When I write these blogs every month I try to think of how Grow Appalachia has impacted the lives in my community. I can say without hesitation that it has done just that for so many wonderful people in so many wonderful ways. However none more than mine. This has been my 4th season as

I have had a topic for my blog picked out since I wrote one last month. However, with the flooding in Eastern Kentucky, I thought maybe I should write something more poignant or something uplifting. Then I decided to stay with my original subject because if nothing else, we are survivors. The traditions we carry

An aerial view of the Red Bird Clinic and Mission in Beverly, Kentucky. Over 100 Years of Service Located deep in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, Red Bird Mission is like a little town. The main campus hosts Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes for pre-school-aged children and down the road, just a little

I have been fascinated by fungi for most of my life. I have even written papers about them, I have books about them, and I even belong to a couple of wild mushroom groups on Facebook. The mushrooms are wild, not the groups. LOL! So when it came to my attention that the Clay County

We're Back! I was so excited about our first meeting in 2022. It's been a very long time since I have been able to get my group together. In the previous Covid years we have held drive-by distributions where we handed out educational material and supplies and the members didn't exit their vehicle. Well... some

We have had such an amazing season. However we never did get back to in-person meetings but we got to speak to all our members through distributions and farm visits. Our first distribution was set for Feb. 11th but didn't happen until March 1st because of ice storms and flooding. We finally got things started

A Corn Cob by any Other Name Ustilago maydis The Devil's Corn, Corm Smut, Corn Truffles, and Huitlacoche are a few of the names that will pull up this monster of a corn cob if you Google it. This my friends is what we found growing in our garden here on the Red Bird Campus.

Handed Down When you look at gardening in the Appalachia’s you can see that green beans have a very diverse history. Even today the seeds are prized among gardeners. Some planting seeds that have been handed down from generation to generation. One of my growers planted seeds that have been in his family over 100

Phytophiles and Apiarists Welcome The Smell of the Earth I’m sitting here in my office on this rainy day trying to think of something to write about for my upcoming blog. It’s not easy sometimes. I’ve been doing this for 3 seasons now and I’ve written several blogs. Sure I’ve not been here as long