AGRICULTURE AND ENTERPRISE

Fruit Growing
Click here for program sign (pdf format).

Tom Burford,
    Monroe, Amherst County, Virginia
Tom Burford is an internationally
recognized expert on heritage
apples and orchard archaeology.
He grew up on an orchard in
Amherst County, Virginia,
where he learned the apple and
peach cultivation techniques
his family had practiced for
generations. Tom has traveled
around the world to identify
varieties of apples and lecture on
the history of apple cultivation.

Margaret Burns,
    Herne Bay, Kent, England
After she retired from the civil
service eleven years ago, Margaret
Burns developed her interest and
passion for local history, plants,
fruit culture, and allotments
(plots of land let to individuals for
cultivation). Burns now works as
a tour guide at the National Fruit
Collection in Faversham, Kent,
and lectures on plants and Kentish
fruit. She is Vice Chair of the Herne
Horticultural and Rose Society.

Philip "PJ" Johnson Haynie III,
    Northumberland County, Virginia
PJ Haynie is part of an unbroken
family line of African American
farmers who have grown crops for
at least five generations on their
own land in Northumberland
County. Today, PJ Haynie and his
father grow corn, wheat, barley,
and soybeans on 1,200 acres.
One of few remaining African
American-owned family farms, it
has survived by diversifying and
becoming highly mechanized.

Saunders Brothers, Piney River,
    Nelson County, Virginia
Nestled in the foothills of
Virginia's Blue Ridge
Mountains, Saunders Brothers
began as a partnership of five
brothers in 1915. Today, thirdgeneration
brothers Tom, Bennett,
Jim, and Robert operate the
wholesale nursery with their father,
Paul. www.saundersbrothers.com

Vintage Virginia Apples,
    Charlottesville,
    Albemarle County, Virginia
Bud Shelton started Vintage
Virginia Apples and the Rural
Ridge Orchard after his retirement
from the Virginia Forest Service.
His daughter, Charlotte Shelton,
is one of the owners. They
produce several kinds of cider,
in addition to a variety of apples,
peaches, plums, and quinces.
www.vintagevirginiaapples.com

Virginia Wineries Association,
    Alexandria, Virginia
Established in 1983, the Virginia
Wineries Association is a dynamic
nonprofit trade organization that
represents some 110 wineries in
the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The association fosters appreciation
of wine, researches its health
benefits, promotes quality wine
production, develops market share,
and expands the Virginia wine
industry. www.virginiawines.org

Ham, Peanuts, and Cattle
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Ciré and Babacar Bâ,
    Ndjilasséme, Senegal, West Africa
Ciré Bâ and his son, Babacar,
are experts in traditional
agriculture. Ciré was born in
1929 in Ndjilasséme and began
farming his own field at fifteen.
In addition to peanuts, he grows
three varieties of millet, string
beans, black-eyed peas, and sorrel.

Tommy and Dee Dee Darden,
    Smithfield, Isle of Wight
    County, Virginia
In 1952, Tommy's father founded
Darden's Farm and Darden's
Country Store, which Tommy and
Dee Dee now own and operate.
In addition to growing peanuts,
soybeans, and corn, the Dardens
slow-age (the old-fashioned way)
long-cut country hams every year.

Edwards and Sons,
    Surry, Surry County, Virginia
The Edwards family has been
curing their own country ham
for nearly eighty years, ever since
S. Wallace Edwards, a ferryboat
captain, served ham sandwiches
to his passengers. Today, his
grandson, Sam, produces a
limited number of hams each
year. www.edwardsvaham.com

Stuart Gibbons,
    Canterbury, Kent, England
Stuart Gibbons is Head of Rural
Regeneration for the Kent County
Council. His team supports the
innovation and regeneration
of businesses and communities
in rural Kent. Stuart lives in
deepest rural Kent in an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Henry Goodrich, Wakefield,
    Suffolk County, Virginia
Henry Goodrich, a peanut
farmer for the Wakefield Peanut
Company, is also the president
of the Virginia Peanut Growers'
Association. His family created
the first peanut digger, which
could only process one row at a
time. Modern peanut diggers can
process two or four rows at once.

Virginia-Carolina Peanut
    Promotions, Nashville,
    Nash County, North Carolina
Virginia-Carolina Peanut
Promotions provides the public with
information on peanuts and peanut
production. The organization
seeks to increase the use and
consumption of peanuts grown in
Virginia, North Carolina, and South
Carolina. www.aboutpeanuts.com

Horse Crafts
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Tony and Marc Stevenson,
    Bethersden, Kent, England
The Stevenson brothers specialize
in making and restoring rocking
horses. To date, they have made
over 6,500 rocking horses, which
collectors worldwide prize. The
brothers have made rocking horses
for Queen Elizabeth, modeled
on her favorite horses. They also
operate a "rocking-horse hospital."
www.rockinghorses.uk.net

Theresa Trussell, Kent, England
Theresa Trussell comes from
a Kentish rural background
and has been involved in horse
breeding, training, and competition
all her life. As Kent's lead
equestrian officer, she tries to
boost local economic progress by
developing the equine industry.

Danny Wingate, Elk Creek,
    Grayson County, Virginia
For over twenty-five years,
Danny Wingate has made
saddles and harnesses. He began
working with leather when
he was fourteen. He is also an
experienced woodworker.

Outdoor Crafts
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Norman Amos, Callands,
    Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Artists throughout the world
carve snake canes, which have a
particularly rich history in southern
Appalachia. Retired tobacco farmer
and mail carrier Norman Amos
is considered the greatest living
master of the craft. He recently
achieved his lifelong goal of
carving one cane for every species
of snake indigenous to Virginia.

Susan Bridges, Meadows of Dan,
    Patrick County, Virginia
Older family members and friends
taught Susan Bridges which
greens and other wild plants to
pick, mix, and eat. She practices
natural foraging and is developing
a business around dried and
canned food products, such as wild
strawberry jam and blue violet jelly.

Grayson Chesser, Sanford,
    Accomack County, Virginia
Grayson Chesser is one of the
most respected decoy carvers of
his generation. He learned how
to carve from old-time masters
like Chincoteague carving
legends Cigar Daisy and Miles
Hancock. He spent much of his
childhood collecting hand-carved
decoys and hunting ducks in the
marshes around the Chesapeake
Bay. www.chesserdecoys.com

Salla Diagne and Diama Thiendou,
    Senegal, West Africa
The baskets crafted by Salla Diagne
and her family are recognized
for their quality and are sold
in Senegal and internationally.
The coiling techniques that she
uses date back to the seventeenth
century and are among the craft
traditions that Africans brought
to Virginia and the Carolinas.

Pat Harrison, Covington,
    Alleghany County, Virginia
Pat Harrison grew up hunting
with his father and uncle. By the
time he was twelve, he had taken
a particular interest in turkey
hunting, so he started listening
to the sounds of gobblers and
hens calling to each other in
the wild. Harrison has created
over 685 calls and has perfected
the sound an older hen makes
when calling young toms.

John Arthur Leonard, Chincoteague,
    Accomack County, Virginia
John Arthur Leonard's family has
lived on Chincoteague Island since
the 1670s. When he was thirteen,
he bought the first of 150 decoys
in his collection. At seventeen, he
began carving with advice from
most of the masters on the island.

Metal Crafts
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Mbaye Fall,
    Ndjilasséme, Senegal, West Africa
Enslaved Africans brought to
Virginia centuries of experience
melting, twisting, and shaping
metals. Blacksmiths like Fall still
play an important role in Senegal's
farming communities by making
100 Participants
agricultural tools, plows, cooking
utensils, charcoal cooking stoves,
horseshoes, stirrups, and bits.
Generally, two blacksmiths from
the same family work together—
one master and one apprentice.

Billy Phelps, Woodlawn,
    Carroll County, Virginia
Billy Phelps grew up in a family
of blacksmiths. He spent much
of his youth with his uncle, a
country blacksmith, who did
everything from shoeing horses to
repairing farm equipment. Phelps
began as a farrier (someone who
shoes horses) in 1972, but by the
early 1980s, he was doing only
repair and ornamental work.

Kelly Smyth, Chadds Ford,
    Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Kelly Smyth has been a blacksmith
for nearly twenty years. The
magazine Early American Life
named her one of the top 200
traditional craftspeople in the
country. Smyth is adept in all
facets of the blacksmith's trade
but has a special talent and love
for maritime blacksmithing.

Godfrey South,
    Eynsford, Kent, England
Godfrey South is an awardwinning
master blacksmith
and a fellow of the Worshipful
Company of Blacksmiths. His
Darenth Valley Forge is based
at Lower Austin Lodge Farm
on the outskirts of Eynsford.

Rural Crafts

Clyde Jenkins,
    Stanley, Page County, Virginia
Master artist, Clyde Jenkins grew
up in the Shenandoah Mountains,
where community members
taught him how to make baskets
from white oak. This skill is
hundreds of years old and requires
an in-depth study of the oak's
grain. Jenkins is one of the most
respected teachers of the craft.

Yoro Kebé, Ndjilasséme,
    Senegal, West Africa
Yoro Kebé is a resident woodcarver
in the agricultural village
of Ndjilasséme in Senegal. He
makes and repairs wooden
implements used in farming
and food preparation, and he
makes furniture and musical
instruments.Kebé belongs to
an ethnic- and family-based
occupational group called
Laobé, which has carved wood
for more than 500 years.

John Waller,
    Blackham, Kent, England
Underwoodsman (a woodworker
who champions sustainable
production) John Waller has carved
wood for fifteen years. He weaves
baskets and builds household
and garden furniture, using
his own and pre-made designs.
www.underwoodsman.co.uk

Robert M. Watson, Jr.,
    Williamsburg, Virginia
Robert M. Watson, Jr. is a
historical interpreter for the
Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation. A highly skilled
wood craftsman, he demonstrates
historical woodworking trades at
living history museums and fairs.
His specialties include baskets,
walking canes, and brooms.

Tobacco and Hops
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Bob Cage, South Boston,
    Halifax County, Virginia
Bob Cage has been enthralled with
the tobacco auctioneer's chant
since he first visited his stepfather's
tobacco warehouse as a young man.
He began auctioning tobacco in 1950
and since then has sold tobacco all
over the world. In 1984, Cage won
the World Tobacco Auctioneering
Championship, the highest honor
awarded to a tobacco auctioneer.
www.oldhalifax.com/cage

Jim Crawford,
    Roanoke, Virginia
Jim Crawford is a filmmaker
who researched and produced
Down in the Old Belt: Voices from
the Tobacco South, which traces
the history and culture of tobacco
in the Old Belt of Virginia, from
Jamestown to the Buyout. Crawford
is currently apprenticing under
tobacco auctioneer Bob Cage.
www.swinginggateproductions.com/oldbelt.htm

Colin Felton,
    Kent, England
As a child, Colin Felton worked as
a hop picker. He currently works at
the Hop Farm Country Park, one
of the biggest hop farms in Kent,
where he has witnessed firsthand
the successful diversification of the
farm after changes in the market.

Derek Hitcham,
    Kent, England
In 1698, the mayor of Faversham
founded Shepherd Neame, the
oldest brewery in England. Three
centuries later, it remains an
independent family company,
which brews traditional Kentish
ales and internationally renowned
lagers. The company retains strong
local ties; 85 percent of the beer
sold in its many pubs is produced
in Kent. Derek Hitcham is a
Shepherd Neame employee who
gives guided tours of the brewery.
www.shepherd-neame.co.uk

Kevin Owen, Chatham,
    Pittsylvania County, Virginia
A fifth-generation tobacco farmer,
Kevin Owen farms eighty-five
acres of flue-cured, or "bright-leaf,"
tobacco, a sweet, thin tobacco used
almost exclusively in cigarettes.
When tobacco prices dropped, he
and his brother started to grow corn
and soybeans, as well as tobacco.

Bobby Wilkerson, Ringgold,
    Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Bobby Wilkerson is a fifthgeneration
tobacco farmer. He
has worked in tobacco fields all
his life. He was instrumental in
developing the Tobacco Transition
Payment Program, which was
signed into law in October 2004.

Working Dogs

Roy and Debbie Johnson,
    Gladys, Campbell County, Virginia
Roy Johnson's interest in training
dogs started when he saw his
father and uncle train hunting
dogs. After a farm accident in
1985, Johnson began dog-training
full-time. He wanted to train
dogs to do "farm chores," not to
compete. Johnson feels that he is
helping to keep part of Virginia's
rural heritage alive by training
over 130 dogs for farmwork.