TheDeltaDirt.com

Dear Loyal Readers, I want to thank you for your support of The Delta Dirt and let you know I probably won't be posting too frequently anymore due to the fact that I have moved to Jackson, MS to write for the Mississippi Business Journal. I also wanted to tell you Facebookers that you should definitely become fans of the MBJ . Also, I've recently become a twit who Twitters: http://twitter.com/mcculloughwrite If you'd like a guaranteed source of humor, check out Clarion-Ledger cartoonist Marshall Ramsey's Twitter page: http://twitter.com/MarshallRamsey Cheers! Amy

GREENWOOD -- Join Main Street Greenwood for a weekend street party featuring good food, great music, and dancing under the Delta stars at the 5th annual River to the Rails festival Friday-Saturday, September 18-19, 2009. Although the forecast calls for rain, we all know that a little inclement weather never kept a Delta resident from having a good time. As in years past, this year's musical entertainment showcases an all star lineup of regional and national acts. Friday night features a no holds barred jam session with musicians from the Tangents and Curb Service while national recording artist Denise LaSalle will light up the stage on Saturday night. Music coordinator Andy Hackleman is especially proud of the entertainment lineup for this admission-free event. "We really pulled out the stops this year in organizing a variety of entertainment to please just about any musical preference," Hackleman said. "We've got blues, gospel, and rock and roll, among other...

Marsh Pickett, Jr. with his prize-winning pimento cheese spread. Recipe below. A history major by degree, Marsh Pickett, Jr. has been managing restaurants for most of his life, dabbling in the creation of what he calls "Southern comfort" foods. Although he didn't realize that the culinary arts would play such an important role in his life while a college student at Delta State University, Pickett would be the first to tell you that life has a way of steering you in the right direction. Not one to back down from adversity, Pickett had to fight for his life in 2004 and 2005 by beating cancer and staph infection. Prior to this, he dabbled in cooking but once he regained his health, something clicked, causing him to pursue the culinary arts with a vengeance. "I learned mostly from watching the late Justin Wilson's cooking shows and the Food Network," Pickett said. Speaking of the Food Network, Pickett readily admits that his favorite celebrity chef is Bobby Fl...

Hal Fiore of "Three Guys Who Grow" sells a cornucopia of fresh vegetables at the Downtown Greenwood Farmer's Market. Courtesy photo. GREENWOOD -- The Greenwood Farmer's Market continues to be a success for Greenwood-area residents who value freshness and quality at their kitchen table. Now in its second year, the Farmer's Market, which was spearheaded by Main Street Greenwood, Inc., will continue to be held every Saturday from 7:30 a.m. until noon through October 31. The market takes place near the Columbus and Greenville Railroad at the intersection of Johnson and Main Streets. The market was formed in the winter of 2007 by a small group of Greenwood citizens who liked the idea of a local market where area farmers could sell the fruits of their labor (pun intended). Assisted by grants from Blue Cross, MAC, and USDA, the market was able to open for business in Summer 2008. Tents and tables were purchased and the event was advertised across the Delta with these fu...

Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and front desk agent Brian Credeur at the Holiday Inn Express of Greenville March 10, 2008. President Barack Obama's alarm at Greenville's brown water during his campaign trail stay at a Holiday Inn Express and Mayor Heather McTeer Hudson's attempt to get stimulus money to fix the problem was the focus of an Aug. 24 Washington Post article . The Delta Dirt was present at Obama's March 10 visit. Read our version here . The Washinton Post's story begins: "GREENVILLE, Miss. -- In the blur of his campaign, it was just another overnight stop: a Holiday Inn Express in Greenville, dead in the heart of this forsaken land called the Delta . In the lobby, atop the front desk, a card in a plastic frame greeted guests. It served as an alert, a quaint warning of sorts: "You may be wondering why our water is brown -- it's the cypress tree roots, in the springs underground. Y'all can drink our water and bathe without f...

Thursday night was DJ night at Po' Monkey's juke joint in Merigold. English journalist Julia Buckley and Tallahatchie Flats manager Les Shanks exited Po' Monkey's in Merigold after a fun Thursday night visit. (Monkey's, as Julia pointed out, is indeed spelled "Poor" Monkey's.) From left - Larry Grimes, "Joel Schumacher", Julia Buckley and Les Shanks. The levitating match stick trick. Monkey's gets the Best Decorated Ceiling Ever Award. London journalist Julia Buckley had quite the eventful day yesterday. Greenwood was a stop on her road trip from Los Angeles, which will end in New York City. She is writing a freelance article for The Sunday Times ' travel magazine on Delta music. Julia said she would not mind me telling you that her full-time gig has been as a features writer for a "free daily paper" in London that is distributed mainly to commuters. I say "has been" because she received a text message yesterday ...

Po' Monkey's is an official stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail . Willie "Po' Monkey" Seaberry, the operator of Po' Monkey's, drives a ginormous tractor during the day at Pimble Farms.

In follow up to our original pimento cheese post , we thought it prudent to have The Delta Dirt's very first recipe contest. It will be a virtual Iron Chef of sorts for Delta cooks. So, you think your pimento cheese recipe is the best? Post your recipe on the Facebook Fan page as a new wall post and the one that receives the most "Likes" by this Sunday, August 23 at midnight will receive their own post on TheDeltaDirt.com . That will give you plenty of time to test a few of the recipes and eat a few sandwiches containing the cheesy goodness. Bon appétit!

NOLA restaurant in Indianola. The Delta. It's the best and worst of everything. I think sometimes the words "quaint" and "charming" double for "ignorant" and "lacking customer service skills," but whatever. People love the Delta for the people, who -- while they may move at their own speed -- are nothing if not friendly and eager to lend a helping hand. They also serve really good food, if you can get it. Two weekends ago I journeyed 30 minutes away to Indianola to eat at Lost Dog Pizza Co. This was my third attempt to eat the famed pizza of this establishment. And again, my attempt was thwarted, but this time not due to my own poor planning. At 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night: It was closed. The sign on the door said, "On vacation until Tuesday"! Small town businesses are just really not afraid to close at completely inappropriate times whenever the proprietors feel like vacationing -- or hunting, for that matter. I will never underst...

"The Nemo" at What's Cookin' in Greenwood. The "Southern Burger" at Webster's Food & Drink, also in Greenwood. Pimento cheese, a Southern favorite. Redneck or high-class, no Delta social occasion is complete without this concoction of grated cheeses mixed with mayonnaise, pepper and a sprinkling of Tobasco sauce or cayenne pepper. I grew up not thinking of the pimento as an organic food item. I'm not sure what I thought they were. Or if they were singular or plural. They were just these chopped up red things that came as green olive inserts. The only other thing they were useful for was being mixed in the "pimento cheese" that my mother made occasionally, since she was the only member of our household who would touch it. After I moved backed to Mississippi and became a Delta resident, I realized there was no escaping little finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off containing the stuff. I started to eat it. Now when I see it on an hors ...

Lisa Cookston was born December 13, 1968, to Shirley and Bill Curtis of Greenwood and is married to lawyer Steven Cookston. Together they have Lucy, 9, and Cavitt, 7. In addition to serving on the City Council, Lisa is a part-time English Composition instructor at Mississippi Delta Community College and a free-lance writer. She has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Mississippi. 1. First car: 1981 Cutless Supreme 2. Favorite music album: That's way too hard to narrow down. Can I answer by decade? Early 70's: Captain and Tenille's album, "Love Will Keep Us Together" was a huge hit in my house and one I sang often into my hairbrush, as well as the "Grease" soundtrack in the latter part of the 70s. In the 80s, my favorites were Prince's "Purple Rain", R.E.M., "Reckoning" and the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. In the 90s, Nivana's "Nevermind" was very influential. These days I listen to singles. I...

Long time friends and music collaborators, guitarist/vocalist Andy Hackleman and pianist Jeff Crow, unite for one night only at Webster's Food and Drink in Greenwood. Show begins on the Gnemi McStewart (or is it Stewart McGnemi?) patio at 9:30 p.m. tonight. Don't miss it!

Harvard public policy students Babak Mostaghimi (left) and Ololade Olakanmi July 14 at Delta Bistro, after attending the Baptist Town Blues Marker unveiling . Ololade Olakanmi described his first visit to Greenwood's Baptist Town neighborhood in January as "quite shocking." Originally from Iowa City, Iowa, "Olo" had done his homework on the area but was still surprised to see the poor living conditions in the Baptist Town community in person. Baptist town is bordered by Walker Street to the north, the Columbus and Greenville Railroad to the south, Avenue A to the east, and McCain Street to the west. His colleague Babak Mostaghimi, although a Minnesota guy, knew what to expect. He had taught previously in Shelby, Miss. with Teach for America. Olo and Babak are Harvard students from the Kennedy School of Government. They and eight other students first came to Greenwood at the start of the year to begin the Baptist Town Community Development Project, which they or...

Amateur golfer and Greenwood native Alan Ellis demonstrates his golf swing at the Hattiesburg Country Club in April. Photo credit: Jimmy Hughes. Greenwood's own Alan Ellis took home the winners trophy Sunday at the Mississippi PGA Trustmark Invitational at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Philadelphia, Miss. For more information, read Clarion Ledger reporter Ross Dellenger's story here . From all of us at The Delta Dirt , congratulations Alan!

Dr. Moses, Dr. Marvin Haire, Rev. Frank Willis, Mr. Harvey Cook, Ms. Paige Hunt, and Mr. Sylvester Hoover admire the newly dedicated Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Greenwood's Baptist Town neighborhood. Photo by Lise Foy. Another Greenwood location has been added to the Mississippi Blues Trail. Baptist Town, one of Greenwood's oldest African American neighborhoods, joins the likes of Robert Johnson's grave, the birthplace of Hubert Sumlin, the old WGRM studio, and the Elk's Lodge as a local point of interest and influence in the history of blues music and culture. The Baptist Town neighborhood was established in the 1800s in tandem with the growth of the local cotton industry. The neighborhood is best known in blues lore through blues singer David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who identified it as the final residence of the legendary "king of the Delta blues singers," Robert Johnson. Johnson, who died just outside Greenwood in 1938, and Edwards stayed in houses on...

Just a week since the founding of The Delta Dirt's Fan page on Facebook, over 1,200 members have indicated their affection for this site. To me, that is amazing. The ability to network with people that have likely never heard of this website is an opportunity that did not exist just a few short years ago. Now, people all over the nation have signed up for the Dirt's Fan page and are discussing Dirt -related topics such as agriculture and uploading their own photos of Delta scenery. We too have uploaded photos to the Fan page, since Facebook makes it easy to upload photos to an album. Last week, I uploaded photos of an old fire engine and Delta water towers. More Delta shots will be uploaded soon. To all our Fans out there, we say thank you! If you like the blog and are looking for another way to experience The Delta Dirt and interact with others who either follow the site or like the concept of alluvial soil, check out our Facebook Fan page at www.facebook.com/thedeltad...

Raindrops glisten on a window screen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. During summers in the Delta, rain means everything. Too much, and crops suffer. Not enough, and crops dry out. Just enough, and crops flourish, grass grows green, farmers rejoice, and temperatures cool. Tonight's rain comes at just the right time for summer cotton and corn, yards full of St. Augustine and Bermuda, and temperatures in the 90s. With tonight's rain, the Delta dirt turns into Delta mud. Thank God.

This is just one of a few photos I took of an old Indianola Fire Engine while it was parked in Doddsville. The rest can be seen on The Delta Dirt's Facebook Fan page by clicking here .

The "luck-e you" ad in the July/August issue of Delta Magazine . The "luck-e you" billboard rises above the Waffle House in Greenwood. What is with mysterious ad campaigns? I mean, you can't successfully advertise a product or service if the person viewing the ad doesn't know what it is you are advertising. With that, I am at a loss trying to figure out what the "luck-e you" campaign I have been seeing around the Delta is advertising. They have posted billboards and were in this month's Delta Magazine . If anyone has any idea what this might be, or would like to make a random and/or absurd guess, leave it in the comments below.

Pulled pork and hushpuppies from a pig pickin' in Asheboro, North Carolina. In a recent article, TIME Magazine's Claire Suddath asked the question, "Why Are Southerners So Fat?" The answer is part socio-economic, part cultural, part historical, and of course, part fried chicken. Although the article pins down the root causes of a widespread problem in the southern U.S., it doesn't assuage appetites. About halfway through the article, it lists all the foods which make people fat, including "fried chicken, fried steak, fried onions, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles and fried corn bread." After reading that, all I could think about was making reservations at the Crystal Grill. Bon appétit!