A "TINY" FARMERS MARKET

This month Farmers Markets are exploding throughout Oregon with freshly grown produce from local gardens. Farmers Markets reflect the needs of the folks that are located near them. As an example a less populated area will not have a large farmer's market while a larger city will have a large one. So Farmers Markets come in all sizes -- large, medium and small. But in this post I am adding a forth size I came upon in my Oregon wanderings. -- "tiny". The area surrounding this tiny market is called Deadwood an unincorporated community of less than 300 people. 

Above is the homemade sign on its way to be posted at the market. The day I visited there were less than half a dozen vendors. But the produce offered was diverse and fresh. 

Here is a sampler of the "tiny" market images ----

Fresh picked blueberries -- no chemicals.

Some of the vendors and their booths.

Fresh picked wax beans, peas, and zucchini.

No chemicals.

An ancient scale to weigh the produce in this case -- blackberries. 

Two different kinds of sweet plums. 

My taste buds will attest to their sweetness.

No chemicals.

Have some fun with friends and/or family . Visit different Farmer's Markets during the growing season. Support your local growers.

SHIITAKE MUSHROOM LOG GARDEN -- BEREA COLLEGE

BEAUTIFUL FRESH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS

Above is a plate of Shiitake mushrooms that were for sale in early spring this year at the Berea Farmers Market. They were being sold by the pound by students of the Berea Agricultural Department of Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.

I buy the Shiitakes every year from the students, eating some fresh and drying the rest. This year I decided to find out more about how the students raised the mushrooms. I had not a clue as to the process.

THE SHIITAKE LOG GARDEN

In a small woodland patch on the Berea College campus are stacked logs that produce the fabulous Shiitakes. It is an area that has little sunlight which helps retain the moisture creating an ideal environment.

I was able to talk to Sean Clark, staff member of the Berea College Agricultural Department. He gave me a short albeit informative lesson in how they go about mushroom gardening.

He stated that it is an ongoing process. White oak logs are gathered in January when the Berea College woodland properties are culled. It is important that the logs are dormant.

The logs are inoculated and then produce for about five years. As logs are retired from the garden others are stacked into the area. The usual number of logs in the garden numbers between 400 to 500. This number reflects that the Berea College students in the Ag Department are learning the ways to produce a commercial cash crop. A homeowner would not have this large of an inventory for sure

BEREA COLLEGE STUDENT, KAREN AND HER CAT MYRNA, GIVE ME A TOUR AROUND THE LOG GARDEN

To step back a bit. Before the logs are stacked and after they have been gathered in January they undergo first, inoculation, then, an "incubation" period. I call it incubation although Sean did not. In my mind it was the best way to understand the pre-stacking process.

Inoculation
Inoculation is done sometime in January. The inoculation is done with a fungal and sawdust mix. Several chain saw cuts are made in the logs and filled with a this mass which is called a spawn. Then the saw cuts are wrapped in duct tape.
This spawn will eventually produce the fruit that grows on the logs -- which is the mushrooms.
Incubation
Next the inoculated logs are placed under open metal grid tables in the college greenhouse. On top of the table are other plantings of the Ag Department that require regular watering every day. As the students water the plants on the tables water seeps down through the metal grids and moistens the logs below. The logs begin to fruit six to eighteen months after inoculation. The logs are moved out to the log garden in the spring.

At the Berea Farmers Market one can buy inoculated logs from some vendors to try their hand at raising their own mushrooms. I would imagine that other farmer's markets would offer inoculated logs.

Shiitake mushrooms exposed to brief sunlight contain high amounts of vitamin D. Mushrooms are the only vegan source of vitamin D. They are also powerful antioxidants.

For those that would like to try their hand at producing mushrooms at home you might want to pick up from your local library, Mushroom Cultivation: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home by Stamets and Chilton.

SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS TUMBLED IN A MASS REVEALING THEIR LIGHT UNDERSIDES

PHOTO: BEREA COLLEGE STUDENT, FRANCES BUERKENS

IS OUR FOOD SUPPLY REALLY SAFER IF SENATE BILL S 510 IS ENACTED?

FRESH ORGANIC VEGGIES AT A FARMERS MARKET

OK, time to shout out. I try to stay away from such things on Folkways Notebook but once in a while something gets in my craw and I need to rant. This rant is about our food supply. Now the government thinks we need to improve the safety of our food by attaching tighter strings. Now I ask, who will this favor the corporate world or the human world? You be the judge. Below is a link to a site on the S 510 bill that is coming up soon for a vote in the Senate. I invite you to read all about it on other sites in the time that you have. It has already passed the House. It was to be voted on by the Senate on April 13th but has been delayed. If you feel the bill is not to your liking may I suggest a call to your Senator. The link below is a letter wrote by and signed by many of the small and local food producers in our country.

Congress.org

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=48778&letter_id=4991309671

BILL BEST AND HIS PASSION FOR APPALACHIAN HEIRLOOM SEEDS

OVERVIEW OF THE SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN AGRICULTURE CENTER

BILL BEST -- APPALACHIAN SEED COLLECTOR

I first heard about Bill Best when I spotted his seeds for sale on a counter at a small shop outside of Berea, Kentucky. They were in small clear bags with a label of both the name of the seeds and the words Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center. I asked the clerk about the seed packets and he told me, "oh, those are Bill Best's seeds." Since I was unfamiliar with who Bill Best was I asked the shop manager about Bill Best and was told, "oh, he is a collector of heirloom seeds." I wrote down the center's name from the seed packets so I could search for it online.

My search found Bill Best's site titled the Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center. It contained information on books, articles, heirloom seeds and other agricultural information. A very worthwhile site to check out if you are interested in heirloom seeds.

I decided that I would like to know more about the man who collected all these seeds so I emailed him and we soon were setting up a date to meet at his center.

There is no roadside sign to indicate the center but I had good directions and had no trouble finding it. From the road one would not know of all the activities that go on at the place. It's located in a beautiful rural area in Madison County, Kentucky.

Bill had told me in his email that this is a busy time at the center and that he would be working until five so we made an early evening appointment.

When I arrived he immediately gave me a tour of his high tunnels (like high hoop houses) where he had tomatoes growing that were at least a foot high already. He uses soaker hoses to water them, keeping them in the tunnel during their entire growing period. He said he buys bumble bees for the tunnels to cross pollinate the plants. He then took me out to his blackberries and introduced me to his wife, Irmgard, who was weeding.

Unexpectedly some local young men showed up wishing to purchase some of Bill's heirloom seeds. The young men, Mark and Travis, told Bill how family members in years past had purchased seeds from him and now Mark was starting a garden of his own and wanted to use only heirloom seeds.

CUSTOMERS PICKING OUT APPALACHIAN HEIRLOOM SEEDS
TRAVIS ON THE LEFT AND MARK

Soon Travis, Mark and I were sitting in Bill's living room (he lives on site) and Mark was thumbing through packets of seeds to purchase. All the while, Bill was answering question from all of us.
Here are some of the things we learned:
-He concentrates his heirloom collecting on beans and tomatoes from the Appalachian area.
-That the Appalachian area food crops, historically, have been mainly corn, beans, and tomatoes .
-Bill's mother influenced his love of heirloom seeds as she saved the old open pollinated seeds she used for her next years crop.
-That Bill has 450 varieties of heirloom beans, not all for sale.
- Farmers markets are where he sells his crop of tomatoes and beans. He also visits other farmers markets always on the lookout for heirloom seeds.
- He has collected many of the stories behind many of his seeds and has two books in the works on this subject.
-He does not buy commercial heirloom seeds, he only collects primary seeds from folks that grow them in the Appalachian area.
-That heirlooms are open pollinators.
-That beans have been grown in the Appalachian area for about 1000 years.
-That heirlooms are not used in large-scale agriculture.
-There is a growing trend in growing heirlooms.

Bill, at 74, has collected seeds most of his life. That is between teaching at Berea College for 40 years and doing a bit of cattle farming. He has lived at his present place for 37 years.

I decided to try out one of his bean seeds. I have a very small garden patch but I thought it would help the cause of perpetuating heirloom seeds as I planned to save some at harvest time. I could not believe the array of names on the beans --Doyce Chambers Greasey Cut Short, Lazy Wife Greasey, Goose Beans, Barnes Mountain Cornfield, Bertie Best and Big John are but a few. My choice was Goose Beans.

Bill believes that the local Appalachian farmers markets can be conduits for maintaining the region's seed diversity. Gardeners and farmers can perpetuate the circular system of growing and saving to assure that seed diversity of the region remains. If the industrial crops were to fail we would have the heirlooms to fall back on.

People like Bill are an assest to our agricultural world.

SMALL COMMUNITY OF BEREA, KY -- FARMERS MARKET

VENDOR SET-UP

MARKET OPENS!

ONLY LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE, PLANTS, AND LOCALLY MADE PRESERVES CAN BE SOLD AT THIS MARKET. SALAMANDER SPRINGS ORGANIC PRODUCE BOOTH.

ARTISTIC SIGN OF VENDOR'S NAME

FRESHLY MADE SORGUM FROM SUGAR CANE GROWN ON SILVER CREEK FARM.

DELICIOUS BREAD MADE FRESH BY JOYCE BEGLEY FOR EACH MARKET DAY. A ONE-WOMAN OPERATION!

TABLES OF "THE BEST OF THE FRESH" VEGGIES -- ALL LOCAL PRODUCE-- MARKET DAYS ARE EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

AT THE BEREA FARMERS MARKET MOST PRODUCE IS NO-SPRAY OR ORGANIC.

NO CRAFTS NOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCERS CAN BE FOUND AT THE BEREA MARKET.

SUPPORT THE FARMERS MARKET NEAR YOU!

Post Photos by Barbara, folkways notebook