APPLACHIAN CUSHAW -- A TRADITIONAL FOOD AND DECORATION

CUSHAWS WITH A  HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN 

Call it a Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash, Cushaw Green Striped pumpkin, or Green Striped Cushaw, they are all the same squash from the Curcurbitaceae family  that have deep roots going all the way back to 7000 to 3000 B.C. They are believed to have originated in Central America and then eventually made their way north to the U. S. by mid-nineteenth century. 


Today they can be found, usually, at local stores or farmers markets in Appalachia. Commercial farms that distribute to chains generally do not grow them so forget trying to find them at a chain grocery store. They are a large and handsome squash that gives them another role besides being used for baking and cooking. Their other role is as sidekicks for the great orange pumpkins -- both used in decorating for harvest and Halloween scenes in yards and on porches in Kentucky.

They are heirlooms of the plant world and grow better in the south than the north. They are huge, 10 to 20 pounds or more, prolific and hardy -- withstanding onslaughts from the vine borer. They can be treated as a summer squash when they are young or a winter squash when they mature in the fall.


In the Appalachian area, Cushaw pie is  traditional with many families as its taste is similar to pumpkin pie.  A Virginia blogger, scrambled hen fruit, has a great food post that featured Cushaw pie along with its recipe on the following post -- http://scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com/search/label/pie


The seeds for Cushaw's can be found online with seed companies that carry heirloom seeds like Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. 

Perhaps for those living in the northern climates it might be fun  growing some of these squash to put a dash of of southern taste in your food preparations or to give your orange pumpkins some team mates for Halloween.

GAIA CRONE WHO LIVES ON BEAR MOUNTAIN

MY BEAR MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE MARKER 

I have run with the deer

and sat with the spider web.

I have fashioned the wild flowers

into wreaths for my crown.

I have lifted my arms as wings,

flying up to the moon.

I have cried with the Phoebe

into a river of sadness.

I have led the blind 

into parts unknown.

I have smelled the fresh

on ancient pure wildness.

I have shouted with joy at the beauty of Gaia.

I am filled with gladness of being the

 unbelieveable crone that I am.

~~ barbara

THE GREAT AMERICAN TREASURE HUNT -- THE GARAGE SALE

LOVELY WOMAN ON RIGHT, A NATIVE OF FRANCE,
WAS CONDUCTING THE YARD SALE

Yesterday was a glorious fall day and I had a few errands to run. As I traveled around I noticed many yard sale signs of all sizes beckoning buyers. On my way home I passed a sign that said YARD SALE -- CHEAP.. Cheap made me stop. Not that I am cheap but I only had $8.00 in my money pouch and usually one needs cash at a yard sale. Maybe, I thought, I could find a little treasure.

Yard sales go by several common names; tag sales, rummage sales attic sales, moving sales, garage sales, and others.. It appears to be a regional tradition as to what they are called. In central Kentucky I have noticed the name yard sale is popular. So when I use the term yard sale, I am talking about any of the common names for a yard sale. Overall, one can say that yard sales are a national tradition. 

Usually yard sales have signs posted near the place of the sale. I am not a yard saler ( new verb in our language) per se, but once in a while I will stop if the sale looks interesting  -- or its a nice day and and I have $8.00 in my pouch.

Across the country, yard sales perhaps reach the billion dollar mark each year in sales according to one source. They are a form of retailing that is decentralized, run by private individuals not companies. They are informal and social -- one can pick up the item, note any flaws if any, and talk to the owner about the item. Also, the items are fairly priced and  -- just maybe you will find a treasure.  

OLD FRENCH LACE CURTAIN PANEL WITH YARD SALE CANDLESTICK

As I approached the YARD SALE-CHEAP place, a friendly couple greeted me as I strolled toward the front yard where all the sale items were located. I could tell that much of what had been for sale for gone. I know that there are folks that get there first thing and buy all the good stuff. Yet, I felt it was my lucky day and began my search for a treasure. 


I asked the woman of the couple a question about some bottles that I thought were nice -- and I noticed her accent. She told me she was from Paris, France originally. We chatted a bit and then I went back to get the bottles -- but then noticed other items of interest. Not only was everything cheap it was first quality. 

I picked up some lace curtains -- two panels -- that were quite lovely. She told me that she had gotten them from her aunt's French summer cottage. 


Hmmm  -- I knew right where I could use these fine pieces.

SMALL SOAPSTONE CARVED ELEPHANT BOX  AND CANDLESTICK

Then I looked in the free box and found a nice brass candlestick that had lots of character marks. Wellll -- this can have a place at my home.

I do like little boxes. Sitting on one of the tables was a soapstone hinged box with an elephant carved into the lid. I like to use interesting boxes to wrap small presents in or use them for some of my small mundane things around the house -- like paper clips or stamps etc.  Somehow opening an unusual box for some paper clips and other mundanes appeals to me. 

Sooo -- I now have more items added to my purchases. 

OLD FOUR-PART MUFFIN TIN AND ENGLISH BON BON CONTAINER

Now I spotted two tin items. One, another small box emptied of its English bon- bons it once contained. It had a lovely impressionistic lithograph printed on its lid. The other tin was an old muffin baking tin -- I do appreciate old household items. 

The tins joined my growing stack of things to purchase. 

OLD BLUE MEDICINAL BOTTLES

So now back to the bottles I had first noticed when I arrived. Yep, Genuine Phillips Milk of Magnesia bottles, small enough to sit on my window sash -- filtering the sun's rays through their dark blue.


Stacked them with my pile.

OLD VASELINE EMBOSSED BOTTLE

Found another old bottle. This one an old embossed Vaseline (short and stout) bottle. I added this to the mound. 


Actually, going to yard sales or having a yard sale is a gender issue. I am a feminist so don't get me wrong. But traditionally, woman have been in charge of all things household. And, sorting out what to sell is usually household items -- so the task of a yard sale falls to the female of the house. Same goes for buying -- women historically are the household consumers. Not that men aren't involved -- they are -- but just in smaller numbers.  

GRANDMOTHERS PLATES FROM FRANCE

Oh such beautiful dinner plates but only two of them. No matter to me as I mix and match all my dinnerware. I don't have any that I bought new. There are stories to share about all the dinnerware I use. My most precious stories are about some soup bowls that used to belong to my youngest son who has since passed. 

The French lady told me that the above two plates were her grandmothers in France. I told her I like to eat from old plates and her face lit up and she said, "it's like having your grandmother there to share your meal!" I agreed. 

SHEFFIELD ENGLAND SILVER-PLATE SPOONS

The idea of yard sales began around the 1950s when the U.S. started their trek toward a consumeristic society. It was a grass roots movement. It provided an outlet for individually owned goods. By the 1970s it had reached its peak and has pretty much maintained that peak until the present day. 


The last items I would buy were some small serving spoons or perhaps they were some hearty sized soup spoons. They are heavy silver-plate and quite old. I know I will use them for soup. 


Final total of goods -- $6.20!


But aside from money, I like used items because they have been touched and cared for by folks. I know that they are not living things but the spirit in which they existed perhaps infuses a certain light into their present day reality. They are my treasures for now. 

SOURCES:
His and Hers: Gender and Garage Sales

Garage Sales Wikipedia

Garage Sales are a big part of retailing

OLD SCHOOL -- SMALL TOWN -- COMMUNITY MEMORIES -- RESTORE

FRONT VIEW OF PAINT LICK SCHOOL

FRONT INTERIOR ENTRANCE

WORK SITE

Paint Lick was considered a modern school in 1912 when the original four rooms were built to accommodate grades k-12 in the small town of Paint Lick, Kentucky. Constructed of brick in the latest two story school style it soon became too small, so over the years a few additions were added -- like the gym that was built in two sections. It served the community well over those years – until 1994. 

The high school grades part were moved to the nearby town of Lancaster in 1964. Then a beautiful school was built at the edge of town for the lower grades. The old school that sat in town joined the ranks of many of the old schools across the nation that were closed in the last several decades. 

As they closed,  these lovely old neighborhood schools became deteriorated  eyesores. For others, good fortune rained down on them as they were resurrected into living apartments, office structures, community centers and even turned into private schools. Towns found that restored schools with such uses contributed to the local economies.

LEFT OVERS FROM THE PAST IN OLD ALCOVE

GHOSTLY SCHEDULE OF THE PAST

ORIGINAL WOOD STAIRCASE
1912

In Paint Lick the old school was sold to a private individual and became sort of a flea market for about 12 years. Then a man stepped forward about four years ago -- to buy the school with a vision for studio apartments. He had previous experience in resurrecting a small office building to its former glory in the town of Berea, Kentucky. Jay, not his real name, has fire in his heart for old buildings and feels that we need them to know our roots. He follows all the National Register guidelines in rehabilitating buildings.

SHADOW WEAR MARKS FROM FORMER STUDENTS
ON OLD WOOD STAIRCASE

CLASSROOM  VIEW

I stepped into the old school last Saturday. The interior was in the throes of restoration. It’s a large building that requires slow deliberate work, much of what one cannot see like asbestos abatement.  Many of the old school interior elements were still hanging on. There were school secrets around every corner. Vintage school colors were still apparent on many surfaces. Wood floors, some refinished were eye popping in the multi -windowed classrooms. Histories of footsteps were pronounced on the old wood stair treads. Even one small blackboard still had class notes from long ago.

VINTAGE BLUE COLOR ON DOOR WITH
OLD AND NEW LOCKS

WORK IN PROGRESS

This school wraps up a man’s vision, student memories, town history and possibly in the future a new beginning for the Paint Lick school. 

AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE AND EUROPEAN WHITE GRAVEYARD

AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVE GRAVE SECTION

My son and I made a visit this summer to find a slave graveyard that was reported to be located on a recently developed Civil War Battlefield Park which involves several sites in Madison County, Kentucky.  The site we were headed for was a homestead called the Pleasant View House and Farm. Nothing in its published flyer indicated that there was a slave graveyard on site.

What the flyer did say was that Joseph Barnett built the present house on the property in 1825 and at that time he owed 20 slaves. And, he also owned 578 acres. This information was a good base to help us understand the spatial pattern of the graveyard. So off we went toward a rise on the land, a distance back of the old house, to find the slave graveyard.

The first thing we noticed when we spotted the graveyard was that it was divided into two sections – African American slave on one side and European white pioneer family on the other. 

EUROPEAN WHITE GRAVE SECTION

 It was a small graveyard and according to a sign posted by it, it had been in a deteriorated state for a long time previous to a recent restoration. There were approximately fourteen or so grave-markers on the white side and about six or so on the slave side.


The white side consisted of two types of grave-markers; the ledger type and the head and foot marker type. The African American slave side of the graveyard had two types of grave markers. One being head stone and foot stone type made by a stone cutter and the second type -- some head stones and foot stones --  being simply a field stone to mark the head and one also to mark the foot.

MY SON MAKING RUBBINGS OF THE LEDGER INSCRIPTIONS

The ledger types were large flat one-piece stones covering the grave, similar to the cover of a tablet, and placed on a raised limestone foundation. The inscription was on the ledger’s topside. Most of the ledger grave-markers were difficult to read – exposure to weather and the type of local stone used had blurred or erased much of the writing. 


My son came up with the idea of doing rubbings to determine what information we could obtain about the deceased. This method did help some in deciphering some of the names and dates. 


The ledger style was expensive in its time and is believed to have been used by the wealthy.  Historically, they are believed to be a British tradition.  

HEAD STONE IN SLAVE SECTION

The head stones in both the slave and white sections of the plot, if made by a stone cutter, carried the name and date of the deceased. The foot stone simply had the initial of the deceased.

Southern folk grave-markers are simple and unadorned. None of the grave –markers had adornment such as flowers, birds etc. The graveyard was on a rise, which is a southern thing -- this tradition is older than  Christianity. The front side of the head stone is smooth while the sides and back have chisel marks – a sign of back country grave stone-cutters

FOOT STONE OF EMILY'S HEADSTONE -- PHOTO ABOVE

The earliest deceased date that we found was 1806 and the latest was  1851 -- pre-Civil War times. These dates definitely indicate back country living for this region of Kentucky. Also, I would consider this graveyard a folk one due to its dates, arrangement and back country location.

SLAVE HEAD STONE WITH FOOT STONE

Grave stone-cutters in the backcountry during the above dates were involved in other artisan trades along with stone cutting. Many grave stone-cutters were itinerate and travelled over large regions.

SLAVE HEAD STONE INSCRIPTION
In Memory
Joshua  Servant of
Jos Barnett Jr born
1798 & died by a
stroke of Lightning
July 1827

In the early 1800s, markers were not always placed on the grave site at the time of death. This was due to time spent sending away for a grave-marker and then having it delivered by wagon. This could take up to a year or so.
The spatial arrangement of the plot is similar to early Scots-Irish traditions – linear rows. The slave side was also dictated by this pattern.

CLOSE-UP OF JOSHUA HEAD STONE (PHOTO ABOVE)

This graveyard in all probability has many more secrets to unveil through its material culture.  My son and I made two trips to the plot and feel we still missed some of the clues to its history.

CHISEL MARKS ON BACK SIDE OF HEAD STONE

For sources to check out about folk graveyards – see below. I never thought that graveyards could be so culturally fascinating but now I know I will be on the lookout for more of the same.

SOURCES:

Books

Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy by Terry G. Jordan

Sticks and Stones: Three Centuries of North Carolina Gravemarkers by M. Ruth Little

Ghosts along the Cumberland by William Lynwood Montell

Historic Property

Civil War Battlefield Park 

Richmond, Kentucky

A COUNTRY HOUSE WITH A COUNTRY PORCH GARDEN

COUNTRY HOUSE NESTLED IN THE TREES

I thought you'd enjoy one more garden before the cold temperatures of fall and winter creeps into our world.


Porch gardens are exactly as the words suggest -- plants grown on a porch. Any type of real plants can be part of one. They are usually found on covered open porches either to the front, side or back of the house. Any size will do. Many times furnishings are included such as tables, chairs or porch swings. Other types of paraphernalia are also appropriate. Usually they are densely packed with both the plants and furnishings. 


Creators of such gardens usually give their own artistic bend to the overall look. Informality reins. 

LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE PORCH GARDEN

I found this great porch garden, a few days ago, on highway 52 in Garrard County, Kentucky on a beautiful fall day.


I had driven by it several times admiring the folk artistry surrounding the owner's charming home that nestled under a canopy of mature trees. 

RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PORCH GARDEN

The day I stopped to take photos the gardener/owner was not home, only the adult son. He gave me permission to take my photos. 

SITTIN'  SPOT

I thought her blending of  plants with some small chairs, a small table with birdhouses along with the birdhouse porch swing fit the theme. Her theme appeared to be birdhouses, daisies, and frogs. The porch was full of visual treats. The plants were healthy as they waved in the breeze.

SWINGING SPOT

It was evident that the gardener was a good steward of her porch garden.

FROGS HAVING A ROLLICKING GOOD LAUGH

Oh, one more thing, I felt the owner had a good sense of humor. Why? Becuse she had a bunch of frogs near her front porch steps that were looking at me with a smile when I left -- one was even falling over with laughter. 

SMALL TOWN STONEMASON -- CHARLES JONES

CHARLES AND NATHAN AT WORK SITE

Now I am not going to say that I know everything about historic masonry -- but it is an interest of mine left over from a masonry class that I took at university many years ago.The class dealt with historic brick and stone -- I found the class tough yet intriguing.  So when I met Charles Jones, a stonemason of more than forty years, I was extremely delighted and  impressed with his knowledge. 

How did I find Charles? Well, I was driving through Lancaster, Kentucky when I spotted two men working on an elevated brick porch leading up to a beautiful historic building. I stopped in the middle of the street and called out my window, " do you have time to talk to me for a few minutes?" I really did not know that I was yelling to this expert tradesman on repairing historic brickwork. I just had a feeling I might learn something from this man and I sure did. 

CHARLES JONES

The man's name was Charles Jones and he was very receptive to taking a small break to explain a bit about what he was repairing. Parts of the brick porch needed to be re-grouted as they  were coming loose. He and his helper, Nathan, were in the process of re-grouting in the three photos below. He mixed up a special mix to use with the old bricks. 

Charles, a native of Lancaster, told me that he learned the trade from his father when he was young. His grandfather, many years ago, had hand mixed cement and laid all the sidewalks in Lancaster. Charles said he has witnessed the disappearance of many fine old buildings in Lancaster.

CHARLES AND HELPER ASSOCIATE NATHAN

Charles even walked down the street a little to show me a historic deteriorating brick house, built using old lime  mortar. He told me that this  type of mortar is found in very early brickwork. From the deteriorating foundation of the house he picked up a small piece of mortar and showed me how it crumbled easily as he broke it in his hand.  He told me that this was one of its characteristics. 

We then stood on the sidewalk as he pointed out repairs recently made to buildings on the commercial block. He gave a tally on a few of the buildings that had been altered or torn down in the main commercial section of town. 

CHARLES GROUTING

I then excused myself as I knew he had to continue the porch's repair. -- working along with his associate helper Nathan. 

HISTORIC IRONWORK RAILING

Preservation techniques such as Charles was doing help prolong the life of a building. In this case the porch being preserved -- it was well worth it for both  stability and aesthetics. The artistic early ironwork railing of the porch would be almost impossible to duplicate.

One can read books and articles about a subject but talking with a hands-on skilled tradesman can give you an education in a short amount of time. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

FOR INFORMATION ON REPAIRING OLD BRICK AND STONE CLICK BELOW

U. S. Heritage Group


PRESERVATION BRIEFS

FOLK VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS -- Sunday Simplicities

Folk architectural fragments, vernacular in feeling, that I found in Madison, Mason, and Garrard Counties of Kentucky

Backside of smokehouse -- Madison County

Limestone entrance stairs to early 1800s house -- Garrard County

Deteriorating gingerbread trim -- Garrard County

Entrance Door to old business place -- Mason County