Out West!

Greetings everyone!

I (Elizabeth, Emily's granddaughter) am going to be guest authoring this blog for the next two weeks. As you may have gathered from the title of tonight's post Emily is out west, San Jose, California to be exact. She is visiting Josh, Elijah and myself. We are having a wonderful time so far, but the more exiting details of the trip are yet to come as we explore some the facets of Northern California together in the coming days. I am going to be posting three to five entries with some photos, so not every day. Also remember that there is a major time difference so the post will likely show up at 3:00 am for all of you east coasters.

Today Emily had a wonderful time playing hide and seek with her great grandson. She remarked that he has grown up so much since she last saw him around his second birthday last October. They read stories and had a great time playing with his toy cars that she brought for him as a gift. Later in the afternoon Emily and I went shopping in an area called Santana Row. Emily remarked at all of the beautiful flowers that were planted and could name them all. She also remarked on how the park and surrounding streets by my house are lined with Sycamore trees. A rather strange choice because the root systems can be quite cumbersome and apparently they are quite messy. I was rather taken aback by the gap in my own knowledge of the natural world surrounding us. I feel inspired to learn all of the trees and flowers native to my area.

This evening we worked in the kitchen on dinner together and listened to Johnny Cash, it was a fun time. Emily made fried cornbread and I made my Butternut Squash soup. The soup recipe is one that sort of came together this winter when I was looking for a good butternut squash soup recipe, but was disappointed by the ones that I found. So, instead I decided to just invent my own taking a bit from one and borrowing a bit from another then adding a dash of originality. Emily remarked that she would at times do the same sort of thing with recipes and Gene made something of a remark that she never used the same recipe twice.  I would like to share my soup recipe with all of you.

One butternut squash, cut into one inch cubes
Three or four onions, peeled and quartered
Five or so large fresh sage leaves
1/8 stick of butter
One or two cans of chicken stock
A few medium sized chunks of parmesan cheese (the real cheese not the fake powder stuff)
Five or so cloves of garlic
A dash of salt

Combine the squash, chicken stock, sage, garlic, and onions in to a large pot and simmer for 50 minutes. If you are low on chicken stock you can use water to fill the difference - just add another onion and a little more butter. Let cool for ten minutes then transfer the soup to a blender or use a hand mixer (this works best on blenders with glass receptacles because of the heat. Also do not fill to the brim; 3/4 to the top at most.) Add the parmesan chunks at this point into the mix to be blended. Milk or sour cream can be added for a creamier texture and salt and pepper to taste. Grated parmesan tops it off when served.

Enjoy!

February 24, 2010

 One of Emily's friends from church passed away and today was her funeral service.  Ruth Schmidt was one of many of the church members at First Cumberland Church who made Emily feel so welcome when they first began to attend.

She has been working pretty hard on the quilt that she and Elizabeth started for Elijah.  I think she's got all the fish pieces put together.  The next step is to decide what the layout of the pieces will be.  She'll be working on that over the next weeks. Then the next step will be to do a backing and the actual quilting.  She's been working on it a little at a time since they were here to visit the last time.

February 23, 2010

Emily is working on getting her kitchen painted.  She has Amy Wright working on that project for her.

Amy is the grand daughter of Martin and Marjery Rudolph.

Martin Rudolph was the preacher at the  Mount Victory Christian Church in the 50's  and again later on maybe in the 70's.  He was well loved by the Mount Victory Community and especially by Emily's parents. If the family was in Mount Victory for a visit, everyone went to church. 

Shirley, their daughter,  lived in Chattanooga, and when Lynn first moved they touched base and were in contact from time to time.  In 1997 Martin and Marjery moved to Chattanooga to be near their daughter during their retirement.  This was a little before Emily and Gene moved to Chattanooga to be near their daughter.  Over the years, they enjoyed one another's company and Emily and Gene grew to be very fond of Shirley's children.  The older girls have all helped Emily out at one time or another.  Amy most recently has been working fairly regularly and getting the kitchen painted is her latest endeavor.

 Martin died in June of 2007.  Margery still lives here in Chattanooga next door to Shirley and the girls help out.  Emily is lucky to have made such a wonderful connection and to have Shirley, Amy, and the other girls to help her out.

February 21, 2010

Today Emily went to church and then this afternoon she took a nap.

The church sent her food box from the Angel Food ministries.  She spent part of the day today, getting that food put up in smaller portions and in her freezer.  Included in the box were:  eggs, milk, rice, spaghetti, and spaghetti sauce. Fresh produce included, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and lima beans.  There were frozen green beans, and a frozen lasagna; chicken nuggets, steak, a pork roast, and chicken nuggets; and a cherry pie.

Emily ate dinner and watched some of the Olympics with Lynn, Alan, and Liga and brought the cherry pie to share!

February 20, 2010

Tobacco Press

Joyce reminded me of the Tobacco Press that Daddy made. His own invention she believes. He constructed a box frame with a hinged lid. He placed a stick of tobacco containing about ten or twelve hands in the box and pulled the lid down to flatten them. The pressed tobacco was carefully put in a protected place,and covered to keep it from drying. This would result in a neat presentation at the auction. See the Eastern North Caroline Digital Library for another view of their artifact seen at the left.

Very few women living in rural communities smoked during the early and late thirties.  One might observe an old lady who chewed tobacco evidenced by brown stains at the corners of her mouth, and  some elderly women smoked a corncob pipe. Once I saw a young woman at the store smoking as she breast fed a young baby.  All this looked very unbecoming to me.

Almost all the men and older boys smoked. Many 'rolled their own'.  Loose tobacco was sold in a small cloth bag.  One brand was Bull Durham.  The little bag was closed with a drawstring.  It came with a package of small sheets of tissue paper. Holding a cigarette paper in one hand between thumb and forefinger, a smoker skillfully poured some tobacco onto the paper. Closing the drawstring with his teeth, he carefully rolled the paper around the tobacco. He then licked the edge of the paper with his tongue to seal the roll. There you have a hand rolled cigarette!  Cigarettes that came in a package were called 'tailor-made'.

One time I decided to roll a cigarette with a piece of brown paper bag and some home grown tobacco. This took place behind the smoke house because I'd better not get caught!  I got it rolled well enough, but didn't really care for the taste.  WWII brought 'ready made cigarettes' to the country store.  Smoking became very much a part of the culture. Magazine ads displayed glamorous girls puffing cigarettes  The sale of the little cloth bags was replaced by the 'Tailor Mades'

When I was a freshman in high school, the boys usually had a pack of cigarettes in a shirt pocket. We girls thought it was fun to tease them to give us a cigarette. We would hide in the out house to puff on them.  Once someone accidentally set the toilet on fire!  Not a good place to hide.

After some serious thought at age 14, and knowing Daddy and Mother would be very disappointed with me for smoking, I decided to resist the peer pressure and determined that I would not allow myself to become controlled by cigarettes.  And besides, I certainly had absorbed enough nicotine in my body for a lifetime working in the tobacco. I had no trouble keeping my pledge.

February 19, 2010

More about Moon Pies

The Chattanooga Bakery was founded in 1902.  The history of the Moon Pie can be found on it's website.  The story goes that one of the bakery salesmen visited a "company store".  Company stores were found in coal mining communities where the miners shopped using Scrip issued by the Coal Company or shopped on credit.  The miners told Mr. Earl Mitchell, Sr. the salesman that they often didn't have time to eat lunch and they wanted something solid and filling.  "About how big?" they say Mr. Mitchell asked, and a miner held up his hands framing the moon and said "About that big."  When he returned to the bakery, he noticed some of the bakery workers making their own sweet by dipping a graham cracker into marshmallow and putting it on the window sill to harden.  A little experimenting and the marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers and then dipped in a generous helping of chocolate "about the size of the moon" was born.  It became a hit.  By the 1930's the Moon Pie was the biggest snack on the rack in the company or country store, and most laborers and farmers could afford the treat for themselves and their children.

Gene's father worked in the coal mines after they moved back to Harlan County, and he lost his life in a coal mining accident.  Kentucky Coal Mining will be the topic for another post, but a good pictorial expose can be found at A Pictorial History of Kentucky Coal Mining.


Bob Edwards commented on the last post that there is a country song about Moon Pies and RC Cola. There are actually several songs.  Here's a sampling:

RC Cola and a Moon Pie by Bill Lister

Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous by Tracy Byrd

RC Cola And A Moon Pie  by somebody Adams

RC Cola And A Moon Pie by NRBQ  go down the list this is in Alphabetical Order.

February 18, 2010

GRIT and Moon Pies

Not Grits but GRIT was a weekly newspaper during the mid to late 1930's.  It was a folksy publication rather than a news newspaper.  Tom, at a very young age, 9 or 10 years old I think, became the GRIT delivery boy. I think it would have been his very first money making job.  He walked and carried his bag labeled GRIT around the Mt. Victory neighborhood, about a 2 or 3 mile area.  The paper sold for 10 cents.  And I'm sure that his part was no more than 5 cents.  The other day nostalgia struck me when I came across an ad for GRIT.  So I sent for a subscription @ $19.95 for 6 issues. which came today.  Now GRIT is a magazine and here are some of the topics:  Fact and Folklore; Looking Back; First Milk Makes the Difference; Don't Toss It; Mend It; Behold the Hoe; Become an Heirloom Seed Sleuth. Secret Life of Dragonflies; and Cultivate Colorful Cucurbits (squash cucumbers). 

I went to Bi-Lo today and spent  $130 before I could get out of the place, but I hadn't been to the grocery for several days.  There were Moon Pies at 2 for a dollar.  Of course since Chattanooga is the home of Moon Pies, they are available in every store. I thought to myself "I remember when we got those at the store across the road from our house and they cost 5 cents apiece."  And I remembered that a Moon Pie and a soda pop made for a real treat on a warm summer day.  So I bought one, came home, and had it at lunch.  I know now why a soda pop made it so good.  The Moon Pie was pretty dry. 

February 17, 2010

Remembering Mama

We knew our grandmother VanSant as "Mama".  Her father was Dr. Thomas Winston Hudgins.  Dr. Hudgins was practicing medicine during the Civil War.  We were told that he took care of the wounded soldiers regardless of their Southern or Northern sympathies.

Frances Lee Hudgins was born in October 1866. Her mother was Leander Loving Hudgins.She had four older brothers, Cecil, Oscar, Henry and Winston and a younger brother, Thomas. Mama was called "Frank"  Mama told me that she would often accompany her father on his house calls so she learned a lot about the medical practices of that era.

I often remember those special times when Mama came to visit us at Mt. Victory.  Her visits took a lot of effort because she lived in Missouri with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Vest Meyers or in Oklahoma with Aunt Ruby.  Uncle Franklin or Uncle Lewis would bring her. Sometimes Uncle Henderson came with them.  Aunt Ruby usually came also.Mama and Aunt Ruby would stay and the uncles would come back for them. 

I remember very special times when Mama came to visit us at Mt. Victory. Probably the first time was about 1937.  The whole family had been busily cleaning and scrubbing and getting the house 'company ready'. As children we would write little letters to Mama.  She wrote to Mother and Daddy weekly, but I didn't really know her in a face to face way. I knew that I was special to her because she often wrote letters and sent packages for birthdays and other special times.  Her visits would last about two weeks.  She would sit at the old Singer treadle sewing machine mending clothes for us and usually would make dresses for me and my little sisters. I was fascinated to see her skill at the sewing machine.

I was always so very sad when all the luggage was packed and goodbyes were being said. I would get a lump in my throat and tears welled up in my eyes.  Mama was so careing and supportive of us.  Even though she might be far way in Oklahoma or Missouri, she was always close in our hearts.

February 16, 2010

Emily stayed home most of the day and worked on organization and getting some things done.  She went with Lynn to explore a new store in the neighborhood, which sells new and used restaurant equipment.  She seemed to enjoy the outing, and as always, she and Lynn both found a few kitchen implements that they couldn't imagine how they'd gotten along without for all these years. 

Emily's sister Joyce had a needle biopsy today on a dark spot in her abdomen - when Emily spoke with her, it seems that in all liklihood it came from a bad fall she had a couple of weeks ago.  Frances and Bob had driven down to go with her for the biopsy.  By the time Emily called, they were already on their way home. 

She also recently spoke with Mary, Gene's sister.  Mary had cataract surgery, and got a staph infection in the eye.  She was temporarily blinded by the infection.  After a couple of visits to doctors, including a rushed trip with her daughter, Lynda, to Lexington, she is beginning to have some vision returning. 

This afternoon, Emily had plans to build a fire and sit by it and go through her mail.

February 14, 2010

Valentine's Day

There was never any question in the minds of their children or anyone who ever knew Emily and Gene, that she was his Valentine and he was hers.  

 

This picture was accidently taken when Emily and Lynn were at the cemetery.

February 13, 2010

Today Lynn took Emily to visit the cemetery to decorate Gene's grave for Valentine's Day.  

There were tears.

February 12, 2010

Plato

Sometime in 2001 or 2002 ... Plato was a lonely, stray, grey and white kitten in a neighborhood in Atlanta where Elizabeth had a friend.  The neighbors had been feeding him for  several weeks, but as the weather turned colder her friend began to worry about him - a  poor half grown kitten who had no home.  Elizabeth offered to try and find him a home.  When she talked to her MaMa, she mentioned that she was trying to find this kitten a home and that if she knew of anyone to let her know.

MaMa just offered to take him.  Elizabeth was surprised but pleased.  Elizabeth has always thought they were so kind to take him in and get him neutered and get his shots and everything. He proved to be quite a smart feline. PaPa was especially impressed with him and said he was the smartest cat they ever had! That's how PaPa came to give him the name Plato, for his intelligence. Over the years, most of the younger grandchildren called him Playdough. 

----------------

Over the last couple of years Plato has become a para-legal. Robin Flores, attorney-at-law has an office about five houses down from Emily's house, on the main road.  His wife works in real estate from the office, and her daughter also works from the office.  At first Plato just began to visit them.   They are avid pet lovers so they fed him, petted him, and allowed him to "work" in their office.  Plato would come and go sometimes being gone for days or weeks.  When Emily and Gene figured out what was going on, Emily went down to let them know that he belonged to them.  So now, every morning, Plato goes down the street to work.  He has his very own chair.  They often work late or stay at the office to watch TV or relax after their work day.  Plato likes to stay with them until they go home.  He often sleeps on Attorney Flores' chest in the evening.  These days, when they leave the office, they give him a car ride down the street and knock on Emily's door to drop him off after his work day.  Then he sits in Gene's chair and keeps Emily company in the evening. 

Plato is a good cat.

February 11, 2010

MORE  ON TOBACCO PRODUCTION

By mid to late October the tobacco had cured enough for the marketing preparation to proceed.  The timing for going forward depended on how much moisture there was in the atmosphere. The sticks of tobacco were taken down, and the stalks of tobacco were removed and carefully placed in a pile.This is called 'bulking' Care had to be taken not to handle the tobacco when the leaves were dry. It had to be damp, but not wet!

Now we were ready to strip and 'grade' the tobacco leaves from the stalk. Beginning at the bottom of the stalk were leaves that had been somewhat torn or crushed.  This was called 'trash' ; then there were the fine light colored silky leaves called 'lugs'.  Then grades called  'bright',  'red', and 'tips' were put in piles.   Each grade was placed in a separate place. It was still very important to have enough moisture in the air to keep the leaves soft and pliable.  A worker was assigned to a grade to be 'tied into hands'.  We picked up the leaves one by one, placing them in the left hand between the thumb and forefinger, keeping the stems even and holding tightly.  Then a single leaf was folded length ways and wrapped very tightly around the stems with the end tucked under. This hand was ready to be placed back on the tobacco stick.  When it was full, it would be put in the bulk and covered to keep it from drying out. If it got too dry, the tobacco could shatter and be difficult to handle.  This could cause it to lose weight.  Since Tobacco was sold by weight,  that was one reason to preserve the moisture.

We understood that Lugs was used to make the finest lightest cigarettes.  Red which was very strong and heavy was used for chewing tobacco. Smoking became very popular during the WWII years. I remember names of cigarettes like Lucky Strike, Camel, and Chesterfield etc. Cigarettes were even a regular part of a GI's supplies even on the battlefield.  Gene always gave his away or traded them. Some of the army locations were even named for cigarettes

If the weather cooperated and all else went well, the farmer hoped to have his tobacco crop taken to the market by early December and by all means before Christmas. Hopefully the tobacco would bring top price at the auction and there would be enough profit to pay off the crop loan, the grocery store, buy the fertilizer and seed etc. for next year's crop, and have enough for the family's living expenses.

By now it would almost  be January of the next year and  time to get the tobacco seed beds ready for  the next Tobacco crop.

I remember when I was very small, Daddy was holding me on his lap and telling me "When the tobacco sells and if it brings a good price, I will buy you a little pony with a red saddle and bridle.  How exciting to dream of that pony.  Well, one year he did get a really good price for the crop and he brought a beautiful little black and white pony home!  But I had grown into a big girl by then and my legs were too long to ride the pony.  His name was Rollo, a handsome little stallion. When Frances got on him, she was scared.  Joyce was more successful. I think they were about seven and nine years old when Rollo came to the Mt. Victory farm.  Joyce became a pony girl riding Rollo bareback with no bridle, across the pasture fields with her brown hair flying behind. A little pressure of her knee on his side or a hand on his neck told him where to go.  Their  graceful movement seemed one as Rollo anticipated their direction

February 10, 2010

I Remember Tom

Today is my younger brother 's birthday. Cecil Thomas VanSant was born February 10, 1929 and would have been 81 years old today. Tom was handsome, 6+ feet tall and slender with big brown eyes and hair.  He had a quick smile and a great story teller. 

He was a graduate of Berea College and Indiana University. He married the lovely Rosemary Adkins.  Their three children Philip, Martha, Jon and families live in Colorado Springs, CO.  Tom was always fascinated with outer space.  His graduate work in Astronomy, brought him to the space exploration field.  He was involved in the early Apollo and Gemni Projects and worked for Ford Aerospace at Colorado Springs for some thirty years.

My first memories of him are when we lived at West Liberty, KY  The house had a front porch which was a few feet (maybe only a few inches) off the ground. He and I were playing on the porch, Tom in a rocking chair.  He rocked himself off the porch! Mother came running to his loud cries but he wasn't hurt.  His inquisitive mind and natural intelligence was apparent at a very early age.  He watched the stars out the window from his crib and called them, "little light jacks up in the dorik."  He must have been about 18 months old, and a road improvement project was begun on the street in front of our West Liberty house.  The crews were using a steam shovel to put in a large culvert, and Tom was missing!  I remember that Mother spied him near the huge machine exactly where the next scoop would be taken.  She flew to the spot and grabbed him in time to avoid being picked up in the shovel!   You can believe that some big brothers were assigned to keep a sharp eye on Tom.

Tom was certainly a precocious child.  He was sharply observant of every thing in the scope of his environment. He had a fantastic mind, quickly learning any subject matter offered in our school curriculum. On many occasions our high school math teacher would delegate the teaching of the daily math assignment to be taught by Tom.  He was always prepared. Maybe it was a good way to challenge a gifted student.

Once, in Mount Victory, when Tom was home from Berea for a break, a neighbor was upset and perplexed by some pranksters putting a 2x4 piece of lumber into the pipe of his drilled well, preventing him from using his well.  Tom inquired the pipe diameter and depth of the water and instructed him to pour a certain amount of water into the well pipe.  This allowed the wood to rise to the top of the well where it was easily removed.  All the neighbors were duly impressed.

February 9, 2010

Back to Tobacco as I Remember:

When the hoeing, weeding, worming, topping, and suckering were done, the crisp, clear days of fall approached. Late August and early September brought the tobacco plants to maturity. The 15 - 18" X 8 - 10" leaves turned very light green or golden.  It was tobacco cutting time! School had begun in our community and many times children missed school to help with the harvest.

A very sharp half oval blade attached to a metal rod ending in a T' shaped handle was the cutting tool.  (like a miniature shovel)  'Tobacco sticks'  were sawed from hard wood 1"X1" square and about 3 or 4 feet long.  The stick was pushed firmly into the ground then a very, very sharp cone shaped spear was placed on the top of the stick. Cutting required a skillful hand. The cutter was charged with cutting the stalk and thrusting it onto the spear and onto the stick.  One stick held about 8 or 10 stalks of tobacco. http://bede.net/images/photoalbum/photos2.html

The cut tobacco could be left in the field for a day or so to allow it to wilt. Then the cut tobacco still on the sticks was hauled to the barn to be hung on high rafters which were placed so the sticks would not fall off. Hanging tobacco in the barn was really hard work.  One stick might weigh 30 or 40 lbs. The barn would be filled from the very top to 10 - 12 ' above the floor.
 
The tobacco had to be placed with space for air to circulate through it, to create the 'air drying' process.   It had to air cure for at least two months.  By the end of this time, it had shrunk considerably and had changed to a warm light brown color.

February 8, 2010

Madison Claire

I went to Nashville on Saturday the 6th (Russell's birthday)  with Steve and Pat.  We had a wonderful visit with Lauren, Ryan and our delightful little 10 months old Great grand daughter Madison Claire. I played with her and fed her - so much fun to have Great grandchildren!  Sunday morning I went to church with Lauren, Steve and Pat.  Ryan had not been feeling well so he and Madison stayed home. We all enjoyed watching the Super Bowl that evening.

By bedtime, Pat was not feeling well and before long she had a full blown stomach viris!  She was so sick!  We had planned to get on the way back early this morning, but Steve had to have something checked on his suburban and that took awhile.  By the time we got on the way, Steve was beginning to have some of Pat's symptoms! They dropped me off here at about 4:40 and were soon on their way. He called from Roswell to say that he had begun to upchuck when he got to his driveway. Poor kids!

Madison is simply adorable.  She has a big wide smile with four teeth.  The two lower teeth are in the middle with the uppers at the side just like her Great Aunt Lynn's were!  She is such a pleasant baby. They put her to bed and she just entertains herself until she falls asleep; then wakes up with a big smile.  The nursery is upstairs while the master bedroom is on the first floor.  They have a TV with a monitor so that they can see her in her crib.


Lauren works and has her office at home. She does have occasional out of town business trips so they have a nanny to help with Madison. Her name is Annie and she is a lovely young lady recently out of college. Annie is very good with Madison. Ryan is a teacher and coach at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville. Madison is getting around all over the first floor and is very nearly ready to start walking. She is a busy little body now and I can just imagine how lively things are going to be when those little legs stat running all over the place!

Bruce planned a Valentine party for the Sunshine club tomorrow.  I have dental appointments so I will miss it!

February 6, 2010

Emily has enjoyed very much sharing some of her memories of growing up. 

When she speaks of her parents or her brothers and sisters, she always focuses on the best of the times.  She fondly remembers her older brother Ben helping her get dressed when she was a very young girl, and even when she remembers some altercation she had with one of her brothers, she always finds some humor or some insight as she shares the story.

She is mostly staying in on these cold rainy wintery days, busying herself with making a quilt, keeping up with her book club reading, organizing things around the house, and generally staying busy.  She speaks with each of her children on a regular basis and some of her grandchildren call her very frequently.  She also loves to get new pictures of her great grandchildren.  One of her great incentives to use the computer is to hear from her friends, and family through e-mail, as well as to see pictures of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

February 5, 2010

Tobacco - continued

In the 1930's and 40's following the Depression, farmers had an allotment according to the acreage on their farm.  Some farmers rented a neighbor's allotment to increase the acreage of their crop. There was a government subsidy to guarantee that the sale price would not be lower than a certain price, thereby guaranteeing at least a small profit.  A farmer could secure a bank loan for seed and fertilizer to grow his crop. And during this era many people ran a credit account at the small grocery store which would be paid off when the tobacco was sold.  Many people had no money left after the sale of the tobacco when they had paid off the bank and the grocery store.

Tobacco was sold at a regional market - most Mt. Victory farmers went to Lexington, KY.  Representatives from the large cigarette companies would bid on the tobacco at auction.

Once the tobacco was out in the field, the farmer trusted the creator to provide enough rain to ensure a "good set."  Then weed control was the order of the day.  A horse drawn plow cleared the balk - that's the space between the rows.  A plow could be used only while the plants were small.  As the plants grew, the leaves reached across the rows.  Then came the hoeing to cut the weeds which were between the plants and to heap fresh soil around the base of the plant.  The tobacco that Daddy grew would reach five or six feet in height.

By July and August suckers began to grow between the leaf and the stalk.  These had to be removed because they produced an inferior grade of tobacco and took energy from the growth of the primary leaves.  What a job!  The maturing tobacco now exuded a sticky, gummy substance that not only got on our hands but produced a strong nicotine aroma which was sickening.   It was also necessary to top the tobacco plant - this was removing the cluster of flowers which grew at the top of the tobacco.  Pest control was another job to be done.  It was usually assigned to the children.  The main culprit was the horn worm, sometimes called a tobacco worm or a tomato worm.  The worms were soft and green with antennae - the worms were often as large as a man's forefinger.  They had to be removed by hand.  They were pulled off and then slung down onto the ground where they would pop. This was not a pleasant task!  In later years the tobacco worms were controlled by using a pesticide. 

Daddy saved his tobacco seed.  He selected the best specimen and placed a paper sack over the top of the flower cluster and fastened it at the bottom to protect the seed until it matured. These seeds would be used to grow next years tobacco crop.

 http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/tobacco/tobacco.html
Text transcribed by Apex Data Services, Inc.
Images scanned by Melissa Meeks
Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc., Andrew Leiter, and Jill Kuhn Sexton
First edition, 2002
ca. 150 K
Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
2002.

        © This work is the property of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text.
Source Description:
(title page) Tobacco
Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co. Crop Book Dept.
50 p.
Richmond, Virginia
Published by Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co.
1915
Call number Cp633.71 V81t (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

February 4, 2010

Emily has had a busy week.  She has begun having some pretty extensive dental work done that she had postponed during Gene's illness.  She is also recuperating from the surgery on her nose to remove the skin cancer.  It is beginning to heal very nicely.

She has also spent time at church and at her book club.  One day,  she stayed in and read almost all day to get the book read for her book club!  The cold, wet weather has kept her inside lots of the time when she hasn't had someplace to go. She's worked on organizing and some sewing.  She's also become pretty involved in remembrances for the blog. 

As an elder, Emily is very involved with the church.  The building was completed in 1963 and so it's beginning to be time for some ordinary wear and tear kind of improvements.  This Sunday they are going to have the kick off of the building campaign to redo the roof.  The building is very beautiful and the church community has been wonderful.  Emily has made some very good friends there.

February 3, 2010

I am a Mailbox member of the BELL COUNTY KY HOMEMAKERS. 
The program for January is on:   TOBACCO AND CANCER

" Most people want to quit smoking..the only legal product whose intended use is known to cause cancer...nicotine is as addictive as cocaine..acts on the brain and nervous system...creates a pleasant feeling that leaves the smoker wanting to smoke more...nicotine is a drug...risk of lung cancer not reduced among those smoking 'light cigarettes'...one in five deaths in the US caused by tobacco...smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in our nation"

Tobacco was a cash crop for many small and large farm enterprises following the Great Depression into the late 1980's  Growing up we knew that smoking and chewing tobacco was harmful to one's health.  Daddy forbade us to do it; and he didn't use tobacco. There was a popular song "Smoke, Smoke That Cigrarette" and I'm Just Driving Nails in My Coffin"  We knew that the Black Leaf 40 solution used on chicken roost was poisonous. But we did not have the scientific evidence that tobacco use was so dangerous.

Daddy had a small tobacco base on our farm.

Time to make the tobacco bed:  A suitable place might be a recently cleared new ground.  After plowing about a fifty' by five' area, piles of brush, stumps branches and wood scraps would be burned like a bonfire for several hours often overnight. When it had cooled the bed would be raked and cleared of all debris and raked until the area was soft and fine.  Then the very fine tobacco seed were  mixed with soil and fertilizer and broadcast over the bed. It had to be tamped to make the bed firm.  We often did this by carefully walking over the seed bed.

Daddy might plant tomato and cabbage seed at one end of the bed.  The weather was still freezing and cold at this time of year, so a cheese-cloth-like covering was used to protect the plants. This would not come off until the last frost had passed.

In late May or early June, the fields were plowed and raked and rows were laid off for the planting.  Freshly pulled plants were dropped about twenty inches apart.  Then they were watered and covered with firmly packed soil.  All the work was done by the family, including the children  Getting the plants in the ground was just the beginning!

February 2, 2010

Both Gene and I enjoyed watching native birds and I put food out to encourage them to come around.  This year the black birds invaded our place and when I had filled the feeders, they would eat all of it in less than an hour. So I just decided not to put any more feed out and didn't for a week or so. Then there was a beautiful snow and five cardinals were out in the dogwood tree looking for food.  I filled the feeders again . Guess what? Black birds! all over the yard.  I know God made them too and they have a purpose,  but something is out of balance when we have swarms of hundreds of blackbirds several times a day. 

 

When I saw the cardinals, I was reminded of a poem that my daddy wrote:

Redbird in the Snow.
Flowers don't bloom in wintertime
But wherever could you go
To catch a view more lovely
Than a redbird in the snow?

The groundhog saw his shadow some where but I saw a better sign.  There were about half a dozen robins hopping around in the yard the other day.  spring is around the corner!

February 1, 2010

The National Cemetery is beautiful in the snow. 

Photo by Josh Beaver - can be found at Chattanoogan.com picture 10