Farming on the edge: Charlie Jackson explores the modern plight of Appalachian farming.Farming in the southern Appalachians of western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. has never been easy. The southern Appalachian landscape determined farming practices as much as the choices of the farmers. A land of fertile and loamy loam n. 1. Soil composed of a mixture of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter. 2. A mixture of moist clay and sand, and often straw, used especially in making bricks and foundry molds. tr.v. river valleys and craggy crag·gy adj. crag·gi·er, crag·gi·est 1. Having crags: craggy terrain. 2. Rugged and uneven: a craggy face. inhospitable highlands, the people who settled and farmed here were no less shaped by the land than they shaped the land to meet their agricultural needs. Farming in the southern Appalachians balanced the limits of the land, the availability and demands of the market, the traditional farming practices of the people, and the day-to-day necessities of survival. The thread that unites these forces has been the resiliency and adaptability of the southern Appalachian farmer. The first farmers in this region were the Native Americans who began growing food here two thousand years ago. They began a farming practice suited to the area that was later emulated and adapted by the European immigrants that followed. Their agricultural practices consisted of burning patches of forest then planting for several years until the fertility of the soil diminished. They then moved to another area and began again. This type of agriculture supplemented the hunting and gathering practiced for many thousands of years prior to farming and was an adaptation to the conditions of abundant land, simple tools, and a shortage of labor. The first European immigrants brought their traditional farming methods from their respective homelands. The largest group of immigrant settlers to the area, the Scotch-Irish, began arriving in large numbers into the valleys and coves of the southern Appalachians after the Revolutionary War. They brought a tradition of simple farming tools, independence, and adaptability to conditions. Consequently, they adjusted well to the isolation and dependence on subsistence farming subsistence farming Form of farming in which nearly all the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and his family, leaving little surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world practiced subsistence farming. required during the very earliest years of European settlement. Other immigrants included German, English, and French pioneers. Farmers of the region have weathered ups and downs ups and downs pl.n. Alternating periods of good and bad fortune or spirits. ups and downs Noun, pl alternating periods of good and bad luck or high and low spirits of the market, loss of forest grazing with the denudation denudation /de·nu·da·tion/ (den?u-da´shun) the stripping or laying bare of any part. de·nu·da·tion n. The removal of a covering or surface layer. of the southern Appalachian forests to logging followed by fires and erosion, the loss of close markets when railroads and livestock raising in the west destroyed local industry, and the loss of the valuable American Chestnut tree to the Asian chestnut blight chestnut blight Plant disease caused by the fungus Endothia parasitica. Accidentally imported from East Asia and first observed in 1904 in New York, it has killed almost all native American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) in the U.S. . ////// WNC WNC Western North Carolina WNC World News Connection (US government online news service) WNC Washington National Cathedral (Washington, DC) WNC Women's National Commission (UK) TAILGATE A conversion layer that lets IDE devices connect to the IEEE 1394 Firewire interface. MARKETS BUNCOMBE COUNTY Buncombe County insincere speeches made solely to please this constituency by its representative, 1819–1821. [Am. Usage: Misc.] See : Hypocrisy Black Mountain Tailgate Market What: A community market featuring locally grown produce, Jake's Farm certified organic, garden plants This is a partial list of garden plants, plants that can be cultivated in the garden, listed alphabetically by genus. See also:
A : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Where: On Vance Ave. just off Highway 9, between CCB CCB Calcium channel blocker, see there Bank and Black Mountain Natural Foods in Black Mountain When: Saturdays 8:30 am-11:30 am Contact: Elaine Hamil, 828-669-5785 blackmountaintailgate@hotmail.com Fairview Tailgate Market What: local organic and conventional produce, plants, herbs and herbal products, canned goods, baked goods Where: Hwy 74 beside Angelo's Restaurant When: Saturdays 9 am-1pm Contact: Walter Harrill 828-628-9377 French Broad Food Coop Tailgate Market What: Asheville's original all organic tailgate market, serving Asheville and surrounding communities on Saturday mornings since 1990. You will find freshly picked organic vegetables and fruits, herbs, flowers and garden plants. You will also find local honey, focaccia and breads baked fresh in a wood fired brick oven, vegan vegan /veg·an/ (ve´gan) (vej´an) a vegetarian whose diet excludes all food of animal origin. ve·gan n. and non-vegan baked treats, (with freshly brewed organic coffee) rare medicinal and landscaping plants, fresh eggs, and a variety of goat cheeses Where: Corner Parking Lot at French Broad Food Coop, 90 Biltmore Avenue, Ashevllle When: Saturdays 8am-1pm Contact: Mary Dixon, 828-622-3647, pete@pex.net North Asheville Tailgate Market What: local organic and conventional produce, plants, flowers, baked goods, local canned goods Where: Behind Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, 675 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville When: Saturday 7 am-noon and Wednesday evening from 3 pm-7 pm Contact: Vanessa Campbell Vanessa Campbell (June 24, 1953 - August 25, 2002) was a cabaret, blues, jazz and rock singer and actress who appeared in a national tour of "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" on Tv's Law & Order. She died after a brief illness in New York at age 49. , 828-683-1607, fullsunfarm@earthlink.net Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson is one of only six colleges in the United States requiring students to work for the institution in order to graduate. It is part of the Work College Consortium, which also includes Alice Lloyd College, Berea College, Blackburn College, College of the Ozarks and Sterling Garden Market What: A wide variety of mixed vegetables, fresh cut flowers flowers cut from the stalk, as for making a bouquet. See also: Flower , soft fruits, culinary herbs and occasional seedlings. All produce is harvested, washed and processed the morning of the market. We encourage everyone to bring their own bags if possible Where: Located on the patio of the Gladfelter Bldg., central campus of WWC WWC Worldwide Classroom WWC Walla Walla College (Walla Walla, WA USA) WWC World Water Council WWC Women's World Cup (soccer) WWC Workshop on Workload Characterization WWC Washington Wheat Commission When: Friday 11 pm-1pm Contact: Donna Price, 828-771-3066, mdprice@warren-wilson.edu Wednesday Evening Downtown Farmers Market What: local organic produce, compost, eggs, herbs, flowers, plants, local chefs will prepare sample foods Where: Biltmore Avenue, French Broad Food Coop & Bio Wheels parking lot, across from Laurey's Catering, Asheville When: Wednesdays 3 pm-6 pm Contact: Amy Volz, 828-251-5160, amnramon@buncombe bun·combe n. Variant of bunkum. Noun 1. buncombe - unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements) bunkum, guff, hogwash, rot, bunk .main.nc West Asheville Tailgate Market What: Local organic and conventional produce, fine crafts, fresh baked goods, herbs, goat cheese, and cut flowers Where: Haywood Road in West Asheville between the West End Bakery and the Haywood Road Market When: Wednesday evening 4 pm-7pm Contact: Missy Huger, 828-665-4472, jakesfarm@msn.com CHEROKEE COUNTY Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States:
Cherokee County Small Farmers Association What: fresh locally grown produce, perinnials, shrubs, and bedding plants along with farm produced honey's, jellies and jams, and handmade local farm crafts, fresh eggs and small farm livestock Where: King's Flea Market See computer flea market. flea market yard sale of used items at low prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness in Murphy: at the intersection of Highway 23/64 and Hiwassee Street When: Wednesday evening 4 pm to 6:30 pm and Saturday morning 7 am to 11:30 am Contact: John Verner and Janella Bradley, 828-494-3155, ccsfa@hotmail.com HAYWOOD COUNTY Haywood County is the name of two counties in the United States:
Waynesville Tailgate Market What: local organic and conventional produce, flowers, herbs Where: Badcock Home Furnishings Parking lot, North Main Street across from First Presbyterian Church First Presbyterian Church is a generic church name, and can refer to hundreds of churches within the English speaking world. If you followed a link here, please consider making it more specific by including the city or town in which the church resides. Waynesville When: Wednesdays and Saturdays 8 am-noon Contact: Ron Holster, 828-456-3517, dwa@asap-com.com Canton Tailgate Market What: local organic and conventional produce, flowers, herbs Where: parking lot across from Canton Town Hall on Park Street between Academy and Adams Streets When: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 am-noon Contact: Gail Guy, 828-648-7925, info@cantonpapertown.com Maggie Valley Tailgate Market What: local organic & conventional produce Where: Community Center grounds, in front of Maggie Valley Town Hall/Police Department on Soco Road When: Fridays 8 am-noon Contact: Linda Nash, Director, Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce, 828-926-1686 linda@maggievalley.org HENDERSON COUNTY Henderson County is the name of several counties in the United States:
Henderson County Tailgate Market What: local organic and conventional produce, flowers, herbs, plants, baked goods, canned goods Where: Henderson County Commissioners Building, 100 N. King Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenue) When: Saturdays 7 am-noon Contact: Pam Hodges 828-692-9888 JACKSON COUNTY Jackson County is the name of 23 counties and one parish in the United States:
Jackson County Tailgate Farmers Market What: local vegetables, fruit, flowers, herbs, nursery items, honey, eggs, mushrooms, and more Where: In downtown Sylva syl·va n. Variant of silva. Noun 1. sylva - the forest trees growing in a country or region silva timberland, woodland, forest, timber - land that is covered with trees and shrubs off Mill Street behind Peebles in the municipal parking lot When: Saturdays 8 am-noon Contact: Christy Bredenkamp at 828-586-4009, Christine_bredenkamp@ncsu.edu MADISON COUNTY Madison County is the name of twenty counties in the United States, named after President James Madison:
Hot Springs Tailgate Market What: Locally grown mostly organic produce, plants, goat cheese, eggs, seafood, and baked goods Where: Bridge Street in the lawn of the Yellow Tea Pot next to the post office on Hot Springs When: Thursday evening 4 pm-7 pm Contact: Rosemoon Mecho, 828-622-9714, moonmeadow@yahoo.com Madison County Farmer's Market What: All locally grown products: organic and conventional vegetables and greens, eggs, honey, molasses molasses, sugar byproduct, the brownish liquid residue left after heat crystallization of sucrose (commercial sugar) in the process of refining. Molasses contains chiefly the uncrystallizable sugars as well as some remnant sucrose. , goat cheese, plants and plant starts, berries and nuts, medicinal herbs and tinctures. Also baked goods, bread, homemade soaps, wreaths, cut flowers and bulbs. Crafts section features rustic furniture, handmade toys, aprons, etc. Where: 1.4 miles east of exit 11 off of Route 19/23, across from the tennis courts on the Mars Hill College Mars Hill College is a private, coed, liberal-arts college affiliated with the North Carolina Baptist Convention. The college is located in the small town of Mars Hill, North Carolina, 15 miles due north of Asheville, western North Carolina's largest city. campus. Look for the blue tents! When: Saturdays 8 am-1 pm Contact: Gail Lunsford/Steve Bardwell, 828-683-2902 TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY Transylvania County Farmers Market What: Wide variety of locally grown fresh fruits and produce in-season Where: Behind South Broad Park--Brevard When: 7 am-noon on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from July through October WATAUGA COUNTY Watauga Farmer's Market What: Fresh produce from local growers. Fresh fruits and berries, jams, jellies and honey. Fresh herbs and herbal products; flowers, fresh cut and dried cut and dried cut adj (also: cut-and-dry) (answer) → eindeutig: (solution) → einfach ; fresh baked breads, cakes and pastries; farm eggs; farm based crafts and yard art; a large selection of plants including annuals, perennials and shrubs Where: Located in the Horn in the West Horn in the West is an outdoor drama produced every summer since 1952 in Boone, North Carolina, about the life and times of the early settlers of the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Amphitheater parking lot near Daniel Boone Native Gardens Daniel Boone Native Gardens, located in Boone, NC, hosts a collection of North Carolina native plants in an informal landscaped design. The gardens are open daily May through October. and Boone Park-Boone When: Saturdays May-October and Wednesday July-August from 8 am-noon Contact: Wanda Vines 828-297-3837 mail@wataugacountyfarmersmarket. vhosts.main.nc.us, wataugacountyfarmersmarket.org MORE TAILGATE MARKET INFO: Charlie Jackson--Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture sustainable agriculture n. A method of agriculture that attempts to ensure the profitability of farms while preserving the environment. Project 828-293-3262. On the web at www.buyappalachian.org Email to info@beyappalachian.org WNC CSAs Community Supported Agriculture (CSA (1) (Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, Ontario, www.csa.ca) A standards-defining organization founded in 1919. It is involved in many industries, including electronics, communications and information technology. ) is a direct connection between the farmers and the consumers. To join a CSA is to buy a share of the season's harvest. The farmer gains the security of knowing he or she has been paid for a portion of the harvest and the farmer s community participates in how and where their food is grown. This direct connection puts the face and place of food in full view. Before the start of the season, when the farmer is planning the upcoming year, shares are sold to members of the community at a fixed price. The farmer plans the plantings to meet the shares that have been sold. Every week throughout the season, the CSA community receives a box of that week's harvest. Most of the local CSAs will deliver to several convenient area locations, but they always encourage the community to come to the farm, and even to participate in the growing of their food. Ambrosia ambrosia (ămbrō`zhə), in Greek mythology, food and drink with which the Olympian gods preserved their immortality. Extraordinarily fragrant, ambrosia was probably conceived of as a purified and idealized form of honey. Farms Marshall, Madison County Contact: Jenifer Miller, Will Osborne Phone: 828-689-4505 Address: 526 Fisher Branch Rd., Marshall, NC 28714 E-mail: fisherbranchfarm@yahoo.com With Palmer Ford Organics, offering vegetables, breads, herbs, and flowers with pick-up sites in Hot Springs, Marshall, Mars Hill
Carl and Pat's Organic Celo, Yancey County Contact: Patryk Battle Phone: 828-675-5920 Address: 176 White Oak Creek Oak Creek, city (1990 pop. 19,513), Milwaukee co., SE Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, on Lake Michigan; inc. 1955. Electronic, plastic, paper, metal, and concrete products; machinery; computers; chemicals; and transportation equipment are made there. Rd., Burnsville, 28753 E-mail: patrykbattle@hotmaial.com Asheville pick up at the French Broad Food Coop and Celo pick-up. Other pick-up sites possible. Deerwood Gardens Franklin, Macon County Contact: Alice Dewhurst Phone: 828-524-6164 Fax: 828-524-6100 Address: 525 Louisa Ridge, Franklin, NC 28734 E-mail: dewhurst@dnet.net Vegetables, herbs, flowers, eggs and honey are available, with either pick up at the farm or home delivery within five miles of farm. Information packet available. Doubletree Farm Marshall, Madison County Contact: Cathy and Andy Bennett Phone: 828-689-3812 Address: 835 Cargile Branch Road, Marshall, NC28753 Draft horse-powered organic farm, Mars Hill and Weaverville pick-ups. Full Sun Farm Leicester, Buncombe County Contact: Alex Brown or Vanessa Campbell Phone: 828-683-1607 Address: 90 Bald Creek Road, Leicester, NC 28748. E-mail: fullsunfarm@earthlink.net Certified organic vegetables and berries. Separate flower package. West Asheville and Downtown pick-up sites. Full for 2002 season Green Toe Ground Farm Celo, Yancey County Contact: Nicole and Gaelan Corozine and Robert Tate Phone: 828-675-0171 Address: Celo, NC E-mail: nag7@hotmail.com Ecologically grown vegetables, nerds, and flowers. Asheville pick-up each week. Jake's Farm Candler, Buncombe County Contact: Chris or Missy Phone: 828-665-4472 Address: 99 Brown Lynch Road, Candler, NC E-mail: jakesfarm@msn.com Website: www.jakesfarm.com Mountain Harvest Organics Spring Creek, Madison County Contact: Julie Mansfield or Carl Evans Phone: 828-622-3654 Address: 77 Wyatt Lane, Hot Springs, NC 28743 E-mail: farmer@MountainHarvestOrganic.com Website: www.MoontainHarvestOrganic.com Certified organic vegetables herbs, and flowers. Pick-ups in Waynesville. New Moon Herbs Organic Farm Fairview, Buncombe County Contact: Gregg Adams Phone: 828-628-1272 Address: 85 Laurel Haven. Fairview, N.C. 28730 E-mail: Newmoonherbs@aol.com Website: http://brwm.org./newmoonherbsorganicfarm/ Certified organic vegetables and herbs. Organic Market Gardens at Hickory Nut Gap Farms in Buncombe County Contact: Annie Louise & Isaiah Perkinson Phone: 828-628-3348 Address: 1860 Charlotte Hwy., Fairview NC 28730 E-mail: anniel@buncombea.main.nc.us Vegetables, flowers (extra) and herbs. Some working shares available. Pick-up at farm and in Asheville. Full for 2002 season Rowe Farm in Henderson County Contact: Jeff Wilkie Phone: 828-693-1571 Address: Newman Drive, Hendersonville, NC 28739 Certified organic vegetables. Pick-up at farm. Vegenui Gardens Jackson County Contact: Ron and Cathy Arps Phone: 828-586-5478 Address: 402 Carver Mountain Valley, Sylva, NC 28779 E-mail: ronarps@jackson.main.nc.us Vegetables, u-pick flowers and herbs. Pick-up at farm. American Chestnut tree to the Asian chestnut blight. They have ridden the waves of tobacco and apples and suffered the crash when those markets went into decline. It is often said that change is the only thing that stays the same. Today, change comes at break neck speeds. Farming methods take slow, careful attention to develop and do not lend themselves to fast-paced change. Small scale fanning, in particular, is having trouble adapting. Consequently, America is farming on the edge. Pressures from worldwide markets, sprawl, development, and tourism, as well as uncertainties of tobacco and apple production, might be the last straw for local farmers. Nationally, about one million acres of farmland per year are convened to non-agricultural uses. North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. is experiencing a tremendous rate of such conversions. In western Noah Carolina alone 1,400,000 acres of farmland disappeared to development between 1949 and 1974. Between 1949 and 1992, Western Noah Carolina lost 71% of its farmland. More than 30 percent of our state_s prime farmland was lost to urban development in the 1980s and 1990s. With the current average age of farmers in our area approaching retirement age, farmland loss will continue at an alarming rate. Fanning is a traditional way of life that has seen this region through two hundred years of change. Farmland is necessary, for the preservation of the mixed landscape of woodland and field that makes the Southern Appalachians such a special place, as well ms providing an important habitat for wildlife. If current trends continue, our area will forever lose farming, the scenic beauty, it fosters and our ability to grow food locally. With that loss, we will forfeit sane of our independence, forcing us to become ever more dependent on other areas and peoples. Farming used to be seamlessly integrated with the local community. Yet today, much of the food that is locally produced is exported. Conversely, most food consumed locally is imported front some other location. In our region, food travels more than we do, moving an average of 1,500 miles from the field to our table. Most states purchased 85 to 90 percent of their food from someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. else. Our grocery dollar is more about supporting the transporters and distributors of food than the farmers who grow it. The best first step toward reconnecting with our agricultural heritage is to eat locally grown food. Many people want in buy locally grown food knowing it is fresher, healthier, and supports the local economy and local farms, but don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. where to go. Now they have a way to find it. The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP (chat) asap - As soon as possible. ) has published the Buy Appalachian Local Food Guide, a guide to fresh locally grown foods from the mountains of western North Carolina. This free guide can be picked tip at area businesses that support local agriculture and on the web at www.BuyAppalachian.org. Farms, restaurants, grocers, caterers, bed and breakfasts, upick farms and any other sellers of locally grown food in the western NC region that want to be printed in the next edition and on-line Local Food Guide should go to www.BuyAppalachian.org and fill out the necessary forms or call 828-293-3262. Submit anytime for the on-line guide. Deadline for submission for the fall printed guide is August 8, 2002. Charlie Jackson is the Projects Coordinator for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. Contact him at charlie@asapconnections.org or 828-293-3262. |
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