Ray Dellinger in his shop.
A Growing tribute
This year I will be launching the Ray Dellinger Memorial Garden project to honor my dear friend and mentor. Ray had an incredibly green thumb, and the flowers and trees that surround his home on Sandy Branch are a testament to his knack for helping things grow. He certainly helped me grow as a musician and a person, proud of where I came from, and proud of the people I grew up with. This year I'll be growing out a garden of exclusively Mitchell County Heirlooms. Ray taught me the value in local lore, local ways, local places, and local people, so I'm setting out to get as local as possible with this garden. I'll be starting small, with an old white field corn historically grown in Grassy Creek, a local candyroaster squash, an old Mitchell County Mr. Stripey, and of course--GREASY BEANS. In the future I hope to expand to stewarding more "from here" plants (I'm really on the look out for somebody with multiplier onions or potato onions).
Heirlooms are a very important and especially rich part of Appalachian culture that I hope is on the verge of a comeback. The more people we can get stewarding the seeds of their own communities the better. Once they are gone, they're gone. In 2020, and early 2021 we lost a staggering number of elders, so it's important that we strongly commit to keeping their memories and traditions going. If you would like to contribute Mitchell County seeds to this project I would love to hear from you!
ps. I'm still growing heirlooms from all over WNC, KY, TN, and even one from Mexico in other gardens and locations.
Heirlooms are a very important and especially rich part of Appalachian culture that I hope is on the verge of a comeback. The more people we can get stewarding the seeds of their own communities the better. Once they are gone, they're gone. In 2020, and early 2021 we lost a staggering number of elders, so it's important that we strongly commit to keeping their memories and traditions going. If you would like to contribute Mitchell County seeds to this project I would love to hear from you!
ps. I'm still growing heirlooms from all over WNC, KY, TN, and even one from Mexico in other gardens and locations.