Youth Folk School

The Spirit of Appalachia Youth Folk School

  Through The Appalachia Homestead Farm & Preserve
  

       Building a "Living" Heritage Farmstead
& Youth Folk School to link our past to the present

Despite two centuries of population growth and retirement influx with the accompanying business development, this 52 acres stands today relatively unspoiled and in its natural state tucked away in the bosom of the lush mountain range. Its rich soil reaches from along the ridge at approximately 4,000 feet in elevation to join the US National Forest Service land where wild turkey, deer and the black bear roam free, down through a wide valley where the homesteader's cabin once stood with long distance views of what is now the Blue Ridge Parkway at Balsam Gap and Waterrock Knob, some 30 miles in the distance. Two cold mountain streams rush past plots where crops and an apple orchard once stood, and on past the pre-blight Chestnut log barn, sagging from years of neglect but waiting, waiting for the hand of the preservationist to intervene. 

The hand-laid rock fireplace and chimney to the original cabin still standing sentinel over the valley and this sacred ground.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is at hand.  The purchase price of $241,000 has been raised and now sufficient local support is needed to save the farm.

Appalachian Homestead Farm, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 status, and until then will operate under the aegis of American Grassroots Unlimited, Inc. (AGU), a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1992 to promote citizen involvement in public issues.  In addition, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, Inc. (CSA) is a cooperating partner in the Farm.  CSA is a non-profit group founded in 1992  to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Appalachian culture and history through storytelling, the arts, music, drama and cultural and heritage festivals.  CSA has an equally impressive track record of cultural and heritage programming in the region and the state and are widely recognized as effective at fostering a renewed sense of pride in mountain culture and folkways.

Historical context:
Since the industrial revolution, homestead farming has all but disappeared.  As industry moved into and then out of the area, rural people sold their land for cheap to pursue the promise of jobs and a higher standard of living in towns and cities far away from their roots, only to find those jobs disappear as retirement years approached.  Meanwhile, the family farms were whittled away into thoroughfares, Walmart Centers and trailer parks, and the mountainsides littered with retirement cottages of every imaginable design. The cost of mountain land is now beyond the reach of most of the local people, and farmsteads are a thing of the past.

Southern culture and in particular, mountain culture has been a national target for shame and indignity for more than a century, unfairly and inappropriately marginalizing the intelligence, history and ways of life of multiple generations of people who have made significant and lasting contributions to the nation, and who proved their mettle in the art of survival. Those who dug in their heals and stayed on the farms and the hillsides have struggled to support their families and to preserve a sense of pride and appreciation of their native history.  Despite the prejudices against their way of life, the outside world now finds Appalachian culture intriguing and quaint--perhaps a symptom or reflection of a burning innate hunger for a return to one's roots....or in the absence of a knowledge of one's own roots....the beginnings of a people who remain unique and original in a world overgrown with change.  Herein lies the basis for the emerging national interest in "heritage tourism", which has ironically created a "new ground" for an industry more compatible with the land and the people of Appalachia. 

Objectives & Purposes:
1.  Preservation of green space:

Urban sprawl has now reached the deepest coves of the Blue Ridge.  With the growing student population at the university and the influx of retirees to the mountain area, natural areas are falling victim to development every day.  The cost of land has been pushed beyond the reach of most native families and as older generations have passed on, family farms have been parceled out and sold off, leaving insufficient intact acreage for agriculture or for what is now being marketed as "niche farms."  The property targeted for Appalachian Homestead Farm joins two additional mountain-top tracts held privately but undeveloped to date, and connects to the US National Forest Service on the ridgeline, thereby providing a substantial range area for wildlife.  Wild turkeys are abundant and deer, groundhog, bear, and a wide variety of birds use the habitat area. We want to keep it that way.  Prominent and highly respected plant biologists have already identified several species of endangered plants on the property. We have enlisted the Trust for Public Land as a key support partner in planning the acquisition and planning for the land.  We will also be working closely with the US Forest Service, university biologists and environmental education leaders and others in developing a strategic plan for, in addition
to key environmental conservationists in the area to craft a land conservation and landscape plan for the farm.

2.  Market & Permaculture Gardening & Preservation of Heirloom Varieties:
Working closely with scholars in the natural sciences, leaders in economic development and the political arena, and a growing network of niche farms throughout the region (Examples: Oliver Organics, Hendersonville, Whistlepig Farm, Candler, Running Horse Farm, Brevard,  Green Toe Ground Organic Gardens in Burnsville, Frog Holler Organiks in Waynesville and the historic Hickory Nut Gap Farm owned and operated by former US Congressman James McClure Clarke's family), with whom we have already begun networking, we plan to establish a traditional working farm using permaculture methods with old variety fruits and vegetables, including blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, honeybees, and offering a full range of demonstrations of and experiences with mountain life: plowing and planting, canning and cooking, sewing and quilting, etc.  Our philosophy is one of cooperation with the land; rather than modify the environment to fit our growing and operational needs, we are committed to making a concerted effort to select crops, methods and programs that fit the environment.  Based on our preliminary research, we believe that the market for organic farm produce will augment our operational revenues, and farming experience will generate public interest, preserve the early agricultural knowledge, and engage visitors and campers in a rare hands-on experience with the land.

3. Appalachian Heritage and Cultural Center:
Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA) will be the lead partner in cultural and heritage programming.  CSA will have a permanent home at Appalachian Homestead Farm in a setting appropriate and conducive to their mission. While the board and staff of Appalachian Homestead Farm will be the chief stewards of the farm, CSA will plan and deliver the programs that foster and develop a renewed spirit of mountain pride and a re-birth and renewed appreciation of the talents and strengths that made our people strong and resilient.  With fifteen years of proven experience in cultural and heritage programming, CSA brings to the partnership a critical element.  While we preserve this mountain farm and protect it from the jaws of the developer's bulldozer, the combined AHF and CSA partnership will enable us to  :

4.  Seasonal Retreat and Summer Heritage Alive! Youth Camp:
We envision providing primitive lodging for seasonal retreats for selected groups of adults interested in heritage and cultural programming and arts/writing workshops.  We also propose utilizing the Farm as an ideal location for summer Heritage Alive! Youth Camps, providing one, two and three week residential outdoor camping experiences, natural science and ecology training, and cultural/heritage programming, including art, writing and traditional music instruction to children ages 10 - 15.  Research indicates there is no residential youth camp in the Jackson County region that provides this unique niche of experience, and few summer programs are financially feasible for mountain children and their families.  Fees for the summer camp will be set on a sliding scale, with scholarships available for those unable to pay the full fee.  As well,  Western Carolina University students will be employed as summer interns to help operate the farm and mentor camp participants. 

Other projects involving CSA include: 
An amphitheater to showcase our mountain music, stories & mountain  dramas; a Mural Heritage Walk to tell the story of our heritage through artwork; a small cabin museum with authentic tools, furniture, clothing and  kitchen utensils with a room for videos, books and old letters; Old Ways  and Sayings workshops and hands-on workshops involving canning, crafts,  spinning, weaving, old time cooking, quilting, cornshuck doll making and other  mountain living crafts. 

Our immediate objectives are:

A.  Save and Restore the Farm:

Vera Holland Guise, President and Founder of the Appalachian Homestead Farm & Preserve

We are determined to return the farm to its original turn-of-the-century image by restoring the chestnut log barn, re-building the original cabin based on paintings and drawings in our possession from the period, re-planting the heirloom crops and re-storing the dignity this hardscrabble farm held in its day.  In addition, the rushing streams on the property and the topography of the land lend themselves to the establishment of a native brook trout farm, planned for the future. Saving and restoring the Farm will be a major undertaking but one that we are all totally committed to seeing to fruition.

B.  The Farm as Safe Haven & Retreat:
We will deploy that post-card image to re-educate the public about Appalachian culture and heritage through  hands-on working retreats and workshops.  Based on our research, we know that such retreat experiences are now in high demand and that they not only offer an important solace and natural experience for the visitor/student, but generate revenue critical to sustaining the operation.  We will work in cooperation with local economic development agencies to establish our niche and effectively market to fill seasonal gaps between our summer youth camps.  We will market to retirees and adults seeking outdoor recreation such as hiking and fishing and needing a restful retreat from the demands of urban life during the fall, winter and early spring months, leaving the summer months available for our Heritage Alive! Youth Camps.

C. Catch the Spirit of Appalachia!--Heritage Alive!

We will foster a sense of pride, purpose and direction among Appalachian youth through Heritage Alive! Summer Youth Camps held at Appalachian Homestead Farm in 1, 2 and 3 week segments. The camps will be primitive residential experiences focused solely on the natural and heritage environment. Few summer youth activities exist in the mountain region for working-class families, and none place an emphasis on Appalachian arts and culture.  Based on the overwhelming responses CSA has received from hundreds of teachers and thousands of students to day workshops in the schools, we know that a Summer Heritage Alive! camp will be a very successful endeavor.

CSA's experience this year in the summer writing camps with the Cherokee youth, and the subsequent Cherokee Little Theater productions which translated their written stories into live drama was convincing evidence that mountain children gain confidence and develop social, literary and academic skills through Heritage Alive! camp experiences.

If the keystone to any business is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION,  then what better place to bring homefolks, young folks and uban folks together  for a cultural exchange through music, art, food, rest and work on an honest-to-goodness Appalachian Homestead Farm?

Summary:

Spirit of Appalachia Youth Folk School & Living Homestead Farm simply must be created!  We have recruited key individuals and organizations  knowledgeable in the field of land conservation, agriculture and niche farming,  plant biology and forest management, heritage programming and economic  development to aide us in the planning and management of this project.   We will lean heavily on scientists, professionals and experts from the nearby  Western Carolina University, in addition to genealogists, local neighbors and specialists from the NC and US Forest Service, the Trust for Public Land,  the American Chestnut Foundation, and local planners and providers, such as  the Jackson County Department of Recreation to guide us in crafting and  implementing aviable plan for Spirit of Appalachia Homestead Farm that  complements existing resources and preserves this farm. Which is one of the  few remaining intact parcels of mountain land grants, complete with original  documents. This Farmstead will benefit the people of the area both culturally and economically, and bring honor to those who came before us to settle and  homestead on such a magnificent but challenging landscape.

Professional planners will guide us, but our research and our instincts tell us that a working homestead would not only be the ultimate location for rest and reflection, and for heritage and cultural training and workshops, but an intoxicating retreat for urban dwellers starved for the chance to dig in the dirt and plow with a mule, pet a pig or a rabbit and watch a groundhog bask in the sun, pick wild berries from the vine and old variety apples straight from the tree.  Small rustic cabins tucked gently on the land  where the forest meets the pasture would provide workshop and  retreat lodging, and a vintage cottage on the property will be transformed as the gardener's cottage.  We will engage student interns and builders with experience in historic structures to re-store the pre-blight chestnut log barn still standing but suffering from neglect, and to re-build the original cabin (based on early drawings from original family) to the chimney, which still stands sentinel in the valley.

There is much to do, and this vision is far more than a day's work.  It is a serious undertaking for our generation and for the generations to come who will be charged with protecting it and carrying on the legacy.  But all of us have a stake in land stewardship and cultural and historic preservation and choices made today will affect the land and the people forever. Time is of the essence; if we do not act to preserve this historic farm NOW, it is highly unlikely that it will be saved from despoliation by development and modular housing. BUT  lest we pale at the challenge, we  are reminded  that those who came before us, carved  communities and homes, families and a living out of the unforgiving mountains with their bare hands.  Surely, in these modern times with private foundations and nonprofit fund-raisers, power tools and strategic planners, we can act now to preserve and elevate mountain life at its best on this little spot of heaven....Spirit of Appalachia Youth Folk School & Living Homestead Farm!. 

CSA's programs are based on this philosophy:
Each of us is unique!  Each of us is creative and worthy. We are the  product of our heritage. It is through realizing the value of who came before that we realize the true importance of who we are—WE ARE the individuals who link, bridge and fulfill destiny of all the ages...we make the future.  Whenever one of your ancestors, or you, topped the horizon, you became a valued part of the community. Your voice must be heard. What you do now to encourage, to inspire, to trust, to assist will provide the road the community must travel in future history.  

Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, Inc.(CSA) is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to celebrate our heritage through the arts and inspire a passion for creativity in our world.  We ask you to join our forces. Children and adults everywhere can find a less distructive way of life when they find their own creativity. Help us help you by supporting our endeavors to inspire a passion for creativity in all our lives. 

Your sponsorship or donation can help fund the Spirit of Appalachia Youth Folk School & Living Homestead Farm! We need your help! All donations are tax deductible. We cannot do this alone.

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