There are certain scents that automatically make your mind drift to Southern springs spent sitting on front porches, When students at The Learning Exchange homeschool in Madison County hosted an Alabama Bicentennial party, they discovered Alabama lacked an official state vegetable. We have an official state nut — the pecan — and even an official state agricultural insect — the queen honeybee. With support from their teacher, these students set out to find the perfect official state vegetable and petitioned local state representatives and senators to make it happen. Thanks to them, the sweet potato now claims the title of Alabama’s official state vegetable!
Horses are hard workers. In addition to their strength, they also have the ability to heal. Thanks to MANE, or Montgomery Area Non-Traditional Equestrian, children and adults in central Alabama get to experience the therapeutic nature of horses — whether that’s helping the rider improve balance and mobility or providing a much needed emotional connection to help with mental healing.
Alabama farmers are committed to researching and learning ways to improve how they work with the land to grow our food, fiber and fuel. Just how committed are they, you ask? Well, wheat and feed grain farmers have skin in the game as they literally invest a portion of their profits from selling grain into a checkoff program, which goes to funding research, education and promotion of their crops.
Plus, we’re excited to again feature gardening segments thanks to Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Ever wonder the exact requirements for full shade or full sun when choosing plants for your garden? In this Alabama Smart Yards segment, Mallory Kelley gives you that answer as well as additional tips for growing a shade garden successfully.
Dessert doesn’t get any easier — or tastier — than these Pecan Chewies. Gather your ingredients, stir them all together, dump in a pan and bake! It’s another sure-fire crowd-pleaser from Stacey Little of SouthernBite.com.
For all the Southern Bite recipes featured on Simply Southern, visit southernbite.com/simply-southern-recipes.