Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest

Summer 1999 Number 60

Appropriate Technology Demonstration

New Cordwood Building. A new addition to the Livingston demonstration complex is the recently acquired dry compost-equipped mobile home that was originally on the adjacent Sand Hill Community Land Trust. This unit has been sided with pine ends from the Kentucky Forest Products fence post operation at London. The material was regarded as waste and slated for chipping. The renovated home is now our second ASPI cordwood building (and most likely a first in mobile homes) and is being occupied by Jack Kieffer, who has assisted Eddie Stallsworth on the refurbishing project.

Early is Better. A key to good gardening is getting the crops in as early as possible. Master Gardener Amanda Allen did this and has full gardens going on the Livingston grounds with pre-summer yields of new potatoes, cucumbers, squash, broccoli and numerous greens. Likewise, the Mount Vernon Garden has yielded pre-summer squash, green beans, zucchini, peppers, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes and cabbage. Produce surpluses after giveaways will be sold this summer at the local Farmer's Market.

Research. Dr. Patchanee Tuntibunpakul used our ASPI gardens as part of her Ph.D. research at the University of Kentucky under Professor David Wise. She studied the types, numbers and impacts of spiders and ground beetles on the abundance of insect pests on organic farms.

Bordering. A second major use of the six to eight-inch diameter pine post ends has been the bordering of the floral/vegetable garden and the domestic wildscape at the Mount Vernon Small Town Demonstration Center. The beautification project gives an added ornamental flavor by hiding unsightly pine slab borders on the garden beds and less aesthetically pleasing concrete block bordering the wildscape. A major benefit is cooling the beds and allowing for better retention of soil moisture.

Sustainable Forest Programs

The Appalachian Ginseng Foundation (AGF) will be conducting two workshops: August 21st at Gathering Place, A Permaculture Plantation in Powell County, KY and on August 28th at the Wallins Creek Community Center in Harlan County, KY. Please write or call for enrollment. The cost is $45 for one or two persons and this includes lunches for two, one videotape of growing virtually wild ginseng, a quarter pound of seed, and one packet of background materials. Two dozen scholarships are available through a generous grant from the Dogwood Alliance. Another grant has been received from Heartwood for development of the AGF. For further information about upcoming and future AGF events visit the ASPI web site www.kih.net/aspi or write to the AGF, currently at the ASPI main office.

The Boone-Sang Cooperative Association (BSCA) is designing a marketing strategy for opening the domestic market to virtually wild ginseng. Currently the Chinese market takes most of the wild crop. BSCA wants to introduce a conserve (using a blackberry base) into the domestic market which will be a value-added domestic wild ginseng product. Further ideas are welcome.

Nature Center & Trails. Bonnie Chinn has restructured the Nature Center and has been actively soliciting additions to the interior (see Wish List below). A number of institutions and individuals have given collections which are essential for our school outreach program which gets underway this fall. For more information on this or to volunteer to complete the Nature Trail network call Bonnie Chinn at (606) 453-2105.

Resource Assessment Service

Land Stewardship Conference. ASPI has received a $10,000 grant from the Raskob Foundation to develop a conference on the stewardship of church lands and alternatives to possible disposal or development of these properties. This is a national interfaith conference but we are limited in participants. ASPI is seeking co-sponsorship from other groups interested in religious land stewardship. The first cut of invitees has been landholding groups for whom we have performed environmental resource assessments over the past two decades. The Conference will be held at the Milford Retreat Center (near Cincinnati, Ohio) on May 9-11, 2000. For further details please write to or call our main office in Mount Vernon. Note: places are filling quite fast. Proceedings of the participative conference will be available in late 2000.

Transfer of RAS Activities. The Environmental Resource Assessments (167 in 30 states since 1982) conducted through our ASPI office will begin to be farmed out as we concentrate on the upcoming conference. The ASPI Board wants to turn the work over to willing and experienced consultants who will strive to continue this successful program. ASPI will concentrate on the three solely Appalachian programs (AT Demonstration, Forest Sustainability, and Publications/TV). Al Fritsch prefers to concentrate on areas that take less travel time and report assembling. For a given time ASPI will receive requests and monitor results.

Overseas Project. The ASPI Overseas Project which has involved volunteer-experts building solar cooker and wood efficient stoves and starting cooperatives in Peru, Honduras and Malawi is being disassociated from our organization. It is in the process of being transferred to Empowering Others International, a group that has moved quite rapidly to filling in the niche in aid and empowerment in Central America, especially since the Hurricane Mitch disaster. This decision is part of the ASPI Board commitment to focus our limited resources on the Appalachian region.

Publications and Television Shows

Publications. A technical paper (# 53) on Establishing a Floral-Vegetable Garden is now available along with others mentioned in previous newsletters and now listed in the enclosed 1999-2000 ASPI Publications List. This latest technical paper describes the ASPI intensive garden plot at Mount Vernon and gives suggestions for converting purely vegetable gardens into mixtures of flowers and vegetables without compromising quality or quantity of edible produce.

Earth Healing Shows. By the beginning of summer 25 USEPA-funded Earth Healing shows on pollution prevention were aired. Two weeks were lost due to a lightning strike on the WOBZ-TV Station and destruction of its electronics. Recent TV shows include Water Quality and Water Testing with Ken Cook of the Kentucky State Water Watch Program and Chemical Sensitivity with Kitrina Kearfott, M.D. The station has received and passed on numerous calls for further information on the various programs. Tapes are being made available for showing on other television stations in Appalachia. The enclosed Publications List, describing the 42-show series, notes that these shows will be available at cost to the general public in mid-autumn.

Calendar. Mark Spencer is finishing the ASPI Simple Lifestyle Calendar 2000 which will be ready later this summer. Prices remain the same as for the last ten years; we want our faithful purchasers to get a good bargain in black-and-white. We are soliciting your opinions on whether we should also have a second colored nature Calendar for 2001. What do you think?

General

Environmental Awards. A fund has been set up through a generous grant from Mary and Frank Fritsch and the interest earned will provide an annual award to Kentucky high school juniors and seniors. This award will commence in the 1999-2000 school year and provide first ($300), second ($200) and third place ($100) awards. The award will be given based on essays written on Kentucky environmental subjects. There will be a maximum of two entries per school. Several educators on the ASPI Board of Directors plus independent persons are willing to serve as a screening and judging committee. Hopefully the awards will help increase environmental awareness in secondary education. For further essay details visit our Web site or write to our ASPI main office.

Added Comments/Concerns

I-66. We are deeply concerned about the Proposed Interstate 66 Highway which is supposed to go from coast to coast and pass through very fragile and scenic parts of Kentucky (the first segment is to go from London to Somerset). Early national studies in 1994 showed that the highway is not worth the cost. In our review of the half million dollar draft document we discover that virtually nothing is said about environmental concerns. We are convinced that the quibble over seven proposed routes is a smokescreen hiding a more bitter controversy over whether the road is even desirable.

A READING LIST MUST. Brian Tokar's Environment for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash by South End Press documents the compromising of many environmental groups, both large and small, by the industrial complex and how the word "environmental" must be used with qualifications.

Terminator Technology. Greg (ASPI Chair) and Pat Williams, editors of HortIdeas, have featured several articles in recent issues on the criticism raging over the USDA's involvement in "terminator" technology and the manner in which large chemical companies are trying to control access to recent biotechnology advances which could sew up the agricultural seed market.

Thanks Judy Arnold, Sandra Strother Hudson, Sr. Joanne Lamert, OP/Sisters of St.Dominic, Veronica Ries, David Arnold, Eleanor Buron, John & Jade Hargrave, Darwin & Celeste Jirles, Hazel King, Henry Moore, Elizabeth Churchill, James & Heather Bartos, Ruth Peeples, Patty Kipps, Max Oliva, SJ, Faith Wright, David Nix, Richard & Janet Futrell, Margie Lauer, Kasey Moulton, Mary Bertell, Andrew & Elizabeth Elmlinger, Jr., Esther Kieffer, Paul Kapezuk, Ian Rudick, John Carmichael, also Jerry Waddle for a desk top copier.

Wish List

Our nature center is looking for collections of native plant and animal specimens, wild bird supplies, aquarium equipment, field guides and other related display materials.

1999 Events

Solar Home Tour-99 Saturday, October 16, 1999 10:00 to 5:00 pm
both at the Livingston and the Mount Vernon Demonstration Sites.

Nature Center Tours Especially geared for youth and teachers during
the work week from 8:00 to 4:00. Please call (606) 453-2105 and
ask for Chris Sowers, the Nature Center coordinator.

Land Stewardship Conference May 9-11, 2000 at Milford Retreat
Center, Milford, Ohio. There are still openings.

Ginseng Training Workshops during 2000 at locations in Central
Appalachia to be announced.

Compost Toilet/Artificial Wetland Workshops Rockcastle County
June 1-3, 2000; Harlan County June 22-24, 2000.

River Day, 2000 June 3, 2000 from 9:00 to 12:00 (canoe) & 12:00 to 6:00 festival.

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