{"id":9273,"date":"2023-04-19T22:12:27","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T22:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/?page_id=9273"},"modified":"2023-06-19T20:16:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T20:16:31","slug":"dorothy-grady-scarborough-oral-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/dorothy-grady-scarborough-oral-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorothy Grady Scarborough Oral History"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”No Line”][vc_column_text]\n

Dorothy Grady Scarborough Oral History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][page_submenu alignment=”center” sticky=”true” bg_color=”#008542″ link_color=”#ffffff”][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/manuscripts-and-guides\/” title=”Manuscripts & Subject Guides<\/strong>” id=”1681942177242-8″ tab_id=”1681942177243-1″] [\/page_link][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/guides-to-the-collection-page\/” title=”Collections Portal<\/strong>” id=”1681942177253-3″ tab_id=”1681942177253-7″] [\/page_link][page_link title=”Visit<\/strong>” id=”1681942194482-0″ tab_id=”1681942194484-4″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/visit\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Make a Request<\/strong>” id=”1681942195175-7″ tab_id=”1681942195176-7″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/requests\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”About Us<\/strong>” id=”1681942195880-5″ tab_id=”1681942195881-5″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments-archives-museum-about-us\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Yearbooks Online<\/strong>” id=”1681942196597-7″ tab_id=”1681942196598-7″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/yearbooks-alumni-magazines-delta-state-histories\/”][\/page_link][\/page_submenu][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]June 21, 2006<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interviewed by Eleanor Green and Emily Weaver<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transcribed by W. Ray July 17, 2006<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My name is Eleanor Green.\u00a0 I am here with Dorothy Grady Scarborough on June 21, 2006.\u00a0 I am interviewing her as part of\u00a0 the Delta Black Farmers\u2019 History Project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 Can you tell me your full name?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dorothy Grady Scarborough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me about when and where you were born?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was born in Shelby, Mississippi roughly fifty years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Shelby.\u00a0 Have you lived here all your life?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Well I would say yes because the times that I left it would only be for three or four months before I decided home is where I needed to be.\u00a0 I tried several cities, moved to Chicago and Dallas, but each place roughly a month, two months and I was back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 Can you tell me about your parents?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My mother was basically a housewife.\u00a0 Mother of nine children.\u00a0 She died at the age of fifty-one of a stroke.\u00a0 But like I say, basically a housewife.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Was she from here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 My mom was actually born in Pace, Mississippi.\u00a0 And, I don\u2019t remember the year that she and my dad married.\u00a0 Was married\u00a0 thirty-some odd years before she passed.\u00a0 About thirty-one years I think when she passed away.\u00a0 And my dad has been dead about nine years.\u00a0 He died of cancer.\u00a0 He was a farmer as well as, we grew up farming, but after we grew up he had factory jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And was he from Shelby too?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My daddy was born in Leland and he moved to Renova as a child.\u00a0 So we all basically grew up in Bolivar County.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And you said there were nine children so you had eight siblings?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Um hmm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me a little bit about them.\u00a0 Your siblings still leave near?\u00a0 Do any of them still farm?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have a brother that\u2019s the eighth child.\u00a0 He\u2019s next to me.\u00a0 He basically grows what he eats.\u00a0 He has had a garden as long as I can remember.\u00a0 Even though he\u2019s been in a wheelchair since he was nineteen.\u00a0 (inaudible)\u00a0 So he has small livestock, some chickens, he grows his own produce.\u00a0 I have a sister who is in Dallas.\u00a0 Her whole backyard is, half of the front and all of the sides is vegetables.\u00a0 I think we got a lot of that from our dad.\u00a0 And that was something that he did on up until he had no energy.\u00a0 He was still trying to work a garden.\u00a0 Because he loved the results and returns from it. (inaudible)\u00a0 Now all of them would eat fresh produce.\u00a0 I have two that have no time for it, but she can buy.\u00a0 So, that\u2019s why a lot of times when my husband and I grow it, it doesn\u2019t make it to the market cause it is bought before we can even get it out of the fields.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Does your family before you moved into town, did you have land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You rented?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, it was sharecropped.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much land area do you use now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here, we have an acre.\u00a0 And there are two other areas that we use in the community.\u00a0 One of the fields a farmer that donated us a acre of the land as a community garden plot.\u00a0 After the community lost interest we only had one other farmer out there, or family, who my husband (inaudible) and the school garden we still manage ourselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Does the school use the furnish from the garden, or is it just\u2026.?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was something that we did with the kindergarten in years past.\u00a0 And those children would take some of the produce, and we had a lot of lettuce and sunflower beds throughout the garden, and other produce, tomatoes, we did the small things for the children to take while they were in school.\u00a0 So they can still use it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What kinds of \u2026 how long have you been on this land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I came here in\u00a0 \u201977.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201977.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve been growing since then?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have had a small garden every year since then.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What has been the \u2013 what have you produced on your farm?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our main crop over the years has been okra.\u00a0 And tomatoes, (inaudible) and squashes.\u00a0 Peppers and (inaudible).\u00a0 But (inaudible) our greens, mostly turnips and raise collards.\u00a0 But we also have a lot of lettuce mix.\u00a0 Across the winter months into the early, or latter May.\u00a0 Then it got too hot so then (inaudible).\u00a0 But this year we are trying herbs.\u00a0 Quite a bit of herbs we are producing this year.\u00a0 What else do we have?\u00a0 Zuchinnis, (inaudible) squashes. And eggplants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you plant from seeds or do you plant from starts?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We do both.\u00a0 We the greenhouse we have been able to do transplants in the greenhouse.\u00a0 And on a large scale.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How many greenhouses do you have now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have two.\u00a0 It\u2019s 22 x 48.\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Has technology changed what you produce or how you produce over time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes it has.\u00a0 We used to buy transplants but now we are able to grow in the greenhouse and actually was able to sell some last year \u2013 well this year, because we didn\u2019t do that large of a scale in the green house this year other than what we wanted to use for ourselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To make the farm work what kind of changes have you had to make over time?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the things that we have done is actually too much work for us.\u00a0 As we have added in livestock.\u00a0 But at the same time it extra work but the livestock has been our fertilizer for us.\u00a0 So that is one thing that we have not had to purchase is any type of fertilizer.\u00a0 And actually what we produce is chemical free.\u00a0 We use composting as well as the waste products from the chickens and rabbits.\u00a0 Along with that we have gotten two, well actually, one child is with us all the time.\u00a0 That\u2019s Chiquila, a nephew of mine.\u00a0 He\u2019s been, this is your third year?\u00a0 And three other young men.\u00a0 But sports has really pulled them as they play softball and (inaudible).\u00a0 He\u2019s usually here until about twelve, cause he has sports in the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 So, by using these youth to help us, it has been most productive for us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 What kind of livestock do you have?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have turkeys, ducks, rabbits, chickens.\u00a0 Some people don\u2019t look at red worms as livestock, but the worms (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I wanted you to tell me about the worms?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We started with worms about two years ago. We first tried them inside the greenhouse (inaudible).\u00a0 It was productive as far as the fertilizer was concerned. (inaudible)\u00a0 We got a lot of our waste produce from SuperValue and Walmart gave us some.\u00a0 They wouldn\u2019t commit to a daily or weekly pickup because of some issues but randomly they would allow us to pick up from there. \u00a0And the worms (inaudible).\u00a0 And we changed from the greenhouse crates and have them in boxes now.\u00a0 We are using food waste as well as the leaves around in the community.\u00a0\u00a0 Waste Management brings all the leaves to us.\u00a0 So we don\u2019t have to go out, we used to have to go out and gather them ourselves.\u00a0 As they collect them in the city they bring them to us.\u00a0 We use them in several ways.\u00a0 We bury them out in the chicken yard.\u00a0\u00a0 As they break them down we take them to the composting pile for the worms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What\u2019s the role of the worms?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They produce the worm castings.\u00a0 From the worm castings we use the worm castings as a base for stock plants.\u00a0 We also use (inaudible) for transplants that are already in the ground.\u00a0 And then we use the, I call it the broth, from the water of the worm castings and the worms (inaudible) we use that to mist spray the plants which is also a rich broth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So that is compost tea?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Um hmm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And the chickens and the turkeys, are they raised for meat?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We actually got more layers I think now than the turkeys.\u00a0 We probably got roughly thirty turkeys.\u00a0 Our turkeys we try to get the production of them up.\u00a0 We started with two and we now have ten.\u00a0 So we have eight small ones.\u00a0 As we get them up we will be able to use them for meat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What about the poultry?\u00a0 You said you have mostly layers but do you have some that you will be able to\u2026.?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have some.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have the capabilities to slaughter here or will you have to take them somewhere?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will be done through Growing Power project.\u00a0 It is a program that is a partner with Growing Power. But we have been funded through Growing Power to get the adequate equipment to be able to slaughter them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have you built all of your own farm structures, the greenhouses?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We built them.\u00a0 We had a couple of workshops where Growing Power came in as a project group that we were with a few years back and they assisted us with the construction of it.\u00a0 Actually, the first one that we did it was with Growing Power and at that time I did not even know Growing Power but I put one together but now we use it for a shelter for the chickens.\u00a0 And the one we have now is much larger.\u00a0 Those were assisted by Growing Power because they put them up and they were funded the funds to purchase the equipment (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell a little about what Growing Power is?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Growing Power is a non profit organization for inner city farms where their overall concern is helping people help themselves.\u00a0 What they do is offer training on site once a month.\u00a0 I think it is a total of seven trainings.\u00a0 They start off in March, and the last one is in April, and they do October.\u00a0 No they start in February and they do one in September, latter September, the final for the year.\u00a0 So they do a total of six.\u00a0 The funds are through various grants.\u00a0 They offer scholarships to farmers actually all across the United States.\u00a0 But they placed a lot of emphasis on Mississippi.\u00a0 They actually adopted Mississippi where any farmer in this area you just let them know and they will pay for the lodging and meals and will give you portions toward your travel.\u00a0 And they work with a lot of school age children on the site and they offer trainings in several different areas:\u00a0 composting, greenhouse production, greenhouse structures, bee workshops, management workshops, just infrastructure type.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Would you say they have played an important role in your farming capabilities?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think so.\u00a0 When I first moved here I had just land which was my house on the lot which is 100 X 125.\u00a0 And as the years passed, the land that was adjacent for houses was just a grown up field.\u00a0 So I had envisioned having that one day.\u00a0 I had given myself two years and I was going to be able to do something with it.\u00a0 At that time I wanted to be a connection to nature.\u00a0 And exactly what direction, whether it was going to be a butterfly herb type thing or what.\u00a0 But I know I wanted it be something that children would be able to connect with and learn from it.\u00a0 Cause I feel that they are disconnected from the herbs (inaudible) and not just the children but young adults, and actually some adults my age are actually still and probably will forever be disconnected.\u00a0 So it was probably four years ago we responded through Kellogg Foundation.\u00a0 Not just my farm but an organization that I am a part of.\u00a0 And we were in a session that we basically just did some talking about life in general.\u00a0 And I expressed some of the things that I wanted to happen here.\u00a0 And there was a lady there that at that time was the director of the (inaudible) project.\u00a0 She introduced me to Growing Power through a Mrs. Frankensteen.\u00a0 I can\u2019t, – Hope, first name is Hope.\u00a0 Last name I think is Frankensteen.\u00a0 She was a young lady who worked out of Milwaukee (inaudible).\u00a0 We talked that particular weekend.\u00a0 She listened to what my dreams were.\u00a0 That\u2019s what she told me Growing Power does.\u00a0 A year or two years later, (inaudible), who was a co-partner with her with Growing Power.\u00a0 The two of them had worked together.\u00a0 And we talked and they came down to a Ruleville Coalition Conference that was in Ruleville. And we went to that, Jessie and I did, and (inaudible) So that was actually when we made that connection was at the composting workshop.\u00a0 We invited them down for the Mississippi South Conference.\u00a0 That has been about three years ago.\u00a0 At that time we had been fortunate enough to purchase the land that\u2019s behind our home.\u00a0 And at that time we had one greenhouse, probably several raised beds during that time.\u00a0 They came over and walked through it and he started naming stuff that he could see happening.\u00a0 That he wanted this to be the southern area for Growing Power to come and do trainings for the south.\u00a0 So when Growing Power started talking about what they wanted to do I had a smile.\u00a0 He asked me what I was smiling about and that was when I told him what my visions were and some of the things that I wanted to see happen here.\u00a0 At that time he had no knowledge of what I wanted to happen.\u00a0 From there they would be coming down like twice a year and (inaudible) certain things and just from different workshops across the United States, Mississippi (inaudible) and Southern (inaudible) and the Ruleville Coalition and several other things that we had attended.\u00a0 I had brought ideas back and when I brought ideas back and he would listen to my husband and he was very good to accept them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What would you say is the inherent value of the land to you and your family, not monetary, but what does it mean to you and your family?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the things, and I guess it would fall back to being monetary, but that we are able to save money by producing all of our food, but at the same time we are able to reach others.\u00a0 And my main concern was to make sure that our young children have some insight on where their food comes from.\u00a0 What it takes to produce it and we are able to (inaudible) some tools for the elementary and middle school children.\u00a0 And we are partnered with the ag science students to be able to work with them through the school year with things they are having to do as (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you see a time when land will no longer be an important part of your family?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My children, before we actually started with all the food, well should I say all the work, because at one point we just had raised beds off over here on the sides, and they would come out and help (inaudible).\u00a0 And as the years have gone by we have purchased more animals, well more livestock, they seldom go out those doors, because there is work out there and they know that.\u00a0 If I ask them to go gather eggs or gather cucumbers they will do that but it is not their interest.\u00a0 But they will eat anything that is grown out there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What would you say to a young person who wanted to become involved in farming today?\u00a0 What kind of advice would you give them?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First of all I would be really excited, and I would probably overwhelm them with, and I would try hard not to infringe my ideas upon them, but never the less I would have to introduce them to it. And that\u2019s to grow (inaudible).\u00a0 And I would emphasize the importance of the help along the lines of, but other than that, that it would be a good idea.\u00a0 And it is not easy.\u00a0 But the returns are great.\u00a0 And you don\u2019t have to have ten, twenty and above acres to make a living growing organic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How do you feel about keeping the land in the family for future generations?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think it still will be.\u00a0 And the main reason I say (inaudible) it\u2019s connected to my home.\u00a0 I feel strongly that it will be carried on by someone and I don\u2019t think the land will ever be sold.\u00a0 And I will make sure in my will that it will not be sold.\u00a0 Whether it is leased out to somebody to carry it on.\u00a0 But the main thing is to make sure that it will never be sold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know that you mentioned that you received assistance from Pepper Projects or Growing Power.\u00a0 Have you utilized any other assistance such as you know, USDA programs?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 USDA we used in our debts.\u00a0 Last year NRC assisted us with irrigation.\u00a0 And this year we applied for guarantees again and they are going to a drip system for us and that (inaudible).<\/p>\n

Started producing and then we just stopped.\u00a0 (inaudible) a matter of technicians to do the work to get around to us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NRC is National Resources\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 National Conservation Resources or something like that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How has race affected your family farm?\u00a0 Has it played a role at all?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It hasn\u2019t affected your access to the programs or anything?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did the Civil Rights Movement and the years which followed affect the atmosphere on your farm or in the community of your neighbors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Because during the Civil Rights Movement I was less than five probably.\u00a0 And I wasn\u2019t really aware of anything that was done at that age level that I saw a difference.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know a difference at that age, you don\u2019t recognize anything out of place.\u00a0 So, as I grew older, (inaudible) history of the past.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t affect me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is the most memorable moment in your farming life?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I would say when we added livestock to what we were doing here and it was an (inaudible) at the livestock but not necessary for reproduction, but I was looking at it for being fertilizer.\u00a0 Then after I recognized the benefits, we started adding volume to the portions of livestock that we had.\u00a0 And you could see a difference in the yield and using the composting was (inaudible).\u00a0 And also as we grew back here and add new infrastructures or add structure or add on to what we do.\u00a0 Sometimes I look at my husband or he might look at me and say your dad would love this.\u00a0 And that is the biggest drive that I see behind my continuing this because this was something that dear to me.\u00a0 We always say if he was alive that we couldn\u2019t get it away from him, we could not, because this is something that he really connected to and appreciated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, is there anything else that you would like to add that I have not asked about?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not that I can think of.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You mentioned bees earlier, do you have bees?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, we have funds to purchase bees but we still (inaudible) where to put them.\u00a0 Because we want them safe.\u00a0 Not safe from us but to be safe (inaudible) and to make sure the children would not be harmed.\u00a0 We are torn as to whether we really want this.\u00a0\u00a0 We thought about away from this area over the ridge into the woods.\u00a0 At the same time I think we will be able to get pollination benefit from them here.\u00a0 But we are trying to figure out just where we need to put them.\u00a0 If it wasn\u2019t for the flood area here we could easily put them in some places.\u00a0 (inaudible).\u00a0 The man back here (inaudible) and he wants them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And can we take a little walk around?\u00a0 What is the greatest challenge you faced in getting this farm up and going?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the things that we (inaudible) is I guess I should say, weed control.\u00a0 Funding was, but I decided I would just use our work outside here and I use a lot of my funds to, my income, to do what we are having to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you work outside of farming.\u00a0 Can you tell me what kind of career you have outside of farming?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am a nurse, emergency room nurse.\u00a0 And I work night shift and usually on the week that I work seven on and seven off and the week that I am off I basically help here.\u00a0 And then the week that I am at work, I work nights, and when I get off at seven, I am up until about ten thirty or eleven o\u2019clock and out here with things that need to be done around here.\u00a0 They will not hurt you.\u00a0 They will not hurt you.\u00a0 They might be a month old.\u00a0 And that particular chicken ended up in here because for some reason or another, they will peck on one another.\u00a0 And this one, they had just about, we lost a lot of them that way, see no feathers, they had pecked into the rectum area of them and they were bleeding.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And what are the little ones?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those are turkeys.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen a little turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah those are little baby turkeys.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And they are girls and boys right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Actually I don\u2019t know what they are yet.\u00a0 The only way I know is when they get that little chin thing.\u00a0 And I have been looking to see if they are going to have it.\u00a0 (inaudible) and we lost about thirty when they were in the greenhouse.\u00a0 And they are doing great.\u00a0 They are really doing good.\u00a0 Before the summer is over we should have them laying.\u00a0 Rhode Island Reds right here.\u00a0 Plummers.\u00a0 And then we got chickens from (inaudible).\u00a0 And the strangest thing they find their way back here and get out every morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The man that I have been buying my chickens from, when you go visit they are running all over the place.\u00a0 Judson said that there is a workshop at his place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (inaudible \u2013 dog barking)\u00a0 the crazy one is a pen and the other one is tied.\u00a0 We have peppers here.\u00a0 This went under water a while back and the peppers died so we have started off with a few more.\u00a0 And we have planted some more (inaudible).<\/p>\n

Plastic is down there when we had to reline the pool we used that plastic to fight off the weeds, but at the same, I guess you can call it a moat, but when he is mowing sometime (inaudible) so we have to keep him out of there with the lawn mower.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(dog barking).\u00a0 Sit down.\u00a0 I don\u2019t trust him.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like him.\u00a0 My daughter decided we needed a dog.\u00a0 We had one of our own and it does whatever I tell him.\u00a0 That one rushes me and I don\u2019t like that.\u00a0 (inaudible) got the last of the leaves and (inaudible) up this morning.\u00a0 We dump them into the chicken yard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That turkey looks ready to eat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s mean.\u00a0 Like if you go in there.\u00a0 That\u2019s the male.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where is the female?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She\u2019s on the other side.\u00a0 She\u2019s outside.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t fight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What kind of chicken is that kind of looks like Einstein?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was over in Lexington at a friend\u2019s house and the lady across the road from her goes everywhere collects chickens. And I am always one for odd stuff.\u00a0 And that was the very first thing I picked.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s a female chicken.\u00a0 Because it fights.\u00a0 Oh these rabbits just kicked down their food trays.\u00a0 This we have not completed.\u00a0 All thing left to do is pin down the bottom frame.\u00a0 The top one is completed.\u00a0 The other side is completed.\u00a0 This one has to be done as well.\u00a0 Actually, we did the extra layering outside of this.\u00a0 Now, this old turkey is as confused as she can be.\u00a0 It was a chick that laid eggs also in her box.\u00a0 She actually thinks those are her babies.\u00a0 These two baby chicks that are running around here.\u00a0 She thinks they are her babies.\u00a0 And I actually think there are two chickens that are setting too long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What does setting mean?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They are brooding.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waiting for the babies to hatch?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Um hmm.\u00a0\u00a0 They are on the eggs.\u00a0 But actually it has been longer than\u2026.days.\u00a0 So I think the eggs are either bad or they disturbed the nest. Cause they get off from time to time. And I think that is what happened.\u00a0 Now a lot of them (inaudible).<\/p>\n

Now usually this is not the route.\u00a0 My husband decided that he would do this I guess so (inaudible) Cause see it needs to be broken down more.\u00a0 But now those worms will eat that melon.\u00a0 They will eat – there are ants here as well, but it is plenty of worms in it.\u00a0 (inaudible) and it just spreads and rewets itself and it returns back through.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And then you use that to mist the plants?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Um hmm.\u00a0 (inaudible) corn stalks and okra and had seeds in our pockets and bags and they fell and wherever they fell and came up we left them.\u00a0 Okra along this pathway (inaudible).\u00a0 Now years ago we lost chickens because we had them in chicken pens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me how you like working here for your aunt?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nephew:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I like it, and it keeps me out of trouble and stuff like that.\u00a0 And then I like to plant stuff and work with animals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you think you would like farming on your own later?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nephew:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is your favorite part of working here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nephew:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Working with the chickens and ducks (inaudible)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DS:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Already pregnant.\u00a0 With my money I bought the other ten (inaudible).\u00a0 The guy had cages around the wall.\u00a0 He had them around the barn.\u00a0 There is a little clip that you use.\u00a0 (inaudible)\u00a0 Then we separate them out and the females have a cage of their own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tape cuts off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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