Hiking In the Great Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most pristine natural areas in the East. A tour through the park offers visitors breathtaking mountain scenery, including panoramic views, rushing mountain streams, and mature hardwood forests stretching to the horizon

Did You Know?

Mountain Orchards 

Apples were undoubtedly the most important fruit in the Southern mountains. This was due in part to the cooler climate of the area which provided good apple growing conditions, but also because few fruits have as many uses. Apples were eaten raw and also used to make cider, vinegar, applesauce, apple butter, and pies. In addition, some varieties were good keepers and if stored properly could provide “fresh” apples for several months.

Besides storing apples, several other methods were used to preserve the fruit for later use.  Drying was the most widely used method since no special equipment was required.  For drying, apples were cut into thin slices and placed outside in the sun.  During periods of bad weather they could be dried indoors in front of a fireplace or near a stove. For families hoping to sell part of their apple crop, dried apples were an alternative to transporting fresh fruit since a bushel of apples, which weighs about 50 pounds, could be reduced to about 7 pounds of dried fruit.

Another way to preserve apples was bleaching or sulfuring. To bleach apples, slices of the fruit were exposed to sulfur smoke to kill bacteria. The fruit was bleached white by the process, and, like dried apples, was stored for later use. Sulfured and dried apples were often used for stack cakes and fried pies.

Apple cider was made and drunk in the Southern mountains but never to the same degree as in the northeastern United States. Although much of it was drunk as sweet cider, which is fresh unfermented apple juice, within a few days a slightly alcoholic drink, usually referred to as hard cider, could be produced as the sugars in sweet cider began to ferment. Hard cider was also necessary to make vinegar, which is produced when certain bacteria, which live and grow in an alcoholic liquid, change the alcohol to acetic acid. It usually took about five to six weeks for hard cider to become vinegar.

Apple butter and applesauce were also ways to enjoy the flavor of apples throughout the year. Both of these were often made in large quantities in copper, brass, or even iron kettles by slowly cooking peeled slices of apples until the finished product was thick and smooth. Sometimes cider was used as the cooking liquid instead of water since it added flavor to the apple butter or sauce. Some families also added sugar and cinnamon near the end of the cooking process for extra flavor and sweetness. Before the widespread use of home canning, apple butter was often kept in large crocks stored in a cool dry place.

The late 1800s through the early 1900s was the heyday for apple varieties. Nurseries of the period offered literally hundreds of varieties of apple trees. This was important because, at the time, many families were still producing their own food and preserving food for the winter. Some varieties of apples were better for eating fresh while others were good winter keepers or better suited for cooking or drying.

Unfortunately, many of these varieties slowly disappeared as fewer families produced their own food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 6,000 varieties of apple trees have been lost since 1900. Fortunately, there are individuals and groups who recognize the importance of preserving as many of the remaining heirloom varieties of apples as possible.

The national park’s Mountain Farm Museum near Cherokee, NC has a small orchard that includes a number of heirloom varieties of apples and is part of that preservation effort.

Text by Tom Robbins

What did mountain families do to get by during the long, gray days of winter?

Cabin Fever
The homes of mid-19th century farm families were small, while the families themselves were often large. The typical log home was 18’ x 20’ (360 square feet) plus, perhaps, a sleeping loft. Families were frequently multi-generational, including a grandparent and five to 12 kids.

During periods of cold, snowy, or rainy weather, families were forced to spend most of the day indoors. Dorie Woodruff Cope, who spent her childhood and young adulthood in the Smokies, described winter this way:

“So we waited. Snow came two or three times a week to add inches to the blanket already on the ground. Silence hung over the mountains like a misty fog.... Wind whistled around the corners of the cabin and down the chimney, causing the fire to reach out of the fireplace and fill the room with ashes. Ma kept beans and meat boiling in a kettle.”

 Making Music
Mountain folk knew lots of songs and enjoyed singing ballads at home during winter, often solo and unaccompanied by musical instruments. Many of the ballads were from the British Isles and were about love or death, or religious faith. Ballads told stories and sometimes included lessons on life. Examples are “The Drunkard’s Last Drink,” “Barbara Allen,” “Pretty Pollie,” “Geordie,” “Young Hunting,” and “Bold Soldier.”

Some residents wrote their own ballads about local places or events, like the tragic train wreck chronicled by “Daddy Bryson’s Last Ride.”

Winter Fare
Mid-1800s Smoky Mountain winter fare was somewhat lacking in fresh produce, but few complained: it was a whole lot better than having nothing to eat.

If the crops had been good, the livestock prolific, and the jobs of pickling, drying, salting, and sulfuring productive, the typical menu might include:

• lots of corn bread
• salted pork
• dried green beans
• pickled vegetables
• chicken
• potatoes
• chestnuts
• butter
• stack cake
• sulfured apples
• honey
• sorghum molasses
• squirrel
• corn mush

 Lessons Learned
Winter days were often school days in the Great Smoky Mountains of the mid-1800s. Winter was when children were needed the least on the farm, so it was the logical time to hit the books.

In the early days, the school year lasted only 2-4 months. Parents paid about $1 per student per month to get their children educated. The money (or produce in lieu of cash) went to a teacher who often boarded with a local family.

Most students completed only 3-5 years of schooling, enough to learn to read and write and perform basic mathematics. By the early 20th century, however, Smoky Mountain schools and school years more closely resembled today’s.

Two country schools are preserved in the national park. Little Greenbrier School is accessible in winter by the 0.7 mile Metcalf Bottoms Trail which begins at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. Beech Grove School is beside the road in Cataloochee Valley.

 A Stitch in Time
Mountain quilts were often both useful and beautiful. The top layer was usually made from leftover scraps of cloth, worn out clothing, and cloth sacks. The middle was stuffed with pieces of old clothing, old quilts, feed sacks, or sheep’s wool, and the bottom was simply whatever other plain material was available.

Popular patterns in the southern Appalachians were Log Cabin, Blazing Star, Double Wedding Ring, and improvised “crazy quilts.”

Farming

Many people think farming is strictly a warm weather activity, but those who have made a living from the soil know that farming was and still is a year-round endeavor. For farmers in the Great Smoky Mountains during the nineteenth century, winter and early spring work included pruning fruit trees, repairing equipment, clearing new ground for future planting, and hauling manure from the barn to use as fertilizer, especially on the family garden.

Although some farmers considered spring the earliest time to start plowing, others plowed during winter to turn under old plant material and allow the winter freezes and thaws to help break up the soil. Many farmers burned their fields before plowing to get rid of weeds and old vegetation, and to help control insects.

Regardless of what the calendar indicated, farmers in the Smokies knew that their "new year" generally began in March. Frost could occur in the valleys as late as May, but several cold tolerant crops could be planted in March, including onions, mustard greens, turnips, potatoes, and cabbage.

Farmers often looked to signs from nature to decide when to plant. Before planting corn, some waited for the first Whip-poor-will to call or oak leaves to grow as big as a "squirrel's ear." Weather signs like a circle around the moon or sun (meaning rain or fair weather, respectively) often helped a farmer determine when to plow or plant.

It was also common practice for farmers to consult astrology (or the Zodiac) and the phases of the moon before doing certain jobs. Each of the 12 astrological signs is associated with a part of the body and each day of the month is dominated by one of the signs.

Planting, for example, would be done when the signs were associated with the loins, feet, neck, or breast (Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, or Cancer).

The phases of the moon were also considered before starting many activities. For example, when planting crops such as corn that produced above ground, the moon should be "waxing" or becoming full. While underground or "root" crops, like potatoes, should be planted during the waning moon.

The ideal time for any activity was when both the phase of the moon and the dominant astrological sign were their best. To find when such times occurred, farmers consulted a variety of almanacs and planting calendars.

Planting gardens and fields continued through the spring as the ground warmed and the chance of a killing frost diminished. Gardens were generally worked entirely with hand tools—mostly shovels, hoes, and rakes—while animal-drawn equipment was used in the larger fields.     

Through the spring and early summer, weed control consumed an enormous amount of time and hand labor. Even a cornfield, where an animal-powered cultivator or plow might be used, required a mammoth amount of hoeing around the hills of corn. This continued until the corn was about knee high and could be "laid by."

In the past, even the most simple meal represented hours of labor, a tremendous amount of sweat, and good luck with the weather. Today, when the grocery store is the extent of most people's knowledge of where their food comes from, a better understanding of the past can provide a greater appreciation for the present.

Planting Lore

• Plant turnips on Ascension Day for abundant foliage and large turnips.

• Plant corn when the sign is in the head, so there will be more ears.

• Red-headed persons have the best luck with peppers.

• If cucumbers are planted on Saturday, they will be bitter.

• If you plant cucumbers in the full moon, they will all run to vines, and will not bear.

• If you laugh while planting corn, the grains will fall apart on the cob.

• Tomatoes should be planted in Gemini or the scales.

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