Blind Pig & The Acorn

The Best Heirloom Tomatoes

Last summer was the first year The Deer Hunter and I tried growing heirloom tomatoes. The term-heirloom-refers to tomatoes that are non-hybrid-meaning their seeds are open pollinated and stay true to form. In other words-if you save seed from your heirloom varieties and plant them-the tomatoes you grow will be just like the one you saved the seed from. If you save seed from a hybrid variety and plant it-the tomatoes grown will revert back to one of the 'parents' used to make the hybrid. The word 'heirloom' also points to the tradition of families handing down seeds to the next generation.

Till last summer we always planted hybrid varieties like Big Boys or Better Boys. I kept hearing folks talk about how much better heirloom varieties tasted and decided I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I don't remember the names of the ones we grew last year. The tomatoes did indeed taste better-but the production was lousy. I think we got a whole 4 tomatoes off of the yellow variety we planted.

This summer our goal was to give the heirlooms another chance-but with a little more homework put into the process. We tired to look for varieties that produced high quantities as well as high quality. We ended up with 8 different varieties-here's what we learned about each of them:

Black Prince is a small sized tomato-but it packs a lot of punch in the flavor department. The skin color is a deep red with blackish green tints to it-and the flesh is a deep dark color as well. The Black Prince was a good producer.

Cherokee Purple is one of the most common black tomatoes-and it happens to be The Deer Hunter's favorite. The flavor is very similar to the Black Prince. We only had one Cherokee Purple plant-and it didn't produce very many tomatoes.

Bonnie Best was the only Heirloom Tomato offered by Hometown Seeds-who sponsored my garden this year. Even though I had never heard of it-I decided to give it a try-and I'm glad I did. The plants produced bookoos of tomatoes-no giant beefsteaks-but tons of small red tasty ones. When I think of a text book tomato-the look and taste of Bonnie Best comes to mind.

Some friends gave us several Yellow Pear plants-the tomatoes are tiny but very flavorful. And the plants produced so well that it was almost impossible to eat them all. 

 
Striped German was very flavorful-and so pretty on the inside-but the plant we had only produced 4 tomatoes. 

Now for my 3 favorite Heirlooms:

 
I heard a local ministry was selling heirloom tomato plants early in the summer-when I got a chance to stop by I ask them if they had a yellow variety that produced well. The gentlemen suggested Cream Sausage-he said they produce bumper crops of roma shaped tomatoes-he was right. On each plant the tomatoes hung like grapes. The flavor was sweet-and has they got riper the sweeter they got. The only problem we encountered was a few of the first fruits had blossom end rot. If at all possible-every garden I plant in the future will have at least a few Cream Sausage plants in it.

Yellow Brandywines were also a huge winner for us. Wonderful flavor and a great producer. The only downside I can see-was after you picked the tomatoes they needed to be eaten or put up fairly quickly.

I feel like I should do a drum roll for this one-German Johnson. Oh my the taste was outstanding, it produced great, and maybe it's cause I'm a girl-but I found the delicate pink color lovely.   

I realize the growing conditions at my house will vary from where your at-so if you've grown any of the varieties above-please leave a comment and tell how they did for you. If you have experience with other heirloom varieties-I'd love to hear about them too.

Taste wasn't the only reason we wanted to try heirlooms-the seed saving aspect was also one of our reasons. Having the ability to keep your own seeds from year to year is especially attractive to us. Coming up in a few days-a post about ways to save heirloom seeds for next year.

Tipper

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Spreading The August Love

 
Time to Spread the Love to all the folks who took the time to comment during the month of August-I appreciate each of you. Your comments truly do make the Blind Pig a better place to visit.

Sandy Carlson, Janet, Just Jackie, Julie at Elisharose, Miss Cindy, Brenda Kay Ledford, Osagebluff Quilter, Terry, Warren, Lanny, The Fishing Guy, Petra Michelle, David Templeton, Nancy M., Glenda, Fencepost, Rick's Whitetail Woods, Mary Life In A Cordwood Cabin, Farmchick, Paul Saltcreek, Patty Hall, B. Ruth, CheE, Vicki Lane, Ethel, Eva Nell Mull Wike, Ph.D., Sarah, Wanda, Stacey South Western PA, Lynn, Pat in East TN, Teresa, Jen,  Sandra, Betsy from Tenn, Granny Sue, Jennifer in OR, Sheryl Paul, Kenneth M. Roper, Anastasia, Mike McLain, Kim Campbell, Rachelle, Connie, Greta Koehl, Helen G, Nancy Wigmore, Susie, Matthew Burns, Nancy Simpson, meemsnyc, Nancy, Kenneth O Hoffman, Grace Willard, Mamabug, Cher'ley Grogg, Em, Sue, Janice MacDaniels, Clint, Kat, Cheryl Soehl, Audrey, Bradley, Elithea, Pointless Picks, Lonnie Dockery, Gary, Alana, Merry, Canned Quilter, Boyd Guthrie, Kathryn Magendie, Caro, Sue, Jay Henderson, Kay, Brian Blake, Terry Allen S, Jake, Rooster in Missouri, David N Lee, Jim Casada, Donna, Bob Dalsemer, Staci, Leslie, Rhonda, Joan C Krogh, Gerry, Kristina, Kellee Groover, Elizabeth Swanson, Rick M, Daniela , Debora Kerr, Jill, John Huron, Don Casada, Janet P, Frances Masuda, Lori W, Matthew Timbs, Food I, Tom Caudill, Dee from TN, Jane Henson, Ginny Hartzler, Rachel, Willie Boy, Paul W, Sharon&Mariah, McKee, Linda, Rooney Floyd, Tim Hill, Charline Venturini, Benny Terry, Amanda,momof 3nOK, Lilfarmchic, Cher'ley, Vera Guthrie, Baking Barb, Barbara White, Jenn, Barbara Gantt, Misty Taylor, Mike, Jeanna M, Amy , Tammy, Diana, Carol, Garland Davis,My Carolina Kitchen, Maggie, Shirley, Paula, Farmchick Paula, Pappy, Elizabeth, Betty Gulledge, Judith Rogers, MissFiFi, Jeff England, Jason Burns, Twosquare, Frances, and Kelli.

This month's prize is extra special. It was donated by Mamabug-she handmade the large doily-and I have never seen nicer work. Actually-I'm having a hard time giving it away.

Mamabug is a fantastic photographer as well as an amazing fiber artist. Check out her blog by clicking here. Couldn't you just look at that work of art all day-I know I could. Now for the lucky commenter. The winner for August is.... Mary from Life In A Cordwood Cabin.

Don't forget to click on a commenter's name and go for a visit I know you'll be glad you did.

Up next on the Blind Pig-Heirloom Tomatoes.

Tipper

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Spotlight On Music In Appalachia - Ralph Peer, The Bristol Sessions, & Hillbilly Music

Today's guest post is written by Appalachian Historian Dave Tabler.

Ralph Sylvester Peer 

In 1984, the Tennessee General Assembly recognized the town of Bristol, with one foot in Tennessee and one in Virginia, as the “Birthplace of Country Music.” The Commonwealth of Virginia followed in 1995, with both the State Senate and the House of Delegates passing identical resolutions honoring Bristol.

The Bristol Sessions of August 1927 are commonly acknowledged as the event that gave rise to the professional country musician and recording star. Releases from the Sessions put both the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers on the country music map.

Ralph Peer, the Victor Talking Pictures A&R man responsible for organizing the Bristol Sessions, often gets the credit as the recording industry visionary who single handedly brought Appalachian music to a national audience. He was only too happy to promote that position himself; in a 1958 interview he stated bluntly “I went to New York and worked for OKeh Records. That’s where I invented the hillbilly and the nigger stuff.”(he didn’t join Victor till 1926.)

As it happens, three other records companies had held or were scheduling auditions to record musicians in Bristol concurrent with Peer’s trip.

Why Bristol? Along with Johnson City, TN and Kingsport, TN, it formed the Tri-Cities, then the largest urban area in the Appalachians. Ernest Stoneman, whom Ralph Peer had recorded on location in Asheville, NC in August 1925, was the one who’d recommended that Peer set up shop in Bristol; ironically from our point of view, Peer had blown through Nashville in 1927 before settling on Bristol, but had dismissed it as a location.

Nor was the Bristol undertaking the first attempt by the recording industry to codify and capture this (to the general public’s ears) new musical style.

So then, what was the precise moment hillbilly music began? Was it with fiddler Eck Robertson’s 1922 New York recordings? These were done at Victor, quite likely produced by Nat Shilkret, who was head of Victor’s Foreign Department.

Robertson relates his first encounter with a Victor manager (though he doesn’t name Shilkret): “He said `Young man, get your fiddle out and start off on a tune.’ Said `I can tell that quick whether I can use you or not.’ Well, I said back to him just as honest as I could `Mister, I come a long ways to get an audition with you. Maybe I better wait and come back another time. You seem like you’re in an awful hurry.’ `No,’ he said, `Just start off a tune…’ Well, I didn’t get to play half of Sallie Gooden; he just throwed up his hands and stopped me. Said, `By Ned, that’s fine!’ And just smiled, you know. Said, `Come back in the morning at nine o’clock and we’ll make a test record.”

Shilkret played piano on three of Robertson’s first recordings, July 1, 1922.

Perhaps we could argue that hillbilly music commenced with Fiddlin’ John Carson’s June 1923 Atlanta sides. This was a Ralph Peer undertaking while he was still at OKeh. The Carson Atlanta recordings were almost an afterthought: Peer was primarily in search of black talent for OKeh’s race records division.

“OKeh had never made any recordings outside the studio,” said Peer of the experience. “We went down to Atlanta, we looked around, found a small vacant warehouse…. I had gone down ahead and began scouting around for some talent. Now, I was dependent largely upon the [Atlanta] distributor of OKeh Records. Matter of fact, I hadn’t been to Atlanta, Georgia before—this was my first trip.

“So this fellow ran a furniture store, and he began scouting around, but, to my amazement, he didn’t know of any Negro talent…. So I began to switch off, and I said, ‘I better record a local dance band, I’ve got to do something about this.’

“And he went to the local Negro theater and he tried to find acts but nothing amounted to anything, so we did a sort of fill-in job on this first trip. We went down there to get Negro stuff … [but] I don’t think we picked up any Negro stuff of any importance….

“Finally there was the deal where he wanted me to record a singer from a local church. This fellow … had quite a good reputation and occasionally worked on the radio…. So we set a date with this fellow, and this boy’s father was ill in some other town—he just couldn’t make the date.

“So to take up that time, my distributor brought in [white fiddler] Fiddlin’ John Carson…. He said Fiddlin’ John had been on the radio station, and he’s got quite a following. He’s really not a good singer, but let’s see what it is. So the beginning of the hillbilly was just this effort to take up some time.

“He would never have recommended Fiddling John except that we had a vacant date and the time would otherwise have been lost. So I can’t claim there was any genius connected with it, not on my part, not on his part.”

Although OKeh held the Atlanta effort in low esteem, the record-buying public depleted the initial supply of 500 records within days, and company record-pressing facilities were rushed into service to fill back orders. When sales reached the 500,000 figure, the company greatly altered its assessment of Fiddlin’ John Carson’s abilities. Carson was called to New York to record more of the music from his considerable repertoire of old-time ballads and traditional fiddle tunes.

Frank Buckley Walker was the Artist and Repertoire (A & R) talent scout for Columbia Records’ Country Music Division during the 1920s and 1930s, and he was monitoring Peer’s activities closely.

After the success of Okeh’s recording with Fiddlin’ John Carson, Walker sent the word out to his record distributors that he was looking for similar talent.

In Atlanta Gid Tanner was recommended and Tanner brought blind guitarist Riley Puckett with him to New York on March 7, 1924 to back-up his fiddle. Puckett became Columbia’s and Walker’s first country star, and picked his way through “Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” accompanied on fiddle by Tanner.

On the flip side Puckett yodeled on “Rock All Our Babies to Sleep,” introducing a technique that was destined to longevity in country music. Their disc was released on May 20 and was an immediate success.

Columbia viewed this new music style as niche music for poor southern whites, and didn’t want to alienate their existing base of both northerners and wealthier southerners.

Initially, says Walker, “The music was not understood by my own people, and they said under no circumstances could we put anything of that sort on the market. But after due pleading on my part they agreed to let me do it providing we not make mention of it in any way. We must not put it on any of our [advertising] hangers or anything.”

The year 1924 is noteworthy in country music’s history because it produced the first multi-million selling tune ever. For Thomas Edison’s recording firm that summer vaudeville singer Vernon Dalhart recorded a cover of a Henry Whitter railroad ballad accompanied by his own harmonica playing and Frank Ferara’s Hawaiian guitar. “The Wreck on the Southern Old 97″ (Edison Diamond Disc 51316) was issued in August, and a month later was dubbed for release on Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder 4898.

Neither disc nor cylinder made a special stir, but their good sales did help Dalhart persuade his Victor executives, one of whom was Nat Shilkret, to let him record the ballad for them. Dalhart now coupled “The Wreck of the Old 97″ with his cousin Guy Massey’s piece, “The Prisoner’s Song.” It was released on October 3, 1924 on Victor’s Olde Time label, and went on to sell more than seven million copies.

Nor were the big New York recording companies the only ones interested in the newly emerging country music market. Art Satherley had joined Wisconsin Chair Company’s new Chicago based record label, Paramount, in 1918, first in manufacturing, then as a salesman. Although the label was known mostly for its race records, Satherley recorded a large number of old time country artists.

Paramount’s first foray into the genre came in 1924 with harmonica and guitar player Walter C. Peterson on the budget “Broadway” label (catalog #33150), though his work was tucked into the middle of a pop dance catalog series. By the mid-1920s, after earning a reputation as an expert in the infant genres of hillbilly and race music, Satherley was spending more time scouting and recording talent than working as a salesman.

“He tried to do a job and he did do a job,” noted Ralph Peer about Satherley. “He was a good judge of what the market needed.”

In January, 1925, Columbia had enough folk material to begin a Columbia 15000-D series, Familiar Tunes – Old and New, paralleling its own 14000-D race offerings. “I created a special series number, as I remember,” said Frank Walker, “at Columbia called the 15000 series, and we would make a record and we would manufacture and release it and offer it quietly by a little letter to our various distributors through the South.”

At this time Okeh, like Paramount, was still releasing country material on pop labels. Hence, Columbia was the first company to see the possibilities in an exclusive white folk series. By October 1925, OKeh followed suit with a similar 45000 Old Time Tunes category.

The record companies hadn’t quite yet settled on the moniker of ‘hillbilly music’ for this new style of music: descriptions included “Old- Time Tunes” (OKeh), “Old Familiar Tunes” (Columbia), “tunes from Dixie” (Brunswick), and “Olde Time Fiddlin’ Tunes from the Sunny South” (Victor).

The term first appeared on an OKeh release from 1925, a recording of a string band from Watauga County, NC, who showed up at the New York recording studio without having decided what to call themselves. When Ralph Peer, who was supervising the sessions, asked for their names, one of the group’s members responded, “We’re nothing but a bunch of hillbillies from North Carolina and Virginia. Call us anything.” So Peer released the sides under the name “the Hill Billies.”

Jack Kapp’s father was a Chicago based salesman for Columbia Records, and young Kapp joined that firm in 1914 as a shipping clerk. He was hired by Brunswick Records (also Chicago) in 1926 to form a race record division, with initial releases on the Vocalion label.

By 1927 Brunswick’s “tunes from Dixie” series featured Vernon Dalhart (he of the 1924 ‘Wreck of the Old 97’ fame), Al Hopkins, Uncle Dave Macon, Dock Boggs, and Buell Kazee.  The Vocalion 5000 series featured Uncle Dave Macon, Am Stewart, Sid Harkreader, and Charlie Oaks.

“Kapp’s promotion follows a concrete survey of the country’s musical tastes, particularly in the Southern and Midwestern demands for ‘hill-billy’ and ‘race’ records,” Varietymagazine noted on March 21, 1928. “These two departments have been chiefly developed by Kapp and have contributed to Vocalion’s financial success.

“It was Kapp who taught the mountaineer music dealers to capitalize the hill-billy folks’ penchant for purchasing from 6 to 15 copies of the same record.  The mountain people don’t come down into the valley towns for months at a time, and their chief amusement is the constant repetition of their favorite record, wearing one out and playing a new one.”

Johnny Cash called the 1927 Bristol Sessions “the Big Bang of country music.” It’s a great sound bite, but it wildly oversimplifies the truth. Fiddlin’ John Carson, Uncle Dave Macon, Vernon Dalhart, Frank Hutchison, Ernest Stoneman, the Skillet Lickers, Riley Puckett and Charlie Poole were already established recording artists by the summer of 1927.

Victor Talking Pictures and its star producer Ralph Peer had plenty of competitors in the field, and while Peer’s contributions are many, he and Victor were far from being the only show in town.

Sources:  www.johnsonsdepot.com/oldtime/frankwalker_interview1.pdf
www.lib.unc.edu/mss/sfc1/hillbilly/HTML/ArchieGreen/greenSection_03.htm)http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/henry-whitter–1923.aspxwww.peermusic.com/aboutus/rsp02.cfm
www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Bristol-sessions
www.folklinks.com/bristol_sessions.html
www.mountainx.com/ae/2008/040208music
www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1994/7/1994_7_38.shtml
Recorded music in American life: the phonograph and popular memory, 1890-1945,by William Howland Kenney
Creating country music: fabricating authenticity By Richard A. Peterson
“Hillbilly Music: Source and Symbol,” by Archie Green, Journal of American Folklore 78:309 (July- September 1965)
Ralph Peer interview–Lillian Borgeson, 1958. Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
www.oldtimemusic.com/FHOFEck.htmlhttp://foucaultstelevision.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/feder-dissertation.pdfwww.bluegrassmessengers.com/frank-walker–a–r-man-for-columbia.aspx
“The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records,” By Sarah Filzen
Wisconsin Magazine of History 82/2 ( Winter 1998-99): 104-127
Brunswick records: a discography of recordings, 1916-1931,by Ross Lairdhttp://www.duggcollins.com/legends.htm

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I hope you enjoyed Dave's informative post as much as I did. A couple of things that jumped out at me:

• Amusing how in the beginning, the recording studios had a hard time believing folks would actually like the old time sound and even went so far as to forbid any advertising of the records for fear they would offend the customers of their established artists
• I love what the string band from Watauga NC told Ralph Peer-sounds like something Pap would say about his music
• I liked the reference to mountain people playing their favorite song over and over until they ruined the record-been there done that.

Hope you'll leave a comment with your thoughts on the piece-and I'll make sure Dave Tabler reads them!

Tipper

p.s. Drop back by tomorrow-its time for Spread the Love.

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LOL In Appalachia - And A Blue Ribbon

I'd like to say a big "THANK YOU" to all the Blind Pig readers who made it to the Young Harris Arts & Crafts Festival over the weekend. I got to meet a few of you in person for the first time-which was so nice!

Even though-I thought I'd melt more than once-it was a great festival-I sold some folk art-did some pickin' and grinnin' with Pap and Paul, talked a whole lot about the Blind Pig, and I entered 4 items in the canning food preservation contest. I still can't believe-I won 1 Blue First Place Ribbon (Blackberry Jelly) and 2 Red Second Place Ribbons (Peach Preserves & Grape Juice). 

Now for the LOL. The other day Pap shared this story with me-one of his friends told it to him years ago.

A new preacher was elected to the local church. Once the preacher began the usual tradition of going home with members for Sunday dinner it became apparent this particular preacher had an insatiable appetite-to the point that folks began to dread having to play host to him. Members of the church knew their turn to have the preacher home for Sunday dinner would come sooner or later. 

Pap's friend's father-decided he knew exactly how to handle the situation when he and his wife were called on to feed the preacher. As everyone sat down to the dinner table, the father said "Well preacher we don't have much but we're more than willing to share what we do have. We're going to have some onions and salt for dinner." The preacher said "Oh I don't eat onions." The father said "well help yourself to the salt."

Tipper

p.s. Paul over at Saltcreek has started a rural radio program-you can listen to his most recent streaming program-which has old and new country music, old retro commercials, and you might even hear Paul and Pap somewhere in the mix. Click here to jump over and check it out.

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Blind Pig & The Acorn's 2nd Annual Planting By The Signs Test Results

Summer is winding down and the results from the Blind Pig & the Acorn's 2nd Annual Planting by the Signs Test are in. Seems like only yesterday we started the test-you can read about the details by clicking here.

The test was sponsored by Hometown Seeds. Each participant got 10 seeds. They planted 5 on a 'good day' according to the signs and 5 on a 'bad day' according to the signs (a few folks didn't have room to plant all 10 seeds). We aimed for planting the good day squash on May 17 or 18 and planting our bad day squash on May 19 or 20.

Check out everyone's results and see what you think:

Tipper: I planted 5 good day squash on May 17th and 5 bad day squash on May 19. Only 2 of my bad day squash came up. All of my good day squash came up. I planted all the seeds in hills and made sure the hills for both days were in the same part of garden. The bad day plants that lived-produced only a very small amount of squash. The good day squash plants produced quite a bit of squash-I would say twice as many as the bad day. However-the squash plants I planted further down in my garden-the ones that had nothing to do with the test-produced a tremendous amount of squash leaving the good and bad day squash in the dust. I did plant the super producing squash plants on a 'good day' according to the signs.

Stacey: Had bad luck after the seeds were planted-if I remember correctly it involved a tiller. (stacey-tell us in the comments if you're reading this)

WKF: I had a terrible year for squash. I got squash borer's and squash bugs. The borers got my yellow squash before they could produce. But I will say both plant dates came up nicely. This was my first experience with borers. They were awful. A healthy plant in the morning, a dead plant in the afternoon. Any input on getting rid of them for next year would be great.

Paul P: I planted half with the dates we discussed and half off schedule. No question they both produced well, but the ones I planted by the dates (early) were better. I hope this helps.

Helen G: Helen wrote about her test-you can go here to read about it-and see some pics that detail the growth of both the bad and good day seeds.

Warren: I have not posted about the results because they seem so dramatically goofy to me. I planted on your schedule and my good seeds produced tons of squash and they were delicious. My bad seeds were absolute junk for growth and production.  It was so dramatic that I suspect there must have been some other issue playing a role. I don't know if more bugs got to them or if the rain screwed them up (we had more than usual this year). By dramatic, I mean the plants produced absolutely no squash whatsoever...and they looked pathetic. I know I shouldn't mess with science, but that seemed too extreme to be right/valid.

Becky: Becky wrote about her results here. I will share one of her quotes "I'd say that the good day planting produced squash 2 to 1 compared to the bad day planting."

B & Roy N: Roy my husband said that the seeds he planted on the good days were (plants) about three times bigger than the seeds (plants) planted on the bad days.

Jen: I planted 3 seeds on a good day and 3 seed on a bad day.  My watering system failed miserably and only 1 of the bad day seeds came up.  MY fault and I am sad.  The plant that did come up, gave us gobs of squash and kept my family as well as my parents supplied all summer. I made "Zucchini Bread" from it for the freezer as well.  It worked perfectly. 

David T:

 
Bear with me in that I have a process control background and am so boring that I often start snoring and fall asleep on myself as I am talking, as do others around me.

About two weeks  prior to this picking I had cleaned all of the squash from both hills so I could have a starting point for some quantitative comparison of the yields once a new growth could be harvested. Once both hills had produced their fruit again I picked all the squash and compared the result.

 

Both hills produced an average of six (6) squash per plant. There was no difference in the quality, taste or size from plant to plant or fruit to fruit. I can say that the result was statistically inconclusive because the sampling was not from a large enough study. In quality and process control, a study of, say, thirty plants per variable (good day, bad day) would have given a statistically valid comparison.

 

There was this notable exception, however. The plants in the good hill came up ten days earlier than the bad day plants and bloomed and bore fruit much sooner than the bad day plants. This was in spite of the fact that the hills were planted only one day apart.

 

And this is also true: The seeds from your sponsor, Hometown Seeds, were very, very productive. We had squash all summer and we couldn't eat it or give it away fast enough and we should have taken time to preserve some of the bounty. I am impressed with the quality of their seed. I'll buy from them.

 

Martina: Good day seed-didn't work out. The one plant that came up is about 2 in. in diameter. Bad day seed-both propagated. Producing blossoms right now and are large plants.

 

The good day seed was planted in a pot, the bad day in the ground near a path. They were watered equally as much, same light-the pot is about 3 yards west of the ground planted ones.

 

Barb G: We have had a hot dry summer. Both seeds took a long time germinate.
They have not had any squash yet but both have blooms. Finally! I couldn't really tell a lot of difference in the two plantings.

Paula: Well, mine were a bomb. We had a really cold and rainy spring and summer. My "good" seeds started to come up, but froze and were lost. My "bad day" seeds didn't even peek above the ground. Our average high this summer was 55 with only a handful of real summer like days. 

Jeannie: I haven't heard back from Jeannie. Hopefully if she reads this post she'll let us know in the comments how her squash grew)

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So what do you think? One thing is obvious-even if you plant by the signs you still can't control the bugs or the weather. I hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me what you deduced from the results.

As for what I think: I planted everything in my garden by the signs this year-I made sure I planted the seedlings I started indoors on a good day and I made sure when I transplanted them it was a good day as well. We had the most productive garden we've ever had-everything grew and produced to the point that I'm tired of putting it up and I'm tired of giving it away. You can't argue with success-so I'm going to extend my planting by the signs goal to next summer.

I hope a few of you will be up for participating in the 3rd Annual Planting by the Signs Test here on the Blind Pig next year. We may not make any earth shattering discoveries with the tests-but it sure is fun-and tasty too!

Tipper

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Mountain Folk

 
Today's post is a Mountain Folk interview. It's been a while since I last did one-something I hope too remedy in the future. When I first started the Blind Pig one of my desires was to interview the older generations-to get down on 'paper' what their early lives were like-to garner valuable information about the old ways before it's too late.

Over the last 2 and half years-I've made a wonderful discovery-in addition to the older generations-I've found there are folks my age (some younger-some slightly older) who are carrying on the old traditions too. In other words-I'm a naysayer to those who say the Appalachian Culture has faded away. I've found it's alive and well in households from one end of the Appalachian Mountains to the other.

My goal is to do more Mountain Folk interviews-to preserve the wealth of information the older generations own-but also to spotlight everyday folks who have found a way to weave the culture of our forefathers into the modern lives we lead today.

 
Today's Mountain Folk Interview is with J.C. Cole. J.C. was born and raised in Haywood County NC.

J.C. what were things like when you were a kid compared to now?

Well we didn't sit around and watch tv all the time. I remember the first time I saw a color tv was at Sears & Roebuck. There wasn't no sodiewater or soft drinks. You either drank milk or water. If you did get some cider or juice it was a real treat.

Since you mentioned food-what were the differences in food from then till now?

We had fried taters all the time but didn't know much of nothing about french fries. We used loaf bread for our hamburgers. And we had coarse ground cornmeal. I like to have never gotten used to store bought cornmeal. Daddy always said yellow corn is for the hogs and white corn is for the people. When I was a boy we grew or raised most everything we ate.

You've lived in this area your whole life-how has Haywood County changed?

When they finished up this part of interstate 40 I remember people saying why in the world are they building such a highway when you only see 10 or 12 cars go by. Why they'll never be enough vehicles to fill it up. But we were wrong. I sit here some days and watch the little portion I can see in the distance and the traffic never stops, it never stops day or night it just keeps going in both directions.

What would you say about today's Appalachia?

Younguns don't know what they've got-but they don't know what they've missed either. Folks just rush through it all. They don't take time to enjoy life. The last 2 years I've been forced to slow down by my health and now I realize what's important and what isn't worth a hill of beans. Society tells our kids that they need to start out at the same level as their parents or better. The I wants have gotten above the I needs.

Do you know other people-who are like you-who are holding on to the old ways?

Yes I've got lots of friends who were born and raised in the area that do things the way their Mommas and Daddies did. They still slaughter hogs, hunt, raise a garden, can, quilt, and one still makes syrup every year.

Can you sum up what you'd say about your life in the Southern Highlands of Appalachia?

I'm afraid it's a changing for the worse. People don't realize this is a gift from God. People don't realize The Smoky Mountains are in their backyard. The mountains weren't never meant to be cut up and built all over. You can't even drink from the streams no more. But I wouldn't live no where else. We've got the best weather and there's not a prettier place either. The hard work ethic our people have, the having to make something out of nothing way of life caused the strong fierce independent nature of the people of Appalachia. Today we don't have much but what we have is ours. I don't have to worry about bills and owing folks. We grow a garden and raise livestock for food. Other than having electricity we live much like my grandparents did and it makes me happy to know that.

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Hope you enjoyed meeting J.C.-just an everyday person who lives out his life in Appalachia walking in the footsteps of his elders.

Tipper

p.s. You know what I think? I think J.C. is preserving my culture just by living his life-and he doesn't even realize it-now that is something to think about!

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Spotlight On Music In Appalachia - Junior Appalachian Musicians

Ever heard of the JAM program for kids? Our local Elementary School has participated in the program for several years. I first heard about JAM when Guitar Man and Mandolin Man-my nephews-signed up for the free after school music lessons.

Over on the JAM website-they sum up what they're about better than I can-their Mission is stated as being: "Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. helps communities provide opportunities for children to participate in the old-time and bluegrass music and dance traditions of the Southern Appalachians."

A few months ago I the pleasure of  interviewing JAM's founder, Helen White, about the program.

How long has JAM been around?

I was a Guidance Counselor for Sparta in Allegheny County in the spring of 2000. One day I went into a 3rd grade classroom to do a guidance session. The teacher was holding photos of instruments up telling the kids what they were. Sparta did not have a music program, so the only way the students could learn about the instruments was by looking at pictures. I offered to bring in my instruments for the children to see and the teacher agreed. The students enthusiasm about seeing real instruments gave me the idea to write a proposal for funding for a music program. The very next night I ran into a friend who was a folklorist and after I spoke to her about the proposal, my friend took the idea to the National Endowment for the Arts. It was like the program was meant to be from the start.

How many different communities take part in JAM?

Western NC has the lion's share of the programs mostly because the NC Arts Council took a real interest in the program. The Arts Council was able to acquire a grant that paid for 7 Counties in Western NC to fund a JAM Program in their area. Blueridge National Heritage also provided for 3 NC counties. A group from SC has started a YAM-Young Appalachian Musician program that is affiliated with JAM. There are also JAM Programs in Galax, VA and Grayson VA.

So it sounds like JAM continues to expand in all directions?

Yes, next year we will partner with The Crooked Road Music Trail in Southwest VA. They will give us the opportunity to introduce JAM to 19 counties across VA.

I know our local JAM Program 'loaned' the instruments to students at no charge-is that how it's usually done?

Each county handles the instrument issue in a way that best fits their area. Some charge a small rental fee while others don't.

Since our local JAM Program only has music lessons-I didn't realize traditional dance could also be part of the program until I poked around your website. Is the music more common in the program than dance?

Yes there are more instrument/music JAM Participants than there are traditional dance. We started offering traditional dance instruction as an enrichment program. As the young musicians progressed in their ability it became obvious we needed 2 different levels of lessons. We needed something for the group level who wasn't in class at the moment to do. It was a natural thing to add dance and folk songs to the program.

Do most JAM Programs meet on school grounds?

More programs meet in an after-school setting on campus than not. Some meet at art councils. Most schools are receptive to the JAM Program being part of their extra curricular activities. And some schools even provide buses to get kids from the school to where their JAM session takes place if it is off campus.

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JAM has a great website-full of information, videos, and links. I encourage you to jump over and check it out. When my nephews were in JAM-I was pleased that our local community was encouraging our youth to value the traditional music of Appalachia-but once I realized the JAM Program existed beyond my county-even beyond my state I was totally blown away.

Not everyone is fortunate to grow up in a musical family like I did-and in today's tough economic times-most parents can barely afford the basics much less provide music lessons. I believe Helen and the rest of the JAM Gang are providing a valuable service to both the children and to the whole of the region by ensuring the music of Appalachia continues to thrive by exposing our youth to it.

Tipper

p.s. If you do jump over to the JAM site be sure to watch my nephews along with Pap and Paul pick out Buffalo Gals-which was one of the first songs their instructors, JD and Ted, taught them to play at JAM. The video is at the bottom of the JAM home page and is titled John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown.

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Gritted Bread 2

A few of you may remember me and Pap making gritted bread last year. (you can click here to read it-if you didn't see it the first time) Pap remembers 2 different ways his Mother made what she called gritted bread. The one we tried last year isn't something I'd care to try again-but since then I've wanted to try the other version Pap recalls from childhood.

Pap says this 'fresh' version of gritted bread was made at the end of the growing season-when the corn began to harden-but wasn't dried completely.  

We used a few ears of our field corn-since it's much closer to what they grew when Pap was a boy-instead of the sweet corn most of us are familiar with today.

Wild Bill had to tag along to the garden-he has a penchant for corn-or actually any thing humans have that he doesn't. Usually he steals what he can and takes it to one of his hideouts-one of which is underneath my back deck.

See the place where the kernels are missing? Pap says oldtimers called that a 'run out' and  said it was caused by lack of rain. Makes sense considering the dry summer we've had here this year.

 
Pap used Granny's grater to grate the corn. He said when he was a boy most folks had a homemade grater. Some folks used nothing more than an old can with nail holes punched in the end or side while others used more elaborate ones made from a piece of tin stretched over a board with parts of the tin tore back to form the 'graters'.

After we had about 1 1/2 cups of grated corn-Pap added 2/3 cup of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 1/2 teaspoons of sodie (baking soda)

Pap beat 1 one egg and added it to a cup of milk

 
He then added 2 tablespoons of bacon grease-that he kept from breakfast that morning-to the milk/egg mixture

Pap poured the milk/egg/grease mixture into the flour/corn mixture and stirred it all up. Seems like he might have added a little more milk-but I can't remember for sure. Pap said the batter should be like pancake batter. He greased his spider pan-heated it-and then poured in the batter.

Pap said he should have fried it like potato cakes but since we were talking-he forgot and poured the whole pan full. Once it was browned on one side-he cut down the middle and flipped both pieces so the other side could cook.

So what did I think-I liked it! When we made the first version of gritted bread-I could only imagine eating it if I had too. But this 2nd version I liked and I could see how folks would enjoying eating it plain or with a smear of honey which is how Pap likes it.    

Have you ever had gritted bread-or even heard of it?

Tipper

p.s. I'll be selling my folkart-and talking about the Blind Pig next weekend-if you're in the Young Harris drop by and see me. On Saturday-at 2:00 you can catch the whole Blind Pig Gang pickin' and grinnin'. And if you come a little earlier on Sat.-you can see some mighty fine clogging performed by the JCCFS Cloggers.

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Sinners and Saints

See the gentleman sitting at the end of the couch-that's was Pap's Uncle Frank-my Great Uncle Frank. He died when I was in High School-but lately he's been on my mind.

Depending on who you talked too-there would have been folks who liked him a lot and folks who didn't care for him at all. He was what you might call an outlaw.

Frank served in World War II. As kids we were forever impressed he killed the Germans. We all told the tale of him fighting down a hundred machine guns at one time-and leaving the enemy in his wake. Looking back, I don't ever remember him talking about the war-I think one of my cousins made the story up for the gospel and we all went along with it.

To say Frank had a drinking problem was an understatement. I believe all his brush ups with the law were caused by it.

One morning I was outside playing when a cousin ran up to Pap and Granny's to tell me "the law is down at Papaw's and they're looking for Frank." I chased him back at break neck speed. There leaned the officer against his parked car. As he stood by the line of mailboxes he said "I've got all day to wait."

Where was Frank? As soon as he saw the law coming up the road, he went out the back door of Papaw and Mamaw's house, up through the woods, down the bank and in the back door of my Uncle's house. While the policeman stood his post, Frank sat on the couch and ate a sandwich.

Although they didn't get him that day, there were other times when they did-like the night they busted in the doors of Papaw and Mamaw's house.

Frank went back and fourth between Mamaw's, she was his sister, and one of their other sister's who lived across the mountain in Pine Log. Sometimes on weekend mornings we'd awaken to find him sitting on the front steps waiting for us to wake up-waiting for Granny to cook breakfast.

After Mamaw died, Frank bought a trailer and put it in the pasture down the road. He entertained other outlaws-most harmless, and drank a lot till the end of his life. Not long after he moved into the trailer Paul was riding his bicycle up and down the road when Frank hollered out the door and told him if he'd go get him a jug of water from the old spring across the road he'd pay him a dollar. Being the little rat that he was and since he knew Frank couldn't see him-Paul got the water out of the creek instead of going to the spring. A few day's later Frank offered him another dollar for a jug of water-telling Paul-and "And this time don't get it out of the creek-Go to the spring."

One Sunday night-Frank accidentally set fire to the trailer. While building a fire he got the gas and kerosene cans mixed up.

Once the trailer was engulfed he simply walked up the road to my Uncle's, went in, and had a seat. You can imagine how he looked-how he smelled. They asked him "Frank what in the world happened to you?" He told them "oh I set the house on fire."

When we arrived home from church-the blaze was huge-and the fire trucks hadn't arrived yet. I was terrified he was still in there-Granny about had to slap me I got so worked up. Later that night, after the terror was over, and the fire was out, Frank spent the night with us-I'll never forget the way Granny's blue bathroom looked when he got done taking a shower let's just say it was no longer blue.

Frank was good as gold to me, he served his country during a horrible war, he took Pap under his wing in Ohio and California, and yet somehow he was an outlaw too. That's what I've been thinking about-how most of us to one degree or another are sinners and saints at the same time-just like Uncle Frank.

Tipper

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Spotlight On Music In Appalachia - Copperhill TN

 

Photo provided by Polk County News

Fiddling George Barnes, Last of the Copper Haulers 

By Ethelene Dyer Jones

A considerable amount of romance (meaning legend, mystery, adventure) is tied to the days of early mining and copper exchange in the Copper Basin. This is especially true of the men who were known as the copper haulers along the Old Copper Road. Perhaps none of them were as well known or had as many admirers as George B. Barnes.

We have perhaps heard stories of him, and if we have visited the Ducktown Basin Museum, we have seen displayed there the fine old fiddle that once belonged to this copper hauler, citizen and fiddle-player, George Barnes.

James Barnes (June 13, 1811-August 9, 1859) and his wife, Susan (maiden name unknown – September 23, 1813 – October 14, 1886) had five known children. Daughter Emaline (August, 1836 – July 9, 1885) married first, Enoch Farmer about 1854, and after he was killed in the Civil War, she married, second, John W. Headrick. George B. Barnes (March 20, 1840 – November 5, 1919) married Sarah Gassaway about 1860. They had a daughter, Amanda, who married William Leander Dalton. Nancy was born about 1842, but whether she lived to adulthood is not known. Martha Ann was born about 1844 and married Samuel J. Moore, Jr. in 1869. William C. Barnes, known as Billy, was born January 21, 1872. This younger brother worked with George in the copper mines and as a hauler.

Captain Julius Raht, who had a great influence on the economic growth of the Ducktown Basin area, purchased a fine violin on his travels to Cincinnati or elsewhere and made a gift of the violin to George B. Barnes. Endowed with a natural talent with music, and with the mountain gift of making the strings sing, George was much in demand as an entertainer and a fiddler at various parties throughout the Basin area.

Photo provided by Polk County News 

The copper haulers would often stop off at what was known as the Halfway House, about mid-way between Ducktown and Cleveland, Tennessee on their journey along the Old Copper Road. Mr. Roy G. Lillard, historian, in his book, Polk County, Tennessee, 1839-1999, gives a list of the men employed as copper haulers. There may have been more, but these were documented: George Barnes, I. A. Gassaway, James Rymer, W. C. Barnes (George’s brother), R. Boyd, W. P. Barker, A. J. Cloud, J. H. Williams, R. M. Cole, James Lingerfelt, John Lowry, William Center and W. A. Center. From time to time others joined in the hauls:  Major J. C. Duff, Taylor Duff, Parker Duff, Pen Jones, Jim Ingram, Asbury Blankenship, Joe Dunn, Joe Hasking, Reuben Carver, Samp Orr, Ephraim Woody, Jim Hughes, Jay Fry, Tom Bates, William Williamson, Quint Gilliland, John Hutchins, Posey Parker, Rev. W. H. Rymer, John Moody, Joe Cain and a Greer boy who lost his life along the route. (See Lillard, page 166).  These surnames read like a roster of present-day citizens still in the Copper Basin.

The load limit, strictly enforced, was no more than 500 pounds of copper per draft animal in the team. If a hauler had two mules, his cargo could weigh at 1,000 pounds. But four, six and eight mule teams were not uncommon, and give an idea of the weight of copper these haulers moved. The road was through rough terrain and of poor quality. It was not unusual for the wagon to sink into a rut, and with the grade difficult anyway, the poor mules would stall.

Some of the copper haulers, not as gentle and humane as George Barnes, would use a black snake whip to coerce the mules to move. Mr. Barnes was noted for getting out his violin to play music to soothe the mules. Legend holds that his method for getting the stalled team to pull the load out of the ditch and to get back onto the road worked every time.

At the Halfway House, guests never seemed too tired to hear George Barnes play his fiddle.  A little hoe-down never hurt anyone, and especially the copper haulers. Their spirits were lifted and the music made their stop-over more enjoyable. Captain Julius Raht himself purchased the Halfway House after the Civil War in 1866. He made it into a fashionable place to stop for overnight stays, to eat and to be entertained. Who knows but that it was during his period of ownership of this boarding house along the Copper Road that he gave the violin to Fiddler George Barnes.

The Greer boy who assisted the copper haulers, probably as a groomsman for the mules or a general helper, met his death while he was working as a hauler’s helper. He requested that he be buried along the road so he could see and hear the haulers as they passed by. Is it any wonder that legends evolved about this lad whose likeness could sometimes be seen at twilight, keeping his vigil along the mile-long stretch where his grave overlooked the Copper Road?

During or immediately after the Civil War, George B. Barnes met misfortune at the hands of the notorious John Gatewood, leader of the infamous gang of bushwhackers. Gatewood shot at Uncle George Barnes, hitting him in the eye area and permanently damaging his sight.  But Mr. Barnes was not killed by the blast. In fact, he was able to live for several more years, dying in 1919.

I recently had a delightful call from Mr. Pat Terry, former citizen of the Copper Basin and now a resident of Atlanta. He commented about Captain Julius Raht, and we went from that to talking about Fiddler George Barnes, his wife’s uncle. He knew the violin came as a gift from Captain Raht. Mr. Terry told me that the violin was damaged, its neck broken badly. Mr. Barnes got cherry wood and carved a new neck to attach to the old violin. The workmanship was so perfect and the mend so flawless that the violin looked as though it had never been damaged.

Fiddling George Barnes had the distinction of taking the last load of copper from Ducktown to Cleveland just prior to the change from mule-drawn freight to railroad shipping.

I wonder, during the cold December hauls, did Fiddling George Barnes play Christmas carols to soothe his mules stranded in the ruts of the Old Copper Road? Were the evenings near Christmas at Halfway House filled with strains of “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem”?  I like to think so. I can almost hear him now, making that violin talk.

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I hope you enjoyed Ethelene's post as much as I did. A fiddle player that could sooth the mules-pretty neat uh? 2 things make me partial to Ethelene's subject matter-Chatter is learning to play the fiddle-and I was born in Copperhill, TN.

Remember a comment on this post gives you another entry in the guitar giveaway.

Tipper

p.s. The winners of the Kathy Chiavola giveaway are- Kim Campbell and Janice MacDaniels-send me your address ladies and I'll send you a cd. 

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