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Lewis County Lavender Farmer Worried About Fracking

At the end of a 2 and-a-half-mile, single lane road, sits La Paix Herb Farm. Owner Myra Bonhage-Hale is a retired social worker in her 70’s. She and her son Bill live here, in a brightly painted, purple homestead that dates back to the 1800’s. The house, formerly called the May-Kraus home, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bonhage-Hale grows a variety of herbs that she distils into essential oils and hydrosols. She makes about $8,000 a year selling her herbal products and doing herbal workshops on her farm. She lives in the unincorporated community of Alum Bridge, and she doesn’t own her mineral rights. She’s worried that she won’t be able to keep energy companies from drilling for natural gas near her home.

“I am terrified that I am going to lose this farm to Marcellus Shale Drilling,” said Bonhage-Hale.

Myra’s son Bill and her granddaughter Aijah, who is describing her school project she has been working on upstairs

Aijah, standing in front of her garden on La Paix Herb Farm

To release gas from the Marcellus Shale rock formation deep underground, companies blast water and chemicals deep into the ground at high pressures. Bonhage-Hale is worried that at tonight’s meeting she and her family are going to find out that these types of hydraulic drilling well pads are coming to Alum Bridge. She is scared for her health and worried that her well water and the air on her farm will be contaminated.

She points to neighboring farms in Doddridge County, which has seen tremendous gas and oil development in the last few years.

“They’ve had beautiful farms, they’ve got fracking pads next door, they’ve lost all their property value. And they can’t move, cause there’s nowhere to go. And that’s very much gonna happen in Lewis County,” Bonhage-Hale said.

Exactly what is going to happen in Lewis County—that’s still unclear.

Lewis County Commission president Agnes Queen, says she’s been told most of the new development will be in the part of the county where Bonhage-Hale’s farm is located. “We know that in one area, they are anticipating 288 wells, in the Western part of the county.”

Queen said that lots of citizens are excited that drilling could bring new jobs to Lewis County.

“Many many many of our citizens currently work in the oil and gas industry, but possibly work out of state. A lot of those folks are excited because they’ll be able to work at home for awhile,” Queen said.

78-year-old Bob Shear lives just over the hill from Myra Bonhage-Hale’s farm. He feels bad about her situation. But unlike her, he owns most of his mineral rights. He’s benefited from 14 conventional gas wells on his property.

“For the hydraulic fracturing, in my case, it could make me a fortune,” said Shear.

Still, Shear is not sure yet if he would welcome fracking operations on his land.

“If it was in an out of the way place where I didn’t think that it could ever contaminate my water system, I might be agreeable.,” said Shear.

Back over the hollow at Bonhage-Hale’s Lavender farm, Myra, and her son Bill, and her granddaughter, Aijah, are out in the garden. 9-year-old Aijah has discovered three tomatoes that she planted this spring.

Bonhage-Hale fears that this idyllic scene will be lost, along with her farm’s customers, if hydraulic fracking comes to Alum Bridge.

“And I feel so badly that I spent so much time, and I grew to love something so much, that we’re all gonna lose,” said Bonhage-Hale.

If fracking plans go ahead, Bonhage-Hale is considering buying property in Maryland. But she knows that even there, she might not be able to escape the development of natural gas drilling, which could include fracking in the future.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people crowded into a tight assembly hall at Jackson’s Mill to attend a public forum, hosted by CONSOl energy. Though many people, including Myra Bonhage-Hale, were anticipating a presentation, energy company representatives instead spoke to people one on one to people. For a report on this meeting, click here.

Screen shot from West Virginia DEP’s interactive oil and gas wells map. Horizontal wells are marked red.

The latest figures from the Department of Environmental Protection indicate that there are upwards of 400 horizontal well pads in West Virginia. How many more will there be? Want to learn how you can navigate the DEP’s interactive Gas Well Map? Click here.

Program is Turning Warriors to Farmers Across W.Va.

As the country continues to struggle to help its military members returning from war, one fledgling program in West Virginia isn’t wasting any time tackling the issues veterans face.

From transitional job training to psychological therapy, members of the Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture Program say they’re discovering they can help West Virginia veterans in more ways than they ever anticipated.

The program stemmed from an idea James McCormick had in 2009. He’d returned from war with multiple gunshots wounds, suffering from PTSD, and found solace in working with the dirt.

He started his own farm, supplying sorghum to a local festival, and began connecting with other veterans who were interested in starting farms of their own.

By 2014, McCormick had drummed up support from veteran groups and the newly elected Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick. He took his group to the statehouse to start shaking hands with lawmakers to get a bill passed, but said he made those visits not as a lobbyist, but as a constituent asking his legislators for their support.

One of the most popular programs the state offers for veterans is beekeeping.

The bill was passed with little opposition during the 2014 legislative session, but without funding. McCormick has worked to get local grants, money from universities and has partnered with the Department of Veterans Assistance and the West Virginia Women’s Coalition to provide supplies and necessary training to interested veterans.

One of those veterans was Eric Grandon who says the program has helped him in two ways.

0724VetstoAg2.mp3

Financial:

Grandon is a 20-year Army veteran who suffers from PTSD and is disabled, unable to qualify for a job in the physical therapy field for which he was trained.

Grandon lives on his family farm in Clay County that, until he got involved in the program, was just a small garden, but working with program director James McCormick has become his lifeblood. Grandon sells his produce at area farmers’ markets and even supplies food to Clay County Schools as a part of their Farm to School program.

Farming has given him a second chance, Grandon said, helping him provide for his family while he reaps other benefits.

Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture provides veterans with two bee hives, a smoker and a protective suit. Veterans must then purchase the bees themselves. Between what the program spends and the veterans, two beehives can total about $750 to start.

Therapy:

Another ancillary benefits is therapy. Since increasing the size of his farm, Grandon says he has stopped having to meet with VA therapists to deal with his PTSD. Instead, he works with his plants and tends to his two new beehives, provided by the Warriors to Agriculture Program earlier this year.

Grandon’s experience though, isn’t unlike many who participate in the program according to BethAnn Earl, a Navy vet who runs an urban farm in Huntington.

“I actually had a veteran say to me, he said when he picked up the dirt and he rubbed it all over his hands and arms, he said it wasn’t until then that the blood came off his hands,” she said.

The Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture program is averaging about seven to 10 applicants a week and has trains veterans in planting and maintain row crops, bees hives and livestock.

Mapping Appalachia's Food and Farm to Table Destinations

Agri-tourism is not a new concept to Jennifer "Tootie" Jones. A fifth generation farmer, she raises grass fed beef on Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg. She…

Agri-tourism is not a new concept to Jennifer “Tootie” Jones. A fifth generation farmer, she raises grass fed beef on Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg. She was one of the farmers who attended yesterday’s event at the Capitol Market. She sells beef to 14 West Virginia restaurants and several retail stores, some of which are featured on a new online map, called Bon Appétit Appalachia, a project by the Appalachian Regional Commission. There’s also a print map, which lists 283 food destinations across the region, including:

Capitol Market, Charleston
The Wild Ramp, Huntington
South Side Depot, Parkersburg
The Custard Stand, Webster Springs
Swift Level, Lewisburg
Thistledew Farm Proctor
The East End Bazaar, Charleston

The map was distributed to tourism agencies and ran in a magazine called Food Traveler. The premier of this map was celebrated at an event yesterday at the Capitol Market in Charleston.

Jones’ Swift Level Farm is featured as a destination on the Bon Appétit map. “We love people of all ages coming to the farm, and we have activities for children. They can feed the chickens and collect eggs and feed the pigs and run free in the grass, and not worry about anything except having fun,” says Jones.

Credit Roxy Todd

Pickens Maple Syrup and Homemade Bread from Jeff’s Bakery in Frankford

The movement to promote regional food could help give farmers like Jones a boost by helping them establish their farms as tourist destinations.

Yesterday’s event also celebrated the work of farmers and chefs who have been behind the local food movement in West Virginia for some time.

“My name’s Dale Hawkins. I’m one of the owners of Fish Hawk Acres in Rock Cave. We believe local food is important for the economy of West Virginia because it’s going to keep the money as opposed to sending it out of state.” Fish Hawk Acres is also featured on the Bon Appétit Appalachia Map.

At the event Hawkins displayed local breads, homemade ramp mustard, and one of West Virginia’s most iconic local foods—Pickens Maple Syrup.

According to Mandala Research, nearly 80 percent of all leisure travelers list dining and other culinary activities as a top priority. As local food movements across the country begin to take root and the term foodie has emerged in urban areas, Appalachian festivals, farms, and farm to table restaurants could benefit by promoting the region as a tourist destination.

Credit Roxy Todd

Granola made by Fish Hawk Acres in Rock Cave

The Appalachian food map features businesses and events from 13 states, with events like a Green Bean Festival in Georgia, a Pawpaw Festival in Ohio, and a Liver Mush Festival in North Carolina.

Although the Mountain State is known for its many festivals, only the East End Bazaar in Charleston is listed as an event for West Virginia on the printed map. Other events, like the West Virginia State Fair, are included on the online version, which has about 300 more destinations than the printed map.

Governor Earl Ray Tomlin joined ARC federal co-chair Earl Gohl and state Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick and officials from the West Virginia Division of Tourism to announce the maps.

How Well Will Hops Grow In West Virginia?

One day you might be able to buy even more styles of 100 percent West Virginia-made beer. That is, if a current study shows the state is a good place to…

One day you might be able to buy even more styles of 100 percent West Virginia-made beer. That is, if a current study shows the state is a good place to grow hops.

Since the craft beer industry has taken off, West Virginia State University decided to study whether local farmers can benefit from the burgeoning beer industry by growing hops for the brewers to use.

West Virginia State extension agent Brad Cochran says the state agriculture department awarded a $23,000 grant for the project, which seem to be popular. He received 70 applications from folks wanting to participate.

Matthew Grove and Robbie Babbitt were chosen to take part in a study on whether hops can grow well in West Virginia.

Three larger growers were chosen, in Jefferson, Fayette and Marion Counties. They received 60 hops roots, known as rhizomes, and the materials needed to construct a structure on which to grow the hops, which are like bean plants, they climb.

Currently there is no large scale hops production in West Virginia. Some people grow the plant for home brewing purposes, but commercial brewers order from what what Cochran calls the “hops mecca of the U.S.,” the Pacific Northwest. He says beer makers also order some specialty hops from Germany and other European countries.

Cochran said one goal of the study is to boost the state’s production and encourage farmers to consider growing the plant commercially.

Meet Two Hops Farmers

Matthew Grove and Robbie Babbitt of Berkeley County are among the 35 smaller growers throughout West Virginia who received 60 free plants as part of the study. They have to construct their own structure.

All the participants were given the same three varieties, Cascade, Centennial and Columbus.

Grove and Babbitt have planted 60 rhizomes on a plot of ground in front of Babbitt’s house at Broomgrass, a farming subdivision in western Berkeley County.

“Maybe some varieties work in some parts of the state and some don’t,” Babbitt said. “Maybe none of them work in West Virginia; we’re just going to try to find out.”

Each of the three varieties is planted in its own circle. Grove and Babbitt will erect an 18 foot pole in the middle of the circle which will support twine that the hops can climb.

“It’ll be set up so the lines that run to the top can be hoisted and lowered for harvesting, similar to a flag pole, a way to run the line up and down so we don’t have to get on ladders,” Grove said.

“Big tall ladders,” Babbitt added, laughing, “20 foot straight up.”

All the participants will provide Cochran with data over the next three years on how their plants are doing. Cochran said the ultimate goal of this little experiment is to encourage farmers across the state to consider growing hops that can be used in some of the local, craft beers.

“We can have 100 percent produced West Virginia beer and that’s exciting just to keep everything here at home,” he said.

Later this year forums and panel discussions will take place so farmers and brewers can get together to learn more about developing a hops production industry that can support local breweries.

New Book Examines the Impact of 'Hippie Homesteaders'

Hippie Homesteaders is the new book by Carter Taylor Seaton.

They’re known as the hippie homesteaders. People who moved to West Virginia in the late 1960s and 1970s to live off of the land. Some considered themselves as hippies, but others just wanted to leave urban environments for rural America.

A new book by Carter Taylor Seaton, Hippie Homesteaders: Arts, Crafts, Music and Living on the Land in West Virginia, examines the impact these people had on West Virginia.

You can find out more about this book at this website.

W.Va. Gets Snapshot of Agriculture from Federal Government

New federal data show that the value of West Virginia’s agricultural products increased 37 percent over the past five years to a total of $809 million.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture says officials recently met with federal officials to review preliminary results from the Census of Agriculture.

The findings are produced every five years and the latest information is from 2012.

Officials say West Virginia had nearly 21,500 farms in 2012. That’s down 9 percent from 2007.

Land in farms decreased by only 2 percent to 3.6 million acres during that time.

State officials also noted that West Virginians are consuming more than seven times more food than the $800 million currently being produced in the state.