Hidden Springs

Today has been a good day! Click the title to see where I was!
Got to go hiking around and along the falls, work in the garden planting beans and pulling weeds and met some pretty cool folks as well. Oh, and saw a few turtles like this one I spotted as we shared the shade of an awesome tree in Hector's garden area. Peace

Hidden Springs

Well it's happening! The prese-rvation for some of Hector and Susie's property is becoming a reality. The protection of the cascading falls which drop a couple of hundred feet from the plateau on H&S's were one of the topics addressed in a meeting held at their place on Tuesday(23rd). Several members of the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation came over to provide information regarding conservation easements, the benefits, and answer any questions or concerns folks may have had. This was also an opportunity for the foundation to encourage H&S's neighbors; who were invited, to investigate the option and join the effort to preserve this fabulous section of an awesome geologic formation, the Cumberland Plateau.
Another gathering will be held in which more folks from the surrounding area will be invited in order for them to learn the benefits about preserving their lands through conservation easement.
This is a file photo from 12/19/08, showing the top part of one of these gifts.

Frozen Springs

Brrrrr! Y'all know it's Cold! May be why your inside looking at the computer. My sister "L.A.", and I ventured into the gorge which holds Hidden Springs today, and were treated to the scenes partially shown in this picture. Our arrival was just in time for lunch with Hector, Suzie, and Jan, a "Woofer" who is currently helping on the farm. She has a wealth of experience in the woods and I hope she'll contribute some of her knowledge with us either on 'wemaybeback' or joining us on a walk. I may have the name wrong but she knows who she is. And if your reading this...Welcome! Our friend Sydney had just arrived and was getting out of her truck as "L.A." and I were beginning our walk to the falls. The process for protecting this immediate area of the gorge is underway. Peace.

Hidden Springs (Thurs. 12/18)

Hector's place is benefiting from the abundant rainfalls along the Cumberland Plateau and the surrounding regions over the last month or so. I learned how to shell corn during my short visit, as a "Woofer", Ian, and I worked a sheller/grinder and shelled several bags of dried corn. Know anyone w/ strong farming experience who wants a low stress position?
The efforts on protecting this area are still in the process. These pictures are of some of the same spots shown in blog entries from July-September, just type "Hidden Springs", in the box located in the upper left of the screen on this site and see the similarities and changes. Damn I like this place! The 1.5 mls. I probably hiked were easy to difficult and challenging. It had rained all night and through the morning and so the steep hillsides were very loose (made several "great saves") as I climbed to the top of the pinnacle and then descended the other side to view other cascading falls. Peace

Final Pickins'

The blueberry's are about done for picking this year at Hidden Springs. I spent a couple of days, Tuesday thru Thursday (9/2-9/4), helping around the farm picking blueberries and doing a few other chores. Now the apples need a bunch of work, the Papaws are ready, and walnuts are not far off from "gathering". And that's partial list of the "chores to learn" as you educate yourselves about organic farming. So there is plenty of work to be done for the WWOOFers or anyone wanting to earn their "keep" while enjoying a small portion of the Cumberland Plateau.
A once-remote wilderness it's natural systems (the worlds longest hardwood-forested plateau) now face challenges from clearcut logging, Mountaintop Removal coal mining, the development of numerous large retirement communities; more being developed, w/ the accompanying golf courses and retail sprawl. Hmmm?! Sounds like some towns in the "far east", of Tennessee that is.
The rains we had a few weeks ago across most of the state helped some here at Hidden Springs. The stream in this gorge does what some over at Savage Gulf/Stone Door, do as well, in that they drop below the surface and run for miles before surfacing again. Leaving a dry rock streambed on the surface and making water usage a challenge at times due to lack of accessibility. Of course not being helped in any way from the draught this area of the country has been feeling for the last few years. This was another short trip into a peaceful relaxing state of learning some about farming and another persons path. I hope to continue this education w/ another trip soon!
(anyone looking for a unique working vacation or an internship for college credit should contact Hector or Susie at Hidden Springs Orchard in Cookeville, TN, "google it")

Out on The Farm, August 16-19th

'Hidden Springs', is the farm I was on and again I met more really interesting people. Portions of Hector and Susie's family, large parts of it, were in town visiting so the dinners were large events w/ folks from at least two Provinces of Canada, and several states. On one evening there were around 30 people eating w/ the fresh foods being prepared by family members throughout the day. The number of folks participating was not always that big but the foods were fixed w/ combined efforts and love. I returned to Townsend on Tuesday afternoon but had the opportunity to sample; several times, an awesome homemade desert. A "brownie" of some sort I'll call it, yet this thing rivaled the best energy bar I've ever read the nutrition content on and that has been a "few". Dude, they had chocolate, nuts of assorted types and fruits and berry's from the garden of various flavors. I think it had oats or some cereal in it as well. I do not have a complete list of the ingredients so maybe if Eric; a current "migrant worker", (ha,ha,humour), reads this he could clarify the ingredients for us in the comment section. If not I'll ask next week when I go back up for a few days.

Several of us including Alexis and Eric got out for a slow walk into the falls, up, over, and around, then back down. While on top of the falls we followed the stream, which feeds the cascade in this picture, about a quarter mile up stream and it was strong despite the lack of rain over the last few weeks. Further action was taken in discussion w/ Hector towards protecting the falls area. It is early in the process and as Hector so calmly states, "so much work to be done yet". This, I believe, was referring to the berry's on the bush and the work remaining to complete the harvest. Peace