June 2013

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KVCO-HVSE “BLACKBERRY MONTH”
JUNE 2013
MVSKOKE
FOOD
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative
June 4, 2013
ur mission is to enable the Mvskoke people and
their neighbors to provide for their food and health
needs now and in the future through sustainable
agriculture, economic development, community
involvement, cultural and educational development.
IHCRC, 3 to 5 p.m., Park
Elementary After School
Program, Tulsa, OK
June 6, 2013
Johnnie Brasuell retirement
party (Johnnie is on the MFSI
Advisory Committee and Food &
Fitness Policy Council.)
Erke Ennettv Afvcketv!
Happy Father’s Day
By Dicey Barnett
June 8, 2013
Father’s Day is June 16, 2013. It is a celebration honoring
fathers and grandfathers, celebrating fatherhood. It is the day
we all say, “Thank you for being there, Dad. Thanks for
everything you did and for just being you!” It is time to show
how much you love your father who took the time and made
the major commitment simply to be there for you.
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative pays tribute to their
fathers with their pictures.
"A truly rich man is
one whose children
run into his arms
when his hands are
empty." -- Unknown
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Kerr's Beginning Farmers &
Ranchers Livestock Program
Training, Poteau, 8-5 all day.
June 10, 2013
Okmulgee Wellness Coalition
Healthy Lifestyles Committee
Meeting, 12 noon, Okmulgee
County Health Department
June 16, 2013
Father’s Day
June 17-23, 2013
National Pollinator Week
MFSI would like to congratulate
all the 2013 graduates! Good
luck in all you aspire to do!
Donald Horsechief Miller, Wichita/Pawnee,
served in US Navy WWII (father of H. June
Marshall).
Rev. John Berryhill, Creek, served in US
Army, Purple Heart Medal WWI (father
of Dicey Barnett).
Waddie Albert, 89, and veteran of
WW I, full-blood Creek, and original
allottee, was drafted into the Army
during WWI. He lost a leg in machine
gun fire on a French island during the
Normandy Invasion on Sept. 15, 1918,
three days after the historic landing at
Normandy. (Father of Sue White)
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Thomas Berryhill, full-blood Creek (father of Rita
Williams). Berryhill was a devout Christian who
actively professed Biblical scripture and offered
prayer and visitation to those that were in physical
and spiritual need.
He was a lifelong member of Honey Creek United
Methodist Church and a resident of the surrounding
community. In his days as a very young man, he was
a boxer in area circuits and was known to have been a
good fighter.
Rev. Berryhill belonged to the Wind Clan and Deep
Fork Eufaula Tribal Town.
Albert Kessel, opened his own sheet
metal fabrication company at the age of
40 and successfully ran it for over 30
years. (Father of Lynn Duke)
Mike Berryhill, full-blood Creek, served in US
Army (father of Stephanie Berryhill). He has been
actively involved in revitalizing Mvskoke material
culture, particularly primitive southeastern
longbow making, which was first taught to him by
his grandfather, Joseph Hill Berryhill.
He has been named as one of the Muscogee
(Creek) Nation "Living Legends" for his efforts to
revitalize and teach longbow and arrow-making.
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Can’t Keep a Good Farmer Down
By Lynn Duke
A few words come to mind when I think of a farmer: perseverance,
dedication, and tough. These words rang very true at the grand
opening of the Okmulgee Farmer’s Market on May 3, 2013. It was
unseasonably cold and windy with temperatures dipping down into
low 40’s, but all seven local area producers were set up at 8 a.m.
ready to start the 2013 season.
The grand opening festivities included three raffle drawings for gift
certificates to local merchants and a grand prize gardening basket as
well as a food demonstration and tasting sponsored by the OSUIT
extension office. The wonderful women from the extension office
prepared a strawberry and spinach salad with strawberry shortcake
for dessert.
The producers were very pleased that a large number of patrons
braved the cold to see what kind of fresh produce was available.
Radishes, lettuce, and green onions were the main attraction on most
tables. Then of course there were a delicious variety of homemade
baked goods such as Robyn Franklin’s amazing honey wheat bread,
Nell Owens’ strawberry cobbler, and of course Frieda Daniel’s
famous fried pies.
The Okmulgee Farmers Market is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., every
Tuesday and Friday, May through October. Set up on the square in
downtown Okmulgee, OK.
Parties interested in joining the Okmulgee Farmers Market can find
more information on its Facebook page, or contact Lynn Duke, June
Marshall or Robyn Franklin at the MFSI office.
a
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I
MFS
y
MFSI Board of Directors
LIZ HOLATA
DUANE MEADOWS
MFSI Advisory Committee
GEORGE TIGER
MCN Principal Chief
JOHNNIE BRASUELL
MCN Diabetes
SHARON IVERSON
MCN Diabetes Dietician
EMMAN SPAIN
MCN Cultural Preservation
JOHN WEST
Horticulturalist
YVETTE WILEY
MCN Environmental Services
DONNA WILLIAMS
Personal Chef
LOU FIXICO
MCN Elderly Nutrition
MFSI Staff
DARRELL FOX
H. JUNE MARSHALL
DICEY BARNETT
RITA WILLIAMS
STEPHANIE BERRYHILL
SUE WHITE
LYNN DUKE
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Kerr’s Oklahoma Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Horticulture
Program
May 11, 2013
By H. June Marshall
The third session was held at the MFSI office in
Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Saturday, May 11, 2013.
MFSI is transmitting live training from Poteau where
the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture farm is
located. MFSI is receiving the excellent training by
presenters David Redhage, Warren Roberts, George
Kuepper, and Luke Freeman. Hannah Daniels is
also quietly working as she updates students’ flash
drives with the day’s training: Soil and Organic
Fertility Management II, Business Management,
Water and Irrigation, Compost and Vermicompost.
Students also take the pre and post exams.
Classroom training began 10:45 am and lasted until
2:45 pm; Poteau participants then went to the field
plots for the demonstrations and hands-on training.
In Okmulgee, Richard Belcher, 2012 Horticulture
BFRP graduate, presented composting tips.
eggshells. The bad scraps are: meat, bones, daily
products, rubber bands, twigs and branches, dog and
cat food, and greasy foods. He put the bin together,
added the paper, and then put the Red Wriggers in.
After the bin was finished, a drawing was held to
give the worms away. Kimberly Zoch was the lucky
winner of the Red Wigglers.
Eighteen students/guests were in attendance at the
training. Lastly, students were provided a healthy
and delicious meal prepared by local chef Blossom
Smith: chicken stir fry, brown rice, and green salad
(greens locally grown).
Small loaves of bread
(banana nut, zucchini, and pumpkin) were served for
breakfast made by local farmer Robyn Franklin.
Master Gardener and Master Composter Steve Wood
completed the day’s training with vermicompost.
Steve brought Red Wrigglers and demonstrated how
to get started with a plastic bin, newspapers for
bedding, water, and kitchen scraps. His wife drilled
holes in the plastic bin while students shredded the
newspaper into strips. Steve said there are good
scraps to feed the worms are; veggies, fruit peelings,
bread and grains, tea bags, non-greasy leftovers,
coffee grounds and filters, and well crushed
Left: Students happy to be shredding
newspaper!
Top: Master Gardener and Composter
Steve Wood teaching the class how to have
happy and healthy worms.
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Cheese Making with Michele White
By Lynn Duke
On Thursday, April 25, Michele White,
along with her husband, Vester, and
two gallons of goats’ milk, joined
students at MFSI to teach the art of
cheese making.
Starting with fresh goats’ milk, White
guided the full class through the steps
required to make three different
cheeses. Attendees were amazed at
what a simple, yet sensitive process it
takes. The first cheese process shown
was for the American favorite, Colby.
During this, we learned that
temperature and patience is key.
Starting with clean and freshly
sterilized equipment, White poured
two gallons of goats’ milk into a heavy
stainless steel pot. While we waited for
the milk to climb to the correct
temperature, White entertained the
class with a brief background of her
farm, Hickory Hollow Homestead and
her American Dairy Goat Association
registered Lamancha goats. Michele
and her husband moved to Bristow,
Ok from California last summer and,
since the move, they have gradually
built the homestead of their dreams.
They raise their goats and chickens,
manage a vegetable garden, make use
of their stream fed pond and take pride
in harvesting the herbs and flowers
that grow natively on their property.
The White’s goal is to live a selfsustaining, organic lifestyle, nurturing
the land and animals that nurtures
them.
Once the milk reached the correct
temperature, cultures and liquid color,
specifically annatto, are added to
solidify the milk and give it that
familiar orange coloring. Then it was
once again time to wait. During the 45minute resting period for the milk,
June Marshall and I provided a food
demonstration that allowed the class
to have a delicious intermission. June
created some fresh guacamole and salsa
and I mixed a fresh strawberry and
Michele White (standing) giving a brief overview of the cheese making class. Below: The
Colby cheese after being pressed in the mold for one hour. Michele and her husband are
also registered students in the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program.
lemon water. We also skipped a few
steps ahead and were able to taste
samples of a Colby Goat Cheese that
had just recently finished aging. In my
humble opinion, this was the best
cheese I had ever tasted.
After our snack, the milk was ready for
us to move to the next step. This is
when we were shown how the fairy tale
staple of curds and whey is actually the
result of cheese making. White sliced
the solidified milk into sections to
release the liquid whey, then proceeded
to break the solids down into smaller
curds. Then once again it’s time to heat
up the curds to dry them out so that
they can become firm. Once they
reached the correct firmness, White
spooned some onto a plate and allowed
the class to feel them before the next
step: molding. The cheese curds were
spooned into a metal press that had
been lined with cheese cloth and fitted
with a lid that would allow the correct
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amount of pressure to mold and press
the curds together and give us that
round wheel of cheese that most of us
are familiar with.
Once the Colby cheese was in the
press, White showed us the process for
a ricotta and a farmer’s cheese using
the left over whey. None of the original
two gallons of goats’ milk was wasted.
Going through this process taught the
attendees what they can do with a little
bit of milk, time and patience. White
did an incredible job of giving the class
a very unique experience.
Saving Watermelon Seeds
by H. June Marshall
My mother is 85 years old. She and my uncle Rudy (her brother) got their birthdays mixed up; my
mother had my uncle’s birthday and he had my mom’s birthday. It was just recently that they
discovered they had been celebrating the wrong day! Thinking about this, I called my mother to ask
her about grandpa (her dad) saving seeds, and didn’t know what she would tell me about that. I
visualized grandpa saving his seeds every year and that is how he grew his farm by his seed saving
efforts. My grandpa, Charles Akoneto, could grow anything – he had the greenest thumb of anyone
around, at least in Caddo County. He grew the best corn, watermelons, onions, potatoes, tomatoes,
beans, and many other vegetables. He also had a gentle spirit and that is why (I think) he grew the
prettiest flowers that surrounded his home. He knew the benefit of pollinators. The long walkway to
the house was bordered with Bachelor Buttons. Everything was perfectly landscaped on his original
allotment land, and it was through his farming efforts that the home place was a farm. When I asked
mom if grandpa saved his seeds, she said he did save his watermelon seeds and he planted them every
year. I anxiously asked her, “What about the other seeds, tomato, corn? Where did he get those
seeds?” She said, “the store!”
To save watermelon seeds: Watermelons will cross other watermelons and varieties should be
separated by ½ mile. Watermelons produce wet seeds and should be allowed to ripen to past the eating
stage before harvesting, since seeds do not continue ripening significantly after melons are harvested.
Pick after the tendril nearest the melon has completely withered and dried, then store an additional 3
weeks before removing and cleaning the seeds according to directions in Cleaning Wet Seeds.
Wa t e r m e l o n s e e d s w i l l r e m a i n v i a b l e f o r 5 o r m o r e y e a r s i f p r o p e r l y
stored. (www.howtosaveseeds.com)
Charles Akoneto, Kiowa Farmer/
Rancher of original allotment land
(Grandpa of June Marshall).
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MVSKOKE
FOOD
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative
100 E. 7th, Suite 101, Okmulgee, OK 74447
http://www.mvskokefood.org
June 2013
RETURN SERVICES REQUESTED
MFSI OFFICE
MVSKOKE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
INITIATIVE
100 E. 7th St., Suite 101
P.O. Box 813
Okmulgee, OK 74447
Ph: (918) 756-5915
Fax: (918) 756-5918
Office Hours:
M - F 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Hickory Hollow Homestead, Bristow, Oklahoma
Photo by Michele White
MFSI Staff are here to help you. Please
feel free to stop in and visit.
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, organized exclusively for charitable, educational and
scientific purposes.
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