Historic Agriculture - America's heartland - Episode 908

America's Heartland is made possible by... Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916. Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers. Learn more at farmcredit.com   CropLife America - Representing the companies whose modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide nutritious food for communities around the globe.   >>Hi I'm Jason Shoultz. Ready for a little vacation? I hope so because we're all set to take you on a trip "back in time" for a little about American history and a lot about American agriculture. We'll check out some high winds in the Hoosier state with a man who collects and renovates historic American windmills. Then, a "living" bit of history in Florida as cattle ranchers work to restore a breed of cattle dating back to the 1500s. We'll take you from Farm to Fork as Sharon Vaknin serves up two unusual mushroom recipes. Amd then, we'll take you to North Dakota where historic rural churches facing demolition get a new lease on life. It's all coming up on America's Heartland. [bells] >>♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪ ♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪ ♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪ ♪In America's Heartland♪ ♪Living close Close to the land♪ ♪♪ >>Holidays to historic places have always been popular. Maybe you've been to Independence Hall in Philadelphia or the Old North Church in Boston. But touching the past in rural destinations continues to attract visitors from this country and overseas who want to know more about how our food is grown or how farming was done a century ago. Vermont reported that income from agritourism nearly doubled in the first two years of this century. And the Travel Industry Association reports that tens of millions of travelers head, specifically, to rural destinations when they head out on holiday. So let's take you on a little rural vacation this time to some spots where America's agricultural past comes alive. Rob Stewart found a man in Indiana giving new life to some historic moving metal that opened the heartland for ranchers and farmers. ♪♪ >>Travel along this unpaved country road in Poland, Indiana and you will stumble upon a showstopper. Tucked inside the trees are the wonders of windmills. ♪♪ This is The Windmills at Riverside Farm. Home to 60 historic treasures - some dating back to the 1870s! This historic hide-a-way is the handy work of windmill enthusiast Neal Yerian. Ten years ago, a strange twist of fate lead Neal on his windmill journey. >>When I lived in Texas where windmills are, uh.. very numerous. Uh.. I happened to hunt on a piece of property where there was an old, dilapidated windmill on a portion of the property. I- I had sat for countless years, uh.. Occasionally glancing at this windmill while I would be, uh.. deer hunting over the course of an entire day. And finally just something hit me one day that it would be something neat to- to- to restore. >>Neal has been wowed by windmills ever since. And in 2004 - he opened the gates to this Windmill Park.   This one is really neat looking and you say this would have been the poor man's windmill? >>That's what they called it, uh.. Back during the depression in the '30s this particular windmill sold for, uh.. Less than 20 dollars. >>Twenty bucks? >>Yes, sir. >>Wow, and it would be for pumping water. >>Pumping water. >>There are metal and wood windmills standing tall at the park. Just look at the colors and creations Neal has restored to glory. >>I mean that's- that's one of the things that's unique about every single windmill as these windmill companies uhm.. sought to find a marketing gimmick or a marketing edge uh.. They created different looks. They created different color schemes. They added different accessories. ♪♪ >>Neal scours the heartland to find windmill parts for restoration. He says it's a treasure hunt. And inside this barn are some of his wondrous windmills, many of these date back to the 1880's. How do you find out the colors that they were because there wasn't even color film back then? >>Well in some of the uh.. literature that we've collected they actually talk about it. They'll give specifications. Uh.. We even know uh.. What types of wood were used whether it was uh.. Oak spokes or cypress blades or poplar girts. Uh.. Each- each manufacturer used uh.. Woods indigenous to the area that they were making their product in- in- in many cases, or what they believed was the longest lasting material available. >>Neal's windmills show how wind and water power played a critical role for america's cities and farms. ♪♪ >>Windmills played a significant role uh.. Not only in industrialized and settled parts of the country, but also played a hugely important role in the growth of this country as it moved west into the arid plains. Land itself was really not inhabitable uh.. Until people could find a way to harness water. "What you want to do is make sure the angle of the incline." >>Neal's collection is one of the largest in the country. He says it's almost complete. Which is why he's helping other windmill lovers restore their own mills by selling parts and lending advice. I want to see that letter you showed me earlier by the way if you don't mind? >>Oh yeah. Sure. >>Uhm.. This says it all. You got a letter from someone who you recently helped restore a windmill and it says "Dear Neal, the windmill is up. Our four kids were all here to help us and our friends and neighbors. Sure is fun to look out our kitchen window and see it turn." That's what makes you tick. >>It's not about making a dollar like I said. >>Maybe I should say that's what makes you spin. [laughter] >>That would be even better. >>Windmills that transformed the nation - and transformed the life of a man who was moved by the beauty of this moving machinery. >>Well you know you hear people say "If I was only born 100 years ago." Uh.. "If I lived in a different time." When I come out here to the park I am living in a different time. I'm surrounded with windmills that date back to the 1870s. Uh.. It is I guess my way to step back in time to a little less hectic lifetime. ♪♪ >>The first windmills were thought to have originated in Persia and may have been brought back to Europe by The Crusaders. England is credited with many improvements in windmill design, as far back as the 12th century. And, of course, the Dutch refined windmill construction, using the machines to pump water in reclaiming farmland as well as turning millstones and grinding grain.   >>You know, when you're looking into America's agricultural history, you have to include Native Americans who were growing crops like corn and tobacco well before the pilgrims arrived. Spanish explorers showed up in Florida in the early 1500s and later established farms and ranches in that part of the country. Many of those ranches raised a specific breed of cattle that's a bit of "living" ag history in the Sunshine State today. [Cows mooing] These cattle grazing in the brushy Florida pasture have a name and unless you're a Florida native, that name might just catch you off guard; these are "Cracker cattle." [whip cracking] And William and Margaret Broussard are proud of this heritage breed of cattle that they are preserving here at the Crescent J Ranch. William Broussard is a 10th generation cattleman. Without his family's efforts, and those of other ranchers in the Sunshine State, this historic breed might just have ended up as a footnote in the agricultural history of America. >>We decided to take part in trying to save the breed which is critically in danger. There are not enough of them to assure their survival. So we got started in the early 80's working on that. >>The original Cracker Cattle breed was brought to Florida by explorer Ponce de Léon in the 1500s. They wandered the swampy, brushy countryside for hundreds of years.   Decades back, ranchers used "Cow Hunters" to work their herds. Preserving that ranching story is the job of Chester Newcomb. At Lake Kissimmee State Park, Chester takes visitors back to the late 1800s when Cracker Cattle roamed the countryside. >>This part of Florida, we look at almost 300 years before man started to put a brand on a cow. I mean one of the reasons they called us cow hunters, you go out in the swamp here trying to find a cow be like trying to find hair on the belly of a frog. You know. >>The "cracker" name actually traces back to the way that cow hunters rounded up these bovine- by cracking their whips! [whip cracking] As other cattle breeds were introduced and breeding improved the original "cracker cattle" began disappearing... replaced with larger animals. It wasn't until they almost were extinct in the 1960's did an effort begin to save the "cracker breed." For the Broussard's, preserving the cattle breed and the ecology here, have a deeply personal meaning. In 1990, their 29 year old son Allan died of an infection following a heart transplant. Before Allan died, he had a conversation with his father in the hospital. >>We got to talking a lot about the land just south of what is the Crescent J Ranch. Which was pretty much in good natural condition and how rare that was getting and how important it was to save things like that. And so he asked me if I couldn't do something. So that weekend I promised him I was going to do my best to that.   [chatter] >>That promise is realized every day as visitors tour the grounds of this nearly 5-thousand acre ranch and preserve. [screaming] A low-environmental impact adventure park helps pay for the property and helps ensure the land will stay preserved for future generations. Would Allan be proud that his dream was realized? >>I would think so. >>His widow said yes, he would be proud of that. But the thing he would be most proud of is the way he changed his father's attitude. [laughter] A father's enduring love of his son... forever linked to the enduring effort to save a breed of cattle with a history that stretches hundreds of years. ♪♪ Branding cattle didn't start in the old west. Early Egyptians were branding their livestock more than two thousand years ago. There are more than a billion cows in the world... India, alone, has some three hundred million. And just be glad that cows don't drive- cattle are red/green color blind. ♪♪ >>As long as we're talking about history and tradition, let's focus on the tradition of great meals that come from heartland crops and produce. Our Sharon Vaknin has some thoughts on some special recipes that take us from farm to fork. ♪♪ >>If you're looking to take a break from meat, mushrooms are the ideal substitute. They've got a meaty texture, they're savory, and they're willing to take on just about any flavor you throw at them. And as a bonus, they're good for you.   So what I've got here for our wild mushroom pasta are three different types of mushrooms. So, cremini, which I'm chopping right now, and you'll see I'm not removing the stems, because cremini mushrooms actually don't have very *** stems, so you can actually eat them. I'm also using oyster mushrooms, which have a more delicate flavor, and porcini mushrooms. With these porcini mushrooms, I had to reconstitute them because they were dry. And to do that, I put them in a bowl of hot water and let them sit there for about twenty minutes. Then I actually reserved that water, and you'll see why in just a few minutes. But first we need to prepare the rest of our components, so leeks which have a nice delicate flavor that goes really well with mushrooms. And of course, garlic. Mushrooms and garlic are a great combination. So our prep is done, and now it's time to head to the stove. So the first thing we want to do is sauté the mushrooms. Now, to the olive oil I'm going to add some butter, just so that I can get the high cooking temperature from the olive oil but that flavor of the butter. The first mushrooms I'm going to add are the cremini mushrooms, because they're a little meatier and they'll require a little bit more cooking time. So the creminis have browned a bit, now we'll add our oysters and porcinis, this looks like a lot of mushrooms, but these guys will reduce pretty quickly, so it's always better to buy more than you think you need. Now we'll remove these, they reduced a ton. Put them in a bowl, and now it's time to prep our leeks and garlic, so I'll lower the heat a bit, add some more olive oil, throw in those leeks. And I can hear my water's boiling for our pasta. So I'm going to add pappardelle pasta, which is a wider pasta, and I like to go with a wider pasta like pappardelle or fettuccine, because it allows the mushrooms to shine and boil them until they're al dente, not completely soft, because we're going to finish cooking them here in this pan with the mushroom and the leeks. Our leeks look good, they're picking up some of that flavor from the mushrooms we sautéed in there. Hit it with a little salt... Now let's get these mushrooms back in. And now we have to spice this dish.   I mentioned that there was a reason why I saved that porcini mushroom liquid... first I'm going to add a little flour because it's time to build our sauce. So once the flour has coated these ingredients, it's time to add that liquid from the reconstituted porcini. So I've got half of that, plus chicken stock. And once that simmers, it'll thicken because of the flour that we added. Now if you don't want to use chicken stock, you can either substitute it with veggie stock or just more of that porcini liquid. So our sauce has thickened, it's kind of like a gravy now. And now it's time to add the pasta. We brought in some of that pasta water to further enhance this sauce. We're adding two types of cheese. We've got fontina, which is a great melting cheese, and parmesan cheese. Our wild mushroom pasta looks good, and now it's time to plate it. I could eat this right this second, but I do want to add a few finishing touches to it. But before I do that, let's talk about portabella mushrooms. These are some of the biggest mushrooms you'll find in grocery stores. First I'm going to put some slits in these, and by adding these slits they're going to soak up a little bit more of the marinade we're going to make.   Now we'll take each portabella and coat it in this mixture, and we'll let them sit for about ten, fifteen minutes so they can really absorb that flavor. Remember, mushrooms will take just about any flavor you give them and this is going to be delicious. Our portabellas have soaked up all of those delicious spices and that olive oil, and now it's time to grill them on our cast iron. So if you have a barbecue or a grill at home, these go great on that too. But if you're trying to make dinner in a pinch, and all you've got is a stove-top, this will work. So add a little bit of olive oil, then we'll add our portabellas straight to the pan. We'll give them about four to five minutes on each side, flip them halfway through, and they'll be good to go. We grilled up these portabellas and they are definitely ready. Nice and dark brown, you can see they shrunk a little bit, but not quite as much as the smaller varieties do. And now, they're ready to be put in a burger, you can slice them up and put them in tacos, or you can eat them as is, as a side dish. Now I mentioned we had one final finishing touch for the pasta. So what I want to do there is add a little bit of fresh parsley, I'll also add more cheese, and for a garnish, a little sprig of thyme. We've cooked with four types of mushrooms today, oyster, porcini, cremini, and of course, the king of the mushrooms, portabella. And with so many varieties to choose from, mushrooms make for a great meatless meal. ♪♪ >>You know, as Americans moved west to new farms and ranches, settlements sprouted up on the vast open prairies of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Those pioneers brought with them their families, their wagons, their livestock and their faith. As those communities grew, hundreds of churches were built in the far flung corners of the heartland. Over the past century, however, many of those churches have fallen into ruin, but our Sarah Gardner traveled to North Dakota where an effort is underway to save those rural houses of worship. ♪♪ >>It's been a prairie landmark since right after the turn of the century. >>Trinity Church was once the spiritual center of this North Dakota farming community. But population shifts in the 20th century moved families from rural communities to the city. Congregations grew smaller, and like many other churches, Trinity was left behind. >>Of course, the building sat abandoned. Giving in to the wind and the rain and winter, it just kind of fell apart. >>There were approximately 2,000 church buildings in the state still standing. >But  Trinity's plight and those of other churches kindled a movement to save this part of America's rural heritage. >>So these churches were closing. We had a closure rate of about ten churches per year. So we became very worried about what was going to happen to these buildings if the congregations continued to disband and close and move on to other communities. >>Those realities prompted a group called "Preservation North Dakota" to seek funds and establish grants that could be used for renovations. >>We gave our first round of grants in 2002, and through 2009 we have assisted 27 churches in preserving their buildings. >>In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrant families from Europe established farmsteads all across North Dakota. Their diversity of worship is one reason the state has such a large number of rural churches. So obviously it was in disrepair. It takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of dedication. Was there ever a time when somebody said, "Let's just tear it down?" And you said you're not going to do that, but why? >>Because it meant so much to the heritage that our forefathers worked so hard to bring it here. And they just felt that we needed to continue this because we didn't build it up. But we want to preserve it because it meant that much to the whole family. >>Working with congregations and those interested in preserving important examples of the state's history, the grants sparked local support and brought communities and memories back to their churches. >>I got baptized here... confirmed. We were the last ones to be confirmed here. Went to Bible school here. It was a home church. I grew up just a mile west from here. And you didn't miss church unless you were awfully sick or the roads were blocked. >>Like in the summer, we had six weeks of German school. Six weeks every summer. And that's the way they kept that. They didn't want to lose that. >>Sam Kautz and his parents were among the immigrants who transplanted their Lutheran and Evangelical faiths to their new home in North Dakota. >>They believed in having a church- a place to worship. And they brought their children. They made sure that their children were brought up like, I suppose, they was brought up. And that was a good thing, you know, that they did. ♪♪ >>The all-volunteer efforts have not only prompted the restoration and renovation of historic buildings in the state, but they've also shown locals that real change can come at a grass roots level. >>The grants require a local match. So that means the community still has to come up with some kind of money or donated labor and materials to get their project done. But then also the technical advice... showing them how to properly do preservation and restore different aspects of their building. >>Well, faith was very important to them. And I've always marveled that one of the first things they would do is build a church and call a pastor. And to have that heritage to pass on to other generations, I think, is fascinating. ♪♪ >>That's gonna do it for this time. Thanks for travelling the country with us on this edition of America's Heartland. We're always pleased that you can join us. >>We know that we pass on a lot of information to you in every program, so in case you missed something or you just want to check out our videos from this or other shows, we make it easy for you. Just log on to our website americasheartland.org And, of course, there's a lot going on in our social media arena. You'll find us there as well. Well, we'll see you next time... Right here, on America's Heartland.   You can purchase a DVD or blu-ray copy of this program. Here's the cost:   To order, just visit us online or call:   ♪♪ ♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪ ♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪ ♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪ ♪In America's Heartland♪ ♪Living close Close to the land♪   America's Heartland is made possible by...   Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916. Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers. Learn more at farmcredit.com   CropLife America- Representing the companies whose modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide nutritious food for communities around the globe.