TennesseeFarmTable.com

Seed Saving & Stories with our seed-saving pal John Coykendall of Knoxville, TN. John tells us how he became a seed saver, some of the varieties he has saved, where to find old-time heirloom seed like the ones he saves, and shares plus some cute stories.

Today, we are setting the table with pant-based eating and how this helps new moms. Today, my first guest is Meik Elliott, creator, and owner of Meik Meals. This young, black, Knoxville-based entrepreneurial chef creates foods that give us that comfort of taste while using healthier ingredients. Meik encourages people to make lifestyle choices that nurture the body, mind, and soul. She specifically works with postpartum Mothers to help them feel their best through food, education, and meditation with her Lotus program. Meik also speaks to groups throughout the community about her work.

Fred Saucepan’s potluck radio segment features Cherokee poet and storyteller Marilou Awiakta.

From University of KY Press - Sown in the Stars brings together the collective knowledge of farmers in central and eastern Kentucky about the custom of planting by the signs. Sarah Hall interviews nearly two dozen contemporary Kentuckians who still follow the signs of the moon and stars to guide planting, harvesting, canning and food preservation, butchering, and general farmwork. Hall explores the roots of this system in both astrology and astronomy and the profound connections felt to the stars, moon, planets, and the earth. Revealed in the personal narratives are the diverse interpretations of the practice. Some farmers and gardeners believe that the moon's impact on crop behavior is purely scientific, while others favor a much wider interpretation of the signs and their impact on our lives. Featuring photographs by Meg Wilson, this timely book bridges the past, present, and future by broadening our understanding of this practice and revealing its potential to increase the resiliency of our current agricultural food systems.

Cast Iron Cornbread, make your own butter, fried peach pies, Beef Stew, and “Pal’s Sudden Service”.


Guests:

- Iva Spoon Wilde with Cast Iron Cornbread, make your own butter, fried peach pies.

- Mary “Dee Dee” Constantine with a recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew.

- Fred Sauceman’s “Pot Luck Radio” segment with Pal Kenneth Barger, the man who created an upper East Tennessee favorite eating establishment “Pal’s Sudden Service”.

Today, we are setting the table with a discussion about land. Agricultural land, and the problem of the fast disappearance of this land across our country.

Our guest is Brooks Lamb, Author of Love for the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. Published through Yale University Press. This book is deeply related to Tennessee, Southern, and American agriculture.

At its core, Love for the Land shares the power and potential of people-place relationships. To do so, the book explores why some small and midsize farmers continue to care for their land, even in the face of tremendous adversity. In terms of adversity, he pays particular attention to farmland loss from sprawl and haphazard development, agricultural consolidation, and, for farmers of color, injustices in the past and present. 

Despite these challenges, some small and midsized farmers persevere. In dozens of interviews with farmers in two Tennessee counties, which serve as microcosms of agrarian communities across the country, Brooks found that love for the land and devotion to place -- virtues that align with Wendell Berry's writings on imagination, affection, and fidelity -- fuel their persistence and stewardship.

Brooks writes that we need to better support these farmers -- and that we all have something to learn from them, no matter where we live.

If you are moved by this podcast to help with this crucial problem of farmland loss - and are thinking about year-end-giving - there is an organization that Brooks is closely aligned and works with that is actively addressing farmland loss and conversion in the Volunteer State, this organization is called American Farmland Trust. We have also placed a link directly to that organization on our website too. It is Farmland.org

Why do we all eat Pinto Beans in Appalachia, an Appalachian Culinary discussion with Ronni Lundy. It has to do the mining camps, labor wars, the company store, & food insecurity as told by James Beard Award-winning Food Writer Ronni Lundy.

James Gann, Music Educator in Blount Co, TN won a blue ribbon for his pumpkin pie at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. James lets us know about the type of pumpkin he grows and his pie.

Haylee Gibadowski describes how to process a fresh pumpkin for pies and shares her recipe for a gluten and dairy-free pumpkin pie that is delicious. (Recipe below, keep scrolling)

Fred Sauceman’s Pot Luck Radio series features novelist Adriana Trigiani, Author of Big Stone Gap, Milk Glass Moon, and Big Cherry Holler describes her Appalachian autumn memories and a little story involving Elizabeth Taylor and choking on a chicken bone.

Appalachian Thanksgiving recipes include sweet potato casserole and stuffing.  Our feature interview is Mary Lynn Snyder originally from Harlan Kentucky.  Mary Lynn remembers her mother Ruby's recipes and traditional ways of cooking.

Dee Dee Constantine, retired food writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel has a segment on tips on how to prepare venison roast and venison steak, and she shares a recipe for venison meatloaf.

Fred Sauceman’s Potluck Radio series - we revisit his segment on the annual historic event of turkey herding that used to take place in Hancock County Tennessee.

And I (Amy Campbell) share a story I recorded with my late father, who was an old-fashioned East TN medical doctor. He accumulated a lot of interesting stories in his 60-plus years of practicing medicine, and this story involves a turkey egg.

Bill Houston (Owner of Houston’s Mineral Well, fine artist extraordinaire, and a New Market TN native shares a story of a late New Market TN neighbor who penned the tag line for JFG Coffee Company “The Best Part of the Meal”.

Tinah Utsman shares memories of her father “Coffee Jack” who was President of JFG Coffee during the 1982  Knoxville World’s Fair.

Mary “Dee Dee” Constantine (Retired Food Editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel) has a recipe for coffee and brown sugar steak rub.