After a summer of gardening and an autumn of preserving, the Hindman Settlement School’s Grow Appalachia participants are ready to celebrate the holidays eating their own organic, home-grown food. We celebrated the end of a successful growing season with our annual Grow Appalachia holiday potluck. Participants braved the first snow of the year to share
What a harvest! Our Grow Appalachia participants harvested over 20,000 lbs. of organic produce this year to feed their families and fuel their businesses. For four years, the Hindman Settlement School has been proud to partner with Grow Appalachia to provide our community with gardening and healthy living classes as well as seeds, tools, and
Soil erosion can destroy your garden. Erosion is the process by which wind and water remove soil from an area. A typical soil is composed of topsoil and subsoil. The topsoil is typically fertile and friable whereas the subsoil is typically infertile and hard. Most plants only grow in the topsoil. The deeper the topsoil
When the crops lay heavy and ready to harvest, it can only mean one thing: it's time for the Hindman Settlement School’s annual canning class! Local master canner Bonita Adams and her daughter Liberty Campbell taught a class of Grow Appalachia participants water-bath, pressure, and cold canning techniques. Grow Appalachia participants at the Hindman
What a month it has been! I’ve been traveling all over Eastern Kentucky visiting the beautiful gardens of our Grow Appalachia participants. If there is one thing I’ve learned this month, it’s that the people of Eastern Kentucky are serious when it comes to their beans. Varieties Growing up, I thought all green beans were
Lordy what a month! I swear it was just last week I posted my last blog. So many things have happened that I’m not even sure what’s happened! Folks have come and gone, renovations have started on campus, and all our summer events are finally over. In the world of Hindman Settlement School, summer break
Thunderstorms, flourishing gardens, long sunny days and warm humid evenings. There’s no doubt that summer is in full swing, and honestly folks, this is the first summer I’ve ever had a garden. I grew up outside the city, I shopped for my veggies in grocery stores. To walk into the garden and pick something fresh
** You’re getting two from me today! This is backlogged from June due to all the website issues, but I hope you enjoy!** Summer is in full swing and I think if I blink a little too long it will be August! May was a little slow for a minute there, but June has swept
But what do May flowers bring? Ants, if they’re peonies! There’s an old tale I recently heard that ants are necessary for peonies to bloom. They eat the nectar off the bud, and that allows the bud to open up. Of course I had to look into this to see how accurate it was. We
As I walked out of our third meeting for the season Thursday night, I couldn’t help but sigh. Sigh in relief that the workshop was over; sigh in relief that we have so many wonderful participants in our program. Workshop week is always hectic around here! There are numerous tasks to accomplish, forms and information
