Seed Swap, Seed Library, and Master Gardener Deena Trimble on winter sowing.⁣

by Amy Campbell


S10:E3. 01/21/2023.

Seed Swap, Seed Library, and Master Gardener Deena Trimble on winter sowing.⁣

In honor of the upcoming National Seed Swap Day, January 28, 2014, we are setting the table with swapping seeds. It is that time of the year when we plan our gardens, order our seeds, and, if we are lucky, attend a local seed swap to swap seeds and stories with our neighbors. Today, we visit with Sheila Pennycuff, a Librarian at the Blount County Public Library located in Maryville, TN, and the woman who took an old wooden card catalog and turned it into a seed library. This seed library is located inside the Blount County Public Library. It is an essential service to the community where patrons check out seeds and contribute seeds back to the seed library.⁣

We also hear details of the seed and plant swap on Saturday, January 21, 2013, from 10:00 A.M.-12:00 Noon at the Blount County Public Library.⁣

Deena Trimble speaks on Seed saving, seed sharing, and winter sowing using plastic jugs with lids. She recommends getting friendly with someone who uses a CPAP machine and has clean water jugs to give away.

Links: Seed and Plant Swap info: https://www.blounttn.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=18140&month=1&year=2023&day=21&calType=0

Seed Library information: https://www.blounttn.org/1464/Seed-Library

The Blount County Public Library Seed Library, painted by me (Amy Campbell).

Deena Trimble helps with the seed library and speaks on the topics of her love of seed saving and sharing and winter sowing in this podcast.

One of Deena’s jugs of peas that she sowed in winter.

More of Deena’s jugs of plants that she sowed in winter.

Deena’s numbering system to keep track of what plant is in what jug.


Pumpkin Pie and news of an Old-Fashioned Country Fair

by Amy Campbell


S9:E33. 09/24/2022

Pumpkin Pie and the Blue Ribbon Country Fair, Townsend, TN

Pumpkin Pie and news of an Old-Fashioned Country Fair, the Blue Ribbon Country Fair, is taking place Saturday, September 24th from 10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, Townsend, TN.

Our guests are James Gann, a music teacher in Walland, Tennessee. With a specific type of pumpkin he grows and a description of his prize-winning pumpkin pie that won a ribbon at the Blue Ribbon Country Fair in 2019. Haylee Donahue, an East, TN resident. She’ll share her recipe for a gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin pie and describes how she processes her pie pumpkin (see her recipe below). And In Fred Sauceman’s Pot Luck Radio series New York Times best-selling Novelist Adriana Trigiani shares autumn memories of growing up in Big Stone Gap, VA, and a little story involving the late actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Links:

Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center: https://www.gsmheritagecenter.org/

Adriana Trigiani: https://adrianatrigiani.com/

Fred Sauceman: https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/

Recipe from Haylee Donahue’s gluten free, dairy free pumpkin pie: (Makes a double batch)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 12 ounces of coconut milk for dairy free pie. Or, instead of the coconut milk, use 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk instead if you do not mind dairy.
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 deep dish pie shells (Haylee used the gluten free pie shells from the grocery store)

Directions:

Mix together sugar, salt, spice, and eggs in a bowl.

Add pumpkin puree and almond milk.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes

Musical Educator, Vocalist, Pumpkin grower and prize-winning Pumpkin Pie maker James Gann. Photo: Amy Campbell.

Haylee Donahue with her pie pumpkin. Photo: Amy Campbell.

Iva Spoon Wilde who for many years demonstrated open hearth cooking at the Blue Ribbon Country Fair holds one of her blue ribbons for her canned green beans, at the Blue Ribbon Country Fair 2019. Photo: Amy Campbell.


Chef David Rule, Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ, Sevierville, Tennessee

by Amy Campbell


S9:E22. 06/11/2022 and 6/18/2022.

Today, we are setting the table with BBQ. Our guest is Chef David Rule, co-owner of the soon-to-be-open Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ in historic downtown Sevierville, TN, right close to the Dolly Parton state near the courthouse. In addition, Fred Sauceman’s Pot Luck Radio Series features a special appetizer found at Ridgewood BBQ in Bluff City, TN.

Links:

Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ: https://www.trottersbbq.com/

The Appalachian: https://theappalachianrestaurant.com/

Fred Sauceman: https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman

Ridgewood BBQ: http://www.ridgewoodbbq.com/

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/


Cornbread and Cornbread Salad with Josh Lowans

by Amy Campbell


S9:E19. 05/21/2022

Cornbread, Cornbread, Cornbread, and Cornbread Salad with Josh Lowans.

We are setting the table today with cornbread. I've assembled an all-star lineup of guests today to talk about this soul-satisfying staple.

  • Karen Shankles has twice won first place at the annual National Cornbread Festival cook-off. Today, she shares her recipe for Festive Good Luck Corn Bread Skillet with us.
  • James Beard Award-winning food writer Ronni Lundy lets us know how she makes her skillet cornbread that goes with a pot of soup beans. And she also shares with us what she calls her tao of cornbread.
  • Food preservationist with deep family ties to the East TN mountains and mountain cooking Shannon Walker lets us know how he makes his cornbread and his thoughts on cast iron cookware and old ways.
  • And “Mountain Man”, Josh Lowans of Salubrious Farms, Walland, Knoxville, describes a Cornbread salad recipe that his better half Meagan makes and is his family's go-to recipe.

Links:

Karen Shankles: She co-owns an accounting firm in Knoxville. Here is her Linkedin link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-shankles-45095054

Ronni Lundy: http://www.ronnilundy.com/

Adrian Miller: https://adrianemiller.com/about/meet-adrian/

Josh Lowans: On Instagram @joshlowans

Shannon Walker: On Instagram @newchilhoweevisions

National cornbread Festival: https://nationalcornbread.com/

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/

Recipes:

Festive Good Luck Corn Bread Skillet. Karen Shankles shared this recipe that won the grand prize at the National Corn Bread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, in 2015. Link to Karen Shankle's prize-winning Festive Good Luck Cornbread Skillet recipe: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/festive-good-luck-cornbread-skillet

Corn Bread Salad: This recipe is one that Josh Lowans shared with Amy. His wife Meagan makes this dish often for their family, and the recipe comes from her.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pan day-old cornbread (Josh recommends using Benton's bacon lard rendered from an entire pound of Benton's bacon. Megan prefers to use Three Rivers Cornmeal)
  • 2 - 3 really ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 1 can of pinto beans drained, not rinsed
  • Fresh corn cut off of the cob
  • Shredded cheese of your choice
  • Ranch dip (make your own with herbs of your choice, sour cream, and mayonnaise)

To assemble, layer in this order:

  • Crumble cornbread and place in the bottom of the serving container
  • Layer pinto beans on top of the cornbread
  • Layer cut corn over the beans
  • Layer the diced tomatoes over the corn
  • Layer ranch dressing (homemade)
  • Layer of bacon (use Benton's bacon if you can get it)
  • Layer Cheese on the top

Tips:

  • Chill for 2 hours before serving.
  • Don't use pre-made ranch dressing; it is too runny. Instead, Josh Lowans recommends using ranch dip and making your own. He suggests making it thick so the cornbread won't become soggy.
  • This salad looks pretty in a clear glass serving container.

Homemade Ranch Dressing - There are countless recipes for homemade ranch dressing. Ingredients are Mayonnaise, Buttermilk, Sour Cream, Black Pepper, Salt, Garlic, and Onion; options include parsley, chives, and dill.


Special Growers, Maryville, Tennessee

by Amy Campbell


Season 8, Episode 26. 07/10/2021

Today, we are setting the table with herbs and cut flowers grown by Special Growers. Special Growers is a non-profit organization located in Blount County, TN. This organization offers workforce development training and employment for people with disabilities who are aging out of high school special education classes. At Special Growers, they grow culinary herbs and cut flowers and are supported by area restaurants, corporate donors, and community members. Kent Davis is our guest, a founding member of Special Growers, and is also a parent of a child that benefitted from Special Growers. In Fred Sauceman’s Pot-Luck Radio Series, he features the Moonpie, which has been made for over 100 years by the Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, TN.

Links:

Special Growers: https://www.specialgrowers.com/

Link to Special Growers Summer Dinner Series: https://www.specialgrowers.com/event-details/summer-garden-dinner-series-with-matt-gallaher-emilia-italian

Fred Sauceman: https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman

Chattanooga Bakery, makers of the Moon Pie for over 100 years: https://moonpie.com/about

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/

Pictured Left to Right are Harrison Inman, employee and artist at Special Growers and Director of Operations, Maria Laughlin.

Pictured Left to Right are Harrison Inman, employee and artist at Special Growers and Director of Operations, Maria Laughlin.

Pictured left to right are Elise McDaniel, Maggie Gallaher, John Dudok, and Emily Knapp employees and volunteer at Special Growers, Maryville, Tennessee.

Pictured left to right are Elise McDaniel, Maggie Gallaher, John Dudok, and Emily Knapp employees and volunteer at Special Growers, Maryville, Tennessee.

Pictured left to right me (Amy Campbell) with Kent Davis. Kent is one of the founders of Special Growers and a parent of a child who benefitting from this organization.

Pictured left to right me (Amy Campbell) with Kent Davis. Kent is one of the founders of Special Growers and a parent of a child who benefitting from this organization.