Tag Archives: animals

The whole ecosystem –Elsie Quarterman on Wild Side TV

300x184 People as well as plants and animals. Not just dogs youve got on a leash, but animals that live out there, are part of the whole ecosystem., in A Crusader for Conservation, by Wild Side TV, for OkraParadiseFarms.org, 19 September 2014 Here’s a video about Elsie, A Crusader for Conservation, 19 September 2014, by Tennessee’s Wild Side, “The Emmy Award winning show produced through the generosity of the Jackson Foundation, Tennessee State Parks, and the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.” Lots of good pictures, some video snippets of Elsie, and some narration by her nephew Patrick and by Biologist Tom Hemmerly, who reminds us of Elsie’s work at Radner Lake, in addition to her cedar glades work. Ranger Buddy Ingram explains her biggest contribution may have been in getting numerous different segments of society to cooperate in saving whole ecologies. Botanist Kim Sadler and others explain how inspiring all that is to generations of students.

As Elsie said in 2006:

300x168 The general public needs to know whats around them., in A Crusader for Conservation, by Wild Side TV, for OkraParadiseFarms.org, 19 September 2014 The general public needs to know what’s around them. They need to be learning that there’s a world that is not paved. There are lots of things that have life and function in the whole scheme, people as well as plants and animals. Not just dogs you’ve got on a leash, but animals that live out there, are part of the whole ecosystem.
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Diversity, extinction, and climate change

In what category does Georgia rank highest

  1. for species diversity: plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, or fishes?
  2. and in which of these four categories: diversity, risk, endemism (distinctiveness of species), and extincions?

Guess first, then look (no peeking)…. Continue reading →

Curing Ham –Derrick Dawson

Derrick Dawson will talk about a long-time tradition at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

The Lowndes County Ham and Eggs show is the only remaining Ham and Eggs show in Georgia and one of only two in the country.

Hams are cured by a local team that travels periodically to Fort Valley State University to work in USDA certified facilities. Hams are treated with a cure, turned, treated, turned, treated, turned, washed, bagged and finally smoked over the course of several weeks in preparation for judging and auction.

The Ham and Eggs show this year will be February 18 and 19.

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Schedule changes for South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Four talks have moved locations or times:

Jerald Larson needed an earlier slot, so Grow Your Own Organic Small Fruits has moved to 11:30 AM in Room 1.

Composting needs a room with a tile floor, so Composting: Red Wigglers and Soldier Flies by John Horton has moved to 3:15 PM in Commons.

A Walk with Dairy Goats: a lesson in humor and humility by Julia Shewchuk has moved to 3:15 PM in Commons.

From Fabulous Natural Fibers to Flamboyant Fabric: the craft and art of hand spinning and weaving by Amy Brown has moved to 11:30 AM in Room 2.

All these changes are in the revised schedule.

-jsq

Speaker Schedule –South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Hello again,

We are now nearly at the conference and I can hardly tell you how excited I am. I had a final walk through of Pine Grove Middle School and Farm this week and got all the details for accessing their technologies and the Internet.

Friday Farm Tours

Farm Tours will be Friday, January 24th, including produce at Raisin’ Cane, door yard citrus at Loch Laurel Nursery, olive oil and trees at Georgia Olive Farms, and Katahdin sheep at Hound River Farm.

Saturday Talks

Conference talks will be Saturday, January 25th, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Doors open at 8 a.m.) at Pine Grove Middle School, 4159 River Rd, Valdosta, GA 31605. We will be able to tour the hydroponic green houses at the school that day! The preliminary schedule is posted.

Lodging

Most of our speakers are local (how lucky are we that we have this wealth of talent in our community) and a couple from out of the have indicated that they need a room. We have arranged a discounted rate at two local hotels.

Registration

There is still plenty of room, so by all means, please continue to invite those that you think will be interested in attending. The Pine Grove Middle School is a lovely facility and we are lucky to be able to use it.

Don’t forget to register!

-Gretchen

Katahdin sheep –Hound River Farm

Not for wool, for meat, they raise Katahdin sheep; we’ll visit Hound River Farm on our Friday Farm Tour at South Georgia Growing Local 2014.

We raise registered Katahdin Hair Sheep on 240 acres in the coastal plains region of South Georgia. We are approximately 30 miles north of the Georgia-Florida border with easy access from I-75. Our farm consists of Bermuda and Bahia pastures, woodlands, and wetlands. We harvest our own Continue reading →

Florida Goats at South Georgia Growing Local 2014

It’s not just for south Georgia: from Madison County, Florida, Julia Shewchuk will talk about her goats of Serenity Acres Farm.

Here’s Wayne and Julia’s welcome to Serenity Acres Farm:

We are a small farm in Madison County Florida working toward the big goal of bringing you locally grown products and farm raised products without the use of major pesticides, hormones and genetically modified components.

Our philosophy is simple: Grow and raise it locally and then offer only the freshest and best of what we produce.

The goats appear about a minute into this video, with milking about 2 and a half minutes in: Continue reading →

Looking for Longleaf

So you’ve read Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and you want to know more.

Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest, by Lawrence S. Earley

The tallest and strongest of pine trees, longleaf made great sailing ship masts , tar for caulking ships, and of course saw timber. How the early settlers cut down trees for houses and to clear land to farm. Their hogs and cows running loose in the woods ate the young longleaf, suppressing new trees for a hundred years. Then professional forestry took over, trying to suppress the fire that destroyed northern white pine forests, yet which preserves southern longleaf pine forests. The sad story of turpentine: we knew better, but we did it anyway.

The peculiar life cycle of a tree that starts out looking like a clump of grass, and can stay that way for decades, yet promotes and survives fire and can grow more than 100 feet tall and live for centuries. The thousands of species of plants, animals, and fungi the forest protects, many of them, like wiregrass, also adapted to fire.

How tuberculosis and quail led to new understandings of longleaf and fire, and the people who discovered those things. We do know how to grow these trees now, and lots of people are doing it: for jobs, for sawtimber, for the beauty of the forest.