JOHN KING'S ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD

JOHN KING, KENTUCKY

John King is a man that has successfully made a farming life for himself and family. He bought a large parcel of land in his early twenties that was to provide the type of lifestyle that he was familiar with and wanted to pursue during his lifetime. Now in his seventies he can reflect back and say it has been a full life filled with hard work and a love of family. He mentions that, "full time farming has become a thing of the past, one needs an outside job to keep the bills paid."

HOMESTEAD HOUSE
BEE HIVES STORED ON PORCH

When John bought the parcel of land it came with  a handsome barn and a sturdy wood house. He and his wife made their home in the above cozy house for a few years and then built their own roomier house. The homestead house remains in its original state and still  sits on a slight incline toward the back of their farm. Now sitting gracefully alone on its hill, it can almost whisper to the leaves that surround it,  "its been a good ride."  

HOMESTEAD BARN
STILL IN USE

Built before John King occupied the land, the homestead barn  still stands solidly erect. Still in use for farm machinery, it  appears to have many good years before it. Located near the original homestead house, together they formed a team  before John bought the land. They are the only two structures left on the farm from the previous owners.

Somewhere in the land's history a tannery was located here, long before John's tenure. It was near Clear Water creek which runs through his property.  He said the tannery provided employees with adjacent small tenant houses. Now he tells me that only one steel post remains of the once large operation. 

John was very amenable to letting me stroll around his farm and ask many, many questions. His farm was a reminder to me of the many farms I have known -- that they contain our rural histories and the predictability of the survival of independent farmers. Each independent farm comes with a  different story yet they have a common denominator of values that includes discipline, planning,  physical work,   family, community, and sharing. 

More about John King's farm and its evolution -- soon . . . . .

WHAT IS THIS OLD KENTUCKY FARM OUTBUILDING CALLED?

I noticed this farm outbuilding several months ago and was stymied. I had many questions about it but the farm owners were not home and I was forty miles from where I lived so I snapped a few photos and went on my way. I have not been back to that area since.

My questions about the outbuilding still linger in my mind. What was it called? What was its use? How old was it? Was it still being used by the farm family?

Structurally it was constructed of corrugated steel in an ovoid shape. . It had a metal roof, three metal roof vents, two metal doors from my angle of view, and two metal closings near the roof line. I could not see the sides or back. I find all old farm buildings fascinating as they usually have stories to tell. With time these stories disappear as the structures leave the landscape.

I hope that someone familiar with this structure makes a comment on this post to let me know what exactly it is called. I have researched online and nothing comes up that resembles it. I thought it looked like a precursor to a silo.

My photos were taken from the road.

A barn sat fairly close to this outbuilding but I failed to get a good picture of it. I thought that perhaps since this unknown outbuilding was fairly close to the barn that they were used in tandem -- like maybe a granary storing feed for cattle?


This particular outbuilding is located in the Possey area of Madison County, Kentucky.

Perhaps it is a common structure in Central Kentucky??? Or elsewhere???

KENTUCKY -- RURAL SURVIVAL

OVERVIEW OF THE VILLAGE OF PAINT LICK, KENTUCKY

I was standing on a hill overlooking the quaint village of Paint Lick when I took this photo of their commercial main street a couple of winters ago. Paint Lick is but one of the many small towns in Kentucky that strive to flourish under ongoing changing circumstances.

This village consists of a very small commercial area (the proverbial main street) which serves the rural residents of the area. Of course, in today's economic world such small main streets can only provide limited offerings. Many of the small towns and villages in Kentucky keep glued together by being located fairly near an urban city that can provide much of what rural residents cannot get locally. However, small places such as Paint Lick offer what many folks are looking for: low crime, neighborliness, strong community, family ties, heritage, and the strong intangibles that these factors imply.

WEST SIDE OF PAINT LICK COMMERCIAL MAIN STREET

The combination of access of an urban area and strong community spirit attract some new people while sustaining the existing residents. Residents learn to work with what they don't have in terms of services. Paint Lick doesn't have a gas station but it does have a car repair garage, bank, post office and until recently a cafe where the locals would converse about various subjects such as farming. Unfortunately the cafe recently burnt down.

EAST SIDE OF PAINT LICK'S COMMERCIAL MAIN STREET

In 1939 a book was published titled the WPA Guide to Kentucky. It was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal program to provide employment for writers under the Federal Writers Project. He commissioned writers to publish state guides of discovery for tourists as well as for residents to become more knowledgeable about their state.

Where am I going with this information? Well, I have a 1996 re-published edition of the 1939 edition of the WPA Kentucky Guide wrote and researched by the Federal Writers Project. I wanted to get their definition of Kentucky in 1939 as well as that of Paint Lick. The writers felt that their writings should be more than about history, that it should, “capture the spirit of the land, mostly rural, indefinable but very real."

This is what I wanted to hear -- writers that looked at the soul of a place.

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Although Paint Lick was limited to a very short mention they were able to write something significant that I had not been able to find elsewhere in my research -- that of the Indian symbols. Here is the short mention of Paint Lick: . . . a hamlet near the site of Paint Lick Station, which was established in 1782, and so named because the first settlers found Indian symbols painted in bright colors on trees and stones along the creek and around the near-by salt lick."

PAINT LICK MAIN COMMERCIAL STREET IN 1908 AFTER THEY SUFFERED A FIRE.
Web Site Source: PAINT LICK Garrard County, Kentucky

Paint Lick is a small town that manages to stay afloat because of its proximity to an urban area. It still has its small town flavor while growing incrementally. It has faced many challenges since its first days of settlement. One example is the tragic fire in the above main street photo. It has experienced population shifts mainly in the 40s through the 60s to the Midwest for manufacturing jobs. Presently rural farmers are experiencing a change of their farming culture -- from growing tobacco as a prime cash crop to now finding new crops to provide continuing farming opportunities. It appears that staying viable for small towns and villages is an ongoing process that takes stamina of the rural population.

EARLY YEARS OF PAINT LICK -- PRE--1908

Website Source: PAINT LICK, Garrard County, Kentucky

At one time Paint Lick consisted of mainly wooden buildings pre 1908. Its tenacity to the land provided the impetuous to remain a slowly growing village. In 1939 the population was 250 (WPA Guide to Kentucky), 2000 the population of Paint Lick was 2,084 (city-data.com) and in 2007 the population had increased to 3,293 (city-data.com).

DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTS AGES

Source: City-Data.com

One of the factors that is important to look at is the age of the residents. Age diversity indicates a viable population. The graph above shows that Paint Lick has citizens of all ages. Some for delight such as young children, many for working power such as the middle ages, and several in the older ages to hand-down proven ways and wisdom.

Paint Lick has the tools to survive as a rural village.

ARE SMALL TOWNS BECOMING MUSEUM SITES IN SITU?

SMALL TOWN CUSTOM -- TOWN FOLK SIT OUT IN FRONT OF A STOREFRONT AND DISCUSS THE WORLD OR TOWN EVENTS

As we are aware, small towns are declining. In 1950 44 %. of Americans lived on farms or small towns -- now it has declined to about 23%. Small towns located near urban areas fare better as employment opportunities are near. Decline has been attributed to many factors -- farmers losing out to large aggregate farming (read, corporate industrial), movement by the young to urban areas for jobs, loss of transportation such as railroads and not being near new highway systems, all of which cause political and economic shifts benefiting larger cities. Result -- small town decline. Small towns have been fighting this, some have been winning. But most are not.

OLD THEATER SEATS POISED INSIDE THE OLD COX HARDWARE BUILDING, MT VERNON, KENTUCKY

As I travel around Kentucky and other states I always like to take the back country roads and ride through the small towns and places. They offer many opportunities to experience what you cannot find elsewhere. Two of my favorites are the local businesses and architecture. The less disturbed the town is from outside influences the better I enjoy it.

A VICTORIAN FENCE SITTING ON AN EMPTY LOT -- A REMNANT LEFT FROM A BURNT-DOWN HOUSE IN MT VERNON KENTUCKY.

I have noticed that many folks like to jump in their cars and take rides in the country and small towns. Do they stop? I don't know. Are they treating these small towns like museums? Could be!

Let me call these "jump in the car and take a ride" folks, small town travelers or STT folks.

As a suggestion, perhaps small towns in an area could join together and highlight what the area has to offer. Not the Motel 8 or the McDonalds but the different-- the unique -- what they have and don't realize it. How about the streetscapes in many of these towns that hold authentic buildings built in situ by locals using many local resources. A tiny Victorian building, a century old city hall built of native stone plus much more. Yes, the STT will say "oh, that's pretty," as they drive through, but never know what they are really looking at.

Let's do what some small towns are beginning to do -- have a tiny visitor center run by volunteers. Package the unique and different in little flyers and provide a walking tour map. Leave the commercial ads out. Get school kids involved designing a small town web site for their town, again leave out the ads. Maybe do this a few times a year. Not a festival -- just a plain ole appreciation of small towns event. Get the folks interested in the towns. Start a movement of BACK TO SMALL TOWN LIVING. With computers one can live and work just about anyplace. I'm not suggesting a tourist town or area but to introduce folks to what is and was the beauty of small town living. Just an idea to perhaps plug the leaking decline.

BEAUTIFUL LIMESTONE STAIRS TO NOWHERE -- SMALL TOWN BUILDING -- MISSING IN ACTION

Small towns and villages hold a history of settlement and offer individuals a chance to live life in non-pretentious ways. The photos on this post were taken in the small town of Mt Vernon. Their population is abut 2,592 according to the 2000 census. They are quickly losing their lovely main street vitality as storefront businesses leave -- the fabric shrinks.

These are just a few ideas that popped into my head -- I'm sure there are many more out there.

A DISAPPEARING ARTIFACT -- THE FARM SILO

Silos that stand alone upon a piece of old agricultural land announce to folks traveling by that a farm once stood on this ground. They are flagships of a missing farmstead. The silo above stands by itself on the old Coy farm near Kirksville in Madison County, Kentucky.

This was once the place of several outbuildings and a farm house -- now gone.

I talked to a local man named Cud about the above silo. He told me that the land owner had considered knocking it down but it was too messy of a job. Therefore, it was allowed to become one of the silos in the region that are now the only clues that an active farmstead once occupied a particular piece of land.

The oldest silos that I remember from living in the Midwest were shaped in a cylindrical form, the exterior were square pieces of beautiful brown shiny tiles about two feet by two feet -- all placed from top to bottom around the silo. Each of the produced tiles usually had an impressed company name. I also remember metal types and cement silos. All were markers for folks trying to navigate their way through the countryside.

For those not familiar with silos, they are used to store forage for animals on the farm and usually were essential in cold regions. It allowed them to provide feed when there was none to graze due to snow cover. Dairy cows are dependent on forage to keep their milk flowing.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of silos that have been knocked down by their land owners and especially developers -- in the Midwest, Upland South, and beyond. But to give some developers credit, a few have saved their beauty by incorporating them into their developments. I even know one woman that built an antique shop on a piece of land and left the silo standing as a logo marker for her shop.

But in reality, the stand alone silo portrays a broken connection to a once thriving farm culture.

FARM HORSE POWER

Times have changed. We have gone from traditional farming with draft horses to farming with trucks, tractors and assorted other engine vehicles. Draft horse power was converted into a form of measurement for the original engines of the newly developed steam ships and ultimately cars. trucks and tractors.

Over the past year, I have rode by this old truck parked along side of an abandoned building. It caught my eye originally by the huge white grill which spelled out the large letters -- GMC. I am a bit sentimental about old GM trucks as my father worked for General Motors Corporation's truck and coach division for 36 years in Michigan.

So that is what caught my eye at first. Then the license came next. It was registered, "farm," on its license plate. Then I realized it was a dump truck. The probably 70s truck, spelled out hard work -- which would be farm work by its designated license.

Nature, time, and people had beautified this dump truck. Like an old antique it had a patina of use and character. Above is a metal step up to the passenger side. Beat up for sure but still sturdy.

Now here is what I thought seemed like a modern painting. Rust had designed a pattern all over its dump section. It would take years for nature to oxidize this look.

Don't know who owns this beauty. I find its working scars a tribute to its many years of service. Years of good service due to a company that was proud of its trucks back when my father worked for GM.

Traditional farming changed when real horse power was converted to engine horse power.

But there is still one thing a truck or tractor can't do, but a draft horse can-- get in the fields to work when there is mud. Win some, lose some.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH OUR SEEDS?

CLASSIC BOOK ON HEIRLOOM SEEDS

I bought William Woys Weaver's book in 1997, titled Heirloom Vegetable Gardening. Since the time of its 1997 copyright it has become a classic for heirloom seed savers. In the book he provides in-depth research, cultural history, and personal stories related to the heirloom seeds that he is familiar with. He traces how family vegetable gardens moved to industrial gardening (gardening for profit) in the mid-nineteenth century. Weaver's book was and still is an important piece for people wishing to know more about heirloom seeds.

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Moving on from Weaver's well written book lets take a close look at heirlooms. Well, they are open pollinators and have adapted themselves to certain regions of climate and soil over eons of time. They often are resistant to local pests, diseases, and extreme weather. They are tough "guys" if planted in their regional domain. What they aren't is hybrid or GMO seeds. They contain strong genetic traits while industrial seeds or hybrids contain weak genetic traits. Heirlooms are important to the world as they can override many of the problems of modern day seeds such as disease and pests. Heirlooms are vital to the world's food system.

The South contains rich pockets of heirloom seeds saved from family to family, friend to friend over many years of growing vegetables, flowers and fruits. More so than other regions of the country.

COLLECTING SEEDS
Flickr Photo -- schill

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So why are we encouraging corporate, industrial farming when we know their genes are weak? A simple answer is, profit.

Corporations have been buying up many of the old seed companies that had heirloom seeds resulting in many of the seeds from these old companies being lost. The pool of seed diversity shrinks with the passing years.
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What are we doing about this shrinking cache of heirloom seeds? Many things. In the past decade part of the seed savers movement was about establishing world seed banks around the globe attempting to save this rich diversity. Actually there are 1,460 banks around the world. One bank, ICARDA, has 131,000 varieties within their stores of 5.4 million seeds. These banks need to keep the seeds in long term storage under ideal conditions -- where there are regional conflicts or little money the seed banks are at risk.
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The largest seed bank is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault that opened in February 2008 in Norway. It is the ultimate in safety for seed biodiversity and protection of our global food.
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Here is an idea how you can help save the threatened heirloom seeds. Start planting some (better yet all) heirlooms in your gardens and flower beds each year. Maybe even start trying to save seeds from these plants for next year's garden. You will be rewarded with hardy plants and you will make a difference to our world by saving a bit of our plant heritage.
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Below are some links on heirloom seeds, seed banks:
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Svalbard Global Seed Vault from the Decorah Tribune, Decorah Iowa.
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Seed Banks and the Global Crop Diversity Trust from World Changing: Bright Green Blog
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Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds
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Seed Savers Exchange

FARM WAYS -- COUNTRY HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY ARBOR

NATURAL BARK COVERED WOODEN BLACKBERRY ARBOR

Debbie and Kenny Hylton have raised 14 acres of tobacco on their land for many years. They are family farmers, farming in Madison County, Kentucky.It being one of the states that was part of the tobacco buy-out imposed by Congress in 2004. Today instead of fields of tobacco around every roadway, one finds the fields lying fallow waiting for other types of crops to someday be planted. The Hylton's came up with the idea of blackberries and this 2010 year will be their first crop. After their years of tobacco farming and the subsequent monetary drop of tobacco, Debbie and Kenny recently decided to take their life-long knowledge of farming and raise a different crop. Debbie said, "We've always farmed so we wanted to get started again with some type of growing."

CLOSE-UP OF THE LATERAL SUPPORTS OF THE BLACKBERRY ARBOR

The initial start-up idea produced a blackberry arbor built with branches collected from the trees on their property. Kenny left the bark on the branches that he used to build the arbor -- the lateral supports as well as the upright posts. This new arbor has an earthy, natural look and the cost was right. But the arbor was not large enough to produce a selling crop -- and a selling crop is what Debbie and Kenny had in mind.

ORIGINAL GRAPE ARBOR ON WHICH KENNY ATTACHED HIS FIRST BLACKBERRY ARBOR

So, Kenny did not stop with just a small arbor. Last fall he built trellises on his farm acreage for future blackberry crops. Both of the Hylton's look forward to possibly selling blackberries at farm markets.

SCENIC VIEW ACROSS THE FIELD OF BLACKBERRY TRELLIS SUPPORTS MADE OF SAWN LUMBER

Kenny continued with his new crop idea by building trellises in the fields that once held tobacco. Right now they stand ready to accept the berry bushes that will climb upward on them. I heard a phrase recently that seems to suit the farmers hit by the tobacco buy-out -- you strive to survive.

As I was getting ready to leave, Debbie, with a big smile on her face said, "Come back later to see the blackberries twined in the trellises and full of berries." And I smiled back and said, "Thank you, I would love too."