Plate 1. Sicily Spencer of Kirbyville (left) and judge Lisa Jennings of Protem (right) inspect “Emily,” a 10-week-old New Zealand White. Jennings is current Missouri director of the Havana Rabbit Breeders Association. Rabbits by Joshua Heston “Oh, look at the cute bunny!” For a large number of folks, the history, culture and science of rabbits…
Plate 1. “Silas,” a six-month Nubian / Boer cross, is shown by 16-year old Braden LeMasters of Reeds Spring. “Silas has good loin width, his front chest muscle fits in the palm well, he has a flat straight face and his ears ‘finish’ his face in the way they wrap,” notes LeMasters. “Silas” is walked…
Plate 1. Fourteen-year old Linsey Anderson of Conway, Missouri, leads “Roxie” into the ring as judge Andrew Chandler looks on. “Roxie’s shoulders are blended smoothly into her front end,” notes Chandler. The 4H Taney County Animal Show: Cattle by Joshua Heston Thanks to the hard work of folks like Cassandra Nebena, Ken and Kimberly Dixon,…
Milk Cow Blues by Gideon Pellegrino She got me! She sure got me good! The other day, there I was, milking as usual. Out of the blue, Blam! A hoof print was stamped onto my leg as if she had branded me. “What the heck?” I yelled. She looked back at me out of the…
Plate 1. “Magdelene,” owned by Whitney Coffelt of Omaha, Arkansas, gives the photographer an inquisitive look toward the end of the evening. Cattle by Joshua Heston Whether raised for beef or milk, cattle have become one of the most ubiquitous animals of the North American farm. In fact, it’s hard to get any more American…
Plate 1. Missouri Mule. Artwork by Joe Benjamin. Critters by Joshua Heston There is a lot to be said about the domesticated animals brought into these hills. Imagine the Ozarks frontier without horses; an Ozarks farmyard without chickens; the state of Missouri without mules! State of the Ozarks is dedicated to remembering a day when…
Vineyards by Joshua Heston Prior to 1920, acres of wine grapes were growing well across the Ozarks, their cultivation helped along by the knowledge of an extensive European immigration. It was a beautiful, sustainable crop. Prohibition changed all that. Honorable vineyard owners went out of business. Bootlegging flourished. By 1950, it was the moonshine of…
Brassicaceae Raphanus sativus. Radishes by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh. Old-time radishes. History suggests radishes have been growing in European gardens since before the Roman Empire. And that means radishes have been growing in American gardens since colonization. A member of the Brassica family (along with cabbage and kale), the simple radish comes in a…
Okra by Dale Grubaugh It was late afternoon one day last summer. The hot drafts off the ridges played over the Bilyeu Ranch, pushing down toward the Finley River. We were in the garden, checking on beans and tomatoes and what-not when Miss Shirley Bilyeu poked her head out the back door. “Brother Dale, you…
Lettuce by Joshua Heston and Dale Grubaugh. Everybody knows lettuce. However, good heirloom lettuces are a whole different critter from the water-laden iceberg cultivars found in the grocery store. Mild and spicy, crispy and loose-leaved, heirloom lettuce come in many forms. Amish Deer Tongue. Cimmaron. Forellenschluss. Mascara Oak Leaf. Sanguine Amellore. Hands-down, one of the…