Summer issue

Our

Ozarks

Paddling The Ozarks

exploring the Buffalo River

Down The Road

in Searcy County, Arkansas

What on Earth?

talking food in Outer Space with Charles Bourland

Behind The Brush

a look at an artist in the Ozarks

SUMMER ISSUE Feature Sections & More

OurOzarks .com

Homesteading The Ozarks Hiking Our Ozarks Science of the Ozarks: Invasive Species

The Ozark Mountain region is made up of the St. Francois Mountains, Salem Plateau, Springfield Plateau & Boston Mountains. A gradient area of the Ozarks drifts across the Mississippi River into SW Illinois, and is captured within the Shawnee Hills.

Our Ozarks Magazine

Find Your Way...Find Yourself

Vol 1, Issue 3

July/August 2016

Editor/Publisher Jeffrey Haskins Staff Photography Jeffrey Haskins Carolyn Thornton

Mission Statement The mission of Our Ozarks is to help preserve the history, culture, beauty and all that is the Ozarks.

Our Ozarks Magazine is published bi-monthly. Any correspondence can be directed to the editor at:

Our Ozarks

266 Red Cedar

Ozark, MO 65721 or email us at OurOzarks@yahoo.com Find More Great Photos and Information on our website at OurOzarks.com!

In This Issue Food In Space with Charles Bourland

Page 2

Healthy Lifestyle with Daniela Liscio

Page 6

Down The Road in Searcy County, AR

Page 8

Exploring the Buffalo National River

Page 14

Hiking Our Ozarks Page 18 Invasive Plants by Virginia McDaniel

Page 20

Battling Invasive Plants by Linda Ellis

Page 22

Homesteading the Ozarks

Our Ozarks Journey by Tom Faber

Page 24

Book Review: Damming The Osage Market Report: Webb City Farmers Market

Page 26 Page 27

Recipe of the Month Page 28 Behind The Brush: A look at the art of Ernie Kilman

Page 30

“I’m out planting a forest.

Please leave your name and number and I’ll try to get back to you before it matures”...message used on the answering machine of late philanthropist Leo Drey Scan the QR Code with your smart phone or tablet to visit Ourozarks.com

Subscribe Today Only 19.95 per year (6 issues) Visit Ourozarks.com

OurOzarks.com Our Ozarks Magazine

Cover photography by Mark Chitwood of Mystic Rhythms Photography.

MARK CHITWOOD Lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas By day works as an Industrial Supply Sales Professional, and by evening and weekends, works as a man behind the lens.

Style of photography is nature/landscape (specializing in waterfalls.

Find other examples of his work at his Facebook Page: Mystic Rhythms Photography

or at his website: mysticrhythmsphotography.com

OurOzarks.com

Page 1

What On Earth?

Food in Outer Space with Charles Bourland It’s pretty easy to believe a young farm boy from the Osceola, Missouri area would pursue a career in the dairy field. After all, Osceola Cheese had been there since 1944. But a career in developing food for the NASA space program?

While Neil Armstrong was sipping Tang in space and taking a casual stroll about the moon, Charles Bourland was sitting in his first job interview at the Johnson Space Center in hopes of becoming a food scientist.

“I interviewed with them when Apollo 11 was landing on the moon,” says Bourland. “I was getting close to graduating; I had finished my classwork, passed my language test, and completed most of my research, so I sent out resumes to prospective employers. I was interviewed by Kraft Foods in Chicago and Southland Dairy in Dallas TX. Southland Dairy, made me a job offer, and while I was considering it, I got a call out of the blue from Technology Inc., a NASA contractor in Houston. I had sent a resume to the University of Nebraska for a post doc position they had advertised. A professor at Nebraska had a contract with NASA and knew that they were looking for someone and faxed my resume to them.”

“They made me an offer and I took it even though the pay was less than the Southland offer.

They wanted me to report to work on the first of September and I had barely started writing my thesis and could not get it done by then. My advisor, Dr. Marshall said we could finish it by mail. I agreed to the job even though I had been warned to never leave the university until the degree was awarded. One of my first jobs was to be in charge of the quarantine food on the Apollo 12 recovery ship. I spent close to 30 days on the USS Hornet with very little to do until we picked up the astronauts, so I completed writing most of my thesis. When I went back to MU to defend my thesis, my committee was more interested in my recovery activities than my thesis.”

Bourland had grown up looking at the stars from the

(Above) Charles Bourland with his prize Holstein.

(Left) Bourland with Queen Elizabeth of England.

Bourland with former astronaut, Senator John Glenn.

On October 29, 1998, the senator became the oldest person to fly in space at the age of 77.

Future Farmers of America has its origins within the American Royal.

The American Royal began in 1899 as a cattle show at the Kansas City Stockyards and later added a horse show and rodeo.

In 1926, the Royal invited agricultural students to judge livestock. Two years later, 33 ag students met there and formed the Future Farmers of America (FFA). The FFA now has over half-a-million members.

Page 2 Our Ozarks Magazine

backyard of the family’s 80-acre farm near Osceola, but never had aspirations of a career that involved space.

He was busy emulating his father and dreaming of becoming a dairy farmer. He watched his father work long, hard hours as the elder Bourland ran a milk route to what was then known as Riverview Cheese (would later be renamed Osceola Cheese). The father would haul ten gallon cans of milk most of the day from area farms, and then work hauling livestock to Kansas City on the weekends. This left the eight children of the family to do a lot of the work about the farm.

The family ran the dairy and also grew row crops of wheat, corn and soybeans. The children were able to make spending money by operating the father’s small hammer mill and ground grain for neighboring farms. (A hammer mill usually would have a hopper that funneled grains into a series of hammer arms that literally beat the grain down into desired feed or rough meal. The mill ran off a belt, usually powered by a farm tractor).

Bourland poses with cast and crew of the movie Apollo 13 during their visit to NASA.

Charles had every aspiration of operating a dairy farm at that young age and took out a loan to purchase a registered Holstein cow. A bit of a luxury purchase for the time at $400, she paid for herself quickly in milk production. But during her second calving, the prize cow died while giving birth. Dejected, Bourland’s view on the future changed. But Farming, and the dairy industry in particular, were still fond to his heart.

Living out in the country, Bourland wasn’t able to make the trips to town for the practices required to play sports, but he was able to join the Future Farmers of America. He fell in love with the possibilities that FFA provided. The school chapter gave him the chance to be on agriculture teams, enter contests and travel to the yearly the American Royal. He would become the chapter president his junior year of high school.

Continued on Page 4

Other Royal Trivia (this time of the Queen Variety) Her title is actually “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”. She has other titles within other countries that she reigns...yes she has titles in other countries (the Commonwealth). United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. These are known as the ‘Commonwealth Realms’ She is the longest reigning British monarch and just celebrated her 90th birthday in April 2016.

She has owned over 30 Corgi dogs.

She only carries cash on Sundays (gotta have something for the offering plate).

OurOzarks.com

Page 3

Food In Outer Space Cont’d from Page 3 Bourland recalls, “Applying science to farming was exciting to me and I was eager to learn more. We were studying the same technology that was being taught to many adults. As part of the GI Bill, many WWII vets were taking classes on applying science to farming.”

Agricultural science pulled Bourland to the University of Missouri in Columbia. Charles would work at the Osceola Cheese plant during the summers at a $1 per hour to pay for school. During the summer of his junior year he came down with rheumatic fever and was unable to work.

“My family was always very supportive,” Charles recalls. “My parents were not able to provide much financial support when I was in college, but they encouraged and supported me. My parents bought my cows and I used the money to finish my senior year.”

Bourland gained his Bachelor of Science in Dairy Husbandry and after graduating, spent two years in the Army before going to work in quality control at Adams dairy in Blue Springs Missouri. He worked there for a couple years and then decided to go back to graduate school at MU to pursue a masters in Food Microbiology.

“Food science was fairly new,” Charles notes.

“MU had just been accredited to offer advanced degrees in Food Science and Nutrition. I decided that I would go for a Food Science and Nutrition degree. I was the second or 3rd person to graduate with a Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from MU.” What are some of Bourland’s most memorable moments from working with NASA? He recalls:

“Meeting the Queen was very interesting.

NASA held a protocol class for everyone who met the Queen. We were told to not extend our hand for a handshake until she did, and no one could leave the building until she did. She was very friendly and listened to the little presentation I gave. She asked questions after the presentation which indicated that she listened and understood. I gave her some packages of M & M’s for her grandkids.”

“I met a few leaders of small African countries, a bunch of congress people, movie stars, generals, admirals, authors, and news people. The NASA leaders gave selected visitors a “space food luncheon” and we served the lunch in our laboratory. I never met a president, but was a few feet from President Nixon

when he came to Hawaii to meet the Apollo 13 crew.

I was on the plane that brought the Apollo 13 crew from Samoa to Hawaii.” (Apollo 13 was the ill-fated mission that found the astronauts scrambling to refit their capsule in order to find a way back home from space and was put to screen in the movie starring Tom Hanks).

So has Bourland been involved with Hollywood and novels?

“I may have talked to Sci Fi writers, but don’t recall. I furnished food samples for several movies. Armageddon is the only one I recall, but there were several others. We served a space food luncheon to the Apollo 13 movie crew members just before they went to fly on the zero G plane. I helped with several videos, one I remember was with Minny Mouse of which I have a copy.”

Along with the Apollo missions, Bourland also worked on the Skylab 2 recovery ships, and spent two weeks in Russia to help negotiate the food system for the US/Russia Mir space program. That same agreement is used on the International Space Station.

There were sad moments as well. Bourland stood a few feet from President Reagan as the President gave the eulogy for the Challenger crew. Just a few months earlier, Charles had appeared on the front page of the Houston Post with Christa McAuliffe on September 11, 1985.

So what is food production space all about?

“Food was processed using a method similar to the production of flight hardware,” states Bourland. “Every package and every product had a drawing, a specification, and a part number. The production process used a Food Processing Standard which detailed all the steps involved. Some steps had mandatory inspection points which had to be signed by a quality engineer. Some of the food used was commercial off the shelf which was used as is or repackaged in NASA approved packages. The commercial labels were replaced with NASA approved labels so we did not have to test the originals for flammability, off gassing etc. Food purchased for processing was required to be from the same production lot. NASA paperwork provided traceability back to the raw product, who processed and packaged it and when. The food was produced in various locations depending on the program.”

Bourland notes that calorie intake was calculate according to formulas, and of course, the weight of the food being shipped was kept in check. And what

Page 4 Our Ozarks Magazine

A Moment...

For Those Lost On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight. All crew members were lost.

Those who perished in the flight included Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.

Bourland watches as Christa McAuliffe tastes a food sample

Complete roll of crew member who were lost: • Francis R. Scobee, Commander • Michael J. Smith, Pilot • Ronald McNair,

Mission Specialist • Ellison Onizuka,

Mission Specialist • Judith Resnik,

Mission Specialist • Gregory Jarvis,

Payload Specialist • Christa McAuliffe,

Payload Specialist, Teacher

about the quality of the food? How did they keep it from being a bland experience for the astronauts? Bourland explains:

“Most of the time food tasting was done by selected people in our building or nearby buildings. The initial test would be done by food laboratory personnel, followed by the selected taste panel if warranted. The selected people for the taste panel were NASA and NASA contract people who had permission from their boss to participate. The final tasting was performed by astronauts.”

And what about the other end of the spectrum…how are the restroom facilities in space handled?

“The restroom for Gemini and Apollo was a condom like device for urine and a plastic bag that attached to the rear with glued surfaces for going number 2. Going to the bathroom was very distasteful and the astronauts avoided it at all costs. Skylab had the first U.S. space restroom. It operated by air flow, but the astronauts did the deed in a standing position. Shuttle had a sit down bathroom which was operated by air flow. International Space Station uses a Russian toilet which is a sit down operated by air flow. Feces are collected in bags and stored in the waste collection facility.”

Now retired and back living in St. Clair County on the same road that Charles used to walk to school, Bourland went back to his farming roots for a time and raised cattle until a couple droughts caused him to give up on that venture. He enjoys planting food plots and hunting, and uses his time for community involvement with St. Clair County Cattlemen’s Association and Optimist Club, as well as the St Clair County Republican Central Committee.

OurOzarks.com

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TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE WOODS,

GET MORE OUT OF AN EXERCISE REGIMENT

Many of us – especially those of us here – love the outdoors. Lucky for us, the Ozarks are a special place to do just that.

Like many things in life, preparedness can make or break an event. While a simple walk in the woods or light hike might be fun at times, really getting out there to explore and see cool things beyond a short trail hike is even more stimulating and for many of us, necessary. The most amazing of waterfalls, rock formations and vistas often lie well beyond the trail.

And getting to those places mandates some preparation.

Preparation for purposes here relate to fitness, nutrition and diet (particularly as it relates to the outdoors), outdoor skills, mindset and a number of other health-related issues. In this article and articles to follow we will talk about some of the things that you can do to improve your preparedness for getting outdoors and, as a bonus, improve your overall health. Because the fact is, being a weekend warrior will simply not allow you to fully enjoy the outdoors and will open you up to greater risk of injury and/or accident.

Talking about “being healthy” might be boring, but when being “healthy” allows you to fully experience life as you imagine it, well, maybe it’s not so boring.

Besides, a lot of what we think we need to do to get to that optimal healthy state is often more myth than reality. Hours of sweaty and painful work in the gym and a bunch of boring food is not what health is made of.

Daniela Liscio is an attorney and the Founder and President of Eat for Sport LLC (eatforsport. com). She works with recreational adult athletes and professional athletes to make sustainable, long term changes to diet and nutrition, build more effective and efficient workout habits, and introduce other lifestyle practices to achieve peak performance and optimal health. She is an amateur athlete and avid traveler, having participated in dozens of triathlons (including Ironman distance), running races (including marathons), climbed mountains in Bolivia, Africa, Nepal and Peru, and is a certified Hiking Guide with the American Hiking Guides Association. She is usually ready for an adventure at the drop of a hat – whether that is down into ocean depths, up into mountains or anything in between – and loves helping others find their own adventures and perform to their absolute potential.

Don’t get me wrong – it does take some work (and sometimes, a lot of it). But it usually takes smarter work done more efficiently rather than wearing yourself out on things that aren’t really going to help you and worse turn you off completely.

Let’s start off by talking about getting fit. The Ozarks has had its share of deaths and injuries out in the wilderness. We just sometimes can’t account for weather, difficult terrain and other factors that really require that we be at the top of our game so that when unexpected things do happen, we are as ready as we can possibly be.

That takes some fitness – and that requires more than

Page 6 Our Ozarks Magazine

an outing or two on weekends every month. Besides, what fun is getting to the most amazing waterfall you’ve ever seen if you’re in too much pain to really enjoy it because you’re so out of shape?

that you want to build your intervals to a point of anaerobic work so that you are elevating your heart rate in a different way than during a less intense aerobic workout.

Training comes in different forms and there are a lot of opinions on what type of training is best. In general, there are three main types of training – long slow aerobic work, interval training and strength training.

There are many benefits of strength training – for everyone from hikers to backpackers to couch potatoes.

We can get into it in more depth another time but, in general, strength training is extremely important for bone health, helps tone and build muscle (necessary for better weight management), and because it helps improve balance and stability might also help prevent injuries.

Going out into the woods, particularly on backpacking trips, requires long, often hard days covering many miles and over rough terrain. Because of this, aerobic training is going to be particularly important to prepare for hiking and backpacking activities. The thing to remember, and the more complicated part, is that aerobic training takes different forms and it will also vary person to person. “Low heart rate” training or endurance training is a good thing to practice and can be done with any aerobic activity including running, swimming, biking and walking (or hiking!).

Your longer slower aerobic exercise sessions should have you sweating but with a heart rate that, although elevated, is steady. The easiest way to think about it is that you should still be able to breathe in and out through your nose, or maintain a conversation.

Another form of aerobic training is called interval training that requires you to do a series of high-intensity “bursts” (typically at or close to anaerobic exercise) in between periods of lower intensity work (that allow your heart rate to fall into an aerobic zone). This type of workout is excellent for improving your aerobic capacity and helps develop your body’s different energy systems. Although typically shorter in total time than a “steady state” aerobic workout (where you are doing the same thing most of the time), it is obviously more intense and very challenging (if done correctly).

There is no hard and fast rule as to the length and duration of your “intervals” and overall interval workout. There are many different ways to structure an interval workout and that is partly the beauty if them – they can be beneficial in many different ways.

An example of an interval run, for example, would be to do a 15 minute warm up, followed by a 30 second sprint, 1 min rest and repeat the sequence five times, followed by a 10 minute warm down. An individual may need longer or shorter intervals (instead of 30 s, something longer and shorter), and less or more rest in between (instead of 1 minute, something longer or shorter), depending on their current fitness and experience with speed work. They may also need a longer or shorter workout. The important point, however, is

The question of course remains – how much exercise is ideal and how do I get in all these various types of exercise? That answer will really depend on a host of factors personal to each and every one of us. In general, you will want to do one strength-based workout, one interval workout and two or three (or more) endurance-based aerobic workouts per week. If you are starting from scratch, you will want to build up to this type of schedule. If you are already active and have good fitness, you will want to refine and hone your workouts so you are working out more efficiently.

For now, if you are trying to figure out how to start exercising more, start with finding something that you like to do. It’s pointless to rely on willpower to ultimately engage in activities that you just don’t enjoy – that willpower is going to run out real fast.

Remember, too, that gradual but consistent work is important.

Real and regular hikers, or those who want to be, should not rely on their occasional weekends outdoors to get in the shape they need to best enjoy the very thing they love doing. You can always use your love of the outdoors to help motivate you to stick to a program that will ultimately improve not only your hiking days – but everyday in between.

OurOzarks.com

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Down The Road in Searcy County, Arkansas SEARCY COUNTY, ARKANSAS “CHOCOLATE ROLL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD�

Marshall, Arkansas is the county seat of Searcy County and is located on Highway 65, approximately 40 miles south of Harrison, Arkansas and 99 miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Marshall just held their Fifth Annual Chocolate Roll Festival in March 2016. The festival included a 5k Walk/Run, car show, live music and other family events, and of course, the Chocolate Roll competition.

Searcy County highlights include portions of the Buffalo River, an elk population, horseback riding, numerous hiking and photography opportunities that include the beautiful Richland Creek area. Richland Creek and Falling Water road boast several wonderful waterfalls.

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Chocolate Roll Recipe For the crust: 2 2/3 cups plain flour 1 tsp. salt 1 cup shortening ice water Mix flour & salt. Cut in shortening. Add water and mix well.

For filling: 1/2 stick butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 Tbsp. cocoa 1 tsp. vanilla 1 Tbsp. plain flour 2 Tbsp. milk

Mix filling ingredients until smooth. Spread on crust. Roll up (not too tight) & seal edges. Bake at 350 degrees until done.

Recipe provided by Paige Smith of Greenbrier, Arkansas. The recipe given to Paige from her mother, Lillie Fay Smith of Leslie, Arkansas.

Lillie Fay was well known to those living in Searcy County, where she was known as Mama Susie.

(Cont’d on Page 13)

WELCOME TO BIG SPRINGS TRADING COMPANY! The Big Springs girls are serving delicious food in a cozy little restaurant a couple miles south of St. Joe, Arkansas, right near the Bufffalo National River. We specialize in house-smoked meats, like our rather addictive bacon and tender brisket. Whether you’re visiting the river or headed to Branson, stop by and enjoy a meal, visit with some local characters, or take some of our Arkansas smoked meat home or on your adventure.

Place your order or make reservations now! (870) 439-2900 or Visit our website at Bigspringsrestaurant.com

WE SHIP NATIONWIDE! OPEN ALL YEAR! 14237 North Highway 65 in St. Joe, Arkansas OurOzarks.com

Page 9

Richland CreekWilderness Area Falling Water Falls (Right) is just inside Pope county and around the bend and across the slab bridge is the Searcy County line, with Newton county to your west.

You will find a great area for hiking along Falling Water Creek, Richland Creek and the Devil’s Fork creeks (Long and Big forks). Enjoy several waterfalls, with some right at roadside. Richland Creek Campground provides primitive camping and the Richland Creek Wilderness area encompasses 11,800 acres of hiking treasure.

Some of the falls you will find include Falling Water Falls, Horsetail Falls, Upper

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Horsetail Falls, Intersection Falls, Six Finger Falls, Fuzzy Butt Falls, Keefe Falls, Twin Falls, Hamilton Falls, and Richland Falls. Other waterfalls in the Searcy County area are Stack Rock Homestead Falls, Punchbowl Falls, Maumee Falls East and West.

Some of the waterfalls are found with easy hikes, or strolls from the roadway. Others are more vigorous hikes via bushwhacking your own trail.

Want to find your way to waterfalls in the Ozarks?

Use our interactive maps at OurOzarks.com under The Great Outdoors portion of our menu.

Scan this QR code with your smart phone or tablet to access the waterfall page direct!

OurOzarks.com

Page 11

2016 Searcy County Arkansas Events Always call to confirm events held at the Leslie-OHAC - Ozark Heritage Arts Center 870-448-2557 • Music at OHAC

• Game Night

2nd & 5th Saturday

1st Friday of month/6:00 pm

• Searcy County Farmers Market

• Leslie Farmers Market

• Am. Legion Hillbilly Skeet Shoots

• Kenda Drive-In Throwback Thursdays

• Kenda Drive-In Free Family Night • The Music Man Musical

• Kenda Drive-In Classic Car Night

Fridays 3 to 6 p.m. June-Oct

Leslie-OHAC

Witts Springs Comm. Center

Marshall

Sat Morning in Season

Leslie

1st Sat. Mar-Oct

Between Leslie-Marshall

Last Thur of month, Mar-July

Marshall

July 14

Marshall

July 23

Leslie-OHAC

Aug 18

Marshall

• 91st Searcy County Fair & Rodeo

Sept 6-10

Marshall

• Junkfest (Ozark Byways Buydays)

Sept 21-24

Searcy County

• Ozark Folklife Festival

Oct 1

Tyler Bend

• 9th Annual Flying Jam

Oct 1

Marshall

• 37th Annual Falling Water Trailride

Oct 1-2

• 5th Annual Mtn Man Rendezvous

Oct 7-8

• Friendship Fall Festival

Oct 20

• 3rd Annual Great American BBQ Smoke Out

Snowball/St. Joe Leslie Marshall

Oct 22

Marshall

• 2nd Annual Pedestal Rock 40 Bike Ride

Oct 22

Witts Springs

• Witts Springs Fall Fest

Oct 29 at 6p.m.

Witts Springs

• Fall Homestead Day (Cast Iron Cook Off)

Nov 5

• 5th Annual Salute to Veterans Concert

TBD

• Veterans Day Observance

Harriet Leslie-OHAC

Nov

11

Marshall Square

• 4th Community Thanksgiving

Nov 19

Marshall

• Courthouse Square Lighting Ceremony

Nov 25

Marshall

• Sugarplum Pageant

Dec 2

Leslie-OHAC

• 8th Annual Sugarplum Festival

Dec 3

Leslie

• Elf Jr. Children’s Musical

Dec 3

• Christmas Parade

Dec 3

Marshall

• Friendship Christmas Carnival/Santa Pictures

Dec 5

Marshall

Leslie-OHAC

Calendar courtesy of the Greater Searcy County Chamber of Commerce

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Mama Susie & Chocolate Rolls Cont’d from Page 9 Born and raised in Searcy County, Susie lived a long and interesting life before her passing at the age of 93 in 2015. She worked the factories during WWII, taking on the roll of a “Rosie the Riveter”. Susie is known to have pulled a tooth or two, and to have performed a few minor surgeries on those needing first aid, or to have provided advice to the lovelorn over a plate special at the diner.

She would become a single mother and raised eight children after losing her husband, Jesse, in 1967. He had ran the gas station in Leslie, Arkansas and Susie owned the Dari Diner across the street. She continued to run the diner after Jesse passed away, but finally sold the restaurant in 1976.

Lillie Fay Smith, “Mama Susie”

Unfortunately, the Dari Diner no longer stands, but you can likely catch a fond memory of Mama Susie in the other area diners. Or you can bake up your own in the form of a Chocolate Roll.

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MAP provide courtesy of National Park Service. BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER With ongoing repairs across several areas of the Buffalo National River sites, you are urged to check ahead with the Park Service as to potable water availability at each site. You can contact the Buffalo National Park at (870) 439-2502 or visit the website at www.nps.gov/buff The Buffalo National River area provides many opportunities for fishing, floating, hunting, horseback riding, photography, rock climbing, hiking and much more. The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) stretches 37 miles from the Ponca Acces to the Pruitt Access and winds through valleys and across the bluffs of the Buffalo River. You will find yourself amongst old homesteads and abundant wildlife. The BRT is accessible at several points along its route for shorter hikes along trail loops.

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Other areas of unique interest along the Buffalo River are numerous waterfalls and hiking destinations. Some areas of special interest are noted here: • Whitaker Point (Hawksbill Crag) GPS Location: 35.89824, -93.458 • Sam’s Throne GPS Location: 35.87491, -93.04751 • Alum Cove Natural Bridge GPS Location: 35.86023, -93.2351 • Lost Valley and Eden Falls GPS Location: 36.01018, -93.3745 • Hemmed In Hollow and Waterfall GPS Location: 36.06424, -93.3074 • Glory Hole Waterfall GPS Location: 35.82833, -93.39035 • Upper Buffalo Wilderness area GPS Location: 35.85827, -93.45511 Continued on Next Page

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Milkshakes Burgers Steaks Fries Hand Battered Mushrooms Salads Eggs Omelets Pancakes Biscuits & Gravy Chocolate Gravy!

Buffalo River Areas Cont’d from previous page •

• • • • • • • •

Boxley Valley Historic District (Villines Cabins, Mill, Church and Elk Viewing) Villines Homestead GPS Location: 36.0193, -93.35754 Whiteley (AKA Boxley, Villines) Mill GPS Location: 35.99034, -93.39811 Boxley Baptist Church GPS Location: 35.97055, -93.40622 Hideout Hollow & Waterfall GPS Location: 36.07249, -93.26327 Indian Rockhouse Cave Trail (Prehistoric shelter) GPS Location: 36.0817, -92.5814 Rush Ghost Town and Mine GPS Location: 36.12484, -92.54899 Round Top Mountain Trail (Jasper) GPS Location: 35.97626, -93.17788 Mill Creek Trail (Shaddox Cabin) GPS Location: 36.06301, -93.13367 Pedestal Rocks/Kings Bluff GPS Location: 35.72459, -93.01831 Richland Creek Wilderness Area (Waterfalls) GPS Location: 35.79725, -92.93489 Centerpoint Trail (Goat Trail portion Dangerous) GPS LOcation: 36.06408, -93.36042

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Ghost Town of Rush along the Buffalo River GPS: 36.12484, -92.54899 One of the loops you can take off the Centerpoint Trailhead is the Goat Trail that leads along Big Bluff. Big Bluff is the tallest bluff along the Buffalo National River, and the Goat Trail is a narrow causeway along the bluffs. Only experience hikers should consider this hike (ABSOLUTELY NO CHILDREN SHOULD TRY!) Many of the hiking areas in the Ozarks can involve risk, due to bluffs, uneven or slick surfaces. Always use caution.

Boxley Mill, also known as Villines Mill or Whiteley Mill near Ponca, AR GPS: 35.99034, -93.39811

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Hiking Our Ozarks Pedestal Rocks/King’s Bluff

The Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area and King’s Bluff Trail is located along the border of Newton County and Pope County in Arkansas.

The trails are located off of Scenic Hwy 7 on Hwy 16, just East of Pelsor/Sand Gap. This intersection is located approx. 28 miles north of Dover (near Russellville) and approx. 28 miles south of Jasper on Scenic Hwy 7. Turn East onto

Hwy 16, and go approx. 5.9 miles to the entrance on your right.

GPS Location: 35.72459, -93.01831 Pedestal Rock trail is 2.2 miles long. King’s Bluff loop is 1.7 miles long. Both trails are moderate in difficulty, with uneven surfaces, with minimal inclines.

There are bluffs and dropoffs, so use caution, and if you have children along, they must be watched carefully at every moment!

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The unique pedestal formations at Pedestal Rocks and Kings Bluff are formed by erosion of the mix of sandstone and limestone rock.

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Invasive Plants Of the Ozarks

by Virginia McDaniel

In the fall of 1733 Peter Collinson, a cloth merchant, walked with great excitement to the docks in London to meet a ship. It wasn’t a bale of cotton from the Colonies or a fine silk from India, but rather two boxes of seeds from an American farmer named John Bartram. It is with these exotic New World seeds (and hundreds more) that Collinson and his fellow botanists transformed the English garden from mundane to extraordinary. In return, Collinson sent seeds from England and all over the world to Bartram to propagate in the New World. It is of this great seed exchange and friendship that Andrea Wulf tells in her book The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession. While a fascinating read, Wulf fails to address the unintended ecological consequences created by this innocent exchange by well meaning, curious botanists.

A non-native species is a species that is living outside its native range as a result of transportation by humans. Many species were transported intentionally, like the exchanges between Collinson and Bartram and other botanists who traveled the world.

White clover (Trifolium repens) was commonly added to lawn mixes; Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) was introduced as an ornamental; multiflo-

Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb) Common name: Multiflora rose, baby rose, Japanese rose, seven-sisters rose, rambler rose, multiflowered rose While beautiful, highly invasive species brought from Asis in the 1880s, but also further introduced in the early 20th centruy by soil conservationists to help in erosion control.

It was soon found out to aggressively spread into fields and natural areas. It has been named a noxious weed and eradication is desired.

Photo by Carolyn Thornton

Virginia McDaniel works for the United States Forest Service in Arkansas.

Special thanks to botanist Jennifer Ogle for article critical review & input.

ra rose (Rosa multiflora) and sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) were introduced for erosion control and wildlife habitat. But many have arrive accidentally, like the chestnut blight that decimated the once dominant chestnut (Castanea dentata) trees in the eastern US and the Ozark chinquapin (Castanea ozarkensis) in the Interior Highlands, which arrived in Japanese nursery stock. A non-native invasive species is one that spreads beyond its place of introduction, often taking over an area and preventing the growth of other native species.

But why does it matter?

The book Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy is a dissertation on the answer to this question. In summary, what we really need to understand is the roles that plants play in their ecosystems. Plants do not grow up in isolation from other organisms, but rather with them. As a result, they form relationships that are essential to each other’s existence. We all know that insects gather nectar and, in return, plants are pollinated.

But the relationship is not quite that simple. Pollinators also depend on plants to feed their larval stage (i.e. caterpillars). Plant want to be helpful, but at the same time do not want to be decimated, so plants develop new toxins to deter insects. Then insects develop ways to deal with those toxins (e.g. the monarch’s ability to ingest toxins from milkweed). These relationships create a system of checks and balances that ensures population sizes of all plants and animals are kept at a level that can be supported by the ecosystem. And this often maximizes diversity. When a plant is transferred from another part of the world, the ecological constraints that kept this plant in check are gone and so are the links that made it a “contributing member of its ecosystem.” As a result, we see kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) covering hillsides and Japanese honeysuckle in every forest, with nary a nibble removed from its perfect leaves. All of that habitat that once provided space for native plants and food for native insects is now gone. As the base of the food chain (plants) declines

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in diversity and population size, so to do the insects, birds, reptiles and mammals that depend on that food chain. Given the percent of the earth’s land surface that is in agriculture production and developed, it is clearer than ever the need to rid our communities of exotic plants that fill our yards with native ones that benefit the ecosystem.

In the Ozark region there are a quantity of invasive plants, but there are a handful of particularly problematic non-native invasive plants. They include: • Autumn-olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)

• Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) • Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) and this includes the notorius Brandford Pear • Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) • Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) • Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) • Multiflora rose • Sericea lespedeza • Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus)

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Bradford Pear

Dogwood

From a distance, a lot of people confuse the invasive species Bradford Pear and the native Dogwood. The Bradford Pear flower has five petals, while the Dogwood has what appears to be four petals. Actually, the flowers of the dogwood are the yellow cluster in the middle of the bracts (a bract is a modified leaf or scale). This type of flower arrangement is referred to as a inflorescence, which is a botanical term for a flower cluster on a stem or limb. The Bradford, while beautiful, is an invasive species that spreads quickly and is a weak tree that damages easily in wind or from ice accumulation, and can split from weight of upper limbs.

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Battling Invasive Plants

by Linda S. Ellis, Missouri Naturalist

There is a war going on everywhere between our desirable Ozarks native plants and the aggressive march of nonnatives across our landscapes. Nonnatives tend to be perennials, deep-rooted and very hard to eradicate. They are too successful and proliferate at an astonishing rate outside of their native habitats.

The best defense against these invaders is constant inspection of our yards, gardens, fields and forests for any sign of these undesirables taking root then aggressive methods must be used to control them. The first step in any control application is to get the plant in question identified. Then, you can decide on how to curtail the spread.

If an invasive species has just showed up in your yard or garden, small numbers are best controlled by hand pulling or digging but an already established invasion in a forest or field is a tricky situation. Continual treatment and re-treatment will be necessary which can be time consuming and expensive and unless you have a very specific herbicide, you can inadvertently kill off desirable species. Using herbicides is the best way to kill the extensive root system and running vines of invasive plants, but not the best choice for the environment in general. If you decide on using an herbicide, consult your local extension horticulturist for proper identification of the invader plant and learn the most effective chemical for the species.

There are several application techniques that are considered to be effective for invasives in large numbers.

Direct foliar sprays are chemical-water mixes applied with a backpack sprayer. Using low pressure, drift retardants and spray shields on windless days prevent the chemical from drifting onto the plants you wish to keep. A gallon milk jug with the bottom removed and the cap bored and attached to the sprayer head make an excellent drift shield.

Woody shrubs like the bush honeysuckles (Lonicera maackii and Lonicera morrowii), privet (Ligustrum sp.) or autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) respond well to cut treatment. They have deep roots and tend to send up side shoots after the main plant has been removed. Cut the stems off leaving a few inches and immediately apply an herbicide to the fresh cuts.

Paint brushes are good for this method. Place a plastic bag with a rubber band over the treated stems and the

A dragonfly makes use of a bull thistle during the morning dew. Bull thistle, and other thistles, are highly invasive. shrub will absorb the herbicide more completely.

For big invasive trees like mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) and Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana) a technique called stem injection works well. Using a hand axe or machete, make cuts all around the base of the trunk and paint the cuts with herbicide. Just girdling the tree will kill the top but shoots will regrow from the roots. The use of basal sprays where herbicide mixed with oil and a penetrating agent are applied to the lower trunks of young trees is good ways of controlling anything under 6 inches in diameter.

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Be aware that when you apply an herbicide is just as important as which one you use so here are some factors to consider. The first flower of a herbaceous perennial is called a “king” flower. When it opens is the time for herbicide application. Plants like spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) should be sprayed with this in mind. Woody plants need to be actively growing for herbicides to work so spraying at first leaf flush is a good time for treatment.

If you do not want to use chemicals, invasive shrubs can also be very effectively controlled without pesticides by goats. If you have an invader like multi-flora rose (Rosa japonica) in a pasture or farm grounds, goats will eat the shrub in question down to the ground as they prefer woody fodder. Controlled burns in winter are good for some situations like a field of invasive cedars and flame throwers are being used to control Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and kudzu (Pueraria montana) infestations.

If you only have a small number of plants to control, one option is watering the plant with a solution of 1 part salt and 1 part vinegar in 1 part water with some dish soap. This will kill the plant and root but nothing else will grow in that spot either for awhile.

After eradicating invasive plants, you will have to monitor the area for some time to come as invasive species seed can sit in the soil for years before germinating. Be prepared to re-apply controlling methods as one treatment is seldom enough. It will also help if you plant or seed fast growing natives after some invasive control has been achieved.

In conclusion, preventing the invasion of nonnative species is the best control of all. Be aware of what plants in your area are considered invasives and don’t add anything to your yard or garden until you know how it will behave. This is a war and we must fight these invaders if we are to preserve our beautiful Ozarks native plant communities.

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Invasive Plants of the Ozarks Cont’d from Page 21 I have described a few of these below and given some nice native alternatives to plant instead.

Autumn-olive is native to China, Japan and Korea and was introduced in 1830 to provide wildlife habitat and erosion control. It is a deciduous shrub with minute silvery scales on the undersides of the leaf that give it a grayish green appearance.

It’s tart, edible red berries are widely dispersed by birds, enabling its widespread invasion. Additionally, its nitrogen fixing root nodules allow it to invade even the most infertile soils. Autumn-olive can be removed by pulling small seedlings, but if it is too large to pull, herbicide is needed to kill it as burning and cutting just makes it mad! Nice native alternatives to use include serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), various dogwoods (Cornus drummondii, C. racemosa or C. obliqua) and blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium).

Chinese privet is another lush smelling non-native invasive species that hails from China, Taiwan and Vietnam. It is an ornamental shrub that can reach twenty feet tall and has opposite elliptical leaves and small white fragrant flowers at the tips of branches. It is especially prone to invading high quality natural communities like glades (naturally treeless areas that often house populations of endemic and rare plant communities). Alternatives to privet include flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), redbud (Cercis canadensis), serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), and native azaleas.

Japanese honeysuckle is a woody vine that was introduced from East Asia in the 1800s as an ornamental and has been widely planted over the last century. While its luscious smell is unmistakable, its ability to invade native forests and exclude the growth of native vegetation is equally unmistakable. It has opposite leaves that can be entire or lobed (especially the basal leaves) and white flowers that eventually turn yellow in the axils of the leaves. There are two lovely native honeysuckles that can be planted in place of the invasive vine: yellow honeysuckle (Lonicera flava) has stunning yellow flowers and trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) has beautiful red tubular flowers that hummingbirds love. If you are looking for a plant with a nice smell, try a pink azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum).

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Our Ozarks Journey

by Thomas Faber-St. Joe, Arkansas

Fishing, hiking, camping, and canoeing in the Ozarks were a typical distraction to our life in Louisiana. The kind of place you get away to and relax. You know what I’m talking about? Renting a rustic cabin along the river or enjoying a stroll through a small townsquare farmers market, and taking in all of the breathtaking scenery. These mountains are truly a beautiful place to visit. But to live here?

Oh sure we talked and fanaticized about living the Ozarks’ dream. But our jobs and farm were in Louisiana. What kind of fool packs up a small income generating homestead and moves to an area where jobs are scarce, and you only know a handful of people?

Well, I’m that fool and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to move to the heart of the Ozarks near St. Joe, Arkansas from Ruston, Louisiana.

County is where we landed. No electricity, no running water, no toilet, and not even a wood heater existed in this little cabin. So, to say we went to work is a gross understatement. We are both nearing the half century mark in our lives, and I don’t believe either one of us has ever worked as hard as we did in those first few weeks. But by the end of the first month we had all of the modern amenities you might expect to find in a luxury tent. We were in a perpetual state of camping, but at least we had lights, a toilet, somewhat of a kitchen, a shower stall, and a wood stove.

Cutting firewood, and cleaning the place up consumed our day to day activities. The previous owners of this property apparently never threw away any trash, and unfortunately for them the home they were living in had burned down. Most of the remains of the burnt home remained, and kept us very busy cleaning

Nubian dairy goats, honey bees, and fresh vegetables have been the mainstay of Briarhill Farms since 2002. We ran a small bakery, and raised all those things on our little Louisiana homestead, When I, just like the author John Muir heard the mountains calling (I’m still sure it was God), and I answered.

In October of 2014, after yearning for a place in the wilderness, I quit my job in landscaping where I took care of million dollar yards. My best friend and wife of 31 years, Lorrie, and I started the daunting task of packing up a lifetime of accumulations, deciding what was necessary, what was for sale, and what was junk. I refer to this time as our downsizing. Then we took off. Hindsight being what it is, I would have waited ‘til spring.

But where’s the adventure in that?

13.5 acres of overgrown, head-high weeds, brush, trash and a tiny log cabin on a mountain top in Searcy

the place up. Let me tell you this; if you ever have the opportunity to clean up a burned structure just don’t.

Folks would drive by and wave. But I’m pretty sure as they went down the road they shook their heads and probably laughed at the two of us. With the occasional help from our grown kids, we mounted a war against a mountain of trash and debris. A battle, that I might add, is still not completely over, but is mostly won.

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The summer of 2015 was our turning point. We purchased a used doublewide manufactured home, and had it moved to the property. True to the very nature of everything we had done since moving here, it was not going to be an easy thing. A considerable amount of work needed to be done before we could move in. Practically a year after moving in to the cabin, we moved in to the doublewide. Like true homesteaders, however, we made sure the goats had a barn and fence, and the chickens had a place to be shut up at night before we had a permanent home to sleep in ourselves. That summer we were also able to put in a small farm store where we sell handcrafted goat milk soap, goat milk fudge, various goat milk & beeswax lotions and balms, country scented candles, and various other items. With the arrival of beehives, and more poultry in the spring of 2016, Briarhill Farms once again is feeling complete.

Our goals in living in this area had several aspects: 1) a location is central to family in Kansas and Louisiana, 2) fondness of the area developed by our vacations here 3) life in Louisiana was becoming stagnant and unpleasant 4) Louisiana laws prohibit the sale of raw milk and Arkansas allows sales from the farm.

Ultimate goals? Eventually we’d love to be totally self sufficient (financially), I don’t intend to live “off grid”, but do believe in preparing for the worst & praying for the best. But I would love for Briarhill Farms to one day be our source of income.

Our Ozark journey has been a season of enduring and adapting. We found strength when we thought ours was gone, and inspiration came from the beauty of these mountains. New friends, family, and our faith in God has made the transition from swamps to mountains easier to bear. Hard work, and figuring out what we can do without, has been key to this venture; and I can honestly say that even with all of the trials, setbacks, and frustration that may have hindered this adventure, I couldn’t be more pleased with where we landed. St. Joe and Searcy County are both a treasure that you have to experience to fully understand. I am happy to call this amazing place home.

We have not established a bakery in Arkansas. That’s not to say we won’t. In Louisiana our bakery was more of a “specialty foods” boutique. Our main focus (besides goat milk fudge) was paleo/grain free/gluten free products. Lorrie is gifted in the culinary arts, and has developed many recipes for people with food allergies or sensitivities. Who knows? Perhaps we will bring that to the Ozarks.

We’ve already established a network of like-minded people in the area. For me personally, I hope to be able to offer some sort of training to those who want to learn about homesteading. I’m already looking in to doing some beekeeping classes in the near future, and have found a base of interest in that area.

Thomas Faber is a farmer, photographer, and writer. Along with his wife Lorrie, he owns and operates Briarhill Farms and Briarhill Studio & Gallery. For more information visit: www.cantankerouscultivator.com

(Photo Page 24) The Property as it appeared when Thomas and Lorrie Faber decided to make the purchase and move near St. Joe, Arkansas.

(Photo this page) Briarhill Farms homestead as it appears now

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Off The Shelf Books from Ozarks’ Authors

Damming The Osage

by Leland & Crystal Payton

Only fragments remain of the native prairies of the upper Osage watershed. It has been two centuries since the warrior culture for which the river is named, and who maintained the buffalo grasslands by fire, was pushed west by displaced eastern tribes and land-hungry Americans. Two high dams have turned the main stem of the river into huge reservoirs. Leland and Crystal Payton find the tale of these transformations compelling, but turbulent.

In journals of soldiers, explorers, and missionaries and in old newspaper accounts and court documents, they discovered a cast of passionate and sometimes doomed personalities.

DAMMING THE OSAGE is also a record of banking fraud, slush funds, and governmental misdeeds.

Romanticism’s penchant for hyperbole, Leland and Crystal Payton found, was not confined to mythic stories of Osage Indians. Brochures put out by the US Army Corps of Engineers laud the sterile, banal landscape created by dams as a natural paradise.

If changed by development, the authors found the present Osage valley landscape expressive. Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs, period maps, and vintage images, this book tells the dramatic saga of human ambition pitted against natural limitations and forces beyond man’s control.

Wars have been fought over water since ancient

times. DAMMING THE OSAGE chronicles efforts to develop the Osage River and the forces, both natural and political, that opposed its improvement. Before the Louisiana Purchase, the French and Spanish were thwarted in their effort to colonize the region by the powerful Osage Indian tribe. When the Americans arrived, efforts through engineering to make the river useful began, ultimately leading to a series of massive dams and reservoirs. This 304 page book with 435 color illustrations weaves together tumultuous stories of centuries of conflict over how to exploit this important resource. Much of ecological, scientific and cultural value has been lost in the process.

Our Ozarks’ Thoughts Damming The Osage covers the history of the Osage river and its damming with great detail. The history chronicled is superb.

Whether or not you agree with the political discussion, you will enjoy how the Payton’s carry you through the history of the great river basin.

There are many parallels that can be drawn between what happened with the Osage, and other rivers and natural lands of the Ozarks and world.

The Buffalo River of Arkansas faced similar challenges until preserved as the Buffalo National River by legislation in 1972.

If you are history buff of the Ozarks, and the natural world of our region in particular, a highly suggested read!

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Market Report

Webb City Missouri Farmers Market

Wander through the Webb City Farmers Market pavilion at this time of year and you will pass tables loaded with fresh, local produce offered by farmers that grew it. You’ll find locally crafted vanilla extract and freshly roasted coffee beans, baked goods, humanely raised beef, chicken, lamb, pork and goat, eggs from happy hens, cheese, milk, and a myriad of other delightful local products.

You may also be intrigued by some unfamiliar produce. Webb City hosts a number of immigrant farmers and their US-born children who are skilled at growing Asian specialty crops. There are also many adventurous farmers ready to try a new crop or fill a market gap. Come August we expect to see scallions at the market for the first time in many years as a result of a farmer asking – what do we need?

You’ll smell the aroma of thirty varieties of herb plants, as well as a meal tempting your taste buds. On Tuesdays (from 4 to 7), you can enjoy supper with Carmine’s Wood Fired Pizza or a comfort style meal from Linda’s Bakery. On Thursday (from 11 to 2) you may find Harv’s Barbecue, M & M Bistro with mediterranean food, Tac O Town (yes, food with a Latino flavor) or Granny Shaffers with fried catfish. On Saturday you can enjoy Cooking for a Cause, a breakfast of cooked-to-order farm fresh eggs, sausage and biscuits and gravy. Cooking for a Cause is ramrodded by trained market volunteers and cooked and served

by Eileen Nichols, Market Manager

by volunteers and supporters of over 20 different local nonprofits.

And while you eat, enjoy the lively music of local and regional musicians performing a wide range of styles from golden oldies to bluegrass to folk to renaissance to Irish music. Whatever the genre, it’s always fun.

The Webb City market is known for many things – high quality and a wide variety of produce, innovative programs – Webb City was the first market in the state to accept credit, debit and food stamp cards, Cooking for a Cause, music, arts and other special events, kid friendly activities, Old No. 60, the restored streetcar that makes the rounds through the park many market days, but perhaps it is best known for its sense of community. The vendors, the volunteers, the customers, the musicians know and appreciate each other and welcome new folks into the community. The farmers can often be seen visiting about problems and solutions on the farm. Vendors pitch in to set up or close down the market. Volunteers are invited to special family celebrations. Costumers often have “their own farmer” and it is not unusual to see a vendor’s child, one of the market babies, passed around and entertained by the customers. Families and vendor children enjoy games of checkers or chess at one of the market tables.

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Herbed Pork Chops with Mustard-Roasted Apples & Potatoes What could be better than potatoes, sweet potatoes, delicious Dijon mustard and Circle B Ranch pork Chops. Absolutely nothing. This recipe is so easy to make and comes out delicious every time.

2 red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1-Sweet Potato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbs. country-style Dijon mustard 2 medium cloves garlic, mashed to a paste with the side of a chef’s knife Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 Bone in Pork Chops Extra Virgin Olive Oil with herbs 1 Tbs. dark brown sugar 2 green apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges each Flaky sea salt Recipes are provided by Marina Musacchio Backes of Circle B Ranch. Find more recipes and information about Circle B Ranch pork and their other fine products at http://www.circlebranchpork.com

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F. 2. Toss the potatoes and onion together on the prepared pan.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the oil, 1 Tbs. of the mustard, the mashed garlic, and a big pinch each of salt and pepper. Reserve 2 Tbs. and drizzle the remaining mixture over the vegetables on the sheet pan, tossing to coat. Spread the vegetables evenly and roast until beginning to soften and color slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 Tbs. oil and mustard with the sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper; rub all over the pork.

5. Toss the apple wedges with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the vegetables on the pan. Grill the Pork Chops and serve with the vegetables.

Circle B Ranch, LLC RR2 Box 2824 Seymour, MO 65746 417-683-0271 Visit their website: www.circlebranchpork.com

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Webb City Market Cont’d from Page 27 The market is a producer-only market, meaning you have to grow it or make it to sell it. Every farm is inspected to ensure the rules are followed. Our farmers also benefit from the advice of University of Missouri and Lincoln University Extension experts who often accompany the market inspectors. Every seller of edible produce must complete a Food Safety: from field to market course prior to selling at the market. This rule has been in place for over seven years and most farmers have taken the course many times.

This is a transformative year for the market. Farmer training which the market has conducted for more than ten years is taking a leap forward. Thanks to funding from the Missouri Department of Agriculture and partnerships with Lincoln University and MU Extension, the market has established a blackberry demonstration plot at the Southwest Missouri Research Center in Mt. Vernon for hands-on farmer training. An even bigger project is the Winter Production Education Center located on the Yang Farm near Rocky Comfort which will conduct research on winter production and host workshops throughout the year.

The Center hosts a seed starting structure, a heated high tunnel and an unheated high tunnel.

It will be a banner year for education and business opportunities with the opening of the market’s commercial kitchen. With support from USDA-Rural Development, the city and a local business and foundation, the market secured the FEMA kitchen which served the Joplin High School after the 2011 tornado. Moved and installed at the market, the kitchen, which was valued at $750,000, hosts a wide range of commercial appliances, including six convection ovens, 4,000 cubic feet of walk-in freezer and refrigerated space and a classroom. The kitchen will be used by market vendors to preserve their surplus produce for later sale and by other small businesses. Classes are on-going.

This month blackberries are the star. Baking classes, children’s classes, and herb classes are just a few of the classes on tap.

The commercial kitchen also enables the market to expand its Free Kids Meal, which it pioneered with USDA last year when an average of 90 children ate meals loaded with fresh, local produce at the Tuesday markets. This year, the market is aiming for 150 children eating under the large tent adjoining the market during both the Tuesday and Thursday markets through mid-August. There are no income or residen-

cy requirements and all kids, eighteen and younger are welcome.

On Saturdays, the kids tent hosts a different crowd – senior citizens who can enjoy a cup of coffee while playing table games or just visiting. Of course, the whole family is welcome to join the fun. It is surprising how often a grandpa takes a checkers thrashing at the hands of his little grandchild. One suspects that was his plan all along.

And speaking of children, the Kids Community Garden, managed by the market on school grounds, is well underway. Middle-school children plant, cultivate and harvest the 2,500 square foot garden throughout the summer and fall. Some 200 kindergarten students planted potatoes in the spring & will return in the fall to help dig them up as 1st graders.

The Webb City Farmers Market – there’s more to it than you might guess, but it all adds up to a wholesome, happy experience. After all, our mission is to sustain, nourish and enhance our community while providing a venue for success for farming neighbors.

Cooking For A Cause is provided by the Webb City Farmers Market to carry out several goals: • Help local nonprofits raise funds for and awareness of their causes • Provide our customers, vendors, volunteers and musicians with a delicious breakfast • Expand the market customer base by attracting each organization’s volunteers and supporters • Add another activity to the market (project for public places recommends the power of ten - ten activities for each place multiplied by ten nearby places) Cooking For A Cause July Schedule July 2 – Crosslines (our regional food pantry) July 9 – NALA July 16 – Our local PEO chapter raises money for scholarships at Cottey College July 23 – Boys & Girls Club July 30 – Chert Glades Missouri Master Naturalists The various nonprofits keep all the profits, get lots of publicity and share their story with the market customers. The president of one of the organizations once called the market “the Grand Central Station of Nonprofits” because more nonprofit connect with more people at the market than at any other one place in the area.

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Behind The Brush Ernest A. Kilman is the painting guide, taking you on a journey back to Nature through the medium of oil landscape paintings.

Born on December 30, 1952, and widely known as Ernie Kilman, he leads a dual life, as an established American landscape painter, and as a professional outdoorsman, providing river outfitter services and guide services. He prefers a canoe as his vessel of transportation into the wilderness regions, where he sets up his plein air easel, and uses impressionistic realism to capture the essence of the grand natural American landscape. He sees his works as nostalgic transports guiding you to an ancient time, when people first gazed upon natural scenes, untouched by human development.

He compares his canoe to a time machine, providing an entry

Painting titled “Big View�

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Painting titled “Blue Sky” back into the old American landscapes. The canoe is an environmentally friendly way to take his materials deep into thickly wooded areas, to what he calls “the last beautiful spots.” Sometimes he stays for a week at a time, drawing and painting every day. By living with the wilderness, looking at the subject matter, breathing the air, smelling the aromas and hearing the bird songs, the whole natural environment goes through all of his senses and spill out through his brushes, painting scenes little different from how they might have looked to an explorer from long ago.

Ernest always loved to draw; as far back as he can remember. He grew up living in ten different States and the District of Columbia. This exposed him to a wide variety of landscapes: Maine, Florida, New Mexico and everything in between. He spent most of his summers in the Arkansas Ozarks. He credits the Boy Scouts and his father, a career Navy officer who grew up in Arkansas, with introducing him to the outdoor life. They instilled in him an appreciation for Nature through camping adventures all over the United States. The inspiration for his art stars with what he calls “the big room,” the natural environment, and our emotional connection to it.

Over the years, he developed numerous techniques in his composition to guide the eye of the viewer into and through his paintings. He wants the viewer to experience a sense of being in the places he paints and to have an appreciation for the importance that a natural landscape really has in contemporary times. He is a

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Behind The Brush Cont’d self-taught observer first and then a painter. He works through an accumulation and rearrangement of visual observations and memories together with his imagination.

Kilman spent many years studying and experimenting with Dutch and Flemish glazing techniques. The greatest influences on his work come from the Hudson River School, with artists such as Albert Bierstadt, John Kensett, Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Moran, and Fredrick Church. These painters influenced Kilman’s specialty of bringing together the mood of the natural landscape with the sky. As he paints, he spends most of his time creating an emotional connection of tranquility, expressed in the use of color and luminous effects to evoke a sense of looking through the air at the landscapes. He creates this sense of feeling, particularly his warm lighting and expansive skies, by using transparent glazes and aerial perspective.

Kilman has sold over 2,000 paintings. During one 14-

year period, he painted 80-100 works a year, spending 60-100 days a year on various river usually in the Ozark Mountains.

His career as an artist includes teaching workshops and seminars about plein air painting, using the old masters’ glazing techniques. He taught a total of over 3,000 students from more than 5 states. He also co-organized a two week painting workshop in Eureka Springs, Arkansas with Dalheart Windberg as the instructor.

Kilman had earlier studied with Windberg at a plein air workshop in Goliad Texas. Before Kilman began to sell his works, he studied at a workshop with David Stair in Judsonia Arkansas. Other than these two workshops, Kilman advanced in his career as a professional painter solely through his own study and experimentation. He read books studying the old masters’ painting mediums. He wanted for his work to be archival quality so that his work will last as long as possible. As he studied the methods of old masters, he learned to paint with a limited palette, mixing all his colors from the primary roots. That taught him

Painting titled “The Narrow Trail”

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about color theory, because he had to make his own colors. The premixed colors never seemed to match colors he saw in the natural settings.

Kilman served as a judge for a dozen or so art competitions at various places in Arkansas. He won the People’s Choice Award for Best of Show at the Grand Prairie Festival of the Arts in Stuttgart Arkansas. He also won the Governor’s Award for the Arts, Craft and Design Fair in Little Rock, Arkansas, for a painting depicting the Iron Clad ship Arkansas.

Kilman owned and co-owned numerous art galleries through the years where he hung his works for sale.

He first partnered with Jerry Yarnell to open The Wilderness Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, (1978-79).

Jerry Yarnell is currently well known for his public television program called Yarnell’s School of Fine Art. Kilman also hung his work at galleries in Eureka Springs including: Ernest Kilman Studio Gallery of Fine Art; Heritage Gallery; KRRL Gallery; and Satori Arts Temple. His work is currently at Eureka Springs Gallery of Fine Art.

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