Roadtrip to the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Conference

On Martin Luther King Day, we woke up to snow on our pastures and drove from Floyd, VA, through the stunning Grayson Highlands, laced with beautiful rock walls blanketed in ice sculptures like these.

Our drive along highway 58 kept us almost always creekside as we passed through Jefferson National Forest.

We crossed the Appalachian Trail three times, and the third time was in "Trail Town USA", othrerwise known as Damascus, Virginia. (photo below found online)
The Appalachian Trail runs right through the heart of Damascus, home of the annual Trail Days Festival held at the end of May. Each year the Trail Days Festival draws in excess of 20,000 tourists and current and past AT hikers (more than twice the town's population), making it the largest single gathering of Appalachian Trail hikers anywhere. Here are a couple Trail Days images from previous years (not taken by us):

While there we stopped of at one of the town's many outfitter/hiking supply/outdoors-centered shops and chatted with an older-generation Damascus native for an unplanned hour. I'd say, beyond getting more info on area trails, the most valuable thing we learned from our new friend is that we can visit the area in early summer and pick wild blueberries to our hearts delight -- looking forward to that one!

We stayed the night in a hotel in Knoxville, TN, and on inaguration morning we visited an internationally renowned organization that was instrumental in building the civil rights movement: Highlander Center, which just celebrated its 75th anniversary last year.

Highlander recently purchased a neighboring 500-tree orchard (mostly apple and some peach). They plan to transition the orchard to organic and are in the process of hiring an intern to assist with that work. Dan and I put our hearts into the application, but accepted jobs elsewhere last week having thought that Highlander had already filled the position.

We visited anyway, and during our tour were shown images of Rosa Parks (who trained in activism there), Martin Luther King,  and Woody Guthrie sitting next to the founder of Highlander, as well as articles written about Highlander’s (then) highly controversial mixed-race events where blacks and whites are seen dancing together and enjoying it! How you can spin this in a negative angle is beyond my understanding.

While we were at Highlander, the U.S. swore in its first ever mixed-race president. We drove away listening to the radio broadcast of Obama’s speech and were deeply moved by our day's experience. Change may be slow, but change does happen. Let us hope for similar change in our country’s economic patterns. Let us hope that this administration sticks to an agenda of creating more sustainable, localized economies and food systems for the health and well being of Americans, and for the health and well-being of people in countries currently oppressed by unsustainable and exploitative patterns of hyper-globalized consumption.


We spent the next 5 days in Chattanooga, participating in the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) Conference. I attended a 2-day class on Pricing and Profits for Small Farms and Dan attended a 2-day class on Growing and Marketing Cut Flowers. We then separately attended back-to-back 1 ½ hour sessions for the next two days of the conference covering topics as broad ranging as Growing Gormet and Medicinal Mushrooms, Multi-species Grazing, Hoophouses for Season Extension, Taxes, Cover Cropping to Balance Soil Nutrients, Record Keeping for Organic Certification, and Creating and Meeting Local Demand. It was all very educational, but in my opinion no sessions were quite as fun as the facilitated networking sessions where we met other farmers from Virginia and made some really valuable and meaningful connections with folks.

After the first networking session we got together a crew of 18 young Southern farmers (new friends and old) and went out for Mexican food, mob-style:



We took the following photo of all the former CASFS (UCSC Farm & Garden) apprentices who attended this conference. 

From the top left: Mike (06&07), Noah (07), Katie (07&08), Me (honorary 07&08), Dan (07&08)… 

From the bottom left: Kelsey (07), Josh (07), Beth (08), Catherine (06&07), Brendan (02), and Mark (82). What a crew!

I was so immersed in the conference, I didn't take any other photos besides this one of our incredibly impassioned closing-night speaker, John Ikerd, self labeled "Ordained Economist" who made a moving presentation on "Why Sustainable Farming is Critical to the Future of the World."  He focused on how our national food security and the future of humanity depend on the sustainability of family farms. He went on for a half hour and had us feeling like we were in church. I will try to send a short clip of his speech to folks on our email update list.


One of the biggest highlights of our time in Chattanooga was our visit to William’s Island Farm. Last November (07), I returned from Peace Corps and joined Dan and his co-apprentices Noah, Ryan, and Kelsey, on a cross-country roadtrip from Santa Cruz, CA, to Chattanooga, TN. The “Tennessee Three,” as we called them then, were invited by the Tennessee River Gorge Trust to start an organic farm on William's Island, and offered start up funds for the project. William’s Island is a 450 acre island in the middle of the Tennessee river. There are no roads leading to the island, to get there you must go by boat, and until the start of the William’s Island Farm no one was living there either. Useable conventional/coal-powered electricity does not exist on the island, nor does plumbing, or any other such amenities. It was basically a blank slate when we went with the boys to visit it for the first time last winter.

The following series of photos show the island one year after Noah, Ryan, Kelsey, and their local farming partner Ashley arrived on the scene and began building it into a farm.

Here is a photo of Noah taking Dan and I to the island via canoe (we were the first of the day’s 9 visitors to arrive):



After a brief wooded hike, we were greeted by this fine furry farm residents, Malaki and Butternut:

Then, from their tent, came Kelsey and Ashley to greet us – both natives of eastern Tennessee (Noah and Ryan are from California).

Dan presented Kelsey and Noah with their belated holiday gifts, “Sow Your Wild Oats” shirts that Dan designed and silkscreened himself.

While waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive, Kelsey prepared tea from herbs grown on William’s Island, and Dan and Ashley prepared an almost entirely William’s Island grown breakfast for twelve:

Here’s the crew together in the unfinished kitchen made of mostly recycled materials, digging into the delicious breakfast of grits with scrambled eggs and purple cabbage:

Despite being separated on all side from the mainland, the William’s Island farmers have access to the valuable marketing tool of high speed internet. Their basic electronic needs are met with solar power. They have an outhouse, but for now have to use off-farm bathing facilites.
Our tour of the farm began with a walk into the cozy warm greenhouse. Most of the year the structure is entirely heated by passive solar, but there is also a wood-burning stove installed for surprise freeze nights or periods of time with little sunlight. The bottom sides of the greenhouse prop open for ventilation. The corn on the floor is for the consumption of the MANY varieties of laying chickens living on the farm.

Next, we stopped by the sheep pen to visit the island farm's baby Polar Bear… errr, uhh, I mean Great Pyrenees puppy. As painfully cute as this fur-ball is though, it’s necessary to minimize human cuddling and play with him, as he is a farm worker “Livestock Protection Dog," not a pet. He's been put in with the sheep at a young age so that he can begin to bond with them, see them as his pack, and develop the desire to protect them from any predators that may come.

William’s Island Farm has two goats they milk for personal dairy consumption, and a couple dozen sheep that they raise for meat to sell at market.
Awww!
I can’t even list all the different varieties of chicken that produce eggs on the farm… there’s got to be somewhere between 6 and 10 I’d guess. The mobile coop is home-made from recycled materials… speaking of recyclables, note the steel reclamation plant visible on the mainland in the background.

Though the island is physically separated from the rest of Chattanooga, the sounds of urban life are oft-present. There are houses on the hillsides and a high school right along the banks that have near-full views of all goings on on the island. The William’s Island Farmers always get a kick out of meeting the folks on the mainland that watch them work daily. One family even uses a telescope for such purposes!

To gain some privacy, farmer housing was built under the cover of thick trees out of view of locals.

Here is Noah’s open structure home (burrrr!):

Ryan’s open structure home is below. He was visiting family in California while we were in Chattanooga, but will return to the island in a month or so with his ladyfriend and the soon-to-be fifth member of the William’s Island collaborative, our dear friend Felicja!
Ashley and her gentlemanfriend Kelsey share this canvas tent, which has the added benefit of being heated by a wood stove:
We continued on a walking tour of part of the island… .
Below, our new friends from Louden County Virginia, Rob and Stephen, play around at the wetland area of the island, which has a healthy beaver population. The bridge was whiped out by rising waters years ago, and here Stephen balances on an unattached portion of the bridge while Rob tries to reach for it and draw it toward land. Before ending our tour we circled up in the field where, perhaps unbeknownst to the folks who put a CONSERVATION easement on the island, GMO (genetically modified) conventionally grown corn is produced – fertilized by human sludge. "Human sludge" (or "night soil") is not to be mistaken for safer, more thoroughly composted "Humanure" that one might get from a composting toilet. Human sludge is a much more dangerous and toxic material that includes not only raw human feces but also other substances found in sewers. YUCK! For the sake of the development of this “sustainable island” I hope these toxic practices end soon.

Here are a couple links if you'd like to learn more about the differences between toxic "Human Sludge/Night Soil" and non-toxic "Humanure".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanure

After a lovely couple of hours, we piled into a motorboat (lacking a working motor) with our fearless leader Kelsey…


…and rowed our way across the calm waters of the Tennessee river and back to the mainland.


For those up to date on news about the 1.6 billion tons of toxic sludge spilled out from a northeast Tennessee Coal Plant in late December that covered 300 acres of land, was up to 6 feet deep in some areas, damaged 15 houses, condemned at least three houses, carried one house straight off its foundation, and leaked large amounts of toxins such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, uranium, and mercury into a tributary of the Tennessee river – the water that you see us boating in is downstream from that spill and thus strongly effected by the spread of the "fly ash" toxins. 

For those not up to date, here are a couple articles written on the topic around the time of the spill: 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/26/tennessee.sludge/index.html?eref=rss_us
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/worst_case_scenarios/4297384.html
http://www.greenpeace.org/mediterranean/news/toxic-sludge-leaks-expose-true

Here's a quote about the toxins, found in the second article:
"Mercury exposure is especially dangerous for unborn children, who are susceptible to neurological damage if their mothers have a buildup of mercury in the bloodstream... (In adults) continued exposure to mercury can lead to health problems such as chronic tremors and a variety of mood disorders... Besides the mercury, however, trace amounts of arsenic, uranium, nickel, cadmium and toxic chemicals makes this a nasty substance to have in the waterways—one that is difficult to test for and remove... Tennessee Valley Authority representatives said that early tests of nearby rivers showed elevated levels of lead (which in high doses can also lead to developmental disorders) and thallium (used in rat poisons and insecticides)"

Despite this, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), who owns this plant and others in Tennessee, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who seem to represent the opposite interests of their title, have deemed that the amount of these chemicals dumped into the landscape and waterways of the region (including groundwater and a tributary of the Tennessee river) are "safe," or at least "within legal limits." I don't know about you all, but I don't want ANY of that stuff in my water. For our own health and safety, Dan and I did not drink any of the local tap water while we were visiting Chattanooga.



This spill covered an area 48 times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, but news reports on the topic have been mostly untouched by mainstream media. Most coal plants across the country (even so-called “clean” coal plants) have the same earthen holding facilities that busted open and spilled from the Kingston, Tennessee, coal plant this winter.  

One month later, there was another accident at a coal plant run by the Tennessee Valley Authority. 10,000 gallons of slurry spilled from a retention pond at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Alabama. Some of this waste also escaped into the Tennessee River, and is most certainly in the ground water... There are many other instances like this, they're just not publicized.

Several states have their own initiatives responding to this issue. To get involved, you can look up your local environmental group. Here's what West Virgini is doing:
http://sludgesafety.org/how_to_help/index.html

And here's a letter to governers being circulated by several state environmental groups:
http://action.1sky.org/t/1981/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=872

Thanks for letting me get all environmental. I applaud anyone who kept reading through my rant. Being informed and informing others seems just as important an avenue as any.

Stay tuned... in a week or two we hope to have more Floyd updates, hopefully with photos of our future home and jobsite.

Many blessings to all.

Floyd!!

FLOYD, VA. OUR NEW HOME!

On Friday, January 9, we arrive in Floyd and check into our hotel room, shower, chat with the woman at the front desk, and head out for a night on the town. This consisted of a much-anticipated hoedown (we’ve known everything about Floyd for the past 6 months). The ‘Jamboree’ happens every Friday night at Floyd’s Country Store, a place where you can buy anything from candy to bluegrass albums to Carhartt overalls to lunch.


The place is full before the ‘gospel hour’ which is simply bluegrass preaching a godly message. We are the only people in the house under 40 (the guy introducing the band points out how many youngsters are out tonight, greeting all of the 40-somethings by first name).
By the time the gospel hour is over and the bluegrass commences, the place is packed (in the summer the crowd expands into the street where speakers are set up) and some new-arrival younger generation folks, presumably form Virginia Tech (45 minutes away) join the old timers on the dance floor. The old timers (I’m talking 80 year olds) are doing a fast-paced dance we’ve never seen before, called clogging or flat footing.

We learn that flat footing was brought here by the way of Ireland where dance floors were so packed (as this one is) that they had no room to dance around. Clogging is like high stepping tap dancing involving metal soled shoes, from the torso up there’s little more that a bobbing up and down (which confuses us from our seated positions). Once we got closer to the action it becomes apparent that the cloggers were involved in an intricate dance of the lower body, reminiscent of river dance. The metal soled shoes roared, dozens of pairs sounding to the rhythm, connecting the dancer to the musicians and adding a percussive element to the stringed band.

A physically shaky but strong willed man in his 80’s introduces himself as Tom. He comes here from out of town every week, leaving his wife (who doesn’t like dancing) at home. He asks Cole to dance.


I (Dan) ask a pair of women we’d been sitting next to and chatting with if one of them would like to dance. “Oh, we don’t dance. We just come here to watch.” The next song is a waltz and one of them says to me, “Well, I do like to waltz.” “Ummm, I don’t know how to waltz”, I reply nervously. “Come on,” she insists.

I proceed to stutter step and bump into every couple in our crammed vicinity, but do so with an apologetic smile that gets me by.

The next evening we continue our festivities at a Contra Dance taking place in the building next door to the Country Store. If you are not familiar with contra dancing, it is sort of like a line dance, in fact I don’t know the difference between the two. There’s a bluegrass band and a ‘caller’, who calls out the dance moves. This involves ‘doe-see-doe’ and ‘swing your partner’ and ‘left hand star’ and ‘circle right’, all of which are reminiscent of high school gym class when I learned square dancing.

Newcomers were asked to pair up with veteran dancers and separation anxiety ensues. Cole and I nervously look at each other and smile, both implying that maybe we could just wing it and blend…“HI! I’m David!” says this overly cheerful bearded man sporting tie-dye. “You can dance with me”, he puts his hand out for Cole, “and you can dance with my friend” he says to me. “We just got back from a week-long contra dance retreat.” David’s dance partner had carpooled down with three others from Charlottesville (2 1/2 hours away). Apparently a group of dedicated enthusiasts tour from city to city with the contra dance circuit. The night was a blast, and afterwards we make hopeful plans to go to the local monthly contra dances for the rest of our lives.

Yes, by this point we are in love with this place and never want to leave. Here are some reasons why we love Floyd (a.k.a. the things we value the most): music, visual arts, nature, ample small farms (and thus great local food sources), and a sense of community.

MUSIC: As previously mentioned, the weekly Jamboree and the monthly contra dance are amazing. Beyond that, Floyd is on The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Music Heritage Trail, a driving route dotted with music venues throughout the state with the intention of preserving and sharing the roots of Appalachian folk and bluegrass. Bluegrass came into existence in these mountains and still pulses through it veins. It is a regular site to see someone walking down the street with a violin case in hand or to see old timers pickin’ on a porch. When we were walking to the Jamboree we passed a barbershop where a kid was getting his hair cut while four musicians were jamming in the back of the shop.

Floyd is also home of FloydFest which brings over 15,000 people to this small town. Acts I am excited about this year are:

The Duhks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2d3xztG5XM)
Rising Appalachia (http://www.myspace.com/risingappalachia)
Listen to Scale Down
Sxip Shirey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbpOoTEFD_g&feature=related)
Luminescent Orchestrii (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIc4vhT6R9w&feature=related)
Toubab Krewe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xIvX3LWLTI&feature=related)

Floyd hosts Country Records, home of the world’s largest country and bluegrass collection. It is a huge warehouse/basement, all brick and no windows.


Testing the limits of their collection, I asked if they have any early obscure Dixie Chicks albums, albums from when they played real bluegrass rather than pop country. The women replied in a confident, thick southern drawl, “Oh, we pulled them off of the shelves years ago.” I looked up to see a giant “Support our Troops” poster... One of the few reminders I’ve had thus far that we’re not in California anymore.

Blacksburg and Roanoke, both 45 minutes away, have good music scenes as well, bringing some of the larger acts to the area (Ani Difranco in March).

VISUAL ARTS: There are easily a dozen galleries here and a large artist community. Perhaps the highlight of the art scene is the Jacksonville Community Arts Center, located on 5 acres of a former dairy farm. They do contemporary and folk art exhibits, educational programs for kids and adults, and social events throughout the year. There is a gallery called The Hayloft Gallery, as it is actually in the dairies former hayloft. They house The Sustainable Living Education Center (SLEC) which has installed examples of environmentally friendly practices such as a working wind generator. They offer classes on fiber arts, jewelry, sculpture woodworking and two dimensional arts (book art, drawing, painting, pastels, photography, printmaking, watercolor, etc.) The Center also offers classes, using fully equipped studios, in blacksmithing, pottery, and glass working.

NATURE: Floyd is located just next to the Blueridge Parkway, 469 miles of some of the most scenic views in the country. Floyd is not far from the Appalachian Trail, which we look forward to hiking soon. Floyd County is the source of all of its water, with no water flowing into the county, just out. Creeks and streams are everywhere. Buffalo Mountain, the highest elevation in the county at almost 4,000 ft, is under 5 miles from our front door as the crow flies. Although locals are concerned or outraged (depending on who you talk to) by the rate of development it is still incredibly rural and undeveloped. Rolling hills are everywhere with evidence of a formerly thriving dairy community that failed beef up their operations big enough to survive.

SMALL FARMERS AND GOOD FOOD: There are over a dozen small-scale sustainable farms here, yet the room for growth is huge. The farms here all (for the most part) all work together and support each other, rather than competing. Even this time of year there is a ton of local sources of food. The local cheese cakes are the most amazing things in the entire world (I can picture Cole scowling at me as I write this -- she ought to be an ordained dietitian). I would trade twenty years of my life to eat one of them for every meal. They are to die for, literally.

SENSE OF COMMUNITY: Floyd gets enough tourists that they don't stare at newcomers, as one would expect from a town of under 500 people. There is a good mix of old time country folk and back-to-the-landers (to be less politically correct, rednecks and hippies). There has been co-mingling for long enough that people seem to get along just fine. Tie-dye and the rural south are not a combination that I'd expected to see -- Floyd is a special place.

So here is one of many stories that show how 'small town' Floyd is and how people have received us with open arms ("Welcome to Floyd, here's $20" is a phrase we've coined).
-Our second day in town we are hanging out at the coffee shop. In strolls David, the cheerful man from the contra dance. "Hi, guys!" We are reading the classifieds. "Yeah, most people that come to Floyd never leave", he states. "You looking for housing? Contact [so and so]." He turns to the woman he walked in with. "Hey Erika, is your mom still looking to fill that house?" Erika replies, "Yeah, my mom has a farm with an open house. You could probably do a work trade for rent, pickin' beans or somethin'." "Which farm does she have?" we inquire, assuming we know every farm in town. "Idyllwood. She also runs the yurt company." "Blueridge Yurts?" Yes, we know the one. "Yep." We later find out Erika is the one that founded and still manages FloydFest.


Here are some views of Floyd, population 450:

Floyd’s single stop light, where the two “major” highways connect



the locally owned hardware store, which caters to the farming community



the courthouse


the Floyd water tower


What we did in Floyd in our first week:


We moved into a temporary home. Our landlords, K and Cobblestone, showed us around and got us familiar with the houses intricacies . The house has no running water, so we fetch water once every other day using a 5 gallon buckets, pots, jugs, and bottles. We go next door where we are met by a blood thirsty pitbull chained up four feet short of the hose. We fill the back of the toilet when we want to flush, and when we’re dirty enough to want a washing we plug in an electric heater in the bathroom and wait til it’s warm enough to bucket bathe. There is no insulation, so when the fire isn’t going all day the house quickly conforms to (or drops below) the temperature outside, which stayed below freezing most of our first week.

Despite the challenges of living in this house, it was only $100 for a month’s rent and is on a beautiful property. Plus, our landlords are great folks and we’re grateful to have met them. We couldn’t have afforded to move to Floyd if it weren’t for this living situation.

These two shots are from our bedroom windows (what a view!):





and our room is nice and comfy (we have an electric heater set up by the bed)



Some more views of our house:










My “Noah’s Ark” of succulents (one of every 500 or so succulent varieties hauled out from CA) – of which most survived the journey:



Our side porch:



At the end of our first week in Floyd, and on the coldest night of the year (dropping to negative seven!), we traveled to Blacksburg to see The Duhks play (amazing celtic bluegrass. there's a link above to see/hear them) and stayed in a hotel there. While out-and-about, we experienced nine degree weather that night (keep in mind that before I got out here I’d never experienced anything below 25 or 30), but luckily we had a warm room to go back to. This is what our house looked like the next day when we returned…







…this thick layer of ice was on the insides of the window well into the afternoon. We had to open up the house because, at 30 degrees, it was warmer outside! Funny stuff.

Me staying warm with my newly completed scarf, a belated Christmast gift that Cole crocheted.



Other things we’ve been doing:

We’ve been eating really well. Between the preserved food we hauled out from California and the abundant local sources of dairy, eggs, meat, and preserves (not much local produce this time of year) we have been sticking with knowing who’s growing our food.

Here was one such meal:



Floyd locally raised/produced: buffalo, butter, facotcha bread, beets, cheese, and
sauvignon blanc garlic mayonnaise from the local winery
From the UCSC Farm: onion, smoked pepper, dehydrated tomato and pepper, and ketchup
From the Santa Fe farmers’ market: red chile mustard (thanks Felicja)

and Glen Livetz Whiskey (thanks Zeb)



A half-pound buffalo burger cooked to perfection



Here’s our bucket bathing extravaganza, which, might I add, was not too bad. [This is coming from a guy who likes nothing more than a long warm shower.]





What else we’ve been doing:

We’ve spent a large chunk of time at the coffee shop, Café Del Sol, where there is internet connection, warmth, and amazing food and drink.



Cole working dilligently on the blog




We’ve had some beautiful country drives (the highways here are more like back roads and the real back roads are dirt roads – all have great views):

This one’s on the Blueridge Parkway (A “major” highway. So long CA Hwy 101 congestion!)



These three pictures were taken on our way to visit Five Penny Farm



poison ivy feasts on old buildings




These were taken on our drive home from lunch at Five Penny Farm:





We’ve driven the 20 minutes road from our house in Willis into Floyd-town and back many times.
Here’s some pictures from along the drive:





We visited Sweet Providence’s grocery outlet and picked up food, including locally raised Buffalo, bread baked on site, and eggs from free-range chickens that could be seen from the check out line…



Sweet Providence’s porch, overlooking their land, farm, and chickens



What else? What else?

Well we got jobs and permanent housing. But that'll have to wait until another blog. I have been sitting at the library (we've decided the coffee shop is out of our budget until we start making money) for 5 hours working on this and am done for now.

We like you.
Bye now.