We've got a lot planned this year that we're very excited to share with you. Here are four flyers representing our 2026 event schedule as a whole, Intuitive Plant Medicine Workshops led by Sacha Louise, our very next workshop: Love Your Soil, and workshop in March: No-Till Organic Garden Planning Workshop. Click each image for more details. 

​We had our first workshop of the year on January 10th - Natural Disaster Prep and Homestead Challenges. Lee and Jennifer Ruff, of End of The Road Farm (Climax, KY), led a very informative event that welcomed familiar and new faces. They've got 11 more Homesteading Series events planned with us this year. The next one will be hosted on Feb 14th themed towards loving your soil! They have a lot to dig into with this one. Attendees will learn about soil health, testing, and how to amend their soil in regenerative ways. Folks are encouraged to bring in soil tests (recent or old). Hope to see ya there! 

Healthy farms exist only with healthy soil.

Did ya'll know about this cool free resource?
Local extension offices provide up to 10 free soil test a year. For anyone able to get their soil tested before the workshop, or for anyone who already has a soil test they can bring in, they can get some practice with the soil test worksheets the Ruffs' will provide. 

Go to your county extension office to get information regarding soil test. You may also view the UK extension website for any additional information about soil testing - all soil tests through the county extensions will be processed at UK. 

Aside from our 12 Homesteading Series Workshops, we have quite a bit more planned this year! As you may expect, we definitely will have more (five) Mushroom Inoculation Workshops led by Ron Owens. Andrew Ozinskas will lead several Tree, Plant, and Fungi Hikes at our Wilderness Site. Sacha Louise will lead 4 (one per season) Intuitive Plant Medicine Workshops at our Wilderness Site. Julie will lead a Plant Choir curriculum. Loki will lead 4 Trail Maintenance Days at the Wilderness site, (again, thanks to all of the good training from the Trail Maintenance Certification they acquired from Mike Riter of Professional Trail Builders hosted at the Hindman Settlement School), River will lead a few Volunteer Garden Days at the office, one or more Art at the River Day at our Wilderness Site, and a Movie Night at the office. Timi will be kicking off our new Book Club with 5th Sacred Thing. In the summer, We'll host a Cookout Day down at Laurel Lake, and of course we'll have River Day at the wIlderness site. Looking to be a vibrant year!

It is time for our annual community plant purchase! We will be ordering Hartmans wholesale plants for ourself and our community members. For anyone interested in joining in on the order, please:

1.  View Hartmans Wholesale options here
2. Email ASPI your order to aspi@a-spi.org, or fill a form out at the office!​​

Email should contain:
Name
Phone number / best way to reach you
Plants - variety and quantity

DUE on Friday, Feb 27th. 
We will be placing our order at the end of Feb. 

We'll contact you as soon as we have your plants. We can arrange payment in person or online.

Now, wondering our way to the trellis and raised beds, we will find ourself under a dreamy arch crawling with tendrils of grapes, kiwis, and hopeful loofas. Between our feet are even more vines hiding surprises - pumpkins!

As mentioned in the previous month, we will feature our calendar, cards, ASPI merch, and nonperishable local farm products in our online store. We work with Berea College Printing Services for our calendar and cards. For the current ASPI merch listed, we use an organization in KY that uses solar panels and recycles waste materials while producing quality clothing, Custom Printed T-Shirts | Print My Threads and the local farm products are sourced from folks right in the Mount Vernon/Berea area.


And now the trees have let go of their leaves, offering nutrients for their future selves and all those nearby, while also offering a protective layer throughout the cold. They're letting go of things now to nourish the future coming. 

Thank you much for reading along, 

Sincerely, 

ASPI

Here's a glimpse into Blayne's summer with us:

Engineering
Blayne participated in outings with Mountain Association, where she helped with energy audits, Kentucky Utilities Direct Install Grants, and site visits. She also had the chance to shadow Will Reedy at the Keenland Biowaste Project and toured his automated raspberry farm.

Farm Days
Blayne worked closely with local farmers in Rockcastle Co. and Madison Co. Her projects ranged from implementing a gutter system, installing high tunnel trellising, repairing an irrigation system, and even searching for a queen bee! Outside of the Farm Days, you could find Blayne socializing with the local farmers at the farmers market while piling jam jars in her arms. 

Wilderness Site
At the wilderness site especially, Blayne earned her "Pro Weedeater" title. She worked hard to remove invasive species and repair the garden site. Additionally, she planted a variety of fruit trees and shrubs in the garden space and at the orchard. To protect this important ecosystem, she also designed "No Spray" signage, promoting environmentally conscious practices. 

Grant Work
Blayne contributed to several successful resiliency grants this summer. In one project, she collaborated with ASPI, Mountain Association, and Salamander Springs. Another effort involved a partnership between the Mountain Association and Hemphill Community Center.

Tech Support and Social Platform Integration 
Blayne played an important role in reconnecting ASPI to all of our accounts and ensuring that our digital presence is maintained. Through her digital work with ASPI, Blayne created a document that will not only guide us through these sometimes complicated digital processes but also guide many others: The Social Platform Integration Document. This is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow document covering website basics and resources for outreach, and how to easily combine the two. Judy Sizemore has passed this document onto SPARK, a program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural eastern Kentucky. which recently held a meeting at Bobtown Arts. Several SPARK partners have responded very positively to this resource - thank you Blayne!

ASPI was able to obtain a Kentucky Utilities Direct Installs Grant thanks to Josh Bills of Mountain Association. Below is a table representing ASPI's estimated energy savings following our new installations. 

ASPI was delighted to catch up with John Luc and Grace over lunch. These two first joined ASPI in 2022 with Notre Dame's service learning program. They are both focused in conservation efforts, with Grace beginning a job next week involving water conservation, and John Luc currently doing environmental inspection assessments while also pursuing a Masters. 

A few photos taken over the summer months. 

Thank you much for reading along.

Sincerely,

​Timi (Board Director), river and Loki (Wilderness Site Caretakers)

Early every spring ASPI organizes a perennial order wholesale for the local community! Savings on Blueberries, cherries, figs, kiwis, etc. can reach the hundreds of dollars for folks who participate in this process! ASPI generally purchases extra perennials in this order and sales them at cost throughout the season.

2025 was our 10th year working with this company and our largest order yet. We grow by roughly 10% every year and people are generally pleased with the plants they receive. Our wholesale plant project helps local folks with subsistence and market gardening, but, it also becomes habitat and food for all manner of wildlife, there are no downsides to establishing perennial food forests, they support local ecosystems and add a tremendous diversity of all life to ones land. This diversity increases strength and resilience to the region on every level.

If you are interested in participating in this order next March please get back to us and get on our list. Explore your options on this website: https://hartmannsplantcompany.com/wholesale/

We're partnering with herbalist Andrew Ozinskas to provide a series of seasonal plant, tree, and fungi identification hikes at the Zalla trail at the River property. This was a highly requested event and we are hoping to continue this annually! Hike #1 happened in early April, and our next summer hike will be announced soon. Sign up at THIS LINK for our Simple Living Newsletter to be the first to learn about it!

​​River and Loki  have been caretakers of the ASPI river property for almost a year now. They have steadily been improving the property over the weeks and months and have been increasing the safety of the structures there. A task of this enormity is daunting to say the least, but they are steady and sure. The property is beginning to show the effects of attention and care. It has reached a level that ASPI is feeling strong enough to begin hosting events there this year, guided identification hikes and cookouts, and gear and kayaks for recreational water activities. She is coming alive again. Our gratitude is boundless for their conscientious contributions to ASPI. River has been working with ASPI in some capacity for several years and we are so grateful for their attention to detail, effective communication, creativity, and devotion to the projects they are involved in. Enough really cannot be said.

Service learning is an experiential learning pedagogy that integrates academic coursework with community service to enhance participants' civic engagement and personal growth. This typically involves partnering with a particular organization to address real-world needs and interact within a community. Oftentimes, articles and other academic materials are explored pre-departure, allowing students a foundation to which they can connect their experiences. Structured reflection is also an important aspect of service learning trips, occurring usually at the end of each day. Students have noted deeply beneficial aspects of service learning, such ​as increased senses of social responsibility, touching encounters with a particular cause, and expansions of perspective and worldview.  

At ASPI, there is deep focus both on service work and community engagement - exploring harmonies, diversities, and disparities in the Southeastern Kentucky area through multiple lenses. At Notre Dame students participate in a weekly class focused on Appalachia, History, Culture, and Music. The group meets during those classes to establish a bond ahead of going into the immersion experience during Notre Dames week-long fall break. Here is a glimpse of a Notre Dame week at ASPI!

Sunday - Arrival & Climax Spring: On Sunday, the cohort arrives after driving from their respective college. For Notre Dame, that means about a 5-hour drive down through Indiana. Their experience began with a trip to Climax Springs and a hike up to it's watershed, explaining to the students the kindness of Climax for providing free spring water access to the community. After a long travel day, students ease into their time in Rockcastle, and their home for the next week at the ASPI office, as well as prepare for their week of service work and community engagement ahead.  

Students that attend this experience are often beautifully impacted, and share such kind words with ASPI about their week-long journeys. Here are just a few of their letters from past years <3

ASPI has been hosting Notre Dame service learning cohorts as far back as 1979. We value and appreciate this relationship and look to strengthen and continue building this partnership. Pre-covid, ASPI had collaborated with many service learning groups from colleges and universities like Gannon University, University of Texas, Loyola of Chicago, and Furman. We hope to regain  momentum from the pre-covid era by welcoming additional cohorts in the fall and spring semesters.

Thank you for reading along!

Dear Friends,
 
The vibrant foliage has mostly fallen, and the weather is finally chilly. This fall we are continuously grateful for the ongoing community of Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (ASPI) patrons, partners, and participants who have supported us for over 47 years! ASPI continues serving the local community and Appalachian region without paid leadership staff, but a valuable team of volunteers and contract labor helps sustain our work. ASPI still provides access to housing, networking opportunities, educational programming, and partnership collaborations and contributions.
 
This year, we are saddened by the loss of three important founding ASPI icons who are also acknowledged in the 2025 calendar: founder Father Albert J. Fritsch (https://bit.ly/Fr-Al-Fritsch-Obit), former board member Marie Cirillo (https://bit.ly/Marie-Cirillo-Obit), and homesteader and ginseng grower Syl Yunker who collaborated with ASPI early on (https://bit.ly/Syl-Yunker-Obit). They are greatly missed, and all left a lasting impact not only ASPI but many communities and practitioners in the Appalachian region.

The ASPI board works on daily operations and communications along with part-time staff support and volunteers, and our strategic plan continues guiding our work. Board President Timi Reedy and Secretary Tammy Clemons maintain remote contact with board member and former residential volunteer Father Jack Kieffer. Board member Judy Sizemore stepped down this year so she could resume supporting ASPI through valuable consultancies through Mountain Association (MA) as well as the SPARK Program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural (Eastern) Kentucky. We are still working to make our certified kitchen the main ASPI Office in Mt. Vernon, which has preliminary approval, accessible to local farmers. Our grounds/garden helper River Jarvis maintains the ASPI orchard, beds, and greenhouse, which produce a variety of fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs that we share with the local community. They also work on ongoing upkeep of the Cordwood building, Nature Center, and garden beds at the ASPI Rockcastle River Wilderness Demonstration Site as one of our new residential volunteers.
 
This year, ASPI began serving as fiscal sponsor for fellow SPARK member Our Land of Promise (OPL), which is “dedicated to honoring and preserving African American heritage in Berea, Kentucky.” ASPI received a 2024 Radical Rest Grant as a voting organizational member of the Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly, and we nominated and directed part of this grant to OPL. ASPI also received a Folk Arts & Cultures Grant from the Berea College Appalachian Fund on behalf of OPL “to display and honor Black heritage in Berea through a series of events highlighting the historic and contemporary Farristown community and traditions.”

is summer, local mycologists Ron Owens and Jonny Wells led a series of mushroom demonstrations and workshops at the Clear Creek Schoolhouse, Rockcastle Garden Club, Garrard County Medicinal Herb Club, Berea College Forest Outreach Center, and Rockcastle Farmer’s Market. More than 200 workshop participants walked away with a free mushroom log and handouts. Josh Bills also led solar cooker demonstrations at the Farmer’s Market and ASPI office. Local off-grid homesteaders, the Ruff family, also led hands-on workshops on biochar methods and growing your own grains. ASPI collaborated again with the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to help coordinate a regional oral history meet-up at the national Oral History Association Annual Meeting in Cincinnati. Timi Reedy and Mark Spencer completed their set of five oral history interviews with Appalachian iconoclast George Brosi.

In October, we hosted nine University of Notre Dame service-learning students from diverse backgrounds for a week-long alternative fall break immersion experience, and one of the two student leaders returned from the past two years. The group got water from Climax spring; worked in the gardens and learned about solar energy at the ASPI Office; cleaned out the old Solar House shed at the Rockcastle River property where they also went on a meditative nature hike and had a cookout; and cleaned up two dump sites with Rockcastle Solid Waste. They also toured the Rockcastle County High School with the Principal and visited an Appalachian Studies class; hiked the Pinnacles; and enjoyed live music by Mitch Barrett. They finished the week with projects at four local Rockcastle County farms, which is one of their favorite annual activities. As ever, we are tremendously grateful for these Notre Dame students and their interest in the Appalachian region, as well as the positive energy and work ethic throughout the week!

The 2025 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the downloadable order form. Calendar designer Mark Spencer curated another great collection of daily sayings and beautiful monthly photos from regional photographers with cover photo by John Fitzwater. Mark shares his annual aspirations for the New Year in the enclosed calendar brochure. We are grateful for Mark’s ongoing creative contributions on behalf of ASPI, and we echo his wishes for fostering both growth and simplicity in 2025 to all our supporters and calendar enthusiasts.

Thanks to all these individuals and organizations for supporting our work, with special thanks to: Father Al Fritsch, Father Jack Kieffer, Judy Sizemore, Mark Spencer, Emily Parrish, Aaron and Jamie Banther, Jerry Bogie, Josh Bills, Danielle Capillo, River Jarvis, Loki Searles, Ron Owens and family, Jonny Wells, Erin Grace, Josh Merritt, Melanie Abbott, Jamie Ponder, Janet Kalitz, Warren Brunner, Bob Bagley, Lindsey Windland, John Fitzwater, Mitch Barrett, Holly Robinson, Brenda and Donnie Parsons, Ruff Family, Shannon Barrett, Alan Harding, Andrew Ozinskas, Phillip Gilbert, Leela Christina, James Renner, Mahala King, Amy Weinfurtner, Ketaki Bhattacharyya, Kopana Terry, Jen Bartlett, and Nancy Seaberg.
 
With your support, ASPI will continue maintaining and improving the Mt. Vernon and Livingston demonstration sites; implementing accessibility improvements; public access to a certified kitchen and EV charging stations; arts/culture programming; and ongoing community partnerships. We share our boundless gratitude for the generosity, enthusiasm, and engagement of our volunteers, partners, project contractors, donors, and calendar lovers. Thanks for your contributions to ASPI’s 47-year-old mission working for healthy land and sustainable communities in Kentucky and Central Appalachia. We wish hope, safety, and thriving fulfillment for our shared futures in 2025!
 
Sincerely,
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)

Dear Friend,

The fall landscape and weather remain colorful and somewhat mild into November, and we are again sharing our gratitude for the incredible community of Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (ASPI) supporters, partners, and participants! After 46 years, ASPI continues serving the local community and Appalachian region. This year, we again operated without paid leadership but with valuable help from volunteers and contract labor, and we also provided housing, networking opportunities, educational programming, and partnership collaborations and contributions.

The ASPI board continues maintaining daily operations and communications with some part-time staff support and volunteers. Board President Timi Reedy and Secretary Tammy Clemons work both remotely and at the main office. We maintain contact with board member and former residential volunteer Father Jack Kieffer and welcome new board member Judy Sizemore who has been involved with ASPI for a couple of years through Mountain Association (MA) consultancy and the SPARK Program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural (Eastern) Kentucky. ASPI continues implementing the strategic plan we developed with Judy as well as our accessibility statement and objectives (https://bit.ly/ASPI-Accessibility).

Physical improvements to the main ASPI Office in Mt. Vernon include new lighting, a more accessible toilet, and additional plumbing repairs. We passed plumbing and preliminary health inspections toward completing the final requirements for a publicly accessible certified kitchen. With a small grounds/garden crew this year, the ASPI orchard, beds, and greenhouse produced medicinal herbs, tomatoes, peppers, okra, berries, apples, and pears.

Major ongoing clean-up and repairs to the Cordwood building, Nature Center, and garden beds continue at the ASPI Rockcastle River Wilderness Demonstration Site. We unfortunately had to demolish the Cordwood trailer because it was unsalvageable, but the site (AKA “Father Jack’s”) now features a clover lot and gravel parking area large enough for school buses to turn around and park. Improvements include replacing the Cordwood attic insulation and plumbing and working on water catchment and drainage around the building and the Nature Center.

From 2019-2022, ASPI served as fiscal sponsor for Arts Connect Eastern Kentucky, which now continues its important work under the non-profit umbrella of Recovering Joy Arts and Nature Center in Pulaski County. This year, ASPI received another grant from the Epiphany Catholic Church 10 Percent Commitment Fund, became a voting organizational member of the Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly, and received a 2023 Waymakers Radical Rest Grant. We also nominated and directed a portion of this grant to Owsley County Alliance for Recreation & Entertainment, a community-based, board-run non-profit organization and fellow SPARK member. ASPI tabled at the annual Appalachian Studies Association conference, which was held at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio in March, as well as the Kentucky Green Living Fair in Somerset in April.

ASPI collaborated again with the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to help coordinate three free regional gatherings for oral historians from Kentucky and Central Appalachia with support from the national Oral History Association. The Lexington Public Library hosted the first oral history meet-up in June, and the Southeast Kentucky African-American Museum and Cultural Center hosted the second meet-up in August in Hazard. In November, the Kentucky Folklife Program and Western Kentucky University Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology are hosting a third meet-up in Bowling Green. Timi Reedy and Mark Spencer completed a series of “life history” interviews with ASPI founder Father Al Fritsch before he retired this year, and they began conducting a new series of interviews with Appalachian author, activist, and icon George Brosi. This summer, ASPI served as the organizational site of a pilot hybrid (in-person and virtual) version of the Kentucky Community Scholars Program in partnership with the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Folklife Program. Four new graduates completed folklife and fieldwork training, presented their projects, and joined more than 250 certified Kentucky Community Scholars!

In October, we hosted eleven University of Notre Dame service-learning students from all over the country and world for a week-long alternative fall break immersion experience through the Center for Social Concerns. One of the two student leaders returned from last year.

The service-learning students hung out with former ASPI Board President Shane Barton from the University of Kentucky Community Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky who shared an in-depth presentation on the Appalachian region. They moved 14 cubic yards of compost into raised beds at the ASPI Office and cleaned out the Cordwood attic and the bottom of the Nature Center at the Rockcastle River property. They also learned about solar energy from Josh Bills. The students also picked up 141 bags of garbage and 15 tires at Lake Linville with Rockcastle Solid Waste Coordinator James Renner, and they worked with Berea Community School engineering students and teacher Hank Gevedon on several creative projects. They also got water from Climax spring, shopped at the local IGA, and hiked the Pinnacles and Anglin Falls. They closed the week with projects at five local Rockcastle County farms, live music by Mitch Barrett, and Yard Party Games. We are always grateful and inspired by their attentive curiosity, positive attitudes, energy, and work ethic!

The 2024 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is now posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the downloadable order form. Mark Spencer designed another great collection of daily sayings and monthly photos from Melanie Abbott, Warren Brunner, Gretchen L. Collins, and this year’s cover photo by Janet Kalisz. Mark also shares his annual reflection and hopes for the New Year in the enclosed calendar brochure. We are grateful for Mark’s continued creativity and contributions on behalf of ASPI, and we likewise wish all our supporters and calendar-loving community a peaceful and rewarding 2024.

Thanks to all these people and organizations for making our work possible with special thanks to: Aaron Banther, Bugz Fraugg, Kyra Higgins, Mark Spencer, Judy Sizemore, Brent Bjorkman, Mark Brown, Camille Acosta, Delainey Bowers, Kopana Terry, Ann Ferrell, Wyatt Woodson, Jen Bartlett, Emily Hudson, Shannon Barrett, Nancy Seaberg, Gretchen Collins, Martin Mudd, Shannon Williams, River Jarvis, Jerry Bogie, Josh Bills, Ben Tatum, Father Al Fritsch, Father Jack Kieffer, Warren Brunner, Kitrina Kearfott, Emily Parrish, James Renner, Mahala King, Amy Weinfurtner, Ketaki Bhattacharyya, Donna Daniels, Chris Handberg, Ron Owens, Jonny Wells, Shane Barton, Mitch Barrett, Holly Robinson, Brenda and Donnie Parsons, Hank Gevedon, Ruff Family, Nicole Garneau, Melanie Abbott, and Brenda Richardson.

Thanks for your contributions to ASPI’s mission and 46 years of ongoing work for healthy land and sustainable communities in Kentucky and Central Appalachia. We are hopeful for our collective futures in 2024!

Sincerely,
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)