This is all my mother’s fault.

An organic gardener long before it was popular, she was the one who started nattering on about the slow-food movement and how we’ve lost sight of making great dishes out of local food.

She was the one who grew her own vegetables and faithfully attended the farmers market in her town. And she was the one who brought up the idea of the 100-mile Thanksgiving, which pretty much collects all these concepts in one meal. She made it sound challenging yet easy, a fun mother-daughter project just in time for the holidays.

We’ll see about that.

Certainly, the idea is simple. Everything you serve at this meal has to come from within 100 miles of Lexington. That means local turkeys, local cornbread, local everything. Barbara Kingsolver did it for a whole year in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Wendell Berry has been talking about local food for years.

"I think local food is where organic food was five years ago," said Susie Quick, the former editor of Organic Living who now lives in Midway, where she operates a farm and a store. "It’s the best-quality food, it’s a safe food, and you’re keeping money in the local economy."

Organic and local are entwined, because many small local farms do produce organic foods and meat. The basic idea is that local food helps small farmers and preserves the rural landscape. It helps the environment because food doesn’t have to be transported from so far away, and as a reward, it nearly always tastes better.

Ouita Michel, owner and chef of Holly Hill Inn, has been a leading proponent of using local produce and meats.

She calls her reasons "moral and culinary."

"I believe if we don’t create rural economies, we’ll lose our countryside, and that’s what defines Kentucky," she said. She also thinks it’s safer because she knows where the food is grown, and the smaller the production, the less likely it is to have problems such as E. coli outbreaks. Best of all, "there is a huge advantage in terms of taste.

"Everyone can relate to a Kentucky tomato in the summer," compared to one from a grocery store, she said. "We’re trying to broaden that view to beef and chicken and other vegetables."

Kentucky is an easy place to do local as well because of its agricultural strengths and variety.

"Week by week, we have new customers that seek us out because of their interest in purchasing local," said Ann Bell of Elmwood Stock Farm, which produces a vast array of meat, poultry, eggs and vegetables. Elmwood has a big stall at the Lexington Farmers Market and has a Community Supported Agriculture program, in which people pay an up-front fee for fresh produce during the growing season.

Fewer options in late fall

All that being said, Thanksgiving is a trickier time to do locally because said growing season is already over. And this year could be more problematic because of the drought. But I’ve got good advice from Quick, Bell, Michel and lots of other folks. I’ve also got plenty of help from friends and family who are coming to dinner.

Here’s my tentative plan:

• I’ve ordered two Bourbon Red heritage turkeys, raised outdoors, from Elmwood Stock Farm. Apparently, Bourbon Reds were originally bred in Bourbon County, and they have a rich, dark meat, more like wild turkey. They also have a rich price: about $75 for a 13-pound bird.

• When we get closer to the time, I’ll talk to Bell, Quick and farmers like David Wagoner of Three Springs Farm about what they have available. Probably, there will be some kind of greens, turnip or kale. There might even be some late spinaches or lettuces for a salad.

• Potatoes and leeks will be no problem, although sweet potatoes could be. But that’s why there’s plenty of orange from pumpkin and squash. Michel recommends a butternut squash gratin; Quick has a great recipe for butternut squash pie. I’m going to experiment on that recipe with real pumpkin as well.

• In August, I picked and froze several quarts of blackberries at Reed Valley Orchard in Bourbon County. With local flours from Weisenberger Mill, in Scott County, and the Connersville Mill in Cynthiana, as well as sorghum from Country Rock Sorghum in Versailles, we’ll have some kind of blackberry cobbler.

• Also in August, I bought lots of sweet corn at the Farmers Market, blanched it in boiling water, cut it off the cob and froze it. We’ll have some kind of corn pudding or spoonbread. (Weisenberger Mill has a great spoonbread mix.)

• As for dressing, I’m imagining a mixture of cornbread, apple and walnuts with whatever herbs are still alive in the garden.

• As for dairy products, I’m depending on Michael Salyers, who sells creamy whole milk from Logan County at the Farmers Market. That’s where we’ll get the butter and cheese for hors d’oeuvres. And yes, Logan County is more than 100 miles, but it’s less than 500, so we’re going to allow it.

• The only real hitch is cranberries. I know they’re a big deal, but the fact is that they just aren’t harvested within 100 miles or even 500 miles. Still, we’re going to work on an apple chutney, or some kind of other sweet element for the turkey.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I plan on making a detailed menu with all the ingredients needed, so that I know exactly where and how to get everything.

This is going to be a simpler Thanksgiving — no Williams Sonoma 20-ingredient stuffing recipes are allowed — but we hope it will taste even better.

We’re not going to get too hung up on things like salt and pepper, even though they don’t come from within 100 miles. After all, it’s supposed to be fun. The best part is that Mom will be there to bail me out.

Have any ideas about a 100-mile Thanksgiving? Contact Linda Blackford at (859) 231-1359 or .

Here’s what Susie Quick has to say about this recipe for butternut squash pie: "My Aunt Martha only made one kind of pie (squash) and one kind of cake (hickory nut). Why, you may ask? As a self-reliant farmer whose life spanned over a century plus 10, that’s what she grew on her land.

"This simple, wholesome pie is ideal for a holiday, and the squash tastes much fresher than pumpkin from a can. You can peel and boil the squash, but roasting and scooping out the flesh is much easier.

"If you don’t have an Aunt Martha with a farm, you can purchase the butternut squash, local sorghum, butter and eggs from your local farmers market."

Butternut squash pie

1 9-inch flaky pie crust (recipe follows)

1 (2-pound) butternut squash

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon sorghum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish

Prepare pie crust as directed below, and line the pie plate. Crimp edges and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Lightly spray or brush a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking oil. Place squash cut side down on sheet. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until soft. Cool until warm enough to handle. Scoop out flesh, and refrigerate to cool completely. You should have about 3 cups cooked squash.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the squash and remaining ingredients (except whipped cream) in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake 45 minutes, until a knife inserted between the crust and the center comes out clean. (Check pie after 20 minutes; if necessary, cover edge of crust with foil to prevent over-browning.) Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Flaky pie crust for a single, deep-dish pie

11/2 cups Weisenberger Mills all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard

1 large egg yolk, beaten

2 to 3 tablespoons ice water

This recipe provides enough dough for a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate. Save leftover dough for another recipe (wrapped in plastic, it freezes well).

Food processor method: Place all ingredients except the yolk and water into a food processor and pulse at 1-second intervals, until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the egg yolk, and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the flour-butter mixture. Pulse until the dough begins to clump together (add a little more water, if necessary).

Hand method: Stir together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and shortening, and using your fingertips or a pastry blender, blend the fats into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add the yolk, and sprinkle water over the flour-butter mixture; stir with a fork to incorporate the water (it will seem rather clumpy but should hold together).

Turn out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap. With your hands, gather the dough together to form a ball. Press it with your palms to form a 10-inch disk. Wrap the disk in the plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 15-inch circle. Place in a 9-inch (preferably glass) pie plate. Trim away all but 1 inch of the overhanging dough. Turn it under the rim, and flute the edges. Chill pie crust 30 minutes, until firm. Proceed with recipe as directed. Makes one 9-inch pie. Serves 6 to 8.