TennesseeFarmTable.com

Today we are setting the table with the pig. We visit with Dr. Tom Gallaher of Knoxville. He and his wife Caryn are well-known doctors in Knoxville - and he is also a farmer - and he and his family are hosting the Third Annual Hog Creek Cotillion in Waynesboro TN Saturday, November 9th with an all-day whole hog roast, BBQ, and all the fixings, and live music which benefits two non-profit organizations: Southern Foodways Alliance and the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.   And back by popular demand - we also hear from Barry and Aliceson Bales of Bales Farm in Mosheim TN and how Barry smokes his pork shoulder and makes his BBQ Sauce.

Our guests are Rick Riddle of the Winery at Seven Springs Farm, and JD Dalton, Vineyard Manager of Tsali Notch Vineyard, in Monroe County, TN. They will let us know of the history, taste, and the nutritional properties of this ingegenous grape to the South East and both Rick Riddle and JD Dalton will both speak on the topic of Muscadine wine.

I (Amy Campbell) share Minnie Pearl’s recipes for Curry Pickles and Mustard Pickles from her cookbook Minnie Pearl Cooks. -Fred Sauceman shares a pickle recipe from Distiller Jack Daniel’s great, great, gran niece, Lynne Tolley. -Who was John Egerton? Elizabeth Simms lets us know who this man was & Robert Gipe tells a humorous story of his days working in a pickle factory. Amy recorded Elizabeth & Robert at the Appalachian Food Summit in September of 2016.

Today, we are setting the table with a discussion about land. Agricultural land, and the problem of the fast disappearance of this land across our country. Our guest is Brooks Lamb, Author of Love for the Land, Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. Published through Yale University Press. This book is deeply related to Tennessee, Southern, and American agriculture. At its core, Love for the Land shares the power and potential of people-place relationships. To do so, the book explores why some small and midsize farmers continue to care for their land, even in the face of tremendous adversity. In terms of adversity, he pays particular attention to farmland loss from sprawl and haphazard development, agricultural consolidation, and, for farmers of color, injustices in the past and present. Despite these challenges, some small and midsized farmers persevere. In dozens of interviews with farmers in two Tennessee counties, which serve as microcosms of agrarian communities across the country, Brooks found that love for the land and devotion to place -- virtues that align with Wendell Berry's writings on imagination, affection, and fidelity -- fuel their persistence and stewardship. Brooks writes that we need to better support these farmers -- and that we all have something to learn from them, no matter where we live.

Corn, Corn Relish, and Corn Cob Jelly recipes with Rachel Abbott Davis of J and R Farms, plus a beautiful audio essay on corn from author and gardener Kelly Smith Trimble.