Mary Swander's Buggy Land
61 episodes - English - Latest episode: 24 days ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsMary Swander's Buggy Land, hosted by Mary Swander, explores life among the Amish and the arts and agriculture in the wider rural community.
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Episodes
Season #3, Episode #58: Barons
April 03, 2024 18:12 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBListen to host Mary Swander interview author and agricultural antitrust expert Austin Frerick about his book called Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of American's Food Industry (Island Press.) Frerick tells the story of seven corporate titans, how they accumulated their wealth and rose to power to control most everything that we put in our mouths-from grain to dairy, coffee to berries, pork and slaughtering to groceries. How do we change this pattern? What new vision can we ...
Season #3, Episode #57: Winter Spirits
February 01, 2024 17:31 - 33 minutes - 45.8 MBThe podcast explores spirits, the kind you want to lift in the winter, and the kind you want to drink year-round. And the kind that comes back to haunt you. Host Mary Swander explores the history of two bootlegged whiskeys: poitín in Ireland, and Templeton Rye in Iowa, and her connection to both. Readings from Plain Interest. And John K. Corless singing Noreen Bawn. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander’s Bugg...
Season #3, Episode #56: Adeste Fideles in Chinese
December 20, 2023 20:22 - 21 minutes - 32.4 MBHost Mary Swander reads her story Adeste Fideles in Chinese with musical accompaniment. Adeste Fideles in Chinese is the third in a series of handmade books published by Timothy Fay of Route 3 Press in Anamosa, Iowa, depicting the author's interactions with her Amish neighbors. This book captures a poignant Christmas story of multicultural exchange. More about Swander's books here.) Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Ma...
Season #3, Episode #55: Preparing for a Buggyland Christmas
December 12, 2023 17:46 - 31 minutes - 43.8 MBRuby, our local chef and grossmommie, voices her concern about her grandchildren picking up new ideas in Indiana, and not enjoying Christmas dinner. Jane Yoder Short recounts how she grew up Mennonite, gardening and constructing bean tipis with a deep love of the dirt (or soil). Host Mary Swander tells stories about raising turkeys for the season and how the year comes to an end at the Bontrager's sorghum press down the road. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will...
Season #3, Episode #54: Here Lies Mary Swander
November 09, 2023 14:05 - 38 minutes - 52.4 MBMary Swander tells the story of buying her own tombstone. She reads from Plain Interests and The Budget about the proper conduct at funerals and wakes, and a deer hunting incident. Then she recites "May I Sleep in your Barn, Mister?" In the second half of the show, she tells about the Amish custom of singing hymns to ill and dying people. Ashokan Farewell by Annie Chapman Brewer (French horn) and her grandfather Keith (dobro). Gott ist die Liebe. Connect with us on our new Substack...
Season #3, Episode #53: Two New Memoirs: Monica Leo and Lori Erickson
October 16, 2023 17:20 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBHost Mary Swander interviews two writers with new memoirs: Monica Leo (Hand, Shadow, Rod: The Story of Eulenspiegal Puppet Theatre. Ice Cube Press) and Lori Erickson (Every Step is Home: A Spiritual Geography. Westminister John Knox Press.) Both writers portray their travels-one with puppets, the other with spiritual exploration, to find excitement, fun, solace, and fulfilling careers on the road. Leo writes of her beginnings as a doll and puppet maker, to her steps into performance...
Season #3, Episode #52: Bio-Sanctuaries
September 25, 2023 16:01 - 32 minutes - 44.2 MBHost Mary Swander interviews agronomists Russ Mullen and Jill Mortenson about creating a bio-sanctuary movement of undisturbed places of refuge, shelter, and food for wildlife. Mullen reads from his non-fiction piece about exploring a wetland on his family farm during childhood, then reflects on the disappearance of such environments in an age of industrial agriculture. Mortenson suggests ideas for urban sanctuaries and how the arts might promote the movement. Read Mullen's full ess...
Season #3, Episode #51: I Do
August 03, 2023 17:00 - 35 minutes - 48.1 MBHost Mary Swander reflects upon the wedding customs in her Amish neighborhood-from the difficulties of finidng a mate, to the services in the barn, to the reception for 500 people under the tent. Wedding stories and jokes by Duffy de France and Monica Leo. Music: What Shall I Wear to the Wedding, John? by Aunt Fanny Rumble and Albert Collins. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander's Buggy Land maryswander.subs...
Season #3, Episode #50: Toxic Environmental History
July 07, 2023 13:06 - 38 minutes - 52.6 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Environmental Historian Professor Heather Roller from Colgate University with her student assistants Anna Miksis and Katie Moser. Roller discusses her research in the Amazon and award-winning books on the region, then turns to her current project A Social and Environmental History of Agrichemicals. She travelled to Iowa to interview farmers, to take their oral histories and discover the reasons many have turned to organic farming. Roller is also working ...
Season #3, Episode #49: Squatters on Red Earth
June 02, 2023 14:50 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBHost Mary Swander provides background on the research and production of her new play Squatters on Red Earth, a peaceful encounter in the middle of the white settler land grab. Swander details her interactions with both the people of the Amana Colonies and the Meskwaki Settlement. These two groups, wanting nothing more than to remain hidden from the outside world, had a positive experience together in the early settlement days-all the while genocide whirled around them. Laura Hudson ...
Season #3, Episode #48: Special Announcement: Don't Pass a Buggy on a Hill
May 16, 2023 12:59 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBMary Swander announces a new logo and name for the podcast to coordinate with her Substaack page: Mary Swander's Buggy Land. Reflections on Amish elections and "The Lot." Comments on raw milk and a gardening adventure burying art objects. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander's Buggy Land maryswander.substack.com And Mary Swander's Emerging Voices, showcasing young, diverse writers on current topics: swand...
Season #3, Episode #47: The Weight Farmers Carry
April 12, 2023 16:46 - 35 minutes - 49.5 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Christopher Weatherly, a licensed social worker and Ph.D. candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. Weatherley discusses his research on mental health issues for farmers and others in the rural environment. He details the social, economic, and atmospheric challenges farmers and rural youth face, and the availability of care they receive. Includes a discussion of the arts and how they serve as an emotional outlet. Connect with us on our new Substa...
Season #3, Episode #46: Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?
March 21, 2023 16:53 - 19 minutes - 27.1 MBSpring returns to Freemartin on the wings of purple martins. Host Mary Swander describes the birds' behavior and habitats, their houses and the ways the Amish feed these birds. A neighbor traces the journey of a button from an old factory on the Mississippi River to the beak of a purple martin, to South America and back. Scenes from an Amish reunion in a one-room school house and a Mennonite child's discovery of a book on world mythology, a text that sends her on a journey of her ow...
Season #3, Episode #45: What Will Uncle Morris Say? You'll Figure It Out
March 03, 2023 14:08 - 29 minutes - 40.4 MBTwo Practical Farmers of Iowa storytellers are featured-Arlyn Kauffman and DaQuan Campbell. Kauffman, from an Amish/Mennonite community, tells of crashing the manure tank on his Uncle Morris' farm. And Campbell, from Waterloo, IA, tells how a regular customer gave him the confidence to start an urban cooperate vegetable production venture. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander's Buggy Land maryswander.substac...
Season #3, Episode #44: Down in the Mines
February 15, 2023 16:50 - 25 minutes - 35.2 MBCallers to the KLUU Radio Call-in Catastrophe show voice their concern about sink holes and the state legislature proposal to lift child labor and safety laws, allowing children to work in the meat packing plants and in the mines. Swander explores the use of manners in communal societies, then an Amish "greasy hand" gives tips on keeping an old Maytag washer running with vaseline. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary...
Season #3, Episode #43: Liver and Walleye
January 30, 2023 16:18 - 38 minutes - 52.7 MBIn response to Mary Swander's Amish home butchering stories, Buggy Land listeners tell their own tales of procuring and butchering meat and fish. Rebecca Hawkins Valadez, Denny Coon, Larry Harris and Gene Zdrazil take center stage, connecting their stories to home, food, family and community. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast:Mary Swander's Buggy Land: maryswander.substack.com And Mary Swander's Emerging Voices, showcas...
Season #2, Episode #42: Home Butchering
January 06, 2023 14:09 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBIt's home butchering time in Buggyland. Mary Swander visits her Amish neighbors, remembering the butcher shops of her youth, the making of braunschweiger, and the lost community of families working together to put up their own meat-all lost arts that stand in contrast to the practices of our modern food system. A four-legged furry creature comes to the party. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander's Buggy Land ...
Season #2, Episode #41: Christmas Card from Buggy Land
December 14, 2022 14:05 - 23 minutes - 32.5 MBMary Swander writes of her Christmas with her Amish neighbors in Buggy Land, from attending their celebration in their one-room school, to singing carols with them on her porch. Music by the South East Iowa Symphony Orchestra and Iowa Wesleyan University Choir. Connect with us on our new Substack pages where you will see photos and extras from the podcast: Mary Swander's Buggy Land maryswander.substack.com And Mary Swander's Emerging Voices, showcasing young, diverse writers on ...
Season #2, Episode 40: Watershed
November 29, 2022 19:37 - 45 minutes - 62.8 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Ranae Lenor Hanson about her new book: Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress. A personal health crisis, stories from environmental refugees, and our climate in danger prompt a meditation on intimate connections between the health of the body and the health of the ecosystem. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus interviews, books, postcards, poetry critiques and have Mary join you and a small gr...
Season #2, Episode #39: A Nail Pulling Party
October 05, 2022 15:37 - 23 minutes - 32.8 MBHost Mary Swander puts out a call to listeners for critter stories and gives instructions to make a pitch on the website: www. agarts.org. Swander tells the story of Old Order Amish neighbor Abram Yutzy demolishing a damaged room with just a hammer. Eventually, his large family joins him to pull the nails from the boards and romp with Swander's puppy. Reflections on waste, co-operation and living in a communal society. Ask Ruby segment on "Amish Paradise" and harmonica bands. Becom...
Season #2, Episode 38: Finding Turtle Farm: an Interview with Angela Tedesco
September 22, 2022 20:14 - 46 minutes - 64 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Angela Tedesco, author of the new book Finding Turtle Farm: My Twenty-Acre Adventure in Community-Supported Agriculture. (University of Minnesota Press). Tedesco traces her life as a vegetable farmer, from accessing land, to developing a viable CSA business, to transitioning her property at the end of her career. She discusses the nuts and bolts of a CSA, the organic methods she used and the way she improved her soil, the research she conducted, and how ...
Season #2, Episode #37: The Ballad of the Freemartin Town P.O.
September 08, 2022 14:46 - 28 minutes - 39 MBFarmer Levi Lyle tells of a visit from a crop inspector surveying hail damage. Lyle learns of the inspector's service as a Navy Seal, and reflects on the healing of wounds, both in the flesh and in the soil. Host Mary Swander tells of Freemartin Town's problems retaining a postmaster who can keep the names of the residents straight. With only 20 surnames with multiple spellings, it's hard to keep the Schlabaughs and Schabachs, the Bontrager and Borntragers, and the Hostetler and Hoc...
Season #2, Episode #36: The Reveal: The Great Grilling Mitt and Potholder Contest Winners
August 24, 2022 14:30 - 33 minutes - 45.9 MBHost Mary Swander interviews textiles and clothing expert Susan Strawn, Ph.D., discussing the history and impact of potholders and how they reflect the time, interests, biases, and culture of their makers. Strawn then reveals the winners of our contest and the reasons for their selections. Slide show exhibits of both Strawn's personal potholder collection and of our contestant entries can be found on our website: www.agarts.org. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Bugg...
Season #2, Episode #35: Scott Eickman, Farmer Sculptor
August 03, 2022 13:00 - 35 minutes - 49.4 MBAgArts from Horse & Buggy Land travels to Manning, Iowa, this week to interview Scott Eickman, a farmer and metal sculptor. Eickman discusses the pieces that he makes in his garage from nuts, bolts, combine chairs and other farm implements. His latest work is a huge sculpture of a soldier carrying his wounded buddy out of a combat zone, reflecting Eickman's experiences in the Marine Corps in in Afghanistan and Iraq. Music by Robert Stone. Photos on the website by Annie Chapman Brewe...
Season #2, Episode #34: Lost and Found Dogs
July 08, 2022 15:05 - 32 minutes - 30 MBMilo, Iowa duck farmer Phrakhounmany "Air" Philavanh tells a story of the Laotian Water Festival, cooling down the Buddha, and losing his dog in Thailand. Host Mary Swander tells of three different dogs she has had, all found in Amishland. Grossmommie Ruby provides a recipe for hot dog hash and gives her opinion on the latest Supreme Court ruling. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus interviews, books, postcards, poetry critiques and ...
Season #2, Episode #33: Taylor Brorby's Boys and Oil
June 22, 2022 13:04 - 47 minutes - 64.9 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Taylor Brorby about his new memoir Boys and Oil (Norton): Growing up Gay in a Fractured Land, about his life in rural North Dakota in the middle of the fracking boom. Brorby discusses how, as a child, he coped with bullying through his exploration of the prairie and through the arts. He describes the Bakken Oil Boom, his political activism, his disability , and his grounding in his identity as a gay man. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and ...
Season #2, Episode #32: Aparajita Sengupta: Rejuvenating a Small Farm in India
June 03, 2022 14:51 - 46 minutes - 63.6 MBThrough the help of a Cynipid grant, host Mary Swander interviews Fulbright Scholar Aparajita Sengupta who is presently in residence at the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky. Sengupta is writing a book about women farmers both in the U.S. and aboard. She tells of establishing a CSA, learning the science of permaculture, and rejuvenating a small farm near Calcutta, India. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus intervie...
Season #2, Episode #31: Into the Cosmos
May 18, 2022 16:32 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBIn this episode we're looking back and reflecting on the last two years-how we survived, what we learned, how we grieved, and how we're recovering. Farmer Cathy Lafrenz of Miss Effie's Country Flowers and Garden Stuff, recounts the death of her husband and the efforts of her community to support her through this difficult time. Host Mary Swander spins a tale of the night sky and all it took in-from the loss of a friend, to home haircuts, to Amish wash on the line, to the Roman candl...
Season #2, Episode #30: Two Beginning Farmers
May 04, 2022 13:12 - 25 minutes - 35.4 MBHost Mary Swander interviews two young beginning farmers-Colton Anderson and Hannah Breckbill. They each tell how dedicated they are to farming and how fulfilling they find the job. After graduation from Central College, Colton Anderson will be returning to his 4,000 acre family farm where he will go into business with his father and grandfather. Hannah Breckbill, in contrast, had no family land but found a unique way to start her 25 acre vegetable farm through a land co-op. Become...
Season #2, Episode #29: Ask Ruby
April 20, 2022 13:49 - 40 minutes - 55.6 MB"Ruby, why do Amish men shave off their mustaches but still have beards? Do the Amish vote? Do they use binoculars? What are their favorite foods? What is Rumspringa? Can the Amish use solar panels? How do they observe Ascension Thursday?" Find answers to these and other winning questions in the "Ask Ruby Contest" with host Mary Swander and questioners from Iowa to New Mexico to Alaska. Music by Robert Stone. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain acce...
Season #2, Episode #28: Springtime in Freemartin Town
April 07, 2022 16:46 - 30 minutes - 42.5 MBPotholes are the first sign of spring in Freemartin Town and host Mary Swander describes how they are repaired in her neighborhood. Practical Farmer of Iowa members Maya and Carmen Black tell the story of going through the derecho on their farm, living 7 days without electricity. Swander reads her poem "Scheherazade" about hiding from storms in her cellar. And in the final segment of the podcast, the Call-in Catastrophe Show at KLUU (Get a clue) Radio features derecho nomenclature a...
Season #2, Episode 27: Behind the Scenes
March 24, 2022 14:10 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBProducer Rick Brewer interviews host Mary Swander about the origins of "AgArts from Horse & Buggy Land." Swander explains how the impetus for the show came from the owner of the local General Store. She tells how she created a recording studio, then during the pandemic, how she had to adapt the show to the circumstances. Ultimately, Swander created a fictional town (Freemartin Town) for the podcast and populated it with characters like Ruby, the grossmommie, reminding the listeners ...
Season #2 Episode #26: Grossmommies and Omas-Iowa to Ukraine
March 10, 2022 14:10 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MBHost Mary Swander highlights stories of Ukraine from Annette Matjucha-Hovland, a listener in Muscatine, Iowa. Matjucha-Hovland tells how she learned to bake paska and cherry varenysky, traditional Ukrainian foods, from her grandmother, or oma. Swander recounts stories of Amish and Ukrainian grandmothers, then reminds the audience of the "Ask Ruby, the grossmommie" contest with a deadline of April 1, 2022. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access t...
Season #2, Episode #25: River House on the Prairie
February 23, 2022 14:12 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MBHost Mary Swander interviews hornist Annie Chapman Brewer about her composition River House on the Prairie. This beautiful piece-a sound journal-- arose from Chapman's AgArts Farm-to-Artist residency at the Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids, Iowa. In her composition, Chapman responds to and answers the sounds that surround her at Whiterock-including red wing black birds, spring peepers, cardinals, and barred owls. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and...
Season #2, Episode #24: B&W Ointment
February 14, 2022 14:13 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MBThe Amish have no health insurance, little available cash, but a vast knowledge of herbs and other remedies. Learn about the invention of their healing B&W protocol for burns. Host Mary Swander recalls her personal experiences with B&W and browses other tales of healing in Plain Interests. Swander announces the Ask Ruby Contest! Winning entry receives $200. Music: How Great Thou Art. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus interviews, bo...
Season #2, Episode #23: The Winner of the Great Amish Belt Loop Bad Poetry Contest
January 26, 2022 22:12 - 27 minutes - 38.5 MBListen to the winning entry of the Great Amish Belt Loop Bad Poetry Contest and enjoy a selection of the other really terrific awful poems. Sample the collection of entries, from the political to the inane, full of bad rhythm and rhyme, overblown emotion, doggerel and catterel, all containing the phrases "a cat yowling on the back fence" and "a buzzard on a dead horse." Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus interviews, books, postcards...
Season #2, Episode #22: I'm Getting Married in the Morning
January 12, 2022 17:41 - 31 minutes - 44 MBPart #2 featuring immigrants from Muscatine, IA telling stories of their own cuisines. You'll meet the professors of this MCC English as a Second Language class, then sample an armadillo in Mexico, a guinea pig in Equador, feijoada in Brazil, fufu in Togo, and fish in a Scandinavian restaurant in Chicago. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gain access to bonus interviews, books, postcards, poetry critiques and have Mary join you and a small group for a ...
Season #1, Episode #21: Robert McConnell: Hog Farmer and Conductor
December 22, 2021 16:31 - 51 minutes - 71.2 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Robert McConnell, accomplished musician, and unique director and conductor of the South East Iowa Symphony Orchestra. McConnell speaks of his upbringing on a farm, his musical family, his studies in Kirksville and St. Louis, MO, and his ventures into conducting. He now runs a hog farm and brings classical music to the rural region. Excerpts from his Christmas concert at Saints Peter and Paul Clear Creek Heritage Association, a church on the National Regi...
Season #1, Episode #20.5: The Great Amish Belt Loop Bad Poetry Contest: Enter Now
December 20, 2021 20:55 - 3 minutes - 4.56 MBListen to a sample submission for the The Great Belt Loop Poetry Contest and hear host Mary Swander go over the rules for submission. Deadline: January 15, 2022. Submit through the AgArts website. Speak right into your computer and win $100 and a handmade leather belt fashioned by the Amish harness maker. Don't forget to include a yowling cat on the back fence and a buzzard on a dead horse. And don't forget to leave your belt size! Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and B...
Season #1, Episode #20: Rattlesnake with Hot Sauce
December 01, 2021 16:04 - 22 minutes - 30.5 MBImmigrants from around the world tell stories of their own cuisines. Welcome a storyteller from Brazil eating venison for the first time in the U.S. Welcome a member of the Jewish community of Des Moines, IA, eating tongue, and a man from Cameroon who loves rice. You'll travel to Togo for Fufu, to Sicily for Milanese. And you'll find out what food Des Moines has in common with Ukraine. And finally, you'll discover what Mexicans roast on a spit in when they settle down for a nice Sun...
Season #1, Episode #19: Bet the Farm
November 10, 2021 20:44 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBThe Agitator, the Freemartin Town appliance shop, plugs in a washing machine and takes bets on how long it will run without repairs. The prize: a shoo fly pie by Ruby, the gossmommie, who gives the recipe. Host Mary Swander launches the Great Amish Belt Loop Bad Poetry contest. Poetry must be bad and include the phrases "a yowling cat on the back fence" and "a buzzard on a dead horse." Music by the Deep Dish Divas. Become a premium member of AgArts From Horse and Buggy Land and gai...
Season #1, Episode #18: Living the Good Life on the Yum-Yum Farm
October 27, 2021 15:46 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Geoff and Joanna Mouming at Yum-Yum farm near Wellman, IA, where the couple dramatically improved the soil through composting, cover crops, and prairie restoration. With the services of Seattle architect John DeForest, the Moumings built a house that reflected their ecological values gleaned from the writings of Scott and Helen Nearing and Aldo Leopold. Moumings have become known for their hospitality and delicious homegrown food. Yum! Your donation to ...
Season #1, Episode #17: Corn Is Not the Answer
October 14, 2021 13:02 - 33 minutes - 46.1 MBHost Mary Swander returns to Red Fern Farm and takes a tour with owners Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl. Swander reads three poems she has written about the farm, reciting them as she is guided past chestnut trees, to paw-paws and persimmons. Dice and Wahl describe the beginnings of their perennial plantings, their U-Pick operation and their Bosnian customers. Eventually, Swander's poems will be anthologized in a book sponsored by SILT and the the Writing the Land Project. Features Meskwaki...
Season #1, Episode #16: Red Fern Farm
September 29, 2021 13:38 - 29 minutes - 41.3 MBHost Mary Swander makes a trip to Red Fern Farm in SE Iowa to interview Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl, visionaries in agroforestry. They talk about how they transformed a corn and bean row crop farm into one that will be forever preserved as a perennial paradise, emphasizing nuts, fruit, and vines.
Season #1, Episode #15: Down the River
September 15, 2021 16:50 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MBHost Mary Swander tells the story of the "Bridge to Nowhere," the antique structure that once spanned the Amish River and connected Bull Town and Freemartin Town. Swander follows with a reading of some excerpts of her book of poetry The Girls on the Roof, a Mississippi River saga of a mother and daughter stuck on top of the roof of a catfish dive for three days during the 1993 flood. While there, the two women discover that they have both had a affair with the same man. Music by Cat...
Season #1, Episode #14: Light and Variable Winds
August 31, 2021 18:05 - 22 minutes - 31.6 MBIn the final segment of the Fork Tales performance in Mt. Vernon, IA, farmer David Miller captures his run-away duck with a Mattel fishing net and puts out a wildfire burning through two acres of cover crops. Host Mary Swander then throws open the mic to two young volunteer storytellers---Eva and Alyssa-who have their own tales of ducks and crops. Music by Dale Beeks and the Mississippi String Band.
Season #1, Episode 13: How One Woman Became a Farm Activist and Another Weathered the Weather to feed her CSA Community
August 24, 2021 15:18 - 22 minutes - 30.5 MBHost Mary Swander provides a continuation of the Mt. Vernon, IA, Fork Tales Performance. Suzan Erem, the Executive Director of SILT, a sustainable land trust that builds food security by circling cities with community-based food farms, recalls how she became a rural activist. Laura Krouse, owner of Abbe Hills Farm and a legend in sustainable agriculture, tells how she endured this season of erratic weather patterns to finally feed her CSA customers. Music by Dale Beeks and the Missi...
Season #1, Episode 12: Flying Grain Bins and Baling Hay in a Bikini
August 11, 2021 19:06 - 23 minutes - 32.3 MBA Fork Tales performance: The first of three live recordings. Host Mary Swander coached farmers to tell their own weather-related stories at the Mt. Vernon, IA, Farmer's Market. First, Allan Mallie tells of his optimistic approach to derecho damage on his farm. Then Kevin Woods recalls surviving adolescence on a farm where the farrowing house was warmer than the human house in the winter. Music by Dale Beeks and the Mississippi String Band.
Season #1, Episode 11: Quilting Bee
May 26, 2021 18:27 - 28 minutes - 65 MBIt's the Quilt Show in Freemmartin Town. Host Mary Swander tells of her inclusion in an Amish come-as-you-are quilting bee. Ruby, the grossmommie, gives her recipe for Jell-o Postage Stamp Quilt Salad. A browsing of Plain Interests, the Amish newspaper, includes the care of a brood of bluebirds. Music by the Silver Trailer Girls, Laura Hudson Kittrell, Monica Leo, and Aleta Murphy. Underscoring by Marco Cacho.
Season #1, Episode #10: Vernon Ropp: Sewing Machines to Tractors
April 28, 2021 20:34 - 21 minutes - 49.3 MBHost Mary Swander interviews Vernon Ropp, a local Mennonite man who makes lawn art, converting sewing machines to toy tractors. Ropp tells of attending an Amish one-room school and struggling to learn English. During the Korean War, he became a conscientious objector, performing his service work at the Alexian Brothers hospital in Chicago. Ropp traveled the world with the Mennonite Disaster Service and other relief organizations, to return to his off-farm job selling John Deere trac...