Brooks Lamb, Author of Love For the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place.

S11:E35.8/25/2024

Brooks Lamb, Author of Love For the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place.

Today, we are setting the table with a discussion about land. Agricultural land, and the problem of the fast disappearance of this land across our country. Our guest is Brooks Lamb, Author of Love for the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. Published through Yale University Press. This book is deeply related to Tennessee, Southern, and American agriculture. At its core, Love for the Land shares the power and potential of people-place relationships. To do so, the book explores why some small and midsize farmers continue to care for their land, even in the face of tremendous adversity. In terms of adversity, he pays particular attention to farmland loss from sprawl and haphazard development, agricultural consolidation, and, for farmers of color, injustices in the past and present. Despite these challenges, some small and midsized farmers persevere. In dozens of interviews with farmers in two Tennessee counties, which serve as microcosms of agrarian communities across the country, Brooks found that love for the land and devotion to place -- virtues that align with Wendell Berry's writings on imagination, affection, and fidelity -- fuel their persistence and stewardship. Brooks writes that we need to better support these farmers -- and that we all have something to learn from them, no matter where we live.

If you are moved by this podcast to help with this crucial problem of farmland loss - and are thinking about year-end-giving - there is an organization that Brooks is closely aligned and works with that is actively addressing farmland loss and conversion in the Volunteer State, this organization is called American Farmland Trust.

We have also placed a link directly to that organization on our website too. It is Farmland.org

Brooks Lamb’s website and where to buy Brooks Lamb’s book: https://brookslamb.com/buy-love-for-the-land/

American Farmland Trust: https://farmland.org

Emi Sunshine (Sang our theme song when she was 9 years old!): https://theemisunshine.com/

Special Growers, Maryville TN and Chattanooga Bakery's Moonpie

S10:E15. 04/15/2023

Special Growers, Maryville TN and Chattanooga Bakery's Moonpie

Today, Special Growers, Maryville, TN, offers workforce development training and employment for people with learning differences who age out of high school and special education classes. Their story and Chattanooga Bakery’s Moonpie on my latest podcast and radio broadcast. Hope to have the honor of your good company! Thanks! 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 a parent of a child who 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.

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

Be sure to find the Special Growers instagram page for the latest events. Their handle is @specialgrowers

• April 15th: Special growers plant sale beginning 9:00 A.M. - Amicis, Maryville, TN.
• April 22: Maryville Farmers’ Market beginning 8:30 A.M. downtown Maryville, TN.
• April 29: Pop-Up, Neighborly Books, downtown Maryville, TN.

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/

Participants of Special Growers, Maryville, TN.

Participants and staff at Special Growers, Maryville TN.

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

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

Pumpkin Pie and news of an Old-Fashioned Country Fair

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.

Farm to Feast and She Diggs Farm in Harden Valley of Knoxville, Tennessee

S9:E26. 07/23,07/2022 Today we are sitting around the table and visiting with a family and farm and how this family uses their skills to farm, cook, and host elevated meals for private events and, on occasion, community dinners. We visit with Farm to Feast founders Chef Jeff Jorgensen, event planner Jessica Jorgensen, and Jeff’s sister Heather Fulghum, ecology teacher, farmer, and founder of She Diggs Farm, located in the Hardin Valley area of Knoxville, TN. Heather grows the food, Jeff uses it to provide farm-inspired dinners using seasonal ingredients, and Jessica uses her hospitality and event planning background to create elegant feasts on the family farm. Links: Farm to Feast: https://www.farmtofeastknox.com/ She Diggs Farm: https://www.instagram.com/shediggsfarm/?hl=en Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/