My word you guys write so well on topics that benefit so much from the application of your intellect and ability to write in an indomitable style that educates and importantly informs… turning the mundane into a must cannot put down read until finished…
A compilation of your works into suitably titled and curated tomes would not be amiss, the volume and quality of the work written deserves and demands such.. if you do, resulting this suggestion a personal signed first edition copy of each time for the suggestion would more than suffice.
I truly enjoy your work, it is stimulating as well as most importantly, being extremely informative and I have many times past, commented upon such.. deservedly so..thank you both… just saying
As I was reading this essay and then here and there scanning, I noticed that I kept feeling more and more sad. This feeling culminated with the reading of how the people of the mountains "Hollow Folk" were depicted. My grandmother was from the hills of Kentucky and her way of speaking never left. She said to me one time when I was little, "Go fetch me that thar piller". A pillow was fetched. I just feel so damn sad.
What was done to the Virginia mountain settlers just breaks my heart. Ignorance and greed of outsiders have plagued Southerners since the beginning. The superior attitude of those outsiders lives to this day. My ancestors settled the western NC mountains, and I grew up there, so I understand, and it infuriates me!
Progressive "experts" have caused more damage and heart-ache than we will ever know. And they are still in the business of "knowing better than the average person".
To add insult to injury, my understanding is that the CCP bought up all the pork farms all
over the US, and basically gave away the pork for something like .33 on the dollar so that the small ma & pop farms couldn’t match the prices. Ma & Pop had to sell out to the chinese then, as well. Once they bought everyone out and put all the piggies into tiny little pens on concrete, they pumped the prices back up.
Pigs are
miserable, NO sunshine, NO mud, NO acorns,
peanuts or chestnuts. They eat “feed” thrown together in a lab and probably includes diaper
You have done a good deal of research to inform yourself and us.
I live in southwestern Idaho where our ranch animals (mostly cattle and sheep) spend a good part of the year grazing on our desert and forest lands. A forest here in southern Idaho is significantly different than forests in places with significant rainfall. Our grazing lands are at risk from conservation groups who don't want animal poop on the land where the public likes to explore. Or ranchers have to meet the m similar requirements as the hog father's in Virginia regarding fencing. It is expensive and prohibitive for smaller ranchers.
Life is never simple is it? Or we would never have allowed China to control such a significant part of our good industry.
Thank you again for this research. You do the telling in such a way that we readers are absorbed completely.
Chestnuts are the only nut I like, but I rarely see them in the market. They contain many nutrients and are very beneficial. It is really sad they almost went extinct from the fungus.
Another completely fascinating article by you guys. It stopped me in the middle of my pasture duties and I spent 20 minutes reading it (I'm a slow reader). While we don't have Chestnuts on our farm, we do raise our pigs in the woods in what I call Beech Grove. Lots of American beech trees over about 15 acres. Not sure how American Beech stacks up, but the pigs love them. We've been farrowing over the last months and with 4 sows we now have some 50 piglets that are cute as all get out. We feed them also scraps as well as locally milled grains. The meat we process on the farm (under USDA Custom Exempt) is the deepest red pork me and others have ever seen. Not quite sure yet what causes that. It looks like beef. Maybe we'll check omega fats content someday. Local folks are gushing about it when they eat it. The connection between animal, landscape, farmer and conscientious customer is truly sacred.
This long article blew me away! It has so many lessons for young scientists, I have sent it to all my STEM grandchildren. I hope they absorb the important elements of this history.
Does anyone know what caused the first blight around the turn of the century, or where it came from? Could it have been brought in, somehow, from another state or region or even another country? It sounds like that blight was the "first", anyway, for at least 250 to 300 years since records were kept in the mid 1600's. Did something, in particular, happen around the turn of the century?
I felt a sadness while reading this excellent and well documented history of the American Chestnut, the people that settled in the Blue Ridge and of course, the Smithfield Ham.
It's painful to read of their paradise lost, as I gaze out the window at my own small farm. The behemoth that is our government has only grown more antagonistic to the rural way of life. I thank God for every day that I'm given to remain here.
And pork is on the menu tonight. I will never again think of it in the same way. Thank you, Drs. Malone , from my heart.
What an interesting article! It is interesting to understand how we are all connected to the Earth to survive, and we keep figuring out how to violate mother nature. It is my understanding that the ham people want their product to look and taste more like chicken.! I find pork to be too dry and not marbled and not juicy. Then I learned that RNA has been injected for the last five years for stimulating the immune system or whatever and I decided unless it’s organic I do not want to eat it.. the question is is there a organic source for ham? It is also my understanding that the environmental impact of having concentrated hog farms creates serious problems for our environment and poisoning of our streams. Am I being paranoid or am I reading the tea leaves, right?
My word you guys write so well on topics that benefit so much from the application of your intellect and ability to write in an indomitable style that educates and importantly informs… turning the mundane into a must cannot put down read until finished…
A compilation of your works into suitably titled and curated tomes would not be amiss, the volume and quality of the work written deserves and demands such.. if you do, resulting this suggestion a personal signed first edition copy of each time for the suggestion would more than suffice.
I truly enjoy your work, it is stimulating as well as most importantly, being extremely informative and I have many times past, commented upon such.. deservedly so..thank you both… just saying
Kia Kaha (stay strong) from New Zealand
As I was reading this essay and then here and there scanning, I noticed that I kept feeling more and more sad. This feeling culminated with the reading of how the people of the mountains "Hollow Folk" were depicted. My grandmother was from the hills of Kentucky and her way of speaking never left. She said to me one time when I was little, "Go fetch me that thar piller". A pillow was fetched. I just feel so damn sad.
Wow. Thank you for solving more mysteries for us, Dr. Malone. Now I can order some real ham!:) https://www.kiteshams.com/
OMFG‼️. Is there ANYTHING that governments cannot F up??? You are both great for the wealth of information you share.
What was done to the Virginia mountain settlers just breaks my heart. Ignorance and greed of outsiders have plagued Southerners since the beginning. The superior attitude of those outsiders lives to this day. My ancestors settled the western NC mountains, and I grew up there, so I understand, and it infuriates me!
Progressive "experts" have caused more damage and heart-ache than we will ever know. And they are still in the business of "knowing better than the average person".
Amen!
We quite buying that label when learned of its new ownership.
To add insult to injury, my understanding is that the CCP bought up all the pork farms all
over the US, and basically gave away the pork for something like .33 on the dollar so that the small ma & pop farms couldn’t match the prices. Ma & Pop had to sell out to the chinese then, as well. Once they bought everyone out and put all the piggies into tiny little pens on concrete, they pumped the prices back up.
Pigs are
miserable, NO sunshine, NO mud, NO acorns,
peanuts or chestnuts. They eat “feed” thrown together in a lab and probably includes diaper
contents for all we know.
All in favor of disallowing
CHI-NUH to buy up our land, raise your hand. 🙋♀️
They are stressed out by being confined in a small space to just eat and poop
You have done a good deal of research to inform yourself and us.
I live in southwestern Idaho where our ranch animals (mostly cattle and sheep) spend a good part of the year grazing on our desert and forest lands. A forest here in southern Idaho is significantly different than forests in places with significant rainfall. Our grazing lands are at risk from conservation groups who don't want animal poop on the land where the public likes to explore. Or ranchers have to meet the m similar requirements as the hog father's in Virginia regarding fencing. It is expensive and prohibitive for smaller ranchers.
Life is never simple is it? Or we would never have allowed China to control such a significant part of our good industry.
Thank you again for this research. You do the telling in such a way that we readers are absorbed completely.
I wish there were an edit button. Try to figure out what I intended to say in the places where I was distracted and did not proofread.
The three dots upper right.
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”— those backwoods Shenandoah Hollows people or whatever… Nine of the most terrifying words ever spoken…
I bet some of those displaced
landowners grew those healthy trees— when forced to move and take their pigs — and chestnuts with them.
These would be reparations I could support!
Ate a sweet acorn from someone
said it was from a Quercus virginina he collected here in California (introduced)
chestnutty ,good.
white oak acorns contain the lowest natural tannin levels
http://balanotrees.org/acorns-as-sweet-as-it-gets/
Chestnuts are the only nut I like, but I rarely see them in the market. They contain many nutrients and are very beneficial. It is really sad they almost went extinct from the fungus.
Another completely fascinating article by you guys. It stopped me in the middle of my pasture duties and I spent 20 minutes reading it (I'm a slow reader). While we don't have Chestnuts on our farm, we do raise our pigs in the woods in what I call Beech Grove. Lots of American beech trees over about 15 acres. Not sure how American Beech stacks up, but the pigs love them. We've been farrowing over the last months and with 4 sows we now have some 50 piglets that are cute as all get out. We feed them also scraps as well as locally milled grains. The meat we process on the farm (under USDA Custom Exempt) is the deepest red pork me and others have ever seen. Not quite sure yet what causes that. It looks like beef. Maybe we'll check omega fats content someday. Local folks are gushing about it when they eat it. The connection between animal, landscape, farmer and conscientious customer is truly sacred.
This long article blew me away! It has so many lessons for young scientists, I have sent it to all my STEM grandchildren. I hope they absorb the important elements of this history.
Demaris Guest Humphries Miller
Rappahannock County, Virginia
Does anyone know what caused the first blight around the turn of the century, or where it came from? Could it have been brought in, somehow, from another state or region or even another country? It sounds like that blight was the "first", anyway, for at least 250 to 300 years since records were kept in the mid 1600's. Did something, in particular, happen around the turn of the century?
I felt a sadness while reading this excellent and well documented history of the American Chestnut, the people that settled in the Blue Ridge and of course, the Smithfield Ham.
It's painful to read of their paradise lost, as I gaze out the window at my own small farm. The behemoth that is our government has only grown more antagonistic to the rural way of life. I thank God for every day that I'm given to remain here.
And pork is on the menu tonight. I will never again think of it in the same way. Thank you, Drs. Malone , from my heart.
What an interesting article! It is interesting to understand how we are all connected to the Earth to survive, and we keep figuring out how to violate mother nature. It is my understanding that the ham people want their product to look and taste more like chicken.! I find pork to be too dry and not marbled and not juicy. Then I learned that RNA has been injected for the last five years for stimulating the immune system or whatever and I decided unless it’s organic I do not want to eat it.. the question is is there a organic source for ham? It is also my understanding that the environmental impact of having concentrated hog farms creates serious problems for our environment and poisoning of our streams. Am I being paranoid or am I reading the tea leaves, right?