it was pulling weeds and preparing the raised beds for late summer planting.  Mrs. Smallwood’s students partnered up to students in Ms. Gordon’s class for our new Grow Appalachia Club at Red Bird Mission School.  Weeds were flying.  Dirt was flying (on my head incidentally) and all were getting their hands dirty with the nature that the Lord has created. 

Week Two: Karen Dial, Grow Appalachia Coordinator, brought a sack full of a variety of seeds for planting.  The students planted cabbage, beans, peas, beets, lettuce, carrots, squash and onions.  They wanted to plant corn, but Karen told them it was a bit late for that. 

The students showed an interest in planting experimental vegetables after this harvest, such as tomatoes, bell peppers and garlic.  Did you know that garlic is in the daffodil family? I just learned that and thought I’d throw that in. We are looking forward to our Friday meetings and keeping updated on the garden.  This week we will be learning gardening terminology.

Pictures are forthcoming.  It is so fun working with eager youth.  What a blessing.  God bless you all and Happy Planting!

Karen Dial-Red Bird Mission

TACO PIZZA FOR LUNCH

Hello everyone.  This is Alex from Project Worth Outreach in Menifee County, Kentucky.  Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

This past week we had one of our Grow Appalachia Gardening participant's volunteer to come to the office and fix us a taco pizza for lunch.  I have never had one.  It was absolutely delicious.

The ingredients for this pizza are 1.5 lb. ground beef, 2 tubes pie crust, 1 large jar pizza sauce, l bag shredded cheese, lots of lettuce and tomatoes (grown in the Dehart garden) and any other toppings you want to put on it.  First, you brown and drain your ground beef and then you take a large cookie sheet and spread out the crust to cover as much of the cookie sheet as possible.  Next, spread the pizza sauce over the crust as evenly as possible.  Now it's time to spread the ground beef over the crust and sauce.  Place in oven and bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.  Next remove from oven and top with lots of letuce and tomatoes and any other toppings that you wish.  Guaranteed delicious.  It's amazing how much better vegetetables are when they are home grown.

The names of our Grow Appalachia Garden participant are Paul and Joni Dehart.  I want to take this time to thank the Deharts for sharing this recipe and showing me how to make a Taco pizza.  It was a fun and tasty lesson.  I have invited him back anytime he wishes to give me a cooking lesson.

That's about all I have for today.  I hope everyone has a great week.  I know I will as long as I can get my report in to David on time.

Spotlight on Gardener Tony in Abingdon, VA

Heather here--

Feeling pretty visually inclined today. Tony, one of our gardeners, was kind enough to share his pictures with me of his family's gardening adventures. They really make me happy because that's what the program is all about--families working outside on something they care about, taking care of themselves, learning, growing, and preserving. Tony is disabled and not able to work. His extensive gardening meets much of his family's food needs. His three children all help out in the garden.

 And as a professionally trained chef and commercial kitchen organizer, he is a whiz with the preserving his produce in the most delicious and efficient way possible, and is kind enough to share his ideas with us and other participants. We are very grateful to get to work with such wonderful people.

Tony's daughter.

Tony's son.

Harvesting tomatoes for sauce.

Little greenhouse nook where the magic happens.

Two beautiful tomatoes from the garden.

Harvesting corn. 

Freezing corn.

Sauce making.

 In other news, we have gained a few more volunteers in the garden and hope they continue to come help out regularly. We've ordered cover crop seed and will be doing a "Putting your garden to bed" workshop mid-September.

That's it, that's all.