The Cullman Tribune is celebrating the Alabama Bicentennial (1819-2019) with statewide field reporting by Alabama Master Gardener/Botanical Artist Ben Johnson South. This year-long feature, “The 67-County Alabama Garden Party,” will spotlight different counties each week. Each county will get its own “quilt block,” along with a historical profile, and we’ll share a recipe specific to the area. At the end of the year, all 67 counties will be put in a book to commemorate the Bicentennial.
Limestone County
Fiddle-de-dee, it’s the first week of spring and here I am in Limestone County with fine folks and fiddle music. Life is not just good, it’s fit-as-a-fiddle good.
Limestone County is to Alabama folk and bluegrass music what Liverpool is to Beatlemania. Every fall, thousands of bluegrass music fans come out of the local hills and valleys, as well as all 50 U.S. states and many foreign countries, to the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Limestone County. And, the interwoven Athens Storytelling Festival is considered by many to include “the best professional liars in Alabama not counting our politicians.”
Here are some Limestone County stories about how PLANTS + PEOPLE come together in positive and pleasurable ways, each introduced by a crowd-pleasing bluegrass tune:
*”THIRTY YEARS OF FARMING”- This classic by The James King Band could have been written about 10 score years of agricultural ups and downs in Limestone County since joining the Alabama Territory in February 1818.
*”PRETTY GREEN HILLS”- Limestone County is so pretty and green it was fought over in violent clashes between white settlers and the Native Americans, then only a few decades later fought over again in bloody battles between Southern and Northern soldiers during America’s Civil War. These pretty, green hills are alive with the sound of music and history.
*”JOHN DEERE TRACTOR”- The level plowing fields of this part of Alabama have welcomed thousands of mechanical tractors through the years and thousands more mules ahead of that (song by Larry Sparks).
*”BILE THEM CABBAGE DOWN”- Speaking of mules, this American folk song with the title refrain about a favorite vegetable has been enjoyed in Limestone County for more than 100 years. The origins of the song are unknown, but it was probably brought to America by African slaves who played it on a banjo they invented from a hollowed out gourd. This here lyric is liable to have you grinnin’ like a mule eatin’ briars: “How that mule would kick. He kicked with his dyin’ breath. He shoved his hind feet down his throat, and kicked hisself to death.”
*”SHADY GROVE”- Ricky Skaggs, who wrote this tune, is not from Alabama but he comes to play here and the locals love and claim him. He could have been thinking of the leafy , little, lost-in-time, white picket-fence town of Mooresville where the post office has been operating since 1840. “Every time I walk this road, it’s always dark and cloudy. Every time I see that girl, I always tell her howdy.”
*”CABIN ON THE HILL”- The tall natives pines in Limestone County provided safe shelter for the early settlers; life was roughhewn but sweetly remembered like the lines Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys evoke: “There’s a happy child at home; in my memory I can see, standing out upon the hill, in the shadow of a tree.”
*”MOUNTAIN DEW”- The no. 1 plant crop in Limestone County is corn, which is the main grain in moonshine up in these pretty, green hills (basically, grain, sugar, water, yeast plus time to ferment). Be forewarned, “mountain dew” from here has a kick like a Mooresville mule, but like Grandpa Jones sang: “Oh, they call it that ole mountain dew, and them that refuse it are few. I’ll shut up my mug, if you fill up my jug with some good ole mountain dew.”
*”PARADISE”- Jim and Jesse McReynolds were singing about another Southern state, but the pastoral images resonate with the folks in Limestone County: “Daddy won’t you take me down by the green river where paradise lays.” The Tennessee River is slow-moving and green through this part of Alabama and another reason anything you plant here naturally thrives.
*”I’LL MEET YOU IN CHURCH SUNDAY MORNING- This classic by The Stanley Brothers has been hummed by many on their way to church in Limestone County. I stopped by the prayer garden at St. Timothy’s Episcopal and thought through what I understand to be the four prayers of all the old religions: THANKS—for this beautiful, green part of Alabama, GIMME—a safe trip home and a good opportunity to return here soon, OOPS—for the missteps we humans take in trying to be good stewards of the land and share it with others, and WOW—IT’S THE FIRST WEEK OF SPRING AND I’M IN GOD’S COUNTRY!
Here are a few other PLANTS + PEOPLE notes from Limestone County:
*LIMESTONE COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKET- (Downtown Athens) 409 West Green Street, open Tuesday and Friday mornings May-November
*LIMESTONE COUNTY FARMSTANDS- Geary Farms (Athens), James Williamson (Tanner), John Isom (Athens), Richard Phillips (Athens)
*LIMESTONE COUNTY BLUEBERRIES- U-Pick in Elkmont with Trey Sanford (256-232-7418)
*LIMESTONE COUNTY RAILS-TO-TRAILS- This repurposed path runs from Athens to the Tennessee state line, offering miles of FREE hiking and biking through acres and acres of farmed land and woodlands.
PLANT AN IDEA- In this statewide series, I’m regularly sharing a garden idea that seems right for the featured area, but in Limestone County I stumbled onto a little oasis smack dab in the middle of Athens that could, and I think should, be adopted in each of the other 66 Alabama counties. It’s a designed space not bigger than 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep, fronted at the sidewalk by two simply constructed, waist-high, wooden planters, separated to allow an easy entrance. The side walls have trellises for vines to grow and the back fence has a charming painting of a map of Alabama with a pink camellia and a Yellowhammer bird. The outdoor furniture is just a couple of round tables and maybe four chairs. I got a caramel sundae at the Kreme Delight and settled in with some brochures about the historic sites right in front of my eyes, including the stately Limestone County Courthouse constructed with local limestone. This would also be a cool, shaded place to hear the soulful sounds of Brittany Howard and Alabama Shakes, the Grammy winners who blossomed forth from Athens, Alabama in recent years.
Y’ALL COME to Limestone County on your 67-County, Alabama Garden Party tour! The pretty hills are freshly green, but the timeless soundtrack is bluegrass.
LIMESTONE COUNTY EGGPLANT PARMESAN AND GOAT CHEESE SANDWICH
While I was in downtown Athens on the historic and charming square, I looped into the deservedly popular Terranova’s Italian Restaurant and talked “eatin’ local and thinkin’ global” with chef/owner, Dan Oliver. This astute ambassador for Alabama farm-to-fork expressed his gratitude for Limestone County farmers and the fresh produce they sell just steps away from his kitchen. One of the many diner-pleasers on Terranova’s impressive menu is eggplant parmesan, which Dan makes with local, in-season eggplants as palate-pleasing as they are purple-pretty. Chef Oliver serves his eggplant parmesan with capellini pasta, but I had been waiting for a chance to explore an eggplant parmesan sandwich recipe I saw in Real Simple Magazine. The recipe also exalts the fresh goat cheese from Belle Chevre in nearby Elkmont. This sandwich entrée would be delish with a bowl of Limestone County corn-crab soup from Terranova’s and then a dish of their local strawberry tiramisu.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium Limestone County eggplant sliced into 1/4 inch-thick rounds
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 4 slices sandwich bread
- 3 tbsp. sundried tomato paste
- 1/3 cup Belle Chevre goat cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
- Heat grill or grill pan to medium. Brush both sides of the eggplant with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Grill until tender and slightly charred, 4-5 minutes per side.
- Spread 2 slices of bread with tomato paste and the remaining 2 slices with goat cheese. Form 2 sandwiches with the bread and eggplant slices.
- Brush both sides of the sandwiches with 1 Tbsp. of the oil, then press with 1 tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese.
- Heat the remaining tbsp. of oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add the sandwiches and cook until the Parmesan has browned, 4-5 minutes.
Also, check out Alabama Bicentennial: 200 ways to save Alabama for the next 200 years.
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