Land Views Volume 12
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' ' Gardens for the Greater Good The Re-Emergenceof the VictoryGarden &re.at1Aields from:Y 1'-oflerds BARNYARD BASICS ,r-,ii!lh• l'er'IOno'"01m ,r- TALESnoM THEPEANUT GAJ_LER't .......... 1 The View From Here View From Here Our frst issue in a few years brings a picture of good times still to come. ........3 LandViews I is published for stockholders, directors and friends of Farm Credit of Northwest Florida PRESIDENT & CEO The Landing Zone Rick Bitner BOARD OF DIRECTORS Great Yields From No Fields Richard Terry, Chairman No room for a full-fedged garden where you live? Container Melvin Adams, Vice Chairman gardening is a great way to grow your own produce in small spaces. ........ James G Ditty 4 Fred Beshears Tales From The Peanut Gallery Cindy Eade From a largely ignored food item to a staple of the American M Copeland Griswold James Marshall diet, learn how innovations by George Washington Carver and T Butler Walker simple practicality ignited the popularity of this legume. .........8 Robert A Calvert (Outside Director) James R Dean (Outside Director) D Mark Fletcher (Outside Director) Greener Acres EDITOR–IN–CHIEF/MARKETING MANAGER Lesia Andrews Country Miles of Produce Aisles ASSISTANT EDITOR/MARKETING SPECIALIST U-pick farms are wonderful options for fresh produce. What does Debbie Shuler Iit take to start one of your own?.......................................................................................11 PUBLISHER Perpetual Harvest Southern Solutions, Inc Get long-term use out of your fruits, vegetables and herbs PUBLISHING EDITOR utilizing these time-tested preservation techniques. ..................13 Mary Donovan McClellan CREATIVE DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Wild Things Philip Sasser PRINTER Critter Control Wells Printing Company Pesky critters? Put away that toxic pesticide. Try these safer, natural options. .....17 THANKS FOR OUR COMMENTS! I We hope you’re enjoying your LandViews from Farm Credit of Northwest F orida. P ease contact Lesia Andrews (contact information be ow) to eave comments or suggestions or if you wou d ike to write Land Views an artic e. You may a so contact us to report an address change or or request copies of our fnancia reports: Ms. McDonald Had a Dairy Farm P.O. Box 7000 • Marianna, FL 32447-7000 Cindy Eade and husband Dale, owners of Cindale Farms, 1-800-527-0647 • [email protected]. experienced the path from farm rental to farm ownership with FARM CREDIT OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA the help of Farm Credit of Northwest Florida. ..............................20 BRANCH OFFICES Barnyard Basics Marianna Offce a so Administrative Offce 5052 Highway 90 East • Marianna, FL 32446 I Thinking of starting your own produce garden? Check out these great tips.....23 Mail To: P O Box 7000 • Marianna, FL 32447 (850) 526-4910 • Toll free: 1-800-527-0647 Fax: (850) 482-6597 • Email: Marianna@farmcredit-f com outhern Legacy Milton Offce 5336 Stewart St • Milton, FL 32570 Mail To: P O Box 778 • Milton, FL 32572 Gardens for the Greater Good (850) 623-0407 • Toll free: 1-800-527-0647 Fax: (850) 623-4993 • Email: Milton@farmcredit-f com Learn about the legacy of victory gardens in the World War II era and how they are making a comeback today........................... Monticello Offce 25 925 W Washington St • Monticello, FL 32344 Mail To: P O Box 429 • Monticello, FL 32345 (850) 997-3545 • Toll free: 1-800-527-0647 Off Our Rocker Fax: (850) 997-5039 • Email: Monticello@farmcredit-f com Tallahassee Offce A Bug’s Life 2015 Centre Pointe Blvd , Suite 104 • Tallahassee, FL 32308 Mail To: 2015 Centre Pointe Blvd , Suite 104 • Tallahassee, FL 32308 I Sometimes it takes some extraordinary measures to fght the war on bugs. ......22 (850) 656-2920 • Toll free: 1-800-527-0647 Fax: (850) 656-3272 • Email: Tallahassee@farmcredit-f com Ask the Expert Cover: Derived from a Victory Gardens poster campaign, image courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture UF-IFAS professor Jeff Mullahey, Ph.D., on hydroponics. .........................................23 (USDA) Also page 25 The View From Here LandViews ~ Volume 12 Issue 1 Dark Clouds and Silver Linings No matter your station in life – whether you are working for a large corporation or doing business as a small roadside farmer, the poor health of our economy over these last few years has most likely left its mark on you and yours in some impactful way. For some, it may be that you’ve had to cut back on your discretionary spending. For others, it may be something much more serious, like a job layoff or lowered income and benefts. Whatever your individual situation, we at Farm Credit of Northwest Florida want you to know that we understand your plight, because like you, we’ve taken our lumps, too. So, in this issue of LandViews Magazine – our frst in a few years, we will attempt to offer some homegrown, tried-and-true methods to boost self-sustainability using your own little patch of green. Whether LandViews editor Lesia Andrews befriends 3-year-old Jackie at you claim stake to several thousand acres of farmland or to a tiny pad Cindale Farms. (See story “Ms. McDonald Had a Dairy Farm,” page 20.) of concrete roof atop your apartment building, you’ll fnd something in this issue just for you. mom and dairy farmer! Make sure to read more about her and her The Landing Zone brings some common sense approaches to industry in “Ms. McDonald Had a Dairy Farm.” Also in Land Views, container gardening for the non-farmer in “Great Yields from No you’ll get the essential list of farm equipment for the backyard farmer Fields.” We’ll then give you an historical accounting of one of the in “Barnyard Basics.” Southeast’s most prolifc crops in “Tales from the Peanut Gallery.” Southern Legacy provides some insightful history and recent Once shunned because of its reputation as the ‘poor man’s’ food, the resurgence surrounding the victory gardens of World War II, in little legume has traveled a long way addition to helpful how-to advice for establishing one of your own. from its humble beginnings to All that can be found in “Gardens for the Greater Good.” its popular standing of Finally, if you’re just looking for some comedic respite from your today. daily grind, check out our regular feature piece in Off Our Rocker. Look to University Greener Acres “A Bug’s Life: Not Too Fly Back in the Day” is Jim McClellan’s of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural fnds us bringing humorous account of life on the “family farm” and will, at the very Sciences for all your farming and land-related least, put a smile in your heart. queries. IFAS is the major contributing resource the u-pick farm to LandViews Magazine, as well as the sensation to you in We hope that you’ll enjoy this issue of LandViews Magazine as consultant panel for our new regular “Country Miles of much as we’ve enjoyed creating it, because, in the grand scheme of column, Ask the Expert. Produce Aisles,” and then, things, we all are in this together, and together we all will survive. in “Perpetual Harvest,” offers Perspective is everything. some great ideas about preserving your pickings with canning and dehydration methods. InWild Things, we’ll help you avoid having to purchase costly and toxic pest control products with some unique do-it-yourself remedies in “Creative Critter Control.” Our Land Views section highlights one Northwest Florida farmer Lesia Andrews who is a rarity in many ways, but especially so because she’s a wife, Editor, LandViews Magazine 3 The Landing Zone ftrusin~Perusing -thethe ins andand OVl-t5outs of container gardeninggardening by Sarah Hansford “I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny, with a love that nobody could share or conceive of, who had never taken part in the process of creation.” This quote – from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s collection of short stories may take some time to learn. Before long, though, you’ll be reaping entitled Mosses from an Old Manse – speaks to the pride one feels from the benefts of your own homegrown treats. growing his own food and taking the earth and all its gifts into his own Once you get the hang of it, container gardening will provide hands. And, it’s a feeling that you, too, can you the same fresh, nutritious, homegrown experience. Whether you have fve feet of vegetables you’d normally plant in the earth, land or fve acres, making the commitment only you’ll be growing them on windowsills, to grow a garden full of nourishing patios, roofs, balconies or porches. Think of it produce is not only possible, but a sure Container as a mini-garden with major results. thing, and the rewards of satisfaction, gardens require more frequent pride and pleasure are exponentially watering than “in ground” Weed It And Reap greater than the size of the land in which landscapes because the exposed The benefts of container gardening are vast, they grow. sides of the containers result in and because the work can be done in almost any more evaporation. Container gardening is an excellent location and in any season, there’s hardly option for big city dwellers, suburbanites anyone who can’t do it. “Container gardens can or those simply trying to incorporate a little variety into their usual be started at any time of year, can be grown indoors under lights, and seasonal crops. Any way you look at it, it’s a great way for those who can be covered up in case of cold weather,” explains Dr.