Joanna Radford

from Surry Living Magazine - March 2021

Martha Bassett

Sweet Potato Sonker! Shut My Mouth!

When I think of the Rockford community, I think of sweet potatoes. Their annual September sweet potato festival celebrates North Carolina being the number one producer of the sweet potato in the United States. The festival has the best sweet potato sonker (a traditional North Carolina, cobbler-like dessert) and brownie around. What a fun way to celebrate this nutrient enriched vegetable. Sweet potatoes have numerous health benefits. They are high in vitamins A and C, calcium, manganese, antioxidants, and potassium, and have small amounts of iron. The medical field reports sweet potatoes are a better food choice than white potatoes since they have a lower glycemic index. When I was growing up, sweet potatoes were only for special occasions like Thanksgiving. Today, they are found any time of the year. They are in frozen and microwave products and there are even sweet potato chips and fries. Sweet potatoes come in numerous types and colors – ranging from white and mild to deep red and super sweet varieties. There are even purple sweet potatoes. Common varieties include Evangeline, Beauregard, Bonita, Covington, and Orleans. Sweet potatoes are relatively easy to grow in the home garden. They should be planted when soil temperatures reach 70°, which is usually from May 1 through June 15 in the Piedmont. They grow best with eight to ten hours of sunlight daily. Sweet potatoes need 120 days to mature, and they are harvested in late August through early November. Sweet potatoes are tubers that prefer well drained soils, so clay soils may present a challenge. Adding aged compost or other organic amendments to the planting bed will help with drainage. When no amendments are added to clay soils, the sweet potatoes may be small. Raised beds also work well for sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes do not grow from seeds, but from slips produced from the roots of last year’s crop. Slips can be purchased at farm stores and garden centers. Plant them three feet apart to allow the vines to expand. Sweet potatoes do best in a slightly acidic soil with a pH range of 6.0-6.5. When possible, fertilize based on a soil test. If no soil test is available, apply 5-10-10 fertilizer at 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet. They will need to be side-dressed with four pounds of 5-10-10 per 100 feet of row just before the vines cover the row. Side-dressing fertilizer means to lay the fertilizer in a line along the row, about four inches away from the stem of the plant. If over-fertilization occurs, foliage will be produced and no sweet potatoes. Water plants in the early morning to allow the leaves to dry off during the day. Late evening water can be applied if mornings are not possible. Potatoes need at least one inch of water per week to grow well. This is extremely important during the transplant, establishment, and root development period. Stop watering the last three to four weeks before harvest to help prevent the tubers from splitting. Weeds need to be controlled before the plants cover the row. Mulches can be applied to help deter weed germination. Newspapers spread between plants will decrease weed populations. Once the plant foliage has grown together, it is difficult to cultivate weeds out. Wireworm and root knot nematodes can be a problem for home gardeners. Use sound cultural gardening practices to avoid pest problems. Rotating vegetables in the growing area each year can help with nematodes. Harvest sweet potatoes before the first frost. The quality and storage life decreases with cool soil temperatures. The foliage begins to die back as it gets close to harvest time. Be careful not to damage the potatoes when digging them out of the ground, because the skins are thin when first harvested. Sweet potatoes will store longer if they are cured by air drying for several days in a shady location at temperatures of 80-85°F. Then move the potatoes to a final storage area. This location should not be cooler than 55°F. Another great thing about sweet potatoes is they can be stored for up to 6 months and sometimes longer depending on conditions. They do need to be inspected frequently for decay. Remove any affected potatoes from the storage area so the decay will not spread. I think I will add sweet potatoes to my garden plan this year. Who knows, you may just see them at the Rockford Sweet Potato Festival this year.

home, farm, & garden How To Get Fit Using SMART Goals

by Kristin Clickett, CRNA, MSN, NBC-HWC Staying active as we age is vital to maintaining optimal health. But for many Americans, exercise is often put on the back burner. The reality is, we simply feel overwhelmed when making lifestyle changes and lack the mindset and support needed to successfully implement a plan. Meet Ann, a grandmother of five. Ann was feeling out of shape and finding it difficult to keep up with her grandchildren. Ann has been working with an Integrative Health Coach to establish a fitness routine. Ann’s coach asked her to describe what an active, healthy life looked like. Ann smiled as she envisioned her family hiking in the mountains on a beautiful nature trail. That vision was the carrot Ann needed to begin her journey and reach her wellness goal. Ann began pondering ways to restore and strengthen her body. The path became clear when she was prompted by her coach to explore her past successes with regular exercise. Immediately Ann knew the answer; she would reestablish a regular walking routine with friends. Ann’s coach applauded this revelation and encouraged her to create a SMART goal in order to achieve success. A SMART goal is something Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. Ann successfully recruited two friends and together they created a SMART goal. The group agreed to meet Monday through Friday at 7:00 AM and walk for 30 minutes throughout their neighborhood. They decided to be realistic and start with 15 minutes the first week and reassess thereafter. Each would wear a pedometer and track their number of steps by keeping a daily log. If one felt like not showing up, they would call one another for support. The SMART goal that Ann and her friends created helped ensure success and ultimately improved the health and happiness of all participants. The added value of sharing her journey with others made it that much sweeter. It’s been almost three months now and Ann is well on her way to bringing her vision to life. She and her grandchildren eagerly anticipate their next hiking adventure together. Ann smiled as she envisioned her family hiking in the mountains on a beautiful nature trail.

For more information about coaching, email kristin@kristinclickett.com

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When Life Happens…

As I write this, the sun shines on the heels of a snowy start to yesterday. Thankfully, I found all the lambs to be alive and all the ewes apparently healthy when I checked the barn overnight. Maybe the calm after the storm is arriving. Spring’s renewal is on the way.

But the last few weeks have been quite demanding. In addition to the normal routine, I’ve had a litter of unexpected puppies born which quickly became orphaned. My and my neighbor’s ewes have begun a whirlwind lambing season, which has brought more complications than usual. I have syringe- and bottle-fed puppies at all hours of the day and night. We have aggressively medicated ewes in hopes of saving them and their unborn lambs. We have performed a terminal C-section in a last-ditch effort to save lambs out of a ewe that we could not save. I have bottle-fed lambs whose mothers rejected them, one lamb that was stolen by a ewe not its mother (so she had no milk to feed it), one that was too weak to stand, nurse, and fight for its part. We have prayed, begged, and willed animals to live. Sometimes it was not enough. Sometimes we were delightfully surprised at the good progress made. It has been physically, mentally, emotionally challenging—a roller-coaster from which we very much wanted to disembark.

When we plan for certain things, like lambing season, it is often a hope for the best but plan for the worst sort of endeavor. Know the adverse things that could happen, do what we can to prevent them happening, prepare to handle them if they do happen, and pray that we never need to use the preparations we have made.

When Rockford was the bustling county seat of Surry County, it was probably difficult to imagine that a day would come when the town would be all but deserted. As years pressed on and modes of transportation and manufacturing evolved, focus shifted from Rockford to other locales. Certain geographic features limited the possibilities for expansion at Rockford, making it impossible for the growth to continue. Thankfully, certain aspects of the town have survived the adversity and the Rockford Preservation Society, Inc was formed to save and revitalize this piece of Surry County history. I have fond memories from my childhood of visiting the Rockford General Store and exploring the low water bridge.

The Greek mythical creature known as the Phoenix dies in a burst of flames. A rebirth occurs among the ashes, bringing new life and a fresh start. This is an excellent metaphor for my flock of sheep. Following a rough winter, spring will bring about a fresh start. Similarly, with Rockford’s future unknown, the hope-filled anticipation is a bright future that contains new growth and change. If we look around, we see this happening everywhere on a regular basis—from the rising sun each morning to the risen Son each Easter. Here’s to hoping that Rockford will be next in line to flourish in the future, just as lambs and puppies will run and play in the soon-to-arrive spring sunshine.