By: Susie Quick
Monday, July 31, 2006 @ 2:35 PM
We had a great turnout for the children’s garden hayride Saturday, despite overcast skies and intermittent rain. A half inch of rain the day before spurred all the flowers and plants to look their very best and more sunflowers seemed to bloom overnight to welcome the children, which made our abundant honey bees deleriously happy.
Ouita Michel, chef at Holly Hill Inn brought her daughter Willa who had no problem digging into the soil and may well become a future farmer of America. Ouita spoke to the gathering about her relationship with local farmers and how their seasonal vegetables, fruits, and naturally raised animal products inspire her cooking. Ouita buys vegetables from Honest Farm each week and has been a big supporter (bless her).
By: Susie Quick
Thursday, July 27, 2006 @ 3:19 PM
Bring the kids!
Honest Farm Market presents:
the Children’s Garden Grand Opening
Saturday, July 29th
Hay rides to the garden take place at
11 am and 1 pm Featuring lemonade, cookies and special guests, Chef Ouita Michel of the Holly Hill Inn and Mark Keating, with the University of Kentucky School of Agriculture.
At 11:30 am, award-winning Chef Ouita Michel of the Holly Hill Inn in Midway will discuss how fresh, in-season foods grown by local farmers have influenced her cuisine. Since opening more than three years ago, Michel has included the names of farmers on her menu and inspired other local chefs to include Kentucky grown items on their menus.
By: Susie Quick
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 @ 12:12 AM
Warning: viewing some of these photographs before a meal can cause extreme nausea.
You may have the impression that those of us living and farming the organic life exist in this kind rural paradise. We live close to the earth, eat the healthiest food known to mankind, and have powerful arms. But I’m hear to tell you, it ain’t always a bed of roses.
In fact, it can get downright ugly as evidenced by this week’s invasion of the lovely cabbage worms and loopers. I have special names for non-beneficials and all of them are profane. Let’s just say my special word for the worm, also begins with a "C."
By: Susie Quick
Monday, July 17, 2006 @ 7:54 AM
There are still farmers in Kentucky , including the many Amish farmers in the state, who forego the tractor in favor of honest-to-goodness horse power. Milford Lowe of Taylor County is one such farmer who relies on a pair of mules to ‘git her done’ so to speak. Driving mules and draft horses through a field is better for the land as it doesn’t impact the soil the way a tractor does, which requires even more tilling, which kills beneficial earthworms and drives the healthy organic matter in the top of the soil further below where it can’t help the crops as much. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Plowing with mules is also quieter so you can hear someone yelling if you are about to disc the family dog. And there is the added bonus of creating your own fertilizer, saving money on fuel costs and helping the environment. This is from this morning’s local paper.
By: Susie Quick
Thursday, July 13, 2006 @ 10:10 PM
Weekly Menu!
Please join us at the farm this week for more of the freshest naturally raised Kentucky produce and more!
Saturday, July 15th, from 9 am to 3 pm
(or until sold out)
Southern Kentucky Field Grown Kentucky Tomatoes
Southern Kentucky Sweet Corn and Cantaloupe
from Farmer Andy
Lincoln County Half Runner Beans
Lincoln County Kennebec Potatoes
Free Range Wild Blackberries and Local Squash
*Honest Baby Potatoes, mixed varieties
(grown from certified organic seed potatoes)
*Honest French Beans
*Honest Rainbow Chard
*Honest Sweet Candy and Red Onions
*Honest Beets (red, golden retriever, albino and striped)
*Honest Washed and Bagged Heirloom Lettuces
*Honest Basil, Dill and other Fresh Herbs
*Honest Country Bouquets
Paisley Hill Pottery
By: Susie Quick
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 @ 10:47 AM
Justin Mason is an agricultural student at Murray State University and is internin g at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture in Frankfort this summer. He also mans the hoe on occasion at Honest Farm and we feel lucky to have such a fun and hardworking young farmer to help us out a few days a week. Today Justin attended his first Kentucky produce auction and wrote a story about it, below.
By: Susie Quick
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 @ 9:45 PM
| This appeared in last Sunday’s Herald Leader, the local newspaper in Lexington. I’m very grateful for the article and it’s a subject close to my heart, however, I was a little embarrassed to be the only ‘farmer’ interviewed, since the majority of farmers here have a great deal more experience and wisdom to share. So far I haven’t gotten any angry letters from them so I hope they liked the message, if not the messenger. I’ll be writing more on the subject of local food soon as there are a lot of environmental issues at stake as well, not the least of which is all the fossil fuel consumed (and the pollution emitted) when food travels thousands of miles to your supermarket. And besides, local food just tastes better.
To market we go
Local food is better for everyone
By Sharon Thompson
HERALD-LEADER FOOD WRITER
July’s sweltering heat is easier to tolerate for two reasons: honest-to-goodness tomatoes and sweet, sweet corn.
Sure, we can have tomatoes and corn all year, but it’s only for a short time that we can actually bite into a tomato and have the juice run down our chins. And the smell. A farm-fresh tomato smells like the earth from which it came.
The taste and quality of sweet corn depends heavily on its sugar content, which rapidly decreases after harvest. The best way to taste the true flavor of corn is to pick it early in the morning. But before you do, put a pot of water on the stove to boil. When you return from the garden, immediately shuck the corn and cook it.
Sadly, few of us can experience that awesome taste. The majority of consumers eat food that’s grown far away; the older it gets as it travels to your table, the more vitamin and mineral loss it experiences. According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, grapes travel an average of 2,143 miles, broccoli, 2,095, and sweet corn 813 miles.
The very best food, no matter where you live in the world, comes from the neighborhood. "Buying local food from farmers in your community — not just the occasional basket of tomatoes, corn or peaches in July or August — as part of your routine can have a greater impact on your hometown, and the world at large, than most of us could imagine," farmer Susie Quick said.
Quick has formed a non-profit sustainable demonstration farm in Midway, called Honest Farm Inc. She’s a cookbook author and former food editor in New York who has appeared numerous times on Good Morning America, Today and The Food Network, talking about cooking and organic food.
"We’re also trying to sustain ourselves by selling the produce we grow," she said. The farm stand, which is open on Saturdays, is at Hurstland Farm on West Stephens Road.
"When you buy from farmers, you’re helping to preserve farmland," Quick said. "It’s that simple. So if you love the scenic black-board-fence-lined byways and pastoral farms with their historic tobacco barns, keep a farmer in business by buying his product. Buying locally keeps your food dollars invested in your town and enhances your own little corner of the world, creating a thriving community, and keeps those fields surrounding your town free of development."
Central Kentucky’s farmers markets are growing to accommodate consumers. The Lexington Farmers Market has satellite locations on Southland Drive and in Hamburg, as well as sites on Vine Street on Saturdays and West Maxwell Street and South Broadway on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Blue Grass Farmers Market is open on Saturdays on Richmond Road in the parking lot at Pedal the Planet and Fast Signs. All of what’s offered for sale at Blue Grass is grown or produced by the vendors.
Central Kentuckians also can buy beef and poultry from local farmers. Congleton Freezer Beef in Woodford Country is "antibiotic-, steroid-, and hormone-free farm-raised beef," Marti Congleton said. It’s sold on Saturdays at the Woodford County Farmers Market on Courthouse Square and from 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays in the parking lot at Falling Springs Recreation Center, 275 Beasley Drive, Versailles.
If you need more reasons to buy locally, go to www.foodroutes.org. The non-profit organization is dedicated to promoting the consumption of local food. According to the Web site, a recent study in Maine shows that shifting just 1 percent of consumer expenditures to direct purchasing of local food products would increase farmers’ incomes by 5 percent.
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By: Susie Quick
Sunday, July 9, 2006 @ 2:05 AM
After much trepidation and anticipation the Honest Farm market officially opened this past Saturday and I think by any measure, it was a great success. We met a lot of neighbors and residents of Midway on Saturday and I’m looking forward to more conversations, recipe exchanges — and a little town gossip as well — this summer. I would like to thank each and every customer we saw on Saturday but unfortunately, we neglected to place the newsletter sign up sheet on the table (among other things) and I can’t. But feel free to email me your critiques and produce desires and we will post them.
By: Susie Quick
Friday, July 7, 2006 @ 12:49 AM
On August 25, 2005, I had the privilege to do a segment on ABC’s Good Morning America (that’s Diane Sawyer on the left in case you get us confused); Below is a streaming video of that segment, followed by the recipes.
Susie On GMA
Oven Fried Crispy Chicken Drumettes
Prep time: 10 minutes
(doesn’t include 4 1/4 hours marinating/resting time)
Total time: 50 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
By: Susie Quick
Thursday, July 6, 2006 @ 1:13 PM
Ground bison is a flavorful lower-fat alternative to beef and although you might think it would have a wild flavor, it’s actually not at all gamy and makes the juiciest burgers. We’re lucky to have the Kentucky Bison Company right here in the bluegrass state so the supply is plentiful. If you can’t find bison though you can substitute ground sirloin for this recipe instead.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground bison
1 cup grated Swiss or cheddar cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 thick slices red onion
4 poppyseed or sesame rolls, halved
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