December at Pine Mountain- Pine Mountain, Kathleen Powers

              The first official day of winter is December 21^st, and up until the last few days that seemed to be holding true here at Pine Mountain. We have had several days in the 60’s these past few weeks and though the nights are cold, it really just hadn't truly felt like winter until Wednesday when the rain finally turned to snow for a short bit (I may be biased seeing as I am a Minnesota native). Maggie and I went out to check the lettuce in both of our gardens on Monday, and despite numerous frosts and lots of rain the lettuce that has been covered with row covers is still alive, looking well, and tasty to boot.

One of many takes of tree planting

Digging a hole for the blueberry bushes

        Several weeks ago we received our fall perennial order of fruit trees, berry bushes and grape vines that we distributed to participants at the last Grow Appalachia meeting of the year. Over the past few weeks we have all been planting our trees and feeling thankful that we could work outside in short sleeves rather than trying to shovel snow and frozen soil to get our plants in the ground. During Thanksgiving week we even had the excitement of a film crew taping one of our participants plant her blueberries and serve Thanksgiving dinner. As I’m sure some of you already know John Paul Dejoria is being featured in a documentary film that will debut in February 2012. The movie, Choice Point, is about people who actively work towards change in their communities and throughout the world. The movie focuses on these “visionaries” who range from business men, to doctors, to famous athletes, and the work that they have done. The Choicepoint website describes these visionaries saying that “Through this movie  their voices offer a profound message of hope as a pattern emerges that empowers each of us to be the change- to make the choices that can not only transform ourselves, but also the world around us.” We were thrilled that the filmmakers wanted to come to Pine Mountain and hear about our program and we are hopeful that when the movie debuts it will shed a good light on Grow Appalachia as a whole!

Maggie and Valerie, who will both be in the documentary!

                In other news we have recently been in the process of deconstructing an old greenhouse in London to use for some of our Grow Appalachia participants in Harlan County. The greenhouse is a 25 X 60 foot high tunnel that was used at the old Mink’s Nursery. Because it is a large greenhouse we hope to separate it into several sections so that multiple families can have small greenhouses on their property to experiment with starting crops earlier in the season and growing throughout the winter. Had it not been for Wayne Riley, the Grow Appalachia coordinator for Laurel County African American Heritage Center, we would not have had this opportunity to get a relatively inexpensive greenhouse which will be a great asset to our program. Wayne not only let us know that the greenhouse was for sale, but he also helped us to deconstruct the entire frame and haul it back to Pine Mountain. After our first trip to check out the greenhouse Maggie and I talked about how great it was to be able to collaborate with other Grow Appalachia leaders and how much we would all benefit from knowing each other and communicating about our respective programs throughout the year. Hopefully sometime in the near future we can all get together and share the successes and challenges of Grow Appalachia!

I hope December is treating you all as well as it is us here at Pine Mountain

Check out the documentary here: http://choicepointmovie.com/

Appalachian Garden Folklore :Chad Brock Red Bird Mission

In the mountains of Appalachia it is said to be bad luck to say thank you if you ever receive cuttings or plants as a gift. The plant will not thrive. (I have also heard this said about sneezing. If somebody blesses you, never say thank you. You will kill a fairy. This is just one of many old folklore tells handed down from generation to generation. A lot of these folklores pertain to gardening. This was a way of life for many Appalachians and was taken very seriously. Thier lives depended on thier gardens producing well . Some of these  are just that “tales”. But some seem to work. 

•  Dreaming of thorns is bad luck.
• Tomatoes should be planted on Memorial Day.
• It's good luck to steal herbs. (what?) 
• A snowy winter portends a good year for crops. 
• After planting a hill of beans, press the soil with your foot for good luck.
• Planting peppers when you're mad, makes the peppers grow hotter.
• If 2 people's hoes hit together, they will work in the same field next year.
• Trees that bloom twice in one year will have a bad crop.
• If you spit in your hands when cutting wood-you'll have good luck.
• Don't plant your garden until the oak leaves are the size of mouse ears.
• Always plant your potatoes on Good Friday.
• Plant your greenbeans on Good Friday.
• Anything planted on the first day of Spring will live.
• Bury nails around the roots of Hydrangea to make the blooms blue.

• To keep crows from bothering your garden, kill one and hang it nearby.

• If you find a horse shoe-you should hang it in the nearest tree for good luck
• Never say thank you if someone shares their flowers or plant cuttings with you-if you do they will die. (I've heard this one my whole life-and man is it hard not to automatically say thank you when someone gives you plants)

Planting in the Signs,

Planting during the right moon phase is easier than it sounds-basically you plant crops that produce their bounty above ground during the Waxing Moon-the time period between the New Moon and the Full Moon. You plant crops that produce below ground during the Waning Moon-the time period between the Full Moon and the New Moon.

Planting in the right Zodiac Sign is a little more complicated.

The sign of Cancer (Crab) is the best over all for planting-coming in a close second is Scorpio (Scorpion), Pisces (Fishes) is also a good sign to plant under.

On the other end of the spectrum Leo (Lion) is the worst time to plant. Other no no planting signs include: Sagittarius (Archer), and Gemini (Twins).
Once you break it down into the different parts-planting by the signs isn't as hard to understand as I thought it would be-getting the weather to cooperate on the 'perfect' planting day may be a different story. If you Google 'how to plant by the signs' there are tons of links that offer very detailed guidelines

 Old Appalachian Garden Remedies

PLANT FEEDS

Silver Sand and Water-Apparently, a mix of silver sand and water, shaken not stirred and then left to settle, will aid to the strength and vitality of vegetables. Added to the watering can, the silica is the key.

CUTTINGS

Cereal Grain-If you plant a cereal grain underneath a cutting, the germination process, exudes rooting hormone, stimulating the cutting.

COMPANION PLANTING

Garlic: Garlic has long been known to have a beneficial effect when planted near others in order to protect from insect attack.

Wild Garlic-  According to old lore, rabbits refuse to cross a boundary planted with wild garlic or ‘Ransomes’.

LUCKY PLANTS

Black-eyed peas- An extremely drought tolerant plant, this legume is traditionally eaten on New Years day in the Southern States of America and in Jewish households, as a bringer of prosperity and good luck. The Southern tradition dictates the meal should be accompanied by beetroot or spinach, leeks, collard and ham or pork – each ingredient indicating a positive bringer of fortune.

Parsley- A herb whose use has long been hailed, yet whose origins have long become lost, it is thought seeds sown on Good Friday, will bring happiness and fortune

PLANTING STRAWBERRIES

Before planting strawberries, dig in a liberal amount of the leaf litter from a conifer forest. Then, once planted, mulch the strawberries with another helping of the pine leaf litter. The flavor is said to be enhanced.

VEGETABLES

A vegetable garden should follow a strict order of rotation. No two similar vegetables should be planted in the same place on the following years.

Beans with Cabbage-  It makes perfect sense for beans to have a positive effect on the production of a leaf vegetable, purely by the virtue of nitrogen storage in the root structure.

MOON LORE

According to moon phase theory, the best time to rid the garden of weeds is in the moons final quarter before the new moon.

DISCOURAGE INSECTS.

Tomato Spray

Shred leaves and stems of plants and mix with water. Pour over hot water and leave to stand for 6 to 8 hrs. This spray actively discourages animals from landing on plants. It is worth testing to see if it also works on rabbits.

Add 1 cup corn meal per gallon of water let set one week then spray on tomatoes to help with blight.

Field Worker,

Chad Brock

Ramps: Untapped Gold of the Appalachians-- Pine Mountain, Kathleen Powers

Last week as Maggie and I walked into the office at Pine Mountain to check our mail, I smelled something strange and somewhat unpleasant. Just as I opened my mouth to comment on this odor Maggie exclaimed “the ramp seed is here!” Despite the fact that the ramp seeds were sealed in plastic bags and mailed in a small box, the smell still spread through the office in just several hours time. So our administrative staff was happy to see the small box with its strange odor leave, but we were excited to be receiving the seed to give to our participants and to plant at the Settlement School!

Ramp seed ready to be planted

            Now, ramps, also known as wild leeks or Allium tricoccom, are widely known for their offensive smell, but they are great for cooking and have numerous health benefits as well. Ramps are in the wild onion family, they have scallion like bulbs, a purple tinted stem, and broad smooth, light green leaves. Ramps are native to the Appalachian region and can either grow wild or be cultivated in damp wooded areas. Ramps are described as having a flavor that is a mixture of onion and garlic and they are high in vitamins C and A. Ramps also contain many other healthful minerals, and have traditionally been used as a cure for the common cold. Recent studies have shown ramps to have cholesterol reducing properties and research is currently being conducted pertaining to possible anti cancer agents that ramps contain.

            David Cooke provided a simple planting guide with the seed that he sent out and I will summarize that here for those of you that are interested. Ramp seed is worth 10 cents per seed, so it is very expensive and well worth your time to plant it if you receive free bags of seed like we did! Ramp seed is also very easy to plant and cultivate. So, first things first the seed should be spread at an average of 24 seeds to the square foot. Find a wooded slope about midway up a hillside that is northeast facing and damp but not extremely wet, then use a rake to pull back leaf litter in a patch as large as you choose. Then spread the seed evenly, walk over it several times to settle it into the soil, and pull the leaf matter back over the area. Voilà, now just mark the patch so that you don’t forget where you planted them and the ramps should sprout after 1-2 years of dormancy.

Maggie raking a spot for our ramp seed

          Once harvested ramps are edible and can be prepared in many different ways. Ramps can be used to replace leeks or onions in any recipe, or can simply be used to add extra flavor to any dish as would onions or garlic. Ramps are traditionally prepared with scrambled eggs or fried potatoes, but can also be eaten raw or added to soup, pasta, sauces, etc. Ramps are also becoming very popular in the restaurant world and many “white table cloth” restaurants will buy ramps for $10-15 per pound. Needless to say, if you can get your hands on some free ramp seed, it really can’t hurt to take the time to plant it!

Thank you to David Cooke and the ramp seed donor for this wonderful opportunity!

Here are several links to ramp related resources:

Various Ramp Recipes: http://north-link.net/cmsakry/1pub/8904mod1.htm

Ramp Pesto Recipe: http://www.amycotler.com/ramp-it-up/

A list of Ramp Festivals throughout the Appalachian region: http://www.richwooders.com/ramp/ramps.htm

Recipes from Red Bird Mission's Grow Appalachia Participant's

This week I have been compiling all of our Recipes from our participants, putting our lending library together, and reviewing 2012 applications. I  have decided to share a couple of these recipes on this blog.

 Chad Brock

Zucchini Bread

       1   ½ cups all purpose flour

1         teaspoon ground cinnamon

½               teaspoon baking soda

½   teaspoon salt

¼   teaspoon baking powder

¼   teaspoon ground nutmeg

1    egg, beaten

1    cup sugar

1    cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini

¼   cup cooking oil

½   cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan; set aside.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, shredded zucchini and oil.  Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Fold in nuts.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.

 Bake 50-55 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove from pan.  Cool completely on a wire rack, then serve.

Herbert Couch

Spicy chili

1 can - Zesty chili style diced tomatoes

1can- whole tomatoes

1 packet- chili seasoning mix

1 small onion diced

1 ½ hot pepper (habanero) devein and deseed

½ green bell pepper, diced

1 Serrano pepper diced

1 can- dark kidney beans

1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey

Brown meat in skillet. Then add onions and peppers and sauté them all together. Drain off grease.

Add to pot with tomatoes and seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat let simmer ten minutes stirring occasionally. Add kidney beans last five minutes. Serve with toppings of Cheese or sour cream

Tracy Nolan

Corn Salad

2 cans- whole kernel corn

½ green pepper, diced

½ red pepper, diced

½ red onion, diced

1 cup of mayonnaise

1 bag of Frito’s chili corn chips

Heat corn and drain well.  Add salt and pepper. Mix peppers, onions.  Stir in mayo.

Crush Frito chili chips up and add to corn salad when ready to eat.

Bessiline Griffin

Small, Limited Resouce, Minority Farmers Conference Chad Brock -- Red Bird Mission

Last Tuesday me and Grow Appalachia participant Richard Mason were given the opportunity to attend the “Small, Limited Resource, Minority Farms Conference” at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. This opportunity was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Clay County Extension Office/Clay County Ag Development Council and Red Bird Mission’s Grow Appalachia and Red Bird Farmers Project programs. We spent two days in tracks learning the many valuable resources available for small farmers in Kentucky. We also had time to speak with other farmers and find out what they were doing with their farms and what kind of problems and successes they have had.  I learned a lot of new ideals for planting and some helpful hints on Farmer’s Markets. We also learned of ways to create income from your forested property from timber improvement grants to cultivating medicinal plants such as Golden seal and Ginseng that can be sold annually.

Small Farmers conference at Kentucky State University

Small Farmers conference at Kentucky State University

 Small Farmers conference at Kentucky State University

 Small Farmers conference at Kentucky State University

Harvest Display on KSU campus

Farmers conference at Kentucky State University

some conference particpants back at the Capital Plaza Hotel

Red Bird Mission Grow Appalachia Field Worker
Chad Brock At Capital Plaza Hotel

Conference Banquet and awards ceremony

Conference Banquet and awards ceremony

Thursday, November 17, 2011, Red Bird Mission held a workshop on Exploring Entrepreneurship for Grow Appalachia participants and members of the Red Bird Farmers Project. The speaker Ian Mooers, is the Executive Director for the Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology at Eastern Kentucky University. He explained what entrepreneurship is and explored real possibilities for some of our farmers.   He discussed recognizing opportunities to start a business and what resources are available and provided participants with handouts on how to develop a business plan.  He encouraged farmers to contact him for an individualized discussion, as these and many more services are free.  He shared information about many of the free services available through the Kentucky Small Business Development Center.  We had twenty five participants come to the workshop which was a pretty good turnout.

To learn more about the EKU Center for Economic Development Entrepreneurship and Technology services go to http://www.cedet.eku.edu/, or contact Ian Mooers at ian.mooers@eku.edu. 

To learn more about the Kentucky Small Business Development Center’s free planning, consulting and training services you can go to http://www.ksbdc.org/ and click “resources”.

Other business resources: MACED http://www.maced.org/   The New Horizons Project provides financing and technical assistance to existing or startup businesses in Kentucky’s 54 Appalachian counties.  The goal is to create employment opportunities for low-income people.

Jeff Casada, the Clay County Extension Ag Agent also shared training and grant opportunities in the County.  There is a grant to assist with registration to the upcoming SSAWG Conference in Arkansas.  He requested feedback from our participants to help develop the next 4 year plan for the Extension office to meet community adult educational needs. Last he discussed that Clay County has been approved for CAIP (County Agriculture Investment Program) funding.  Advertisements will be in the local newspaper soon.

After the work shop we distributed fruit trees to participants who had requested them. Participants were very thankful for the trees and overall well pleased with the workshop.

Jeff Casada Clay County Ag agent

Jeff Casada giving Rodney Caldwell a handout

Ian Mooer

workshop presenter

Workshop Presenter, Ian Mooer and some of our participants

Henry and Georgia Ledford
Grow Appalachia Participants

left:Tracy Nolan ,Director of Community Outreach at Red Bird Mission/Grow Appalchia Technical Support
right: Jeff Casada                                                                                              

Field Worker,
Chad Brock

Pretty in Pink? ~ Pine Mountain, Maggie Ashmore

This past spring I stopped in a local farm supply store to buy more Peaches N’ Cream corn seed for Grow Appalachia families.  As I scanned the shelves for the seed I was looking for, I soon realized that all of the sweet corn seed was bright pink! This startled me, and it took me a minute to figure out why the seed was dyed.

I had forgotten that many seeds are treated with fungicide to help fight disease and increase yield. As a child, my parents conventionally raised corn and soy beans, and I can remember being drawn to the hot pink corn seed. Pink was my favorite color, you see. My parents, however, always kept us kids away from the seed and warned us that it would hurt us if we touched it. Since my parents switched to organic practices when I was pretty young and I have been buying almost all of our Grow Appalachia seed from companies that specialize in open-pollinated, untreated, heirloom seed I had completely forgotten about treated seed.

Warning label on bag of donated seed that I received

After my brief encounter with pink sweet corn seed at the store, I promptly forgot about treated seed again, until some seed was donated to the Pine Mountain Grow Appalachia project from a local mission organization. When I excitedly responded to their offer of free seed with a “Yes” it never occurred to me that the donation would arrive as pink seeds in bags adorned with the skull and cross bones. This thoughtful donation brought up a dilemma for me: should I give out these seeds?  It was absolutely wonderful to receive free seed, but I felt uncomfortable giving families something with a poison label. On the other hand, it felt wrong to throw away a generous donation that would produce food. Should I portray Grow Appalachia as a project that gives out treated seed?

How to know if you seed is treated:

• You can recognize chemically treated seed because, by law, the seed must be dyed
• The kinds of seed that are normally treated with one or more pesticides are corn, peanuts, cotton, sorghum, wheat, oats, rye, barley, millet, soybeans and most vegetable seed

So why are seeds treated in the first place? Seeds may be treated with fungicide to prevent seed problems such as:

• Seeds rotting before they germinate
•  The rotting on seedling stems near the ground and water soaking on seedling tissue (damping-off and seedling blight)
• Seedling wilt (gray coloration starting at the leaf tips and extending rapidly to the whole leaf, causing complete collapse of seedlings in 24 to 28 hours).
• Rotting of seedling roots

Alternatively, some seeds may be treated with insecticides to keep beetles and moths from feeding on seeds.

Additional reasons why farmers use treated seed:

• Treating seed has the potential to lower the environmental impact of conventional farming since pesticide treatments are applied directly to the seed, and the chemicals do not drift over a field.
• Seeds and seedlings are generally more vulnerable to diseases and insects than mature plants. Applying treatments to seeds allows pesticides to be present when needed most.
• Seed treatments are relatively easy and cheap to apply compared to broadcast sprays.

Disadvantages of treating seed:

• Coats the seed with synthetic fungicides, such as with the chemical Captan. Captan is a pesticide found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Although banned in 1990, an exception was made for some specific crops, and for its use as a seed treatment.
• Inhalation of aerosols and skin contact with seed treatments must be prevented in the seed treatment process. Do not breathe dust or fumes from treated seed or allow it to get in your eyes or on your skin.
• Accidental poisoning. Treated seed looks like food to some animals. Hungry livestock that find carelessly handled treated seed will probably eat it. Birds, such as pheasants or quail, may consume spilled treated seed. Even young children may find and eat improperly stored treated seed.
•   Treated seed also makes me feel under the control of large seed companies. Too many growers are dependent on patented seed and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. I believe that we need to focus on using as few external inputs on the farm/garden that we can.  

There are organic ways to prevent seed disease and increase yields:

• Natural seed treatment and root growth promoters formulated with macro and micro nutrients, amino acids, organic acids, root growth stimulants, enzymes, proteins, vitamins minerals and beneficial microbes.
•  Buy certified seed, which is checked for the presence of certain seed borne diseases.
• Practice crop rotation which reduces the populations of many insects and pathogens that survive in soil or crop residue.
•  Maintaining appropriate soil fertility can reduce disease pressure. The lack of micronutrients, such as chloride, and an excess of major nutrients, such as nitrogen, can favor certain diseases.
•   Planting crops around the correct date decreases the severity of some root rots, certain insects, and some insect-borne viruses.
• Soaking seed in hot water can eliminate fungi and bacteria that cause common diseases. Be sure to look up correct procedures before attempting this to avoid damaging your seed.

Ok, so I bet you are wondering what I decided to do with the donated, treated seed. I gave out most of the seed to Grow Appalachia families and other community families, and then I disposed of the rest, instead of storing it over this winter for use next year.  I did not think I could throw free food away, but I will ask in the future whether the seed is treated when organizations offer to make donations to the program. As a program focused on sustainable agriculture and organic growing, I would like to avoid the distribution of treated seed (even if it is free).

Sources:

http://pest.ca.uky.edu/PSEP/Manuals/4-SeedTreatment.pdf

http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PEST/docs/pdf/seedstudy.pdf?ga=t

Tool Care for Winter Storage -- Pine Mountain, Kathleen Powers

       As most all of our participants’ gardens have been cleared off and planted with cover crop for the season, we have been focusing on cleaning and preparing for the winter. After several hours spent sweeping, organizing, and generally tidying up our storage room we decided it was time to clean all of our hand tools and put them to bed for the season. Over the past few years the coordinators of PMSS Grow Appalachia have made a point of purchasing good quality tools that will last for a long time, rather than buying new cheap tools every year. These tools are mostly hand-made and hold up well with consistent use; however, we also know that the life of these tools depends on our care of them, so we have been putting in the little bit of extra work it takes to ensure our tools are in good condition and ready to work next spring. The weather early this week was so wonderful that we were looking for any excuse to get outside and tool cleaning gave us the perfect opportunity!

Here are the steps we took to care for our hoes, digging forks, shovels, etc.:

1.) Because many of the tools were caked in dirt from working in muddy conditions we first washed them with water and a rag and let them dry for a bit in the sun.

2.) Then we had to address the issue of rust, several of our hoes were getting very rusty so we used steel wool to scour the blades (not all the rust will come off, but we were at least able to smooth out the really rusty spots).

Rusty hoe before

Less Rusty hoe after scouring with steel wool

3.) We then applied vegetable oil to the metal surfaces of all of our tools to keep rust from forming during the winter. Applying vegetable or linseed oil is supposed to keep moisture from accumulating on the blades, which in turn prevents rust.

4.) Lastly we had several new hoes and digging forks with untreated wood handles that needed some attention. For these new tools we used linseed oil to coat the entirety of the wood handles. To do this you can simply use a brush or rag to apply a layer of oil to the wood and then let the tools dry. The oil will be completely absorbed into the wood and will protect it from water damage.

Many of our tools are purchased from Earth Tools, a small, locally owned business that sells hand forged, good quality tools. You can find them at:

1525 Kays Branch rd.

Owenton, KY. 40359

(502)484-3988

Or online at:

www.earthtoolsbcs.com

If you would like more information on this subject this is a good article about proper tool care: http://www.demesne.info/Garden-Help/Garden-Tool-Care.htm