GROW Casey County

Housekeeping – or is that Farm-keeping?

2012-01-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

We are currently gathering information and updating all events, and the Casey County Produce Auction schedule, for 2012. Plans are also in the works for an initial get-together in late February of all interested Casey County farmers and others for fellowship, possible regular programs and perhaps to organize a 'Farm Day' open house in Casey County for sometime this year. Let us know if you'd like to be on the mailing list. Details to follow!

In the meantime, check (and join!) our 'GROW Casey County' Facebook page for more regular updates (which are also always visible in the right sidebar if you're not on Facebook). Feel free to email us at info@CatherinePond.com if you need specific information sooner.

Have a Blessed Holiday Season!

2011-11-14T09:21:00.001-08:00

We wish you all the joys of the holiday season
and the bounty that life offers you.

We are taking a bit of a break here for the holidays and will be posting any upcoming items of interest on our Facebook page: so make sure to friend us at "Grow Casey County" [our 150th and 200th Friends will also receive bountiful gift baskets of Casey County products, if before or during the holidays!]

We will certainly return in the New Year, if not before, with more on Casey County's agricultural and local offerings and stories of interest.

In the meantime if you need to reach us, please email at info@CatherinePond.com

Many thanks to you all for your support in our first year!

Hettmansperger's Haunted Corn Maze

2011-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

A large barn provides a sitting area,
warmth and something to eat.

A friendly, but odd, old witch
told our fortunes before we entered.

We had so much fun tonight at the Haunted Corn Maze at Hettmansperger's Greenhouse. I just wanted to plug it for Monday, Halloween, as they are open one last night from dark until the last brave hobgoblins plan to venture through it. It's a great compliment to your Trick-or-Treat activities or even in lieu of them (our boys are at the age where this was the perfect alternative). Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for ages 12 and under (those in costume this evening get $1 off admission).

Don't go in the corn!

Located on the Casey County-Pulaski County line, on Highway 837 south in Mintonville, owner Jay Hettmansperger and his family have created a great family-friendly, old-fashioned attraction in the emergent trend of agritourism. Most of their visitors this month have been families rather than the groups of teenagers they were initially expecting and Jay added that the recent coverage in The Casey County News had brought in so many families and groups. During the spring and summer, the greenhouses offer a variety of locally grown flowers, tomatoes and other vegetables. This year the family planned a haunted corn maze for October and planted the corn in early July so it would still be somewhat green.

I was kind of sweet on this fellow and he kindly posed for the camera.

They are already planning next year's maze and have been pleased by the response to this year's––mostly from Casey County residents, Jay said. It's a great family-friendly outing, with a few fun scares in the corn, but nothing gory or too over the top as you might find in a haunted house with more elaborate special effects. In fact, the back-to-basics special effects––like what you might find in a low-budget, but somewhat scary, movie––were a delight and offered innocent, harmless fun.

A crescent moon hovered over the farm and corn maze and the early evening was not too cool. My husband and boys got a cup of cocoa (there are other concessions, also) and we chatted a bit in the warm and cozy barn. We left quite giddy and even well-exercised: the maze is about 1.25 miles long and brings you up and down the hillside corn patch gradually. Believe me, if this out-of-shape old witch can walk it, most people can. We can't wait until next Halloween to go again!

Come back during the day for a variety of mums or next spring for
great homegrown vegetables and flower plants for your 2012 garden.

End of the Season Offerings

2011-10-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Turnips at the Casey County Produce Auction–and Paul Hoover holds some
of the many kinds of apples available at Hillside Greenhouse & Produce.
LAST produce auction of the season: Thursday, October 27 at 5pm

Lots of apples, and unusual varieties, are still arriving
at Hillside Greenhouse and Produce!

501 Produce is still open for business.

This year's sorghum crop is now boiling at Oberholtzer's Sorghum Mill.

You can still find pumpkins, too, in time for Halloween or winter canning.

Bobbett's Naturally Grown

2011-10-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

In southeastern Casey County, just off Hwy 837 several miles north of Mintonville, Bobbett Jascor raises several kinds of garlic, sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), a variety of summer berries and assorted produce on her 45 acre farm. While not certified organic, like many area produce growers Bobbett's methods are natural and sustainable. She moved here in 2004 from New Jersey and has transformed her acreage into a self-supporting enterprise. She admits, somewhat drolly, that it's a very different lifestyle than the seventeen years she spent selling real estate.

'Elephant' garlic in the middle, 'Cherokee' hard neck on the right and 'Inchelium' (soft neck) on the left.

Currently, garlic is the farm's mainstay crop and this year there is a softneck ('Inchelium') and 'Cherokee' hardneck variety for sale, as well as the larger-sized 'Elephant' garlic. The larger bulb sections are planted in October. Any time now is fine and some people plant here into November: some even advise planting garlic in the period of the waning three-quarter moon, which this month is October 19, but Bobbett doesn't follow those practices. She is a practical gardener and said she would worry too much about getting it in at the right time. 'I get it in the ground when I can,' she adds. She will then preserve the smaller cloves for winter eating: by dry storage or mincing the garlic, mixing in a bit of olive oil, and freezing it into small, usable ice cube-sized portions. 'You can also pickle the cloves whole,' she said. [Just Google ways to preserve garlic and you will have many methods and ideas to choose from.]

For more garlic preserving and planting tips from Bobbett, click here.

Like many enterprising Kentucky farmers, Jascor has learned how to grow crops that will adapt to the climate as well as increased customer demand. 'Most of my customers come through the internet but I also have many local customers.' She also mentioned that next year she will be offering 20 varieties of garlic and is currently planting those for her 2012 harvest.

A large original tobacco barn on the property has become the perfect place to store and dry her garlic harvest which usually takes place in July. The long, green curling scapes come up sooner and many garlic aficionados enjoy those in pesto and other recipes. Others take the small garlic corms and plant those to get one solid garlic bulb the next year which sheds its corm in a cycle of growth. Bobbett said that one customer likes to buy just the korms to put up so she doesn't have to fuss with individual bulbs.

Garlic is an ancient plant valued for its medicinal and culinary properties. In this part of the Appalachians, we have a wild member of the garlic family right in our lawns and fields (also known as 'onion grass')––if you leave it long enough, you will get a bulb growing in the cooler months. There is nothing like pungent fresh garlic. One easy recipe for roasted garlic is to take a garlic bulb ('Elephant' is especially good for this), cut off the top part, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt, wrap in foil and roast it in the oven at 400 degrees, papery skin and all. In about half an hour you can scoop out the roasted garlic flesh which has become sweetened by the baking process: it is good spread on bread, crackers or stirred into mashed potatoes.

'Sunchokes,' aka Jerusalem artichokes, will soon be ready for harvesting.
You will also find these growing along Kentucky roadsides and fields.

Next year, in addition to her extended garlic varieties, Bobbett will be offering a variety of berries to the public. She prefers that you call ahead for the best availability and cautions that, as she grows and harvests everything almost entirely herself, there might not be the supply one might expect. But she will work with requests with advance notice.

This year's garlic crop is going fast so call 606-787-0926 or Friend 'Bobbett's Naturally Grown' on Facebook or email Bobbett Jascor at bobbett@windstream.net to reserve your winter stash. She also has an on-line store at LocalHarvest.Org where you can read more about her farm, her growing practices and her offerings.

We recently bought some of her garlic for planting and some for eating and look forward to our own garlic crop next year. If you are patient, it is one of the easiest things to grow and like so many edible plants, it provides the gift that keeps on giving in the garden.

Bobbett's Naturally Grown

106 Country Way (about a quarter mile from Hwy 837)

Liberty, KY 42539

606-787-0926

Future produce offerings at Bobbett's Naturally Grown
will include kiwis and currants and other heirloom varieties.

Fall is In Full Season at Hillside Greenhouse and Produce

2011-09-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Hillside Greenhouse and Produce, in the large red-roofed log cabin tucked up on the hill behind Sunny Valley Country Store, is now bustling with visitors from around the state and county––and even tourists from further away.

Paul and Verna Hoover built the log cabin showroom several years ago and now offer produce year round––much of it locally grown––in addition to their other plants and greenhouse items in season.

Currently there are many local pumpkins, squash and gourds available and over fourteen varieties of apples (mostly imported from New York state) including Cameo, Cortland, Fuji, Gala, Golden Supreme, Granny Smith, Jonagold, MacIntosh, Mutzu, Red Delicious, Rome, Stayman Winesap, Wolf River and Yellow Delicious. Verna told us today that another large shipment of apples is due into the store on Saturday, October 1st.

The Stayman Winesap apple is one of the very best apples for anything and also a good keeping apple.

There is always a changing array of colorful––and affordable––mums outside of the store. Big pots of vibrant mums are a sure sign of fall and the lingering colors that they offer,
long after seasonal frosts, are a delight to many.

Local Jack-be-Little pumpkins, 2 for $1 (any size): you can stuff them to eat or decorate with them!

You can't beat local sugar "pie" pumpkins for baking, canning and decorations, especially at that price.

Hillside Greenhouse and Produce is open year round, Monday-Saturday, from 8am-5pm, and is located on South Fork Creek Road, within three miles from route 910 in southern Casey County. [606-787-4509]

Hillside Greenhouse is conveniently located on the hill above Sunny Valley Country Store, also open Monday-Saturday, featuring an in-store deli and bakery, many locally made items and an extensive offering of bulk foods.

September Song

2011-09-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first official day of autumn and it seems to have arrived here in south-central Kentucky with all of its delights and offerings. This following was shared by Joberta Wells, a regular columnist for The Casey County News and a regular 'hoot.' She returned to Casey County in 1994 after being away for over three decades. It's a great place to come back to, or to move to, that's for certain. Joberta writes:

'Years ago every little community in Casey County, Kentucky had a correspondent for The Casey County News. They collected tidbits of happenings from their areas and submitted these news items. You knew who got married, who had a baby, who died, who went to Lexington to see a specialist (a doctor with more training and education than the local general practitioner), whose cow broke through the fence into a neighbor's corn field, etc.

The correspondents for Yosemite, KY were sisters named **Wauda Coffey and Jesse Anderson. These ladies engaged in rather florid prose but occasionally they got it just right. In the September 22, 1949 edition of The Casey County News they reported the following':

The countryside is taking on the richness of autumn. Almost all the tobacco is in the barns where one sees the long leaves turning to pale gold. September has been perfect for curing the crop and for making the fall hay. Mowing machines are busy and fields are dotted with green bales, or bordered with stacks, and barns are being filled. Cornfields are brown and look a month later than the calendar says. Nature's flower garden is bright with goldenrod, purple ironweed, and many other blossoms. Buds of the summer farewell are opening instead of waiting for October to call them on the stage. It's a lovely time to be living.'

**Yes, she really was a woman named 'Wauda' –– I had changed it to Wanda, thinking it a type-o and Joberta nicely reminded me not to do that!

Glorious Garlic Grows in Casey County!

2011-09-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

Garlic at the Hopkinton State Fair,
September 2007, Hopkinton, NH

I have yet to make a visit to Bobbett's Naturally Grown Garlic farm in Liberty but did want to mention here that they are having a special offer for the month of September only:

If you place an order for $25 or more, not including shipping, she will include $5 in free garlic. Place an order for $50 or more, and she will include $12 in free garlic.

Click on the above link that will take you to Bobbett Jascor's Facebook page for additional information. You can also email her at bobbett@windstream.net or call at 606-787-0926. If you live locally you might be able to avoid shipping by arranging to stop at her farm [located at 106 Country Way in Liberty, KY]. Currently she offers three varieties––Elephant, Cherokee and Inchelium––but is excited to report that she will have 15-18 total varieties next year.

Bobbett says that for long-term use the 'Elephant' garlic stores the longest (and it is is the biggest). Ranked second is the soft neck 'Inchelium' variety, followed by 'Cherokee.' A $25 order, with the September special, would give you, for example, 4-5 bulbs of 'Elephant' and about 10 each of the other two varieties (or any combo of 20 bulbs).

Preserving and Planting Tips from Bobbett:

'For LONG term use (throughout the entire winter) we usually preserve our garlic in one of two ways: you can peel, pickle and can the individual cloves and then rinse them before use if you don't want them so vinegary. Otherwise, if you like to cook with garlic, we peel and mince all of the cloves and then mix them with oil. We pack them into ice cube trays and put the solidified cubes into a Ziplock freezer bag. We use one or two whenever we want to cook, sauté or fry with oil and garlic.

For long term FRESH storage, you need to provide temps around 50 degrees and high humidity. Most fridges are too cold, and root cellars tend to be too warm (in KY). But if you can find some place with those conditions, most garlic will last 7-10 months. Our 'Elephant' garlic lasts through the winter just being left alone in an unheated room.'

For PLANTING: Plant in Kentucky in October for a summer harvest the next year. Here is more detailed information on-line about planting garlic. If you want to plant them in containers like I do (such as using the galvanized cattle tanks made by Tarter Gate in Liberty, KY), Bobbett adds: 'Give them at least 6" spacing and good drainage. They'll require at least 1" of water a week during the growing season.'

We've also learned that Bobbett's Naturally Grown also sells sunchokes (aka Jerusalem Artichoke tubers) in October either for planting or eating and in the summer many different kinds of berries: black, red, purple, and yellow raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and currants, as well as small quantities of fresh seasonal vegetables. [I've been looking for a currant grower, as well as more gooseberries, so this is great news.]

More information is available on our 'Places to Buy Local' page, above, or click here. This is an area of the blog that could always use your input and updating, too, so if you know of a Casey County farmer who sells produce or other agricultural or animal-related products to the public, please let us know! We'll be happy to include them, and/or in the 'Bulletin Board' section, free of charge.

Local Fall Festivals and Events

2011-09-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

Among many fall offerings at the Casey County Produce Auction.

There is so much to do in and within an easy drive of Casey County––in fact, all of Kentucky––in the autumn months. So many offerings celebrate the season and agricultural bounty of Kentucky while others are fun, historical or just a great reason to be outside with your family. September and October provide a perfect opportunity to enjoy the region in the cooler, more temperate, months, before a quieter winter. With higher gas prices, too, what better way to 'get away' than by doing something in your own backyard?

An early autumn scene along South Fork Creek in Casey County.

Here are some highlights of several fall festivals and events, with links where available. Make sure you click on those for additional information or ways you can help [If you know of other related agritourism events or activities in the next few months, please let me know and I'll include them here]:

September 10, Fall Heritage Festival, Homeplace Farm, Campbellsville
September 16, Apple Cook-Off Contest & Ice Cream Social, Casey County Extension Building
September 16-17, Kentucky Mule & Donkey Association State Championship Show, AG/EXPO Center
September 17-24, Casey County Apple Festival (37th annual), downtown Liberty
September 17, Kentuckians Reading Kentucky, Janice Holt Giles House, Adair County
September 17, Autumn Fest at Bear Wallow Farm, Nancy (open weekends through October 30)
September 23-25, Harvest Fest–50th Anniversary Celebration, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg
September 24-25, National Alpaca Farm Days, Barnett's Creek Farm, Liberty [email or call ahead]

The annual Galilean Children's Home Benefit Quilt Auction brings
in handmade quilts from around the country and region each year.

Penn's Store is undergoing an extensive restoration after the
devastating May 2010 flood which impacted much of Casey County.

October 1-30, Autumn Fest at Bear Wallow Farm, Nancy
October 1, Art and Craft Festival, Janice Holt Giles House, Adair County
October 8, Great Outhouse Blowout, Penn's Store
October 13-14, Galilean Children's Home Benefit Quilt Auction (22nd annual)
October 14-15, Forkland Heritage Festival (40th annual)
October 15, Special Consignment Auction, Casey County Produce Auction
October 21-22, Casey County Heritage Festival (3rd annual), AG/EXPO Center
October 29, Fall 501 Mennonite Benefit Auction & Sale (Hwy 127 & 501)

All manner of livestock are auctioned each year
at the 501 Casey County Benefit Auction and Sale.

Some of the many homemade Mennonite baked goods that are always available
at the 501 Casey County Benefit Auction and Sale, held this year October 29th.

Additional events and happenings are listed at the Liberty-Casey County Chamber of Commerce website. You can also check the excellent Tour Southern and Eastern Kentucky calendar for more information on fun things to do not too far from home.

We will also be updating our GROW Casey County Facebook page with other events as they might come up. If you're on Facebook, consider Friending GROW Casey County for more regular updates, links and interesting bits of agricultural and local food-related information.

~ Also, a note that the Casey County Produce Auction has returned to their regular Monday, Wednesday and Thursday schedule through September: 2pm on Monday and Wednesday and 5pm on Thursday ~ October will have a further altered auction schedule: please check above link.

Grapes Available at 501 Produce

2011-08-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Casey County grape season is short because of the heat but it is
possible to get bushels from out of state through local produce dealers.

The Burkholder family, who operate 501 Produce and Wholesale [9409 KY 501 South] in Casey County want readers to know that they are taking Concord grapes from the Northeast on order, and will have some available in their stand, for mid-September. If you are interested, the price is $16.50 a bushel or $8.25 a half-bushel. They will have blue and white varieties. Stop in at their produce stand or call 606-787-8362

There are many easy ways to make and can your own delicious grape juice [I find using a steam juicer, available at Misty Mountain Sales on South Fork Creek, to be the easiest method]. We used to have Concord grapes back in New Hampshire and I would make luscious grape jam each fall, when our grapes were usually ready in early October. Grapes have a lot of natural pectin and cook up nicely in a jam––my method avoids having to separate the pulp from the skins.

501 Produce is run as an Old Order Mennonite produce cooperative, similar to South Fork Produce on South Fork Road. Both are seasonal businesses where you can purchase produce at retail (and some wholesale) prices. The family also packages a wide variety of seeds––both heirloom and hybrid varieties––and sells them at area stores, including their own.

Hours and other information are posted here. The Hoovers are also taking orders for out-of-state grapes, pears and peaches at Hillside Greenhouse and Produce (606-787-4509)

Lady Liberty

2011-08-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

I saw a reference to this poster today on someone's Facebook page –– it just seemed relevant to Casey County (and I have an interest in World War II-era Victory Garden propaganda). The City of Liberty, of course, is at the center of county government and most commerce and yet not its agriculture or tourism. And liberty as a value is central to all we value in the United States of America: freedom, self-determination, free will. It is at the core of our democracy and our human rights and our right to worship as we please. It is our right to bear seeds! [OK, so I was just getting a bit too, well, soap-boxy there for a moment.]

Everything that goes around seems to come around again in society. Here we are in harsh economic times where we will likely have to become even more sustainable to feed ourselves, just as in the Great Depression of the 1930s and during World War II when Victory Gardens were part of the war effort at home. Now, more than ever, with debt ceilings and world economic collapse––not to mention the high price of gas––we need to look more local to where we shop, what we eat, and what we grow. As my grandmother, a midlife farmwife herself, used to say: 'The pendulum is swinging back again.'

Kentucky's own Wendell Berry wrote: A community economy is not an economy in which well-placed persons can make a 'killing'. It is an economy whose aim is generosity and a well-distributed and safeguarded abundance. An advocate of family, family farms, and the importance of community, he has outlined seventeen tenets for successful rural communities. Here are some of them (you can read them all here):

Always ask of any proposed change or innovation: What will this do to our community? How will this affect our common wealth?
Always include local nature - the land, the water, the air, the native creatures - within the membership of the community.
Always ask how local needs might be supplied from local sources, including the mutual help of neighbors.
Always supply local needs first (and only then think of exporting products - first to nearby cities, then to others).
Develop small-scale industries and businesses to support the local farm and/or forest economy.
Strive to supply as much of the community's own energy as possible.
Make sure that money paid into the local economy circulates within the community and decrease expenditures outside the community.
Make the community able to invest in itself by maintaining its properties, keeping itself clean (without dirtying some other place), caring for its old people, and teaching its children.
Always be aware of the economic value of neighbourly acts. In our time, the costs of living are greatly increased by the loss of neighbourhood, which leaves people to face their calamities alone.
A rural community should always be acquainted and interconnected with community-minded people in nearby towns and cities.
A sustainable rural economy will depend on urban consumers loyal to local products. Therefore, we are talking about an economy that will always be more cooperative than competitive.

Reading the agrarian writings and poetry of Wendell Berry always cheers me, but here's the silver lining to all of the doom and gloom out there: ask yourself what you and your family can do locally in your own community to make a difference to your local economy. What can you buy or what business can you patronize where you don't have to travel more than 10-15 miles, or out of county, to do it? We all need to go further afield when necessary, or just to get out of Dodge, but so much is in our own backyards or right down a pleasant county road.

So give me Liberty and give me 'maters! [With apologies to Patrick Henry.] In Casey County it is quite possible to have both.

Lots of Casey County Produce

2011-08-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

It is bumper crop time for Casey County melons and a lot of other produce now coming into local farmstands and also sold at the Casey County Produce Auction (where you can personally buy, or sell, lots large or small).

We'll let these photos, shot at the Monday, August 15th auction, speak for themselves!

Smile! It's Still Summer!

2011-08-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

From the beautiful row of sunflowers growing along the roadside at the edge
of the Shirk's vegetable garden on South Fork Creek Road, near Goldenrod Feeds.

Even though the summer heat and humidity seem relentless, in less than four months we'll likely be complaining about the cold while missing the fruits of summer. Already on the roadsides the Joe Pye Weed and Ironweed are emerging––these are the beautiful weeds of late summer. It's coming.

So enjoy the flowers while you can. Did you know that sunflowers follow the sun throughout the day and turn their faces towards it? I always thought they were named for the way a child might draw a sun. Either way they're smiley, happy flowers. In the fall if you leave some or all of your flower heads out, the birds will enjoy them. What they don't take will drop and self-sow for the next year. Next spring, after the ground has warmed, if you don't like your 'volunteers,' just wait until they are a few inches tall and move them where you want them. They transplant well when small.

It might not even be too late to plant some sunflower seeds in pots or in the ground for late fall blooming. They look great with pumpkins and hay bales and there are so many varieties for cutting or just enjoying in the garden. Stop over at Hillside Greenhouse on South Fork Creek (behind Sunny Valley Country Store) for some local Burkholder seeds and other offerings.

Produce Auction Now on Saturdays, too

2011-08-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder, and some recent photos, that the Casey County Produce Auction has started holding additional Saturday produce auctions, at 2pm, in addition to their weekly auctions on Monday & Wednesday (also at 2pm) and Thursday at 5pm.

Jay Weaver situates a palette of fresh local corn, bagged by the dozen.

A display ear of Butter and Sugar corn.

A palette of Roman beans that the grower said can be eaten whole.

Fresh-picked wild blackberries await a sale.

Mt. Stripey Heirloom tomatoes

Their additional Saturday produce auctions will continue through September 3, over Labor Day weekend, after which time auctions will be held three times during the week. This additional auction day is to accommodate the large amount of produce coming in now at the height of the summer growing season.

Also, save the date of Saturday, October 15 (starting at 9am) for their second annual Consignment Auction (participants keep their earnings after portion is given to the auction house). On Saturday, December 17 (at 9am), the last auction of the year, there will be a special Christmas Craft auction.

This is only the beginning of melon season in Casey County
which stretches well into September.

More details and important updates will be posted here at GROW Casey County, as needed, as well as on the 'GROW Casey County' Facebook page. If you haven't yet 'Liked' us on Facebook, please do. You will get more regular and timely updates, links and news about related information to Casey County agricultural news, as well as related news around the Commonwealth (these updates are also posted on the column at right for those not on Facebook).

Yard Salers, Bring Your Coolers!

2011-08-01T05:26:00.000-07:00

Casey County Produce Auction will hold two
of their four weekly produce auctions on
Thurs, August 4 at 5pm and Sat, August 6 at 2pm.

If you are hitting the Highway 127 Yard Sale held August 4-7 this year, make sure you bring a cooler with you to pick up some delicious Casey County produce, farmstead cheese and other items. Hwy 127 wends its way right through Casey County from north to south in central Kentucky. The stores in the South Fork Creek area are not too far off the beaten track and a pleasant short drive from SR 501 at Highway 127, just a few miles south of The Bread of Life Café (a good place to grab a meal on route). There are many signs to guide you and there is always a large yard sale set up at SR 501 at Hwy 127.

If coming from Hwy 127, you will see Lavern's Produce Stand on the left at the end of South Fork Creek Road, at SR 910, and as you drive down South Fork Creek you will come upon several stores and produce markets. Not far from SR 910 is Misty Mountain Sales and Casey County Produce Auction. A few miles along the road is South Fork Furniture, South Fork Produce and Sunny Valley Country Store (with Hillside Greenhouse and Produce on top of the hill above––both stores are air-conditioned, too).

If you continue out to the end of South Fork Creek past Sunny Valley Country Store and follow the signs, you will come to Zimmerman's Farmstead Cheese (about seven miles from SR 910). Please note that all of these stores and produce stands are open every day but Sunday, and generally 8-5pm or 6pm.

The shelves of Sunny Valley Country Store are always well-stocked.

Brooms sold at Sunny Valley are made
by a local Old Order Mennonite man.

Sunny Valley Country Store offers many basic bulk foods at an affordable price as well as gourmet or more unusual ingredients. There is also an in-store bakery and a deli where they will make you a sandwich to order. Misty Mountain Sales, its sister store down the road, also offers household wares and many items that Old Order Mennonites purchase regularly including fabrics, hats, and items of clothing. You can also purchase handmade Old Order Mennonite quilts and other handcrafts at Misty Mountain Sales or South Fork Furniture, as well as Amish-crafted furniture from Ohio.

Make room for melons! These Casey County watermelons
await their sale at South Fork Produce, a farmer's produce cooperative.

Be sure to pick up a free 'GROW Casey County' postcard at one of several area vendors

and tell them you heard about us on this website. Then send it to a friend!

NOTE: For a good all around article on the Old Order Mennonite Community (and information on The Bread of Life Café, which doesn't seem to have a website at present), I recommend Angela Oldfield Osborne's website/blog, Save My Small Town and this particular entry [Click HERE].

You can also download a brochure/map on Old Order Mennonite businesses in the South Fork Creek area of Casey County here, courtesy of the Liberty-Casey County Chamber of Commerce.

Spotted at Lavern's Produce

2011-07-31T06:10:00.000-07:00

I found out over the weekend that July 24-30 was Farmer's Market Week in Kentucky. Well, here's the good news: we're now on the last day of July and the fresh, local produce just keeps on coming in and will do until the first frost (often not until mid-October). The next few weeks may just be peak time for all of your favorite vegetables.

Some gardeners are now starting to plan (and perhaps even to plant) their fall gardens: cole crops or lettuces and other greens that prefer cooler days. The nice thing about Kentucky gardening, we're learning, is that you can really have three gardens here: spring, summer and fall.

So to celebrate the beginning of August tomorrow––yes, summer is passing us by, but not the produce yet––here are some photos of what we found at Lavern's Produce before the weekend. Lavern's farmstand is at the corner of SR 910 at the beginning of South Fork Creek Road, just a few miles from Highway 127.

On Friday, Lavern's had local tomatoes, melons, sweet corn, a variety of peppers, cucumbers, and peaches. He also buys most of his local produce at the Casey County Consignment Auctions and imports what he can't get locally (like most of his peaches).

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

So these peaches were from Georgia––but they looked so nice on the shelf!
[They are delicious, too. Local peaches are only available for a very short time here.]

Farm Attic: Part 2 on Chicken Farming

2011-07-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Cover art is often a selling point of older magazines
but I also like farm-related magazines for their content.

Yesterday I received a magazine I had ordered––mainly for the cover, but also for the content. The Farmer's Wife eventually merged with The Farm Journal but for several decades it was its own magazine. It was specifically 'A Magazine for Farm Women' with fictional stories, recipes, columns and useful advice for home and farm. You can still find these magazines, on occasion, in good condition (eBay, for one) and I got this one for less than I'd pay for a new magazine. I want to frame the cover, above, and keep the contents (or frame the magazine and photocopy inside first).

So in browsing the contents I was pleased and delighted to find––especially after yesterday's first installment of 'Farm Attic,' with the photo of Mammy Wells with her chickens, c. 1924––a column in this July 1926 issue of The Farmer's Wife called 'The Farm Woman's Poultry Business.' Here is an excerpt:

Who is interested in raising or breeding poultry? First the farmer's wife, for she knows the value of the fresh egg, the spring fry, the Thanksgiving turkey, the Christmas goose. Her family must be supplied with the very best. Next comes the housewife with the backyard flock. Then the teacher, the banker, the preacher, the club boys and girls, and lastly the men and women who make their entire living from the rightly named 'commercial flock'––they keep no birds that can not pay their way. Sentiment is eliminated... Some day we may have an over-production but when that time comes if each individual in the United States eats three and one-half chickens a year, the entire supply will be wiped out.

Of all agricultural products in the United States, in 1923 only four (dairy products, corn, cotton and hogs) were of greater value than poultry [which is listed as a value of $1,050,000,000 dollars in 1926!]...We have never known the time when there wasn't some sort of poultry in the barnyard or the back yard and because it is so common most of us have taken it for granted and do not know its history or its economic value.

~ From the column, 'The Farm Woman's Poultry Business,' conducted by Clara M. Sutter, The Farmer's Wife, July 1926, pp. 366-367.

Written on the back of this photo: 'Brooder house and Grandma Bannie's
chickens across the drive near the corner of road.' c. 1940

Here is a related photo from the history of our own farm. We're just over the Casey County line in Pulaski County, a mile or so as the crow flies from Mintonville, and we can see Green River Knob from our own knob (so we can at least see Casey County). The house on the left still exists and was updated in the 1990s by the former owner. It is now our farm cottage. And, among other things, we keep chickens, too.

Farm Attic: Mammy and Her Chickens

2011-07-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

This photo shows Elizabeth (Lizzie) Sweeney Wells, c. 1924, with her flock of chickens. Lizzie was the grandmother of Joberta Wells, who submitted this photograph. Joberta lives on her grandmother's farm, just outside of Yosemite, and in recent years recreated the classic three-gabled farmhouse from the foundation up.

Farm women were often photographed with their chickens and it is one of the most common scenes depicted in old farm photographs. Women tended the flocks on small amounts of land around the farmhouse or yard and gathered the eggs. Their 'egg money' was a valuable asset to farm income and their flock would have been a source of personal pride. Tending chickens was also an area where younger children could assist, including feeding and egg-gathering.

In an excellent paper on The Contemporary Farm Woman: 1860 to the Present, published by the Central New York Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. [Isn't the Internet amazing?] Stephanie Fisher writes:

"Women could exercise complete control over the production and income of their chickens. However, women often chose to spend the money to assist the farm or farm home. During hard economic times, the egg money, known as ‘pin-money,’ often saved the farm when their husband’s commodities failed to provide income...Women’s participation in chicken farming and the production of eggs continued until around the 1940s."

[World War II changed society and farming practices, after which factory-farming became more prevalent. However, in many rural areas, such as Casey County and throughout much of Kentucky, sustenance farming continued, much as it does today with household gardens, chickens and other livestock to support the family.]

Do you have a farm story or photographs to share in our 'Farm Attic'? We'd love to see them here and if you'd like to write something about Casey County farm history, stories or traditions, we are happy to publish it.

NOTE: For two excellent first-hand period accounts of life with chickens, read Betty MacDonald's classic The Egg and I, written in 1945 and made into a movie (that launched the popular Ma and Pa Kettle films) or Mildred Armstrong's recent best-selling account of Midwestern farm life in the 1930s, Little Heathens–Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression

Thanks to Joberta Wells for her contribution to this entry.

Whatta Melon!

2011-07-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

For more on Mennonite grown watermelons in Casey County, click here.

Melon season has arrived in south-central Kentucky and here are some great recipes for beating the heat with melons: Watermelon recipes. Did you know that watermelon is also high in arginine? I didn't either, or know that was important, until I read this. Yes, watermelon can actually boost your metabolism!

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me last summer. It's like a Watermelon-Lime Aqua Fresca and is absolutely refreshing. I'm sure you could even substitute cantaloupe or any other melon of your choosing.

WATERMELON COOLERS

3 cups diced watermelon (preferably cold)
2 Tbsps. lime juice
1 Tbsp sugar (optional or you can add other sweetener)
1 cup crushed ice (or a few cubes thrown into blender)
1/2 cup water (also optional)

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses, over ice if desired, and garnish with a fresh mint sprig or lime wedge. Makes a blender full and serves four.

You can also chunk up watermelon in fruit salad, serve it with greens and feta cheese (very delicious) or just enjoy it fresh from the melon. One day I want to make watermelon sorbet, but a cooler in the blender is so much easier. In this heat we're actually considering a watermelon and BLT diet. I'll let you know how it goes!

We will have local melons for a few months now––enjoy them while they're here: sweet, sweet summer on the vine.

The watermelon harvest at the Melvin Hurst farm in Casey County.

In the words of Mark Twain (from his Autobiography):

I know how a prize watermelon looks when it is sunning its fat rotundity among pumpkin vines and “simblins”; I know how to tell when it is ripe without “plugging” it; I know how inviting it looks when it is cooling itself in a tub of water under the bed, waiting; I know how it looks when it lies on the table in the sheltered great floor space between house and kitchen, and the children gathered for the sacrifice and their mouths watering; I know the crackling sound it makes when the carving knife enters its end, and I can see the split fly along in front if the blade as the knife cleaves its way to the other end; I can see its halves fall apart and display the rich red meat and the black seeds, and the heart standing up, a luxury fit for the elect; I know how a boy looks behind a yard-long slice of that melon, and I know how he feels; for I have been there. I know the taste of the watermelon which has been honestly come by, and I know the taste of the watermelon which has been acquired by art. Both taste good, but the experienced know which tastes best.

Easy Taco Salad

2011-07-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is an easy, all-in-one meal salad and perfect for hot days because you can cook the meat ahead and serve it at room temperature or cold from the fridge––or hot from the pan, if you like (I like that option because it emulates nachos when you sprinkle cheese on the meat).

Casey County candy onions are sweet and don't make you cry––
the heart-shaped "Indiana Red" tomato just can't be beat for flavor and meatiness.

I used our own beef, that we had processed in Crab Orchard (there is also at least one butcher in Casey County and I will list them), canned salsa that I made last year (with Casey County tomatoes, peppers, onions and other goodies: I will post a recipe this summer), fresh Casey County candy onions and tomatoes (the variety "Indiana Red," which is particularly meaty and flavorful), and other ingredients from the store (I also get my taco seasoning in bulk at Sunny Valley Country Store on South Fork Creek).

You can add whatever else you like into it, too: chopped cucumbers or peppers, olives, black beans, sweet corn kernels, and thinly sliced jalapeno peppers are some suggestions. If you can get it, the addition of fresh cilantro adds a light lemony buoyancy to the salad and is very refreshing––parsley is a good substitute. [You can find cilantro––and usually two kinds of fresh parsley––in most grocery store produce sections. I have to remember to grow some next summer!]

Our family enjoys this and it makes a light but filling meal. This recipe could easily serve 6 large portions or 8-10 smaller ones. If you like a lot of beef, or want a bit extra for burritos or tacos the next day, cook 3 pounds of meat (and add an additional packet of taco seasoning).

Easy Taco Salad

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 package taco seasoning
(about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• 3 heads of romaine lettuce
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 to 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 pint jar salsa
• 1 cup sour cream
• other dressing of your choice (some like Ranch)
• 1 big bag of nacho chips

Brown the chopped onion in a bit of olive oil or other fat and add ground beef. Add fresh ground pepper liberally. When meat is almost browned add taco seasoning, 1 cup water, and simmer for ten minutes. [I also like to add about 1 cup of salsa at this point.] While beef mixture is simmering or just before serving, chop up lettuce and tomato and other vegetable additions. Toss altogether.

With remaining cup of salsa, mix in about 1 cup of sour cream (or use a small bowl). Stir well and refrigerate unless serving soon. This will be the dressing. [You can also use other dressings.] Serve tossed salad on a plate, with meat mixture on top. Sprinkle cheese to taste and add dressing of choice. Don't forget the nacho chips! (On the side or on the bottom of the lettuce.)

"Incredible" Casey County Corn!

2011-07-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

It's here: we had corn-on-the-cob for dinner tonight. This variety is "Incredible" and it was. Perfect rolled in butter and lightly sprinkled with salt. There really isn't anything else to say––or a need for anything else on the menu tonight. Perfect for a hot summer night, followed by a hearty slice of Casey County watermelon.

Life can just be so delightful.

Country Cobb Salad

2011-07-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

We like salads of different kinds but they can be a pain to make (all of that chopping––I know, it's something I need to get over). In restaurants we often order Cobb salad. Traditionally it is a concoction of several kinds of lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, egg, bacon and avocado, sprinkled with blue cheese and dressing. Here is an interesting website, The Kitchen Project, that has a great deal of information on food history, including the origins of Cobb Salad, along with a recipe for dressing, too. It is essentially a chopped salad and you can substitute anything you like for the meat and veggies.

It made a very easy supper for us tonight and I am proud to say that half of the ingredients were raised right here on our farm: eggs, bacon, tomatoes and cucumbers. You could also use green or colored peppers, steak, shrimp, beets, green beans, broccoli, you name it! Wherever you are and whatever your produce options, it's a fun salad to eat and to make and at this time of year you can really rely on what you have in the garden or locally. My recipe makes four servings.

Country Cobb Salad

• 1 package romaine lettuce, chopped

(or combination of other lettuces)

• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped

• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped

• 2-4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

• 2-4 medium pickle cucumbers, chopped

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

• 8-10 slices of bacon, chopped

• 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese or roquefort

• dressing of your choice, drizzled lightly

• cracked pepper

[Note: I omitted avocado because I didn't have one here and wanted to use what I had on hand]

Chop each ingredient one at a time and arrange on plates, starting with the lettuce on the bottom layer. Arrange remaining ingredients as you like on top of the lettuce or toss altogether in large bowl. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese. Drizzle dressing of choice over salad and finish with fresh cracked pepper. It is especially good if the bacon is still warm.

Snapshots of Local Produce

2011-07-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what we found yesterday, July 15, in the South Fork Creek area (at South Fork Produce, in fact). The photos say it all:

fresh-picked, affordable, local.

Field to Fork Festival

2011-07-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on this weekend. For starters, I'm supposed to sing and dance at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill on Saturday (but my new, cooler costume isn't ready) and Steve Earle will be highlighting the Master Musician's Festival in Somerset that evening.

This afternoon I just found out about the Field to Fork Festival up in Paint Lick, near Berea. Organized by farmer Deborah Messenger of Halcomb's Knob Farm, the festival will feature eight workshops on green and sustainable farming practices and will include many vendors showcasing their agricultural products. [Our favorite Amish butcher, Joe Yoder of J&V Slaughterhouse will be there, as will many others.]

Workshops are as diverse as beekeeping, cheesemaking, mead making, selling beef for small markets, raising lamb or chickens, various methods of growing plants and preventing pests, herbs and many other topics.

I will not be able to attend the festival this year, but certainly next. I just learned about it and wanted to pass along the information here.

The festival will be held, rain or shine, from 9am-6pm at Halcomb's Knob Farm in Garrard County. Preregistration for $35 has closed but participants may be admitted at the gate on Saturday, with possible limited access to workshops, for $50. Check their website for more information.

There's A New Store in Town

2011-07-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

What's not to love about a good discount foods store? Dented cans and a few outdated items never stop most people from saving a lot, especially in this economy. What makes a discount foods store local? Well, several things, even if I am stretching things a bit. Casey County Discount Foods opened on July 1st and is owned and operated by Alta Martin Tucker and her family out on 910. Here's what makes it local and GROW Casey County blog-worthy:

• It is locally owned, not a chain store;
• It is designed with the local community in mind;
• It is located near other shops and produce markets in and around the South Fork Creek area, which this blog actively promotes; and,

• Alta is selling her very own, locally-made goat's milk soap at the store (from Creekside Farm).

What we got for fifty bucks––many items are hidden behind. You could stretch your money even further if focused on staples instead of hard-to-find items like almond oil or Amy's Mushroom Soup (my favorite casserole add-in). But even that was 99 cents a can!

We went on the first day the store opened––July 1st––and have been back a few times since. On my first stop, I spent about $50. I was delighted to find some Indian condiments (and ready-to-mix rice/curry sauce packages––two of which I made for dinner that night with some chicken thighs and local veggies), some favorite English cookies which are hard to find in this country ("Hobnobs"––and normally about $5 a pack), and even some ready-made Luisianne bottled iced tea (which is as close to homemade as you can find). Also there are many baking products, canned goods, cereals, jams and jellies and all sorts of organic products and staple items. Alta said she was thrilled with the first few loads that she got in, especially with the organic and gluten-free items. There is also an extensive amount of Mexican foods, more than you would find in most grocery stores.

The store is neat and clean and the staff is friendly and helpful. Eventually they might offer more local items and locally-made baked goods. You can also shop on Sundays (they are closed Saturdays) or on your way home from work as they are open until 7:00pm. When you think about it, in combination with all of the produce places in the area, and Sunny Valley Country Store a few miles away––and some stores in Liberty, you almost don't need to shop any where else. With gas prices the way they are and the cost of groceries it makes so much economic sense to minimize big box-store shopping whenever possible.

Casey County Discount Foods is open Sunday-Friday from 9:00am-7:00pm [Closed Saturdays]. They are located at 1764 Hwy 910, about 1/4 mile past Dutchman Metal and South Fork Creek Road.

Eat Local!

2011-06-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Good Foods Market and Café up in Lexington, Kentucky is a worthwhile destination if you are ever up that way. It's a Kentucky-owned food cooperative (with shareholders) and you'll not only find products that you didn't think you could live without, and that might be hard to find, but there are great monthly sales and they support local Kentucky farmers in their offerings. [In shopping there you are also supporting a local Kentucky operation, not a larger, more expensive national food chain that offers many of the same items.] Located off Nicholasville Road at 455 Southland Drive it is open 8am-10pm daily.

Given the distance, it's not a store that we go to often but it's the kind of place that we'll visit several times a year to pick up various products (both botanical as well as food-related) or unusual Kentucky farm offerings (like many varieties of cheeses and meats) or our favorite, very-hard-to-find yogurt indulgence. They have remodeled in the past year and now also offer a great café with a buffet that features a bounty of delectable offerings (their Facebook page details daily menu items). It's worth it just to browse and treat yourself to lunch! [You also don't have to be a coop member but if interested in joining, you will save more throughout the year.]

Long-time Casey County organic farmer Jerome Lange is one of their growers and suppliers and he will be playing his fiddle, as he often does at The Bread of Life Café and other Liberty venues, at Good Foods' "Eat Local Celebration" on Saturday, July 2nd [live music from 11:30-1:30pm, but the celebration goes from 11am-2pm]. It's fun to be browsing the produce section and see "LOCAL Casey County Produce" signs peppered throughout the display area.

We will profile Jerome and his farm in a future blog post here on GROW Casey County. In the meantime, you, too, can eat local by supporting your local Casey County farmers and driving on over to South Fork Creek. Also, if you have a special July 4th picnic recipe, please feel free to share it here and we'll feature it in future blog posts this summer.

Have a safe and splendid 4th of July weekend and here's a reminder that there will be a 2pm auction at the Casey County Produce Auction on Monday, July 4th!

How Often Do You Hear This Today?

2011-06-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was doing some errands in Liberty and in and around South Fork Creek. I needed some canning-related items (which you can get, in huge selection, out at Misty Mountain Sales) and a card for a friend, and I found both with great ease within a few minutes. And then I saw them: two large gallon glass jars with lids. I remembered I needed some large glass jars to brew some homemade vanilla extract and found myself heading their way on the shelf. [More on making vanilla another time––even though the beans weren't grown in Casey County, I was able to score some good beans near Casey County––and **Sunny Valley Store will also order them for you!]

Imagine my surprise! $2.80 a jar, including the lid. At first I thought it might be a lid price. I use a lot of glass jars and canisters of all sizes in my pantry at home and had never seen this kind of price before, anywhere. So I brought the two jars to the checkout and asked if this might be a mistake. The woman who works there said, "No, when we get a good deal we like to pass it on to our customers." Wow. My jaw dropped but I wasn't at all surprised. It is the kind of service you can expect from honest business people. I remembered I'd heard that before another time, when the price of a certain bulk food item had been reduced at Sunny Valley Country Store and I wanted to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. Mervin Hoover had said, more or less, the same thing to us:

"When we get a good deal on something we like to pass it on to our customers."

How often do you hear this today? There is often a huge markup in retail sales but often people in retail get a good deal on something in quantity. They could take that same item and make even more of a profit for themselves. It's business, after all. Who would even know? Who could blame them? However, this one simple and yet profound response to my question describes why we buy as much as we can for our family––produce and dry goods and bulk foods and plants and feed supplies––out among the South Fork Creek Old Order Mennonite community in Casey County. And there are many such businesses in and around Liberty and Casey County where owners are willing to go the extra mile and remember their customers. Remember, it's easier than you think and you might be pleasantly surprised:

Buy Local.

NOTE: **Sunny Valley Country Store (formerly Nolt's) often has glass canning jars available for sale on the front porch of the store. Yesterday they had boxes of six half-gallon jars, with lids and seals, for around $9.00. Last summer I priced the jars, in various sizes, that they had for sale and, are you ready? They were cheaper than the same jars I had just bought at Walmart.

South Fork Produce: Local Produce

2011-06-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Note the signs: LOCAL tomatoes!

Open on June 17, South Fork Produce is a cooperative farmers' market operated by the Old Order Mennonite community (a similar enterprise is over on 501, near Phil). Located adjacent to South Fork Furniture and next to Hillside Greenhouse and Sunny Valley Bulk Foods, it is easy to find amidst other businesses on South Fork Creek Road. As for the prices, well, they really speak for themselves and it is easy to see why Casey County growers often get business from far and wide––and even from people right around the bend.

Local honey from Philip Kilmer––did you know it's good for allergies?

South Fork Produce will be open through the end of October––Monday-Saturday, 8am-6pm. It is also the clearing house, within the community, for large scale growing operations later in the growing season: cantaloupe, watermelon and peppers are boxed and shipped wholesale to places such as Walmart (who have made an effort, in recent years, to support more locally-grown produce when it is available). If Walmart, of all places, can try to support local growers then we should, too.

Rhubarb, rhubarb! Yes, it's still available.

This Blog is Your Blog

2011-06-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Old postcard of a family eating watermelon––one of Casey County's greatest exports!

Yes, I'm kind of singing along to Woody Guthrie today in my head: "This land is your land, this land is our land..." I don't even live in Casey County (but I can see Green River Knob rising near us to the west from our knob over here in the western edge of Pulaski County––and we are only an air mile or so, not counting winding country roads, from Mintonville, in the southeast corner of Casey County). But I appreciate all of the fine agricultural offerings and the beautiful rural quality of Casey County. We would have likely bought a farm in the county when we were looking, but this part of the world––not very far away––presented the right place at the right time. Yes, we are transplants but are putting down new roots in your wonderful state.

We do much of our business in Liberty and just as much out in the Old Order Mennonite community in South Fork Creek. We buy our various feeds and bedding, and other supplies from Goldenrod Feeds, our staple food items from Sunny Valley Bulk Foods, and much of our produce and garden plants at Hillside Greenhouse, Homestead Gardens, South Fork Produce, Lavern's and often at the Casey County Produce Auction. There are many other businesses, too, sprinkled about the region that get our business. That is what buying and being (and eating) local is all about.

This blog was started to promote the Old Order Mennonite agricultural-related businesses––who also form the very basis of Casey County tourism––which do not have an internet presence (and neither do they join commerce groups). I soon realized, where do people go, on-line, to find out more about Casey County's great local farms and other offerings, especially throughout the season as things are offered or events held?

Yet this blog is also about the wider produce and agricultural offerings of Casey County that include anyone who grows, raises or sells farm products––or promotes them. It is a work in progress (I still have to post names/addresses of related agricultural businesses, among other things, in the tabs above) and is a volunteer effort. But I can promise that it is your blog, too. Feel free to drop me an email at info@CatherinePond.com or leave a comment at any time on this blog as to what you might like to see here over the coming months. I will probably focus more on local farm history and interesting items, or articles, in the "off season," when there are few things available from farms or fields, and more on produce and availability––and events––during the summer and fall months. And don't forget to join the "GROW Casey County" Facebook page for more regular updates and tidbits.

Thanks for reading and please tell your friends to check here, too! In the coming days there will be more promotional rack cards available for pick-up throughout the county.

See you at the Fair!

2011-06-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like a county fair to scream summer––whether it is the carnival rides, the squeals of children, the nicely scrubbed animals or the beautiful produce offerings and craft, canning or baking competitions. And let's not forget the lemonade, assorted fried goodies and corn dogs! Every fair has its own atmosphere and some are more agricultural than others. But there are always certain and reliable fixtures to count upon.

Kentucky has 120 counties and that's a lot of fairs! The Casey County Fair isn't as old as most but it's one of the earliest in the season. This year it will be going on through Saturday, June 11. You may have missed the many beauty competitions and tractor pulls, but there are still more events over the next few days. You can find more information about it here: www.CaseyCountyFair.com

Yesterday's editorial in The Casey County News encouraged the fair to be more local in its participation. That's the whole idea of this blog, too: Eat Local, Buy Local, Be Local!

See you at the fair!

NOTE: These photographs were taken at the Hopkinton Fair in New Hampshire in 2007––the annual state fair back where we used to live. I will try to add Casey County Fair photos for next year. And yes, the Tilt-A-Whirl remains my favorite ride of all time.

Early Summer Produce is In!

2011-06-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Some highlights from today's Casey County Produce Auction:

Summer squash were there a'plenty.

Boxes of Georgia peaches scented the auction building!

This box of unusual cauliflower was enticing. Next time...

Three boxes of beets went high! Local cabbage also is now available.

Many local produce stands buy their produce from the Casey County Auction.

There were also strawberries (perhaps the last of the season), pea pods, spring onions and some hanging baskets, as well as flats of peppers and tomatoes. In the coming weeks the auction will only continue to add more of Casey County's best produce offerings––and some from beyond its borders, too.

Casey County Produce Auction

2011-05-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Local green onions and radishes
at the Memorial Day Auction.

Summer may not be officially here on the calendar but with the recent heat––and that big glowing ball in the sky––hay fields buzzing with mowers, schools adjourned, and early summer fruits and vegetables available, it may as well be! For the next five months––June through mid-October––the Casey County Produce Auction will hold produce auctions every Monday and Wednesday at 2pm and Thursdays at 5pm, through October 15. [After that, the fall schedule changes somewhat.] This is a great opportunity to buy fresh picked (that morning!) local Casey County produce of various offerings. You never know what you'll find but you can be sure to count on certain items in season.

Many local produce markets also buy and resell from this auction so it is your chance to buy at the same prices they pay, often at wholesale prices––unless something is so desired, like flats of the first strawberries several weeks ago from Mose Shirk that went for $7.50 a quart! Often, if there is too much of one item, you'll find other people will want to buy from you directly or split the cost.

You may be lucky to still get asparagus.

Like everything else, it is supply and demand: if there is a huge amount of a particular item, you are likely to get it for less. It all depends on who else is there to bid. You never know at an auction and that's much of the fun of it. [We're going on Wednesday in hopes of getting a good haul of rhubarb for the freezer, jam and a few pies.]

For more information about the Casey County Produce Auction, click here. There is also a concession stand that sells hamburgers and delicious soft serve ice cream and on Thursdays there is also a fish fry.

We will post photos of produce in season on a weekly basis. Come on down to South Fork Creek for the afternoon, get some beautiful produce and have a cone!

Grow Casey County Cards!

2011-05-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Postcard size promotional cards are available at certain area vendors in Casey County for customers and tourists to pick up and will be mailed to a wide mailing list across the state in the coming week.

GROW Casey County will continually provide updates throughout the year on what's in season when and also where to find it in Casey County. It is also the place on the Internet to find out about Old Order Mennnonite and Amish businesses in the region, as well as other agriculture-related offerings and businesses that likely don't have a web presence. And, it will be a resource for regional events and auctions related to the farm community here in Casey County.

If you want some cards for your business, or know someone who should be on the list, just let us know: info@CatherinePond.com

Help spread the good word about Casey County produce offerings!

Great Greenhouses!

2011-05-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our cart overfloweth at Homestead Greenhouse on South Fork Ridge.

There are so many greenhouses in Casey County and we keep discovering more on highways and byways: I need to detail their contact information and will be doing that soon (for future growing seasons). Even though their plant selling season is winding down, you can still get out and get some beautiful plants or try your luck on bargains at the Casey County Produce Auction. The rain is lifting here in Casey County and the sun will be shining this Memorial Day Weekend –– a great time to plant or finish planting!

It is always good to check everyone out because each place has their own unique offerings. In recent years I have seen more varieties of sun-tolerant coleus (among my favorites for borders and pots) and a trend towards the more unusual floral varieties, as well as favorites. I've also learned to go to certain greenhouses for certain things. If you see something unusual that you like and have never tried before, it is fun to spend a bit more than $1.00 on a four or six-pack, in most places, to check something out. And there are always people to ask!

This is the first time I've found gomphrena in Kentucky.
It makes an excellent container or front-of-border plant.

Sam Stauffer and his family run Sunny Day Nursery in western Casey County
in a small Old Order Mennonite community near Elkhorn.

Another great thing about Casey County greenhouses? More tomato and pepper varieties than you could possibly plant! I have never seen more heirloom varieties in one place, either. Tomatoes and peppers thrive in Kentucky's long, hot summers and it is fun to try different types. [It is also fun to eavesdrop on people buying tomato plants: I can tell that everyone has their own favorites and reliable stand-bys and it's a great way to strike up a conversation and learn about traditional local gardens.]

The Casey County Produce Auction is now in full-swing––
soon flowers will be mostly replaced by fresh local produce.

This weekend, just roam the lovely back roads of Casey County and follow the signs to beautiful plants and great locally grown flowers and vegetables for your home garden. [NOTE: Many greenhouses are not open on Sunday.]

What are your favorite things to plant? What's your favorite local greenhouse "tip"?

Dandelions!

2011-05-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

Image of a dandelion, Taraxacum officinalis, from the University of Kentucky

Last week, at the "Heirloom Vegetables" workshop at the Casey County Library, Julie Maruskin said one of the most memorable and funny things I've heard in a while: that the women shopping for the now trendy high-priced dandelion greens at urban high-end produce markets are probably the same women that have ChemLawns at home! Furthermore, that these greens, billed as the more gourmet-sounding "French-Italian Dandelions" are the very same ones that come out of any American lawn! Dandelions have always been considered a highly nutritious and excellent spring green by mountain people or farmers.

However, the somewhat lowly dandelion has had a bad rap with anyone who wants the perfect lawn. Fortunately, most country people aren't too fussy about their lawnscapes and, while lawn-mowing is an enjoyable pastime or necessity for some, you do see other lawns that are more naturally wild and tolerant of the errant "good" weed. Our lawn is sort of a combo: we mow off what's there when necessary but we also have what are considered weeds peppered throughout the grass and we don't believe in spraying our lawns. [After all, the true definition of a "weed" is any plant that is in an undesirable place.]

The well-tended lawn, in the history of landscape design, is a relatively new phenomenon. Historically, farmers have grazed their livestock right near their dooryards––and some still do (even President Woodrow Wilson grazed sheep earlier in the 20th century on the White House lawn). Kitchen gardens were generally fenced in or also near the back door and often every available bit of yard was used to grow food.

My only culinary experience with dandelions to date was tasting the annual wine that my green-thumb grandfather liked to make (I believe with the blossoms), on the family farm in the northeastern end of the Appalachian mountains back in New Hampshire. It was bitter and blech. Of course, I was much younger at the time and I have not had the pleasure of trying dandelion greens while they are new and fresh. I imagine it's like having a good "high end" salad mix.

One of my favorite blogs is Blind Pig and the Acorn, written by a woman named Tipper from the mountains of North Carolina. Here she details many Appalachian customs, sayings, history, folklore, gardening (including planting by the signs), music and other traditions, as well as old-time recipes. She is a regional treasure! Here are three of her blog posts that have talked about dandelions or lawn-as-food (including one on "kilt lettuce," a culinary custom that Julie Maruskin also mentioned in her talk the other day):

• On "Garden or Lawn"
• On Dandelion Jelly"
• On "Kill Lettuce"

[Make sure you read all of the comments after her blog posts because they are also informative!]

My daughter, from afar, just reminded me on the phone that she had to learn all of this poem in grade school, "To the Dandelion," by James Russell Lowell. Here is an excerpt from his ode:

Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,

First pledge of blithesome May

...thou art more dear to me

Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.

Do you have any recipes or stories involving dandelions?

Homemade Strawberry Jam

2011-05-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

If you've never made it before, jam is one of the easiest things to do with strawberries, especially if you want to enjoy their beauty and flavor year-round or tuck a jar into a holiday gift basket. The trick is to make it in small batches [although next time I'm going to double this and see what happens]. The recipe also has the classic 1 cup of fruit to 1 cup of sugar ratio which is standard for jam-making.

I often turn to my well-worn copy of The Joy of Cooking [1975 edition] whenever I need an easy, tried and true recipe. This recipe for "Red Red Strawberry Jam" is practically fool-proof. Don't skimp on the amount of sugar, as tempting as it is, because you need it to set the jam. I tend to use small to medium berries so they preserve whole but you can also mash them up a bit, too, to release some of the juices (or all). If you use fresh local berries you usually don't have to hull them! At least I don't.

Red Red Strawberry Jam

• 1 quart berries (cleaned, hulled, and dried)
• 4 cups sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon (optional, but enhances flavor)

Makes 1 quart (or 2 pints).

Step 1

Step 1 –– Put berries in a 10" heavy pot (I use enameled cast iron) and cover with sugar.

Step 2

Step 2 –– Stir gently with a wooden spoon (not sure why it has to be wooden but I'm not about to argue!) over low heat until it starts to juice up. From mixing to juicy should take a few minutes.

Step 3

Step 3 –– Once it reaches the juicy stage (after the sugar melts), set heat to moderate, stop stirring and cook until it is nice and bubbly.

Step 4

Step 4 –– When the mixture reaches a full "bubbling mass," set timer for exactly 15 minutes (17 if the berries are really ripe) and leave on moderate heat. Leave pot uncovered and do not disturb. You may run your wooden spoon back and forth across the bottom to make sure it is not sticking (another reason why a good heavy pan is helpful).

Step 5

Step 5 –– After the timer goes off, turn off the burner and set pan aside to cool. The jam should now coat your spoon while it is still hot. Add the lemon juice, if desired. Scrape off jammy bits from side of pan and stir in gently. Cool.

Step 6

Step 6 –– When cool, stir lightly and pour mixture into sterilized jars and seal. Can according to canning instructions or store in refrigerator. Makes 1 quart (or 2 pints) of luscious strawberry jam.

Now to find some good whole wheat bread and some peanut butter!

What do you like to make with strawberries?

NOTE: The strawberries in this jam were from local grower Mose Shirk who sells his berries at the Casey County Produce Auction. They are also now available at Wilson's Cedar Point Farm (on 837 South in Pulaski County) and Hettmansperger's Greenhouse (straddling the Casey/Pulaski County line on 837 South).

FREE Heirloom Vegetable Workshop

2011-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand! Julie Maruskin will be returning to the Casey County Library for an encore presentation on heirloom vegetables on May 17 at 10am. FAST FOOD: From Seed to Plate in 6 Weeks will highlight the basics on how to plant and raise your own heirloom vegetables––and seed sources. After her well-attended and informative visit to discuss heirloom tomatoes back in March, the library wanted to host her again. Julie is director of the Clark County Library by day and avid seedswoman in the rest of her time. She and her husband grow and collect heirloom tomatoes––as well as other vegetables––and she enjoys spreading her knowledge, and extra seeds, throughout the state.

Burkholder Seeds are available at area greenhouses.

Heirloom gardening is something that has been all the rage throughout the past decade in many gardening circles. Most people who save seeds might not even realize that they are also growing an heirloom plant and preserving a bit of American plant history. Casey County and environs is home to many heirloom varieties that have been "rescued" and propagated with several seed companies. [And did you know that many unusual heirloom seeds are available in Casey County directly through Burkholder's Seeds on Hwy 501 (and for sale in greenhouses in the South Fork Creek area)?]

Selecting heirloom seeds.

All are welcome and all that is required is that you email (here) or call the Casey County Library at 787-9381 to reserve your place. It's FREE! Participants will be able to take home a kit of 8 heirloom seed packs and other goodies.

Where? Casey County Library, Liberty, KY
When? Tuesday, May 17 at 10am

Participants at the March workshop were able to pot up a tomato seedling to take home.

Julie Maruskin, Heirloom Gardener

Julie gives an informative and engaging presentation and you will not be disappointed. Even the most seasoned gardeners will learn something at one of her workshops.

Local Kentucky Strawberries are RIPE!

2011-05-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Strawberries are delightfully early this year and you can pick your own, or buy them by the quart, at several area growers including Wilson's Cedar Point Farm, just over the line in Pulaski County (along Highway 837 south, from Mintonville in eastern Casey County or just off Route 80). Their website reports that "U-pick" are $1.70 a pound and that a gallon, picked, is $12 (or $3.50 a quart).

Joel and Beth Wilson have been growing produce at their farm since 2000. While the farm is not certifiably organic, they believe in "sustainable growing techniques and integrated pest management." You can reach them via email at wilsonscedarpointfarm@gmail.com or you can call Joel's cell phone at 606-305-8762 for crop information throughout the season (or check their website for more details).

The farm is located at 66 Garfield Tarter Road in Nancy, just off of Hwy 837, a few miles south of Route 80 at Cain's Store. Wilson's is also still offering affordable shares in their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) when you get a basket of produce each week during the growing season. Click here for more information on this increasingly popular program: they'll even deliver to adjoining counties if you get ten or more subscribers to sign up together.

Their baskets also make nifty storage boxes.

My family is still using up some of last year's berries from Wilson's that we put up for the freezer: and they are still delicious, sweet and juicy. But there is nothing like fresh and local strawberries for your health and for flavor. Enjoy them while you can! Strawberries on cereal, strawberry shortcake, strawberry preserves, strawberry-rhubarb pie, strawberry ice cream, strawberry-spinach salad, strawberry yogurt. What's your favorite strawberry treat?

NOTE: Photos of Wilson's Farm strawberries taken in 2010 season.

2nd Annual KY Haiti Benefit Auction: Liberty, KY, April 29-30, 2011

2011-04-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

Liberty, KY—The 2^nd Annual Kentucky Haiti Benefit Auction, sponsored by the Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities from in and around Casey County, Kentucky, will be held on Friday evening April 29^th starting at 4:30pm (Eastern Time) and on Saturday, April 30^th from 7:00am throughout the day. The benefit auction will take place—rain or shine—at the Central Kentucky Agriculture-Exposition Center [aka Central Kentucky AG/Expo Center]. Located on Highway 127 south of Liberty in Kentucky’s southcentral scenic Knobs region, Casey County’s AG/Expo Center is within two hours of most Kentucky locations and features ample parking and a large 70,000 square foot covered, and recently walled, arena space.

On Friday evening there will be an auction preview as well as an auction of small livestock, crafts, tools and more. A full buffet supper featuring a whole hog BBQ, homemade sides and desserts is available before the auction, from 4:30-6pm on Friday—with the auction beginning at 6pm—and breakfast will be available from 7:00am on Saturday before the auction begins at 9:00am.

Several dozen handmade Old Order Mennonite and Amish quilts and furniture items will be auctioned on Saturday, as well as a wide variety of donated items from within the community and general public to likely include all manner of tools, lawn mowers, garden tools and sheds, new tack, bicycles, furniture, housewares, quilts, cookware, crafts, and collectibles. Throughout the day there will be snacks, ice cream, homemade pretzels, produce and baked goods available for sale. A full lunch menu on Saturday includes BBQ chicken––made with a popular and secret marinade and sauce recipe––cheeseburgers, hotdogs, salad, soups, fries, pies, baked goods and more. A bake sale of delicious and quite affordable homemade baked goods from the Mennonite and Amish community—including pies, cakes, cookies, bread, rolls and other items—will be held Friday evening and again on Saturday.

The Kentucky Haiti Benefit Auction is Kentucky’s first such auction and is now an annual event held the last weekend of April (on Friday evening and all day Saturday) at Liberty’s AG/EXPO Center. The committee was encouraged by last year’s response and is hopeful that the event will continue to grow each year. $70,000 was raised at the 2010 auction for various Haiti missions including Christian Aid Ministries and 100% of all auction proceeds were donated. While the first Kentucky auction was organized soon after the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010, the Mennonite and Amish communities have a long history of contributing aid to Haiti-based missions, according to Albert Shirk, one of the organizers. This cooperative effort of churches and individuals brings relief to the hungry, the sick and homeless of Haiti and is given to its people without regard to race, religion, color or creed. Other Mennonite-sponsored relief sales and auctions in Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and Indiana––which will have their 30^th Haiti benefit auction in 2011––also support these missions.

Donations of saleable items and gifts-in-kind—including furniture and crafts, tools, garden items, flowers, plants, baked goods or whatever else that is either new or of good value—are most welcome and can be accepted in advance (contact Albert or Jonathan Shirk at 606-787-1748) or on the day of the sale. Monetary donations are also welcome to help support the Haiti Missions as well as the operating expenses of the Kentucky Haiti Benefit Auction—for cost of food, advertising, mailings and other––as these costs are entirely voluntary on behalf of those involved. Representatives of the various Haiti missions will also be on hand during the auction for questions.

NOTE: Cameras or television crews and photographers/reporters are quite welcome and encouraged to be at the auction. The Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities do not mind being in candid or larger crowd shots and just kindly request that they not be asked to pose for cameras.

CONTACT:

· Albert or Jonathan Shirk: 606-787-1748 (work)

· Matt Martin, publicity: 606-706-6319 (cell)

· Catherine Pond, Internet/email: 606-871-9644 (home), cspond@mac.com, www.GROWCaseyCounty.blogspot.com

STOCK PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST: contact cspond@mac.com

Thank you in advance for your interest and support ~

Welcome!

2011-03-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Daffodils and clothesline • Casey County • March 2011

Pardon our appearance! We are a work in progress and will be formally launched, and announced, in early April 2011.

GROW Casey County will be a regularly updated blog about Casey County produce growers, offerings and related agricultural events––including within the Old Order Mennonite community––and other items grown or produced in Casey County, Kentucky.