SONGTOSEED - Blog

A Kernel of Wisdom

10/11/2020

View this post on Instagram

A nugget of traditional elder seed-saving wisdom from John Leopard of Jackson County, NC. Typically, it's best to not plant end kernals--unless you have a small amount of seed to start with (Like the last existing ear of Hamburg corn he rescued in 1978. He was careful to note that he even planted the end kernels then!) End kernels often lack the vigor of the straighter, interior seeds. #seedsaving #seedstewards

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Oct 10, 2020 at 9:04pm PDT

0 Comments

"Who" is your favorite bean?

10/1/2020

0 Comments

View this post on Instagram

Starting on top from left to right Lindsey Butterbeans, Bonnie Cope Greasybacks, Maw Laney Beans, Yona Soup Beans, Barte Laney Beans (Maw Laney Sport), and Herb Key's Half-runners. Also grown this year but not pictured: Mary Soup Beans, Lonnie (sp?) Morgan Cornfield Beans, Granny Greene Cornfield Beans, Balsam Soup Beans. Once someone asked me "who" my favorite bean was. It caught me off guard as odd, but at the same time, almost all of the beans I've taken into my care over the years already came with a person's name attached. Honor your source, honor your community, and honor the seeds-of-place. #hierlooms #beans #seedstewards

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Oct 1, 2020 at 6:54am PDT

0 Comments

Balsam Soup Beans

10/1/2020

0 Comments

View this post on Instagram

This year my Balsam Soup beans were "October" Beans in the truest sense. They are only now ready with shellies (plump just-about-to-shrink seeds). As a "fall bean" or "october bean" they are daylight-length sensitive, and will usually only set pods late in the year (no matter how early you set them out). I've certainly learned that beans will fruit when they are good and ready, and planting them early tends to reduce yield or lead to poor germination (so be wary of "average days to maturity"). A typical mountain garden would have had a few different types of beans, which would bear at different times. "Bunch" beans (sort of like bush beans but they run a little) would come in first, to be followed by a mid-season bean like greasy cutshorts, to be followed by a fall bean like these. You'll also note the diversity in seed shape, pattern, and color. Like the Yona Soup Beans, Balsam Soup Beans are a bean community, rather than a single landrace, but they've been saved mixed together like this for untold generations. #beancommunities #heirloombeans #octoberbeans #fallbeans #seedstewards

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Sep 30, 2020 at 6:17am PDT

0 Comments

Lonnie Morgan Beans

9/27/2020

0 Comments

View this post on Instagram

We are pleased to announce that our Launie Morgan Cornfield beans have set fruit. Back around 2014 I borrowed some seed from the Jackson County Seed Library. It was quite old (1992 if I remember, when Sarah was born), and wasn't frozen, so I had my doubts about germination. Out of perhaps 50 seeds, only two sprouted and I babied them heavily, but they weren't setting any beans at all (I think it was the heat). Now that the stalks have died back and it's cooling off, they've been put on a nice clutch of beans! Anybody out there know who Launie Morgan was? #oldseeds #cornfieldbeans #seedlibrary

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Sep 27, 2020 at 6:32am PDT

0 Comments

Our first Bean-String Ballad-Sing was a great success! We nearly ran out of virtual zoom "seats," and had over 3,000 views on Facebook. Almost all of the zoom registrants stayed through the entire show! Thanks again to the NC Arts Council for hosting, and Lindsey Terrell and Sarah Ogletree, who helped drop links for us on Facebook and Zoom. Bobby and Susan, thank you again for taking the time to join us and share such rarely heard but beautiful songs.

If you would like to re-watch the event via Facebook, you may follow the link below:

Watch on Facebook

0 Comments

Henry Reed Fund Grant

5/15/2020

0 Comments

Great News! We are honored to announce that William will receive the Henry Reed Fund Award from the Library of Congress for his Bean String Ballad Sing program. William has been dreaming up the project for quite some time. It combines Appalachian foodways and ballad singing into a participatory and educational event that draws on the old contexts in which this music was once shared. Obviously the previous plans for the event will need to be seriously altered due to the realities of COVID-19, but we believe there is a creative and responsible way forward! William is particularly honored to receive this award, named for influential fiddler Henry Reed. Pictured here is William with Henry Reed's son Dean (bottom), and Alan Jabbour (top) who learned directly from Henry. Alan was the founding director of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress and a heck of a good fiddler to boot.

0 Comments

Finding A Place for Your Roots.

4/25/2020

0 Comments

View this post on Instagram

In their infinite wisdom, my taters waited until those last few frosts passed over until peeping out. I wish I could claim that these were some old-timey variety that I've been keeping for years, but unlike seeds, roots are a little harder for a person as mobile as me to keep. In the future I hope to be able to keep my own sweet potatoes, taters, walking and multiplier onions from year to year, but you can't just n chuck a jar of taters in your freezer until you can get a piece of ground to grow on! There are also a lot of ailments that can make things more challenging for tuber stewardship. I DO have some heirloom sweet potatoes coming along this year. I've long yearned to build one of those old-time seed starting hotboxes. Ray Dellinger gave me great directions about it years ago, and maybe next spring will be the time to do it after I've grown a little more stock.--Wm.

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Apr 25, 2020 at 4:54pm PDT

0 Comments

Bryant Field Corn

4/15/2020

0 Comments

View this post on Instagram

We really look forward to growing Bryant Corn this year! Earlier this year we received three ears of this special Caldwell County Heirloom that the Bryant family has grown for generations. At one point, it was even grown right over the hill in Buffalo Cove. It's a great all-purpose old-timey corn, and looks like a type of "gourdseed corn." Saving corn seed's a bit of a challenge compared to other plants, but it's very important that we do our part to keep special, local, heritage corn strains going. As an added bonus, field corn makes a great scaffold for certain types of breans!

A post shared by Song to Seed (@songtoseed) on Apr 15, 2020 at 6:28am PDT