We recently wrapped up another hunting season at Lost Creek Farm. In this episode we’re making hunter’s stews from all over the world and hitting the woods with our good friend, Jonathan Hall. Join us as we explore the ways hunting and cooking experiences can change the way we think, through personal stories about race, place and our relations with the natural world.
Find this and past episodes at The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour.
It’s harvest season in the garden at Lost Creek Farm, where Mike and Amy grow dozens of unique heirloom vegetables, from Homer Fike’s Yellow Oxheart tomatoes and Pink Annie half-runner beans, to Bloody Butcher corn and Red Hubbard squash. Behind each of those plants is a generations-deep community of people who’ve saved these cherished seeds and passed them down over the years. We visit just a few seed savers behind some of the crops grown at Lost Creek Farm, and we hear stories of seeds connecting people to their families and communities, as well as other cultures and far-away places.
Find this and past episodes at The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour.
In the face of uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world found creative ways to honor their culinary rites of spring and early summer. In this episode, Jan visits his family in Poland, where, as far as spring holidays go, Easter reigns supreme. Mike hears stories from his mom about the picnic foods of Decoration Day, the holiday formally known as Memorial Day since 1970. We're joined by a special guest to celebrate the Kurdish New Year, Newrouz, as well as Ramadan and Eid.
Find this and past episodes at The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour.
Mike and Jan tag along with some of friends of Lost Creek Farm as one West Virginia family goes to great lengths to make morcilla, an old-world blood sausage that connects them to their northern Spanish roots. Following the entire process — from the field slaughter of a young bull to procure fresh blood, to sharing a meal of hearty stew made with rich, smoky links — their adventure inspires a spontaneous long-distance trip to Lost Creek, opening up new connections from seemingly worlds away.
Find this and past episodes at The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour.
For the very first episode of The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour, Mike and Jan celebrate the Lunar New Year in Washington, D.C. and rural West Virginia. Mike joins a good friend on an epic winter road trip through the mountains to procure ingredients for a special Cantonese feast. Kentucky chef AuCo Lai stops by Lost Creek Farm to prepare a spread of New Years dishes steeped in Vietnamese tradition, with plenty of influences from AuCo’s time in the Bluegrass State’s Appalachian coalfields.
Find this episode at The Pickle Shelf Radio Hour.
