Celebrate “culture” in agriculture & share skills like growing, cooking, canning

Flour Sack Mama's Blog (24)

Demonstration Farm Offers Diverse Education

Cielo Sand Hodson at Broadened Horizons Organic Farm

Feeding the rooster a wild strawberry and meeting a…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on June 30, 2012 at 1:14pm — No Comments

Why Eat Local Food?

Organically Grown, Hydroponic…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on June 30, 2012 at 1:10pm — No Comments

Family Farmers, Small Seed Companies, Need Support

"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens," wrote Thomas Jefferson, "They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by

the most lasting…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on February 1, 2012 at 10:29am — 1 Comment

Top Turkeys Go from Small Farm to Thanksgiving Table

My visit to see the turkeys at River Ridge Farms disrupted their latest move from one stretch of pasture to another. Verlinda Waters had the tractor backed up to move the large wooden roost she and her husband had built by hand. One turkey sat leisurely atop the roost while the other gobblers gathered around a water pan and their keeper was polite enough to chat with me. These preening, lavish birds were accustomed to…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on November 23, 2011 at 8:07pm — 2 Comments

Scientist Mom Explains Endocrine Disruptors

When Susan Nagel shops for her family, she feels the same frustrations that many of us do about finding safe, wholesome sources to bring to the table. She considers not only which food is best, but which type of packaging and storage to trust. Nagel says she almost exclusively uses glass storage containers for food, and skips buying canned groceries whenever possible. "The only thing I buy in cans are beans and I rinse them very well before eating them." As a parent, she viewed glass baby… Continue

Added by Flour Sack Mama on October 13, 2011 at 4:45pm — 2 Comments

Grocery Co-op Offers Families Sustainable Choices

As the parent of a young child, Allyn Richardson says she considers food…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on September 20, 2011 at 7:25pm — 1 Comment

101-Year-Old Quilter Still Stitching

She typically wakes in the middle of the night, inspired to draw out another original pattern. The only book she ever publshed quickly sold out. And yes, she's still stitching at 101-years-young. Meet Aunt Lena and learn more about her passion for quilting at…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on August 22, 2011 at 11:55am — 2 Comments

College Students Get Fresh Food Choices

Students returning to campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville will have a fitting alternative to the usual fast-food destinations. Their classmates in the organic crop production program are serving up a fresh market with food and entertainment planned through mid-October.

Students can shop the UT Market without having to…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on August 13, 2011 at 4:48pm — No Comments

Fresh Roadside Food

The eight-foot-high stalks topped with bright sunflowers caught my eye on my scenic drive along the highway in rural Morgan County, Tennessee. Then I noticed the sign telling me corn was for sale. I stopped to meet Louis Basler and his brother-in-law, Garland Heidel, who were selling sweet ambrosia corn from their family farms. I paid five dollars for what I think was a rate of four ears of corn for a dollar. Yet the the bag included a few extra ears.…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on July 15, 2011 at 12:41am — No Comments

Fending Off Squash Pests

We're planning to grill the first squash from our garden tomorrow: some zucchini and a variety of yellow squash. I have to admit that the first to taste squash from our garden were pests. And we may not have the yields of some conventional gardeners this year. Yet, I don't regret our efforts to grow by organic methods. …

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on June 26, 2011 at 9:30am — 2 Comments

Busy Bees and Plant Sex

If you've eaten a lettuce salad, some fruit or even nuts today, chances are you have a bee to thank. Even if you don't eat honey, that delectable byproduct of the bee's busy work, you wouldn't be dining well at all…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on June 16, 2011 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Farm Fresh on Wheels

Roasted beet salad, fresh local spinach and scallions sound like menu details from an upscale restaurant. They're what's new this spring at the cafeteria of Takoma Regional Hospital in Greeneville, Tennessee. Chef Mary Goldman is excited to include some fresh, local produce for the first time this…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on May 31, 2011 at 9:16pm — No Comments

Farm & Garden Favorites in my First Year of Blogging

What a fantastic first year of meeting farm and gardening experts who've shared what's happening in their corners of the green economy! Here are a few that stood out in 2010 and early 2011:

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on May 24, 2011 at 6:08pm — No Comments

Green Carolina Businesses in Bloom

What a fun weekend it's been to visit the Asheville Herb Festival in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The narrow market sheds were brimming with the colors of flowers,…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on May 3, 2011 at 10:25am — No Comments

Easter Eggs without the Artificial Food Coloring

More Naturally Colored Easter Eggs…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on April 22, 2011 at 11:58am — 1 Comment

Green Watering Alternatives

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on March 29, 2011 at 10:06pm — No Comments

Southeastern Secret Garden

For years, weeds outpaced the other plants and pint-sized specimens burst out of their boundaries. When no one was tending them, the leafy residents of this secret garden hid the promise of what would come. Come visit behind the garden doors, starting Monday at the…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on March 19, 2011 at 11:38pm — No Comments

Early Spring Sprouts

Spring is already bursting with life at our house, two weeks before the official start of the season. We're being blessed with an early start to a plentiful crop of vegetables. The lettuce and broccoli seeds are happily germinating in abundance, less than a week after being planted in little indoor containers.…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on March 5, 2011 at 5:12pm — No Comments

Food Co-op Shopping Choice

How would you like to visit your local grocery store feeling like you owned the place? Having a real say in the way products were chosen and sold? Getting a refund back at the end of the year because you'd loyally done so much shopping there? You can, if you choose to join a community-owned food cooperative. These co-ops are owned by consumers just like you who decide to get directly involved.

Three Rivers…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on February 23, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

The Science of Growing Wild

The latest winter snow has thawed to reveal golden wisps of dormant grass blowing gently in the meadow called Cades Cove. While horses still graze on other fields nearby, much of the grasslands lay unused except by the wildest of creatures. Small mammals like rabbits and fowl such as quail can more likely find a place to hide from their predators when they have native clumps of grass like broomsedge in their natural habitat. Yet, fescue has claimed most of the land, choking out several…

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Added by Flour Sack Mama on February 17, 2011 at 3:30pm — No Comments