Our region has a long and rich agricultural heritage. Anyone who drives our rural roads, visits one of our local farmers markets or attends a county fair can attest to that. Kentucky’s rolling green hills and pastoral countryside are what makes it the prettiest state in the country, in my opinion.
In the last few years, I’ve come to the realization that I’m a “farm girl.” It’s like they say, you can take a person out of a place but you can’t take the place out of the person…
I love summertime: long days, warm nights, summer break, and the easiest time of year to be a locavore!
6-8 small squash (yellow and zucchini), thinly sliced
1 16 ounce package penne pasta
1 unbaked pie crust, refrigerated or from favorite recipe
Polenta:
9 inch pie crust
Now more than ever, consumers are choosing to buy fresh produce at the Farmers Market over a trip to the grocery store. Folks are planning family dinners around what they purchase at the farmers market: admiring, smelling and tasting fruits, veggies, bread and pastries.
Dawn is breaking on a mid-summer’s morning and the parking lot of the Advance Memorial United Methodist Church in Flatwoods is already abuzz with activity. But it isn’t a Sunday morning and the bold scent of fresh produce mixed with sweet smells of baked good are indicators that the gathered crowd has arrived early for reasons other than pew positioning.
It’s a Saturday morning and the rush of the workweek is fading away with no alarm clocks and the leisure to start the day off visiting the local farmers market. Visiting a farmers market is like visiting one of America’s great institutions. It is the most wholesome snapshot of a community you’ll ever find. Not to mention eating locally grown food is healthier.
What could make Kentucky maple syrup even tastier? Bourbon, of course!
A View from Above
Family Farm Home to Happy Hogs
Cheddar's in Ashland Launches Donation Program to Benefit Hillcrest-Bruce Mission
As a little girl growing up in rural Boyd County, Jessica Lucas-Adkins traveled State Route 854 in Rush most every day, her face pressed against the window as the school bus wound its way along the curvy road. There wasn’t a whole lot to see – some old houses, overgrown fields, a few animals.
Every Thursday a special dish is served in the King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) Café at its Ashland campus. Although different each week, the dishes all share one important thing: the ingredients are healthy, fresh and sourced from local farmers who participate in the Boyd County Farmers Market at KDMC later that day. The recipe, with its nutritional information, is also posted on its internal blog for team members, should they want to replicate it.
Where would we be if we didn't have bees? It's the question area native and Northeast Kentucky Beekeepers President Mike Crawford asked himself in 2010.
Mulberry Family Farming