Got a message that said I should introduce myself here

[Farmer-Rick]

So, here I am.

I've been lurking for a long time here and at other liberal sites. I found this one to most closely match my sentiments.

I'm an organic farmer and shepard from East TN. In TN it matters if you are from the west, the middle or the east. It's in the TN constitution. I think east TN folks are more liberal than west and even middle TN. I think TN was the first example of gerrymandering by conservatives.They squashed us liberals in the east by grouping us with a majority of slave owning, conservatives.

I love all things farming, especially all the new information coming out about real organic farming. Not the fake kind that substitutes organic chemicals and pesticides for artificial petroleum based chemicals, but the kind that looks to make your soil and pasture healthier than when you started farming. In only 7 years, I've seen a difference in our air, insect population and quality of produce. It's amazing how quickly mother nature will recover if you just let her.

As you can tell, I have opinions on almost everything. I'm an old timer and have been married for years. I'm retired Navy and have 3 children.

Not much else to say except, "Hi". And I look forward to many interesting conversations.

[underpants]

1. Hi! Welcome to DU

[CountAllVotes]

2. Welcome to the Democratic Underground Farmer-Rick

& welcome!!

[Zoonart]

3. Welcome...

come on in the water's fine.

[rzemanfl]

4. Welcome. You are in the former Free Republic of Franklin (1784-1790).

[Farmer-Rick]

34. Yes, they were supposed to be used to pay off the debt

But it never worked out.

Their rejected Constitution would have prevented Lawyers, Doctors and Preachers from being candidates for election.

[rzemanfl]

57. I could live with a Constitution like that. n/t

[greymattermom]

5. I live in Atlanta.

I'm also an old timer, a retired neuroscientist (medical school basic science professor). My grandkids live in Cincinnati, so I drive through East TN often including tomorrow. I have cousins who grew up in Elizabethton and Johnson City, and my uncle was an attorney in Johnson City. Do you sell your produce?

[Farmer-Rick]

35. Yes, we still sell lamb, eggs and some vegetables but mostly to restaurants.

We use to do several markets in the area but health problems have caused us to reduce the amount of sales we do.

[appleannie1943]

6. Hi and welcome to DU

I did straw bale gardening for the first time last year. It is too hard for me to walk up and down the hill to where my garden always has been and since hubby is fighting cancer he can no longer run the rototiller. So having the straw bale garden right next to the house worked great for us. Now that winter is here, the straw is ripening into mulch for the flower beds next year. I have an herb garden and try to grow flowers the bees and butterflies like. The mulch will keep them healthy.

[Farmer-Rick]

36. Sounds like you have a good plan to keep gardening

You know I heard the other day that people planting flowers for humming birds is what saved them from extinction.

Doing a little can have a big impact.

[cilla4progress]

7. Welcome,

nice to meet you!

If I recall correctly (without verifying) I started here in 2000 or 2004 after disastrous stolen national elections. It's my go-to to share with smart, like-minded, sometimes angry and sad online friends. It can be exasperating, but I've learned to let it go.

Even when FB has failed me (and I've finally deleted my account there), I always know I can come here to share with others who see what is going on right in front of us.

You will be a valued member of the DU community!

[AJT]

8. Howdy

Thank you for working so hard to supply us with healthier food and a healthier planet.

[Irish_Dem]

9. I echo these sentiments!

[Cryptoad]

25. Organic Farming is hard work especially ,,,,,

in the south where we have more bug hatches..........

[Farmer-Rick]

37. Isn't that the truth

Every freaking hungry bug that comes over from foreign countries seems to make a stop over here. From the marmorated stink bug from Asia to the Kudzu bug that dines on soybeans (but also Kudzu which is good) likes to pass through here. Though the stink bug seems to be a permanent resident now. The birds though, are learning to eat it.

[Kali]

10. always nice to see fellow ag people here on DU

most of us have gone to the dark and stupid side. I raise beef in the southeast corner of AZ.

[Farmer-Rick]

72. Pasture raised beef was a very popular item at one of the largest farmer's markets

I use to sell at. The farm would regularly sell out.

Lamb is a little unusual for people around here though before WWII, everyone raised sheep in east TN....not so much anymore. Though the fields around here are perfect for grazing sheep and if you manage it right, you don't even have to buy hay for the winter. I really think if I let the ram in year round we would have a healthy well fed herd of well over 100 in a couple years. It seems like they thrive in these mountains with very little input from me.

Glad to see a fellow livestock farmer here.

[CurtEastPoint]

11. Welcome to DU from Atlanta!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Welcome to DU, Farmer-Rick!

I think you're going to like it here!

If you look at the top of any page, you'll see a lot of tabs. I would direct you to the Forums & Groups tab. There you will find EVERY group that exists here!

There's lots of interesting things to see and talk about when you want something other than politics.

Again, Welcome!

[Farmer-Rick]

73. Thanks for the info.

[The Polack MSgt]

13. Welcome to DU Farmer-Rick

I'm always glad to see hill country and other rural Democrats as well as veterans here on DU.

We do exist!

I love northeast Tennessee, it's beautiful land

[leftofcool]

14. Hello neighbor.

Kentuckian here. Not a farmer by any stretch of the imagination. Lake retiree though.

[BadgerMom]

15. Welcome.

Pleased to meet you.

[Aristus]

16. Tennessee is one of my favorite Southern states.

I was born and raised in Texas to an Alabama-based family, although I call the Pacific Northwest my home.

Welcome!


My eight-grade math teacher was from Tennessee, and had the sexiest accent ever. I was so in love with her...

[Farmer-Rick]

63. There is a southern mountain accent arround here

That I think is easier on the ears than the accent from other parts south. It tends to be less nasal, more guttural and have a unique turn of phrase. Fewer and fewer people around here have it. I kind of miss it.

[louis c]

17. Welcome to DU

[Saviolo]

18. Welcome welcome

You should come join us in the Cooking and Baking chat group:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1157

My husband is from Texas (though we live together in Toronto, Ontario now), and he ran a restaurant here in Toronto for two and a half years that was based strongly in the philosophy of everything locally produced. Ideally organic, but local was the main focus. He tried to encourage people to have a relationship with the food they were eating. He'd talk about how important it was to have local food and what it means (especially in terms of fermenting/preserving!). He dealt with local farmers and farming groups, and a neat little local supplier called 100km Foods.

The restaurant closed, sadly (the restaurant biz is brutal, especially here in Toronto), so now we just do YouTube videos with recipes and preserving techniques

[Farmer-Rick]

74. Why thanks for the invite.

Though my cooking skills are a little rusty....but I can always learn.

[Saviolo]

76. Well, that's what our YouTube channel is for :)

You can find us at http://www.youtube.com/c/loveyourfood

[fierywoman]

19. Welcome! I love the work you are doing, thank you.

[tnlurker]

20. Welcome Farmer-Rick

I am in the far west of Tn. I agree...we are different in the west. However, the sparsely populated counties in the west historically voted for democrats until we were gerrymandered with either the very republican suburbs of Memphis or Nashville. I actually live in a suburb of Memphis. My town normally votes about 85% republican and 15% democratic. I am in the minority here.

[Farmer-Rick]

75. I did not know the counties in rural west TN voted Democratic

good to know.

Gerrymandering tends to wear off after awhile because people now a days move so much. The RepubliCONS are going to have to keep on suppressing and redistricting in order to keep their true red districts. But after we get the Putin Puppet out of the WH, I think a lot of once red states are going to go very blue.

[orangecrush]

21. Welcome!

Nice to meet you!

[Duppers]

22. Hi!

You really do think the Nashville area is more conservative than the Knoxville area? I disagree. Grew up there, family still there. Have a look at this list:
https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-conservative-cities-in-tennessee/

I know you're totally right about the white (racist) population in Memphis area however. Memphis been called the largest city in Mississippi! But I love the Blues down there. Country music in Nashville and Knoxville, nope, not much at all.

[Farmer-Rick]

71. Yeah, Nashville has a large contingent of liberals too.

Some of the rural area in middle and east TN can be quite conservative too.

But the smart small farmers know RepubliCONS will try to crush them and force them out of business.

[Duppers]

82. These towns on the list...

I placed a 🌟 next to the ones in East TN:
Sevierville 🌟
Pigeon Forge 🌟
Cleveland 🌟
Loudon 🌟
Lenoir City 🌟
Elizabethton 🌟
Savannah
Jefferson City🌟
Fayetteville
Crossville (on the border)
All conservative, Republican voters.

Very glad to hear that "small farmers know RepubliCONS will try to crush them and force them out of business."
The small farmers I know in Blount, Sevier, Hamblen, Jefferson, & Greene counties still vote for the R's. They're wiser in big old Knox county tho, thank goodness.

Happy Thx-giving /Turkey day to you tomorrow!

[Left-over]

23. Welcome to DU!

I am your neighbor from southwest Virginia.

[NRaleighLiberal]

24. Howdy! Eastern TN Farmer - that is where the tomato Cherokee Purple

seems to have originated - it was sent to me in 1990 by a man living in Sevierville TN - with no name. I was happy to name it based on the brief amt of history he shared.

welcome!

[Farmer-Rick]

78. Love how seeds float around and varieties never really disappear.

No matter how badly the corporate seed markets want to restrict your access to more useful varieties, they keep floating around and adapting and changing.

I got a bunch of seeds from a farmer in Kentucky called an apple melon. We had the worse drought and stink bug invasion in years when I planted them with a bunch of other squash and melons. They were the only vines to survive and produce about 50 single serving melons per vine. Wished I had planted more. If you like soft skin melon and you see Kentucky farmers selling apple melon seed, buy them. They are so hardy, prolific and delicious.

[Raster]

26. Welcome Farmer Rick!

You are among friends.

[pandr32]

27. Hi back and welcome!

[Sneederbunk]

28. Shepard?

[Farmer-Rick]

79. You caught that huh?

Yeah, I love those woollies. Though we raise hair sheep that mostly shed their wool. There isn't much of a market for wool in the US anymore.

[gopiscrap]

29. welcome to DU

[xxqqqzme]

30. Our kids grew up

on our humble organic farm in West Virginia. The old root cellar became our compost lab. It was partially filled with dirt and weeds. We just turned it and started adding good stuff. It is so wonderful to see nearly depleted soil turn black and support life with a little attention and care.

Welcome to DU

[Farmer-Rick]

81. So true

When I saw the lichen coming back on the trees and wooden fences after only 5 years, I was amazed. Then after 7 years, a swarm of golden butterflies come to visit every fall. And this spring a huge flock of purple martins covered the 4 phone lines all the way up and down my quarter mile lane. And I wont mention the golden eagles and red tail hawks that harass my chickens on a regular basis.

It's as if they know where the safe places are.

[Duppers]

83. Sounds like heaven.

And the 70 acre farm I grew up on in Hamblen County some 60 yrs ago.

[Greybnk48]

31. Welcome Farmer-Rick!

It's a good time for more liberals to join the conversation!

[magicarpet]

32. Welcome Farmer Rick....

From way up here in Portland, Maine.
Welcome aboard, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[Farmer-Rick]

85. Thanks so much

Hope your thanksgiving was plentiful.

[SnowCritter]

33. Welcome aboard!

Glad you're here!

[handmade34]

38. welcome...

stepped foot a few times when hiking the AT... fine state

used to teach homesteading... nothing like a good healthy farm/garden

[sab390]

39. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

As John Oliver would say. As I tell everyone, never miss LoLcats on Sunday and never believe anything TheFerret writes.

[joanbarnes]

40. Welcome from a fellow Lurker

[joanbarnes]

41. Love to hear any positive tidbits about the current state of farming/food production.

[getting old in mke]

42. Welcome, Farmer Rick

Lurk or post as much as you want. I've been here almost 14 years and have only 600 or so posts, which pretty much makes me a lurker too.

I have kin in Maryville and Greenback, alive and buried, and a cousin's wife taught 40 years in Johnson City. Every decade or so I drop in on my grandparents graves to see how they are doing

[TlalocW]

43. I will probably have some questions for you in the future

I'm planning on buying a house and get a few hives of bees to keep. I also recently took a, "Food, Not Lawns," class that has inspired me to replace the back lawn with crops. I'm sure you'll be a fount of information if I don't bug you with too many questions.

TlalocW

[Farmer-Rick]

86. Ask away

I may not know but I can hunt down info with the best of them.

Food, Not Lawns sounds interesting. Sometimes in a draught I graze my sheep on my lawn and along my driveway. But they don't do a very regular cut and I go over it with the mower once in awhile.

[SharonAnn]

44. Hello, I am also in East Tennessee.

Came here in 2000 and love much about East TN. However, I sometimes felt lonely as a Dem until I found a few like-minded Democrats here. Still learning how to "Live Blue in Red Tennessee".

[aintitfunny]

45. Hey Farmer-Rick

I am a liberal born and raised in East Tennessee - Johnson City. Went to Happy Valley High School in Carter County and of course ETSU briefly. Moved away in 1978, and have been in the Baltimore, MD area since 1988.

I grew up as a Carter County Democrat, and they always said back in the day, that we held our meetings in a phone booth.

Nice to have you here, and hope to see your postings in the future. I tend to lurk, not big on posting, but I've been on DU since January of 2004. My time flies.

[Farmer-Rick]

87. When I wrote I was a long time lurker

I meant a real long time. Like about 10 years. Time does fly.

[Heartstrings]

46. Welcome to du Farmer-Rick

[mtngirl47]

47. Welcome to DU!

I'm your neighbor to the south in Western North Carolina and I grow most of my own fruit and vegetables organically.

I'm a long time lurker and I still don't post much, but I value the information and opinions on DU more than any other spot on the net!

[flygal]

48. Beautiful country there!

I'm from the Rockies but can not believe how much beauty there is all over this country. welcome to DU.

[rock]

49. Welcome to DU as a participant

Apparently we have a lot of browsers only, but I think you'll find that interacting with the other DUers is a lot more fun!

[markbark]

50. Hiya!

[Farmer-Rick]

88. Oh I really like that song

Saw the movie when it first came out. I went with my sister...couldn't get a date.

[TNNurse]

51. I too live in East TN.

I live in Blount County and although there are Democrats and liberals here, it is certainly not the majority. There are wonderful groups that have been going awhile and many others that are forming.

Welcome to this discussion. Be alert.

[Moostache]

52. Welcome to DU!

Always nice to see fresh voices emerge...looking forward to your contributions.

[steve2470]

53. Welcome Farmer-Rick, glad you're here!

I'm sure you have many interesting things to say (esp. about farming). You are in the right place!

[guillaumeb]

54. Go west young man.

Welcome to DU.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

55. Greetings Farmer- Rick

And Welcome ! I spent summers in Nashville as a youngster,the grand parents and all. But in those days there was no such thing as a republican in the south ! None of mention to say the least !

[lunamagica]

56. Welcome to DU!

[40RatRod]

58. Welcome from a transplant from Tennessee.

Raised between Oak Ridge and Knoxville back when that was mostly farms. We settled in middle Georgia after a 20 year military career.

[volstork]

59. Greetings from Nashville!

I have lived in all three Grand Divisions:
Born and raised in Shelby County
Undergrad at UTK
Now live in Nashville x 20 yrs.

My uncle is retired Navy; was based in San Diego. Where were you stationed?

Welcome!

[Farmer-Rick]

89. Puerto Rico and Rosey Roads was my most exotic tour

Been all along the east coast. Never got to the west.

[mopinko]

60. we def need more farmers around here.

[PatrickforO]

61. Welcome. Mother nature recovering is an interest we all have

around here.

[rocktivity]

62. Be sure to subscribe to the DU Rural/Farm Life Group

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1182


rocktivity

[Farmer-Rick]

64. Oh thanks for that. I didn't know.

[TomSlick]

65. Welcome, Navy

This a good place for us old retired military guys to hang out.

[hay rick]

66. Welcome from one Rick to another.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

67. Welcome, I do some farming too.

Today I gathered a flat of Golden Chanterelles, two milk buckets of Christmas Concords, two 5 gal. buckets of quince and will take them to the Santa Rosa Farmers Market at the Luther Burbank Center tomorrow with the last of the Chestnuts we gathered. (Hello local DU members, if you come to this market say hello.) We only attend the big markets in Chestnut season, the rest of the year we go to a local market on the coast.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

[Farmer-Rick]

90. We use to do the big markets regularly

But poor health has slowed us down.

Eggs, lamb, tomatillos and greens were our staple. We tried our hand at corn but the worms always made a mess of them. Believe it or not, I got some good results with saffron here. The last drought was really tough on my crop but this year they came back.

[yuiyoshida]

68. Welcome to DU

づ え よこそ

[denbot]

69. Hello Farmer-Rick

Welcome to DU.

[Rhiannon12866]

70. Welcome to DU, Farmer-Rick!

It's great to have you with us! My cousin moved to Tennessee from NC, beautiful country!

[DFW]

77. I have a good liberal friend from the very west of TN

He was a state senator from Dresden on the Missouri border. He is one of the nicest men you could ever want to meet. His name is Roy Herron, in case you ever run across the name. So, there are a few of "us" out there in western TN, even if they re an endangered species.

Wlecome to DU!

[lunasun]

80. HI Welcome ! We will enjoy some of our harvest tomorrow on Thanksgiving

What size farm may I ask? I am glad you have had success with insect population.

[Farmer-Rick]

91. We have a small farm

We own about 20 acres and rent some pasture, about 10 acres, from a neighbor.

[pnwmom]

84. Welcome to DU, Farmer-Rick!

[Farmer-Rick]

92. Thanks so much for the welcome

I tried to answer all the folks with questions. If I missed you I'm sorry.

But thank you all for your kind hellos.

[randr]

93. Welcome from another organic farmer

from Western Colorado. The Western part is also an important distinction. Lots of organic farms, orchards, and vineyards.

[Honeycombe8]

94. Well, Hello There.

Lots of old timers in this forum. I'm over 60, myself. Welcome

[flying_wahini]

95. Welcome to DU !

[bluestarone]

96. a big HELLO and

WELCOME!! Nice to have you here joining the discussions!

[Scruffy1]

97. I hear you about TN.

The eastern and some of the north Tennesee places are very different than the rest of the state. welcome to DU. I remind myself constantly that even the redest states generally have at least 30% Democrats , which means a swing of 10% would change thing a lot. The biggest obstacle in my opinion is the patronage the party that is long in power has. Favors owed, jobs given, and the advantages incumbants always have in money and recognition. Welcome to DU.