By Dan Pool, Editor
As printed in the Pickens County Progress, January 6, 2022
Anyone walking around Jasper looking for a healthy snack might peek behind the Kirby-Quinton Cabin, next to the Old Jail, on North Main.
With all the rain and mostly warm weather thus far, a luxuriously green stand of lettuce was growing last week.
Planted by Edible Jasper, an offshoot of Keep Pickens Beautiful (KPB), the lettuce ranch dressing. The adjacent cabbage/kale hybrid is a bright purple but probably not ready for grazing just yet. The radishes and beets are running way behind. Herbs, some that were planted years ago at the historic site, are also present with small signs identifying them.
So, bon appétit, a free lunch.
KPB partners with the Pickens Historical Society
KPB President and long-time leader of Edible Jasper Vered Kleinberger said they were excited to get the garden spot behind the jail growing this year, so they rushed to get the plants in the ground. The edible plants group partnered with the Pickens Historical Society to create the garden spot with the idea to make it more period correct in future seasons – kale wasn’t a ubiquitous superfood until recently.
The plant and history folks will research what would have been growing around the Appalachian cabin in the 1800s which the cabin’s unique history dates to. Storyboards inside the cabin gives a full history; it and the 1906 jail are open for tours by the historical society on an occasional basis – search “OldjailinJasper” on Facebook for times. This week they will be open Wednesday and Friday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.
Bill Cagle, president of the historical society, said they are very excited about the idea of adding an outdoor educational feature and working with the edible group to find appropriate plants. Cagle knew of people who have 100 year old varieties of beans and okra that have been handed down and hopefully they will have a chance to teach people about these.
“The chance to show people the plants our forefathers grew in an educational feature at the jail is something we are very excited about,” he said.
What is Edible Jasper?
Jenna Prince-Farmer, a KPB and Edible Jasper leader, said the idea of growing attractive edible landscaping has been successful at quite a few smaller towns around the country. It addresses a lot of key issues, including food security, general education on nutrition, and gardening. When done on a larger scale, towns can create an edible walking tour through a downtown.
“It teaches people that it’s not that difficult to grow some plants on your own, even if you don’t have a very big space,” Farmer said. The space, prepped by hand, required no tiller or tractor and would work in the smalls yard – assuming they had good sun.
Edible Jasper has been around for a full decade, but like many plants was dormant for several years. By far their most popular and visible work is a sprawling fig bush in the parking lot next to the Progress building, which fills an island in the asphalt and draws a steady stream of pickers when the figs ripen in the fall.
Kleinberger said all the produce they grow is free to harvest, but they ask pickers to be respectful and not pull the whole plant out of the ground. Right now, it’s first come, first serve – and we’ll bet the lettuce isn’t there long.
Edible Jasper is Growing!
This year after being taken in by KPB, Edible Jasper has been on a growth spurt, adding plants to their established spots beside the Progress building and their own building at the south end of downtown, as well as venturing out in new territory.
Other plans include adding plant information to their KPB website so people who have been hankering for a Jerusalem Artichoke – like the one growing behind the cabin – can identify it and learn how and when to pick.
They are also eyeing other downtown spaces for larger plants like a stand of blueberry bushes. The idea is to replace plain grass with low maintenance herbs and vegetables. There has been some talk with the historical society of a replica/teaching garden at the site but that will require additional volunteer manpower.
The group welcomes donations of appropriate plants – a volunteer recently added horseradish plants to one of their sites – but they ask that people contact them first to be sure their donation fits into the grand scheme of growing.
The group can be contacted at a contact form https://keeppickensbeautiful.org/contact/ or by email keeppickensbeautiful@gmail.com.