Breaking Beans Podcast

In this special final episode of Woven Roots, Appalachian Transition Fellow, Sam Hamlin, joins Candace Mullins and Micah Wiles for their first Fiber Day on Cedar Creek Farm in Somerset Kentucky. Nestled in the hills of Pulaski County, Cedar Creek Farm is operated by Micah Wiles and his family. It is home to a multitude of agricultural endeavors, including: raising heritage breed Dexter cattle for grass-fed beef, operating a vineyard and winery, and caring for vegetable gardens and fruit and nut trees, and tanning a variety of hides using sustainable practices. In addition, Candace Mullins grows a small plot of flax on the farm each year and is experimenting with small-scale linen production. For more information on the Wiles family’s diversified farm, see Sister Kathy Curtis’ Breaking Bean Piece, Cedar Creek Farm: A Model for Sustainability. In late October, Candace and Micah hosted their first Fiber Day at the farm, with the goal of bringing together farmers, artisans, and all those interested in working with natural fiber to build relationships and to learn from one another. After eating a delicious, home-made lunch, participants took the opportunity to explore different modes of fiber production including natural dyeing, spinning, and hide tanning. Participants also had the opportunity to hand-process flax fiber, using a break and hackles, a method of processing bast fibers that has been used for centuries. To begin this episode of Woven Roots, Sam Hamlin talks with Candace Mullins to learn more about her work growing, processing, and spinning flax for linen. Candace shares about her experience discovering the power of weaving and Appalachian fiber arts at Berea College, her vision for collaborative fiber production in Kentucky, and finally, on the power of fiber to tell stories. Next, Sam Hamlin talks with Micah Wiles about hide tanning on the farm. Micah is committed to ethical and sustainable tanning practices. Unlike many contemporary large-scale tanneries that use toxic heavy metals, Micah uses natural tanning methods that are friendly to the environment to create quality, durable hides. In addition, he sources from local materials. He shares about the tanning process, as well as his visions for creating high quality, natural fiber products. To close the episode, Sam sits down with Phillip Willet, master spinner and weaver in Berea, Kentucky. In addition to creating beautiful yarns, hand-dyed with natural dyes such as indigo and marigold, Phil is looked up to by many aspiring weavers as a teacher and mentor. Phil talks about his journey into the world of fiber arts and about the pleasure of working with natural fibers. For information on Cedar Creek Farm, including their tannery, visit their website at: http://www.cedarcreekfarmky.com/ Check out Sam Hamlin’s Woven in Kentucky: An Assessment of the Natural Fiber Textile Sector in Appalachian Kentucky to learn more about Community Farm Alliance’s work with natural fiber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nestled in the rolling hills of Kentucky’s Bluegrass region, the town of Carlisle is home to around 7,000 people. Carlisle used to be home of two manufacturing plants for Jockey International, a textile manufacturer and distributor of underwear and sleepwear for men, women, and children. In 2000, Jockey closed up its sewing plant in Carlisle, laying off 326 people. Four years later Jockey moved its operations to Mexico and closed its Carlisle knitting plant, as well as the nearby Maysville and Mount Sterling facilities, affecting 440 total jobs in the region. Jockey’s closing had devastating impacts on the once bustling town of Carlisle, as young people began to leave in search for work elsewhere and high-wage jobs nearly disappeared. However, the economy of Carlisle is currently growing with a movement towards regional economic development and textile revitalization. In early autumn, App Fellow, Sam Hamlin sat down with Tracy-Pratt Savage, Development Director in Carlisle-Nicholas County, and also member of Carlisle-Nicholas County’s Chamber of Commerce, to talk about what folks are doing to revitalize textiles in the area through innovative production that taps into high-end and niche markets. For example, high-end baby bedding company, Liz and Roo, moved its operations to Carlisle in 2016. Custom sewing for Liz and Roo is done at the former Jockey International plant, now owned by Carlisle-owned and operated, 3 Star Industries, which sews premium covers for utility vehicles and manufactures windshields. One of the challenges that many emerging rural textile companies face is a shortage of skilled workers to take newly-created positions. Tracy talks about how folks in Carlisle are attempting to address this problem though an exciting partnership with the Maysville Technical and Community College to develop a textile and sewing certificate program to assist young people in developing the skills needed to work in textile manufacturing. The episode concludes with a discussion about an approach to economic development that Tracy calls rural regionalism. Rather than going it alone in efforts to revitalize their economy, folks in Nicholas County are working with other small towns in surrounding counties to build up region-wide textile manufacturing, tourism, and community collaboration. For more information on Carlisle’s history and current endeavors, visit the Nicholas County Economic Development Authority at nicholascounty.ky.gov. This December, keep a look out for our special final episode on hide tanning, flax, and weaving arts at Cedar Creek Farm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last few years there has been a huge buzz about the potential for the revival of industrial hemp, which is one of Kentucky’s oldest crops. According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, industrial hemp is a variety of Cannabis sativa and is of the same plant species as marijuana. However, hemp is genetically different from marijuana and distinguished by its use and chemical makeup. Industrial hemp refers to cannabis varieties that are primarily grown as an agricultural crop for fiber, food, seed, and medicine. Hemp plants are low in THC, which is marijuana's primary psychoactive chemical. Hemp growth in Kentucky dates back to the late 1700s. According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky was the leading hemp-producing state in the mid-19th century, producing up to 40,000 tons in 1850. Hemp, along with flax and wool, were all used as the primary sources for textile production. With the criminalization of marijuana in the 1930s; hemp production was also made illegal. It was not until the 2014 farm bill that hemp could be legally produced with a license under a research pilot program in Kentucky. However, farmers and processors face unique hurdles in hemp production due to the strict regulations of the crop. Industrial hemp plants, including stalks, flowers, and seeds remain a controlled substance under state and federal law. This means that no person can grow, handle, or process industrial hemp in the state without a license from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. For more on laws and regulations around industrial hemp growth, see the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s website. Despite the regulations, the 2014 farm bill paved the way for farmers to produce hemp for fiber and textiles, medication in the form of Cannabidoil (CBD), grain, and food products such as hemp hearts, and much more. In this episode of the Woven Roots Fiber Podcast, we hear about two innovative Kentucky hemp projects. First, App Fellow Sam Hamlin interviews Preston Jones, Assistant Director of Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County. Preston shares about the first year of hemp production at the Settlement School and on how hemp can help farmers of Eastern Kentucky diversify their production to create high-quality value-added products for niche markets. Next Sam Hamlin travels to Lexington to talk with Kristofer Nonn, Director of Design and Construction at the North Limestone Community Development Corporation. The North Limestone CDC initiated a project to build Kentucky’s first-ever hemp house, with walls made of Kentucky-grown hempcrete. Kristofer shares information about how the project came about, what hemp has to do with affordable housing construction, and his dreams and possibilities for the Kentucky hemp sector, overall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Barney is a researcher turned homesteading farmer applying her knowledge to raise medicinal herbs, ducks, and chickens. Inspired by the farms they visited while traveling and doing research in Latin America, Indonesia, and beyond, Sarah and her partner Chris started Among the Oaks Herb Farm in Beatyville, KY, about an hour outside of Lexington where they grew up. Sarah’s work is deeply rooted in healing. This extends from herself to her community and the land she’s on, cultivating plants that she may not live to reap the rewards of. Skip ahead to around the 20 minute mark to hear the case for ducks being the best bird for small farms. If you’re listening to this show, you’ve already missed out on Sarah’s Fall Equinox box of herbal goodies, but be sure to follow her on instgram @amongtheoaks farm to see lots of dreamy farm photos and to stay up to date with the farm offerings. Be sure to follow CFA on instragram too @farmallianceky Are you ready to vote on November 3rd? You can visit govoteky.org to learn more! Next month we’ll be hearing from Mr. KYDawgs himself David Neville. We talked about everything from pig wrangling to COVID forcing a marketing shift. Resources Among the Oaks Farmstead https://amongtheoaksfarmstead.com/ Buy Sarah’s products https://appalachian-herbals-csa.square.site/ Appalachian Sustainable Development https://asdevelop.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re excited to announce that we’re launching a new storytelling project dedicated explicitly to natural fiber! On Woven Roots: The Appalachian Fiber Story Project, we will tell the story of how Kentucky farmers, artists, and entrepreneurs are building strong regional economies around natural fiber. Kentuckians have a rich history of growing plant and animal fibers to make the most basic of human necessities, such as clothes, shoes, and rope, to spinning fiber to weave together beautiful quilts, tapestries, and rugs. While many fibers are now made from synthetic materials, there is a movement growing to return to natural fiber textile production. Natural fibers that come from plants and animals such as flax, kenaf, hemp, wool and alpaca fleece can produce fine quality textile right in our backyard in ways that aren’t harmful to our environment. Supporting the natural fiber sector benefits community farmers, as well as the health of our planet. In this episode of Woven Roots, CFA Appalachian Transition fellow, Sam Hamlin, interviews three women about their innovative work with kenaf. Kenaf, which has been grown for thousands of years for fiber, is an annual row crop in the same family as cotton and okra. It can grow as tall as 20 feet, and can be harvested and processed for the fiber in its stalk. Though most kenaf grown internationally is produced in India and China, kenaf grows well in Kentucky and the U.S. South and can be used to make a variety of products, including rope, twine, packaging materials, paper and cardboard, and even biodegradable plastics. Listen in to this episode of Woven Roots to hear about kenaf’s present, future, and past in Kentucky. Robin Mason, founder of Tree of the Field, talks about her innovative work with kenaf across the state, including in eastern Kentucky on top of mountaintop removal sites, as well as the potential future of kenaf in the sustainable energy sector. Elisa Owen, cofounder of EcoBridge Industries, speaks with Sam Hamlin about the potential of kenaf to have big impacts on the economy in Kentucky and on the production of biodegradable materials. We close out the show with a conversation between CFA staff Maggie Smith and Sam Hamlin and Irene Thornsburg, a long-time member of the CFA, who grew kenaf in the 1990s as part of a CFA program to support tobacco farmers in figuring out new economic opportunities. Thanks for listening in to the Woven Roots Fiber Podcast. We’re looking forward to bringing you stories from farmers, producers, artisans, and others who are building our regions fiber sector to benefit our people and our planet. Make sure to keep a look out for our future podcasts on hemp, natural plant dyes, and more stories from the Appalachian fiber world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first episode of Breaking Beans that I hosted focused on land access in and around Fayette Co. The general consensus we heard from those interviewed was that land is expensive and whoever owns the land has the power. This month, we hear from Jann Knappage, co-owner of Fox and Hen farm, yoga teacher, board member of Community Farm Alliance, extension agent, and all around super pleasant human. This interview took place in June of this year when Jann and her partner Kevin were moving their farmstead operation from Winchester to Campton, KY. Jann talks about the difficulty of leaving the land they’ve been tending and letting things go. Breaking Beans is now on WMMT at 6 PM the first Wednesday of every month, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, andiHeart Radio! If you know someone we should hear from or have feedback for the show, email me! My email is [email protected]. Have a good month y’all! Resources Fox and Hen Farm [email protected] Loans for Folks of Color https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/large-numbers-of-loan-applications-get-denied-but-for-blacks-hispanics-and-asians-the-rejection-rate-is-even-higher/2018/05/22/dac19ffc-5d1b-11e8-9ee3-49d6d4814c4c_story.htmlKentucky Black Farmer Fund https://cfaky.org/kybff/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This show was originally published May 16, 2017. On CFA's first Breaking Beans Podcast on natural fiber systems, Fellow Sam Hamlin interviews alpaca farmer, Alvina Maynard of River Hill Ranch, sheep farmer, Kathy Meyer, and fiber mill owner, Ed Crowley who is soon opening Crowley’s Mill. Pictures courtesy of Hope Hart, Appalachian Transition Fellow with Appalshop. This show is a new Breaking Beans feature that focuses on the fiber industry and was recorded and edited by Fellow Sam Hamlin, airing for the first time on the the Community Farm Alliance Blog. Breaking Beans: Appalachian Food Story Project is an initiative of Community Farm Alliance to tell the story of how local food and farming in Eastern Kentucky can contribute to a bright future in the mountains. Find the stories at cfaky.org/blog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Farming has never been easy, but, as this month’s farmer states, “Black people have had a hard time trying to farm.” John Botts’s great-grandmother was brought to his now farm by two white men that held her in slavery. She had two children by these men, and John’s father was one of them. Those slavers gave John’s great-grandmother that farm as a gift, and John later bought it from his mother. As of 1991 he was raising about 9,000 lbs of tobacco and had about 30 head of dairy cattle knowing none of his four kids wanted to farm once he was gone. John details how he met his wife of 39 years, at the time, his experiences being discriminated against while working on other people’s farms, how he got his first 5 cows, and dealing with banks in Bath County as a black man. From what we have gathered, it seems that Mr. Botts has now passed on, but that he was dairy farming until 2003. He was a dedicated member of Community Farm Alliance, and we are grateful for the work he did in DC, Frankfort, and Bath Co in the 90s advocating for farmers. Our sincere thanks to the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections of University of Kentucky Libraries for allowing us to use this oral history from the Family Farmers of KY: African American Farmers Oral History Project. Resources for this months episode include: John Bott’s full interview from 1991 https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt7z0863637g Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Kenya, her husband Iyad Abraham, and their four children went from living the “American retail dream,” with seven cell-phone stores and two tea shops in Ohio to homesteading,then moving to Lexington to try their hands at farming. Already business savvy and willing to put in the work, they started Slakmarket Farm and are now producing halal meat and raw milk. In addition to being a farmer, mother, and business woman, Kenya runs a non-profit organization, Stack-a-Story-Bookshop, is a board member of Community Farm Alliance, homeschools her children, and engages with the community as much as she can. She even brings her goats out to community for “Barnyard Days.” Kenya and I first met in Novemeber of last year, and an hour long meeting turned into a four hour long hang out. This time, we met in her milking room and chatted about everything from commercial diaries to racism and islamophobia in rural ohio. With roots in Appalachia and Palestine, this farming family is a treasure to us in Fayette Co. Note: “Sale barn” is term used for a livestock auction. Resources: SlakMarket Farm Website SlakMarket Facebook Page Kenya and the Folks of Black Soil featured on Spectrum News Stack-A-Story Bookshop (Kenya’s Non-profit) Lego Halal Slaughter Video The Healthy Butcher Kenya Mentioned in the National Sustainable Agriculture Blog Black Soil Joe Salatin’s Website (Part of Kenya’s inspiration) CFA’s Commitment to Stand with Black Farmers Breaking Beans Radio Show airs the first Wednesday of every month at 6pm on WMMT. Hosted by Shelby Wheeler Breaking Beans: The Appalachian Farm Food Story Project is an initiative of Community Farm Alliance to tell the story of how local food and farming in Eastern Kentucky can contribute to a bright future in the mountains. Find the stories here. Special Guest: Kenya Abraham. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices