Kentucky Department

of AgricultureJames R. Comer, Commissioner

September 2015A MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER FOR THE KENTUCKY AGRITOURISM INDUSTRY Office of Marketing, Division of Agritourism • Amelia Brown Wilson, Director • (502) 782- 4136 • amelia.wilson@ky.gov

AgritourismMonthly

Pleasureville

Farmers’ market off to abig start in a small townStory and photos by Kari MillerThe small town of Pleasureville, on the border between Henry and Shelby counties, welcomed a big addition to Main Street this summer with the grand opening of the Pleasureville Farmers’ Market. The new facility was made possible thanks in part to assistance from the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD).

The KCARD team began working with Pleasureville community leaders Susan Schlosnagle, Cheryl Clark, and Jakob Beckley early in the development of the farmers’ market plan, and the three community leaders give the KCARD team credit for

helping the market get off the ground.

“KCARD helped us look at the design from different perspectives as we were renovating the building. They were instrumental in guiding us as we wrote grant applications and

Letcher County

KCARD, CSA helps a marketboost community healthThe Letcher County Farmers’ Market began sowing the seeds for a healthier community three years ago when community leaders launched the market. The small market that began with just a few farmers has grown as a result of strong community support.

Markets help communities thrive

What’s happening in October?October is the peak month for Kentucky fall fun. Agritourism Monthly wants to publish the details of your upcoming events. Are you ...

● Celebrating apple season with a pick-your-own event?● Inviting everyone to visit the pumpkin patch? ● Operating a corn maze for visitors to enjoy? ● Holding a festival or farm-to-table gathering? ● Hosting concerts at your vineyard or winery?● Planning a special fall farmers’ market event?

Send the details, and Agritourism Monthly will help spread the good news. Share a photo or two and tell us Who? What? Where? When? How do I get there? and why visitors should plan to enjoy a visit to your agritourism attraction. Include contact information -- name, phone, email, and website. Email by Sept. 20 to j im . t rammel @ky.gov, or phone (502) 564-1136 .

The Letcher County farmers’ market has augmented its growth through community service.

(see PLEASUREVILLE, page 2)

(see LETCHER, page 4)

September is National Bourbon Heritage Month.

2 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

helped us develop our budget and evaluate what would be the best use of our money. I do not know what we would have done without their help,” Clark said.

“As a community we have been working hard to breathe life back into our Main Street to make it an active business center once again, so it is exciting to see the Pleasureville Farmers’ Market join our revitalization efforts,” she said.

The Pleasureville Farmers’ Market is an indoor year-round business on Main Street and a welcome addition to a community without a grocery store. It is also giving area farmers a local market for the wide array of agricultural products produced in the rural community.

Clark is enthusiastic about the strong dedicated farmer base that has signed up with the new market to provide fresh seasonal products year round.

Strong local participation

“We have eight farmers within 10 miles of our small community that have already joined the market,” explained Clark. “The Schlosnagles of Dutch Creek Farm have grass-fed beef. Chelsey and Jared

Schlosnagle will provide the market with pastured eggs, chicken, and turkey. Kathy Lee-Jarvis of Katie O Garden is a high tunnel producer that will have fresh organic produce until late fall. Shaw Farms is providing Heritage Pork to the market with various pork cuts in addition to fresh vegetables. Jerry and Kathy Alsup are value-added producers providing canned jams, jellies, and pickles. Mike and Terry Grimes of Grimes Produce and Barbara Gregory of Gregory Farms are supplying ample selection of garden vegetables to the market,” Clark said.

Register sales possible

The Pleasureville Farmers’ Market shares a building with the Main Street Café & Bakery. Unlike traditional markets, which require producers to be on site with their products, the new market will allow producers to drop off products at the market. Products are displayed like an old-time store with a central register to make a single purchase instead of having to buy products from each vendor.

“Our schedule is so busy that we only have time each week to do one farmers’ market on Saturday, so we are really excited that we can have our locally raised meats and eggs for sale at the market three days

The market differs from the traditional farmers’ market model -- it has an indoor location and one central register.

PLEASUREVILLE ... from page 1

Agritourism Monthly • September 2015 • 3

a week,” said Susan. “I think this is a great opportunity for our area farmers and a great way to provide local food to our community.”

To be part of the market, a farm pays a fee to join the market each year, and then they receive 90 percent of the sales of their farm products. The other 10 percent goes to the market to help cover the overhead costs of the indoor market, promotion, and other expenses.

Site for special events

The market will host special events throughout the season to give customers a chance to get to know the farmers. Along with special events, the market will provide retail space to 4-H Means Business, a local 4-H entrepreneur group. The 4-H group will have items for sale made by the young entrepreneurs, including postcards with local scenes, beeswax candles, soaps, and a variety of other products. The young 4-H entrepreneurs will have no setup fees, and they get all of the profit from their sales.

Planned to meet needs

The idea for the indoor market came together when leaders in the Pleasureville community began developing a 10-year plan to revitalize Main Street. The number one business the group identified as needed in the community was a grocery store.

“Pleasureville has a rich agricultural history, predominantly dependent on tobacco and beef cattle. As we transitioned away from tobacco, farmers have looked to other enterprises to supplement their farm income,” said Susan. “We identified the need in our community for a grocery, so I believed it was a natural fit to develop a farmers’ market.”

The building targeted for the market already housed the Main Street Café & Bakery, so a farmers’ market would be a natural addition to the businesses.

“It has been a great fit,” Clark said, especially since the restaurant purchases items from the market to be on the restaurant’s menu.

KCARD’s role

KCARD was instrumental in assisting the market planning group in developing a business plan for the new enterprise and in writing a grant submitted to the Agricultural Development Board on behalf of this project. KCARD also made the community leaders aware of additional grant opportunities and assisted in

writing an additional marketing grant to expand the business.

“The Pleasureville Economic Development Council has really put a lot of thought, effort, and resources into their downtown revitalization efforts,” said KCARD grant facilitator Aaron Shapiro. “KCARD’s role was just to help them figure out how the pieces fit together and help them consider what funding options might be available to develop their vision of an indoor farmers’ market.”

The grand opening of the Pleasureville Farmers’ Market was the culmination of many hours of work and planning, but Clark promised it is just the beginning of a vibrant new community market. A market that began as just an idea in a community planning meeting has come to fruition thanks to the commitment of countless individuals who are dedicated to revitalizing the small community of Pleasureville, she said.

“It is so satisfying to see people in our little town again eating dinner, picking up fresh groceries, and shopping at the other businesses,” Clark said. “ It warms my heart to see our little town come back to life again, and that is what this investment has been all about.”

Pleasureville Farmers Market hours are 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 5:30 - 8 p.m. Friday evenings.

Farmers’ markets triple over past 15 yearsThe number of farmers’ markets nationally rose

to 8,476 in 2014, up from 2,863 in 2000 and 1,755 in 1994, says USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.

Farmers’ markets in the U.S. are statistically concentrated in densely populated areas of the northeast, midwest, and west coast.

Generally, farmers’ markets feature items from local food systems, although depending on the definition of “local,” some vendors may come from outside the local region, and some local vendors may not sell locally produced products.

The government report concludes that the growing number of farmers’ markets could reflect increased demand for local and regional food products based on consumer perceptions of their freshness and quality, support for the local economy, environmental benefits, or other perceived advantages of food from these marketing channels.

— USAgNet - 08/10/2015

4 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

“The farmers selling at the market have increased each year since we started, and this year sales are more than double what they were this same time last year,” explained Valerie Horn, market co-chairperson.

KCARD partnered with Community Farm Alliance (CFA) to provide educational assistance for the Farmers’ Market Support Program (FMSP). The program provides business development resources, technical support, and grant and loan assistance, with the goal of building vendor skills.

The group established the market with a small number of farmers, and the emerging market applied to the CFA program.

Taking part in the CFA program was a significant turning point for the market. In addition to marketing workshops and training sessions, the group was introduced to the development offers from KCARD. The market leaders began working with KCARD at the end of their first CFA session.

Business planning basics

“While resources for farmers’ market infrastructure, signage and equipment are abundant in Kentucky, many markets struggle to meet their needs for staffing, marketing support, and capitalization,” said Nathan Routt, KCARD business development specialist.

The KCARD staff presented workshops on business planning basics for farmers’ markets, incorporation basics, how to choose a business structure, bylaws and market rules development, board training basics, and board governance, Routt said.

Horn explained that, when the idea for the market was developed with a small group of farmers and volunteers, she was at the time working within her role with Grow Appalachia, an organization promoting sustainable agriculture.

Growth requires planning

Market leaders Valerie Horn and Hilary Neff realized the Letcher County market was growing and needed sound planning to successfully manage that growth. “The planning done now will benefit farmers that sell at the Letcher County market in the long term,” Routt said.

“KCARD is a valuable resource for farmers,” Horn said. “It is good to know a resource and agency is there to help the small farmer ready to scale up.”

Horn said the CFA program provides networking opportunities for market leaders, connecting them with market managers in the region and state.

“We really didn’t know what to expect, so being able to share ideas and hear what has worked in other communities was a great resource,” Horn said.

Funded part-time manager

The CFA support program also provided the cost-share funds the market needed to hire Abby Maggard as their part-time market manager beginning in their second year. The city of Whitesburg provides the matching funds for the market manager position.

“The first year I helped my dad at the market each week, and I just fell in love with the market,” Maggard said of her decision to apply as manager. “It has been a great opportunity to work with the community. It is just the place I feel like I belong.”

While both Maggard and Horn say the programs offered through the market have been key to developing a strong customer base, they also recognize the need to provide support to the farmers.

Grow Appalachia, hosted by Cowan Community Center, has provided support to growers and resources for the market, including tents, tables, and scales.

“Each week we put up the tents and tables with the farmers, plus we provide the bags. All a farmer has to do is show up at the market and sell their products,” Maggard said. The material support made a difference to farmers, she observed during her first year of helping her father at the market.

“I have seen in the past two years what an impact one idea can have on a community,” Horn said.

The Letcher County Farmers Market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. until the end of October. www.letchercountyfarmersmarket.org.

-- Article and photos supplied by KCARD

LETCHER ... from page 1

Agritourism Monthly • September 2015 • 5

By Kayla Pickrell, Georgetown News-Graphic Used by permission.

With the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland this year, hotels and restaurants will be full, and Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in nearby Georgetown will be celebrating a new addition and its own Breeders’ Cup winners.

The Halloween-weekend horse racing event will bring celebrities, jockeys, breeders, owners and trainers to central Kentucky.

With help from those running the Breeders’ Cup, Old Friends owner and founder Michael Blowen has set another homecoming party that will be similar to the one after the Kentucky Derby. The event will be held Nov. 1 from noon to 3 p.m.

“This will be a big celebration” of the additions to the farm, Blowen said. “By that time, War Emblem will be here, and who knows who else.”

Residing at Old Friends is retired racehorse Gulch, the oldest Breeders’ Cup winner alive at age 31, who was victorious in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“We’ll continue to cement our relationship with the horse racing industry,” Blowen said. “It should be fun.”

Blowen said Old Friends anticipates up to 400 people at the event.

Bookings already gone?

Not only will Old Friends see a spike in attendance, but Scott County will see a tourism surge as well.

Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Director John Simpson said he knows of four local hotels already booked solid for the Breeders’ Cup.

“My guess is that all the hotels are already booked,” Simpson said. “There’s a lot going on that weekend.”

Also that weekend, the University of Kentucky hosts Tennessee in football, and a national horse show is set for the Kentucky Horse Park.

However, he said locals will not see much of a change in Georgetown. “Most local people will not notice much of a difference,” Simpson said. “It really doesn’t impact our local roads.”

Instead, locals will notice busier restaurants in the evening, much the same as the increased traffic during the Rolex Three-Day Event, he said.

“It’s going to be good for us,” Simpson said.Tickets: $25, $15 for members and shareholders. To order, visit oldfriendsequine.org or phone (502) 863-1775.

Meet the Champions Nov. 1Tickets are moving briskly, but some are still available for the Nov. 1 Old Friends party, media relations manager Cindy Grisolia told AM. “It’s shaping up to be a very large event,” she said.

Festivities will include a barbecue, tours, and silent and live auctions of Breeders’ Cup equipment, artwork and photos, Grisolia said.

Eight Breeders’ Cup winners have moved to Old Friends after their racing careers. Three reside there presently: Amazombie, winner of the 2011 Sprint; Eldaafer, winner of the 2010 Marathon, pictured below; and Gulch, the farm’s senior champion, winner of the 1988 Sprint.

Thirty-two other Thoroughbreds who ran in Breeders’ Cup races are also currently quartered at Old Friends.

Goat companions Yahoo and Google keep Eldaafer company as Old Friends founder

and owner Michael Blowen gives him a treat. (Old Friends photo by Rick Capone)

Georgetown hotels, Old Friends expect Breeders’ Cup crowds

6 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

By Jim TrammelHere’s a low-cost, highly effective way to market

your Kentucky wines, courtesy of winemaker Dominique Brousseau and her business manager- father, Andre, of Château du Vieux Corbeau Winery in Danville.

“The best way we have discovered to market is to taste,” Andre said. Andre and his wife, Linda, produced pottery and crafts for 25 years, doing extremely well without ever advertising. “But in the wine industry, there’s so much competition from around the world that you have to actually get out there and market yourself,” he said.

Andre told AM of a couple wanting red wine for heart health who went to a local liquor store for recommendations but were paralyzed into indecision by the hundreds of choices of reds from all over the

A French wine family business in DanvilleThe making of Danville’s version of fine French wines is a family endeavor, marketed on a vigorous tasting schedule and created by family input from winemaker/daughter Dominique, business manager/father Andre, and tasting room manager/mother Linda.

CHATEAU DU VIEUX CORBEAU WINERY 471 Stanford Ave. Danville, KY 40422 (859) 236-1775

Dominique Brousseau supervises the creation and production of 15 vintages.

Agritourism Monthly • September 2015 • 7

world. “They came here, tasted our wines, and found one they liked,” solving their problem. “The biggest challenge is to get customers to try your wine, and once they do, hopefully they’ll find a wine they like.”

So Andre takes charge of the process by setting up a constant schedule of samplings at local liquor stores.

They have 15 stores in their circuit, a comfortable number to rotate through, visiting one per week, then seamlessly repeating from the beginning. “We have never failed to sell one to three cases” at each two-hour tasting session, Andre reports.

The tastings normally last two hours. The stores furnish one-ounce sampling cups. Andre brings three wines at a time – “Maybe a new one we’re just introducing, or one we feel will go with that particular season,” such as a cranberry wine for Thanksgiving or Christmas consumption. Typically they will bring a white Riesling and a red along to complement the specialty choice.

The liquor stores are glad to have the traffic-

boosting event – quite often the stores arrange beer and bourbon tastings alongside the wine event, and will set out samples of cheese and deli items, which also sell briskly to the visiting customers, he said.

Kentucky should come first

Andre laments that sometimes ego gets in the way of Kentucky winemakers cooperating to market the Kentucky product. “There are so many wines out there from China, Australia, Argentina, and all these places, and we all ought to be helping each other sell Kentucky wine made by Kentucky winemakers using Kentucky fruit,” Andre said.

Kentucky fruit is a particular sticking point for Andre. “I get upset with Kentucky winemakers who use California grapes. I don’t know why they think a Cabernet Sauvignon grape from California is better than one from Kentucky,” he said. “Have they sent the mediocre juice to us? You cannot produce a good wine from bad juice, so you want the best,” Andre said.

“The European grape varieties grow well in Kentucky.” Andre said. “We can get everything we need to make wine here in Kentucky, except cranberries. We would love to talk some farmer into growing cranberries for us – we haven’t found any.” (Cranberries are grown mainly north of here, primarily in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon.)

Consummate artistry

Dominique has an excellent palate, as opposed to Andre’s own that he says was permanently scorched in New Orleans with “too much Cajun food”. She also has the patience to extract the best from her wine. “I’ve come to learn to trust her judgment, because she has really done well,” Andre said.

Dominique is so all-hours dedicated to her winemaking that, she says, her home life often consists of moving a cot into the wine cellar. Andre frees up Dominique’s concentration by running the business end of things, dealing with tax matters, marketing, advertising, and generally pushing the company paper, Wife and mother, Linda, manages the tasting room.

At bottling time, when all the operations have to be done in a single day, all the family helps; but Dominique, the expert, still calls the shots.

With her personal stamp comes an insistence on quality, Andre said. When Dominique contracts with

8 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

“Château du Vieux Corbeau” sounds ever so much more romantic than “Old Crow Inn,” its English translation. Though the English name has its own striking charm, the family abandoned it to avoid conflicts with the distillery.The B&B that used to operate here did well by the Old Crow Inn name. It was operated primarily by sister Mignon who ultimately got out of the business to raise a family. Likewise, a pottery business operated by matriarch Linda flourished for a while back in the early days of the winery.

farmers, they know they have to produce a certain quality or be dropped from her supplier list.

When they agree the fruit is at its peak, she and her suppliers set a date for harvesting, and they hire 15 to 20 workers to harvest all the grapes in a vineyard, who work hard to, within the same day, take the steps needed to convert those grapes to juice.

So Dominique is sometimes up until 1 or 2 a.m. on harvest days, processing the juice through the de-stemmer and crusher, and draining the juice into the tanks.

“We’re French, we can make wine”

She began learning winemaking back at the turn of this century with the help of an online program from the University of California–Davis, aided by her college chemistry background.

“Originally, our intent was to start a vineyard,” she remembers. “In 2001, we planted the first half of our vines. We had owned our farm since 1996 – it had been a farm for over 200 years through various families.

“My dad was from New Orleans, and my mom from North Carolina. And somewhere in the middle

of all that, Dad decided ‘We’re French, we can make wine,’ so we started a winery.”

The first order of business was to have a special election in their precinct to be legally allowed to sell wine in a dry county. “We called our friends in the neighborhoods around us and met at the farm to tell them what we intended and ask for their help,” Dominique remembers.

Agritourism Monthly • September 2015 • 9

The sympathetic neighbors passed petitions in their neighborhoods, and thanks to the relatively narrow scope of an election in only one precinct, securing approval was not too hard a task, she said.

Four expands to 15

The family built their winery in 2002, opening their doors that October.

They started out with four varieties – now they produce about 15 varieties, some new blends, and some berry wines. “I like to experiment down in the wine cellars,” she explained.

Fourteen feet down, the winery cellar remains a fairly steady 60 degrees all year. The cellar contains stainless steel tanks of various sizes from 50 to 1,000 gallons. All in all, Dominique has a tank capacity of approximately 10,000 gallons.

Their best seller depends on the time of year. One that gets good reviews is called “Trouble,” named for a goose that serves as weed control in rheir allied organic garden.

The organic garden is a separate operation – grapes are difficult to grow organically because of Japanese beetles and other insect pests, Andre said. The organic garden’s produce – greens, orchard fruits, berries,

squash, okra, and tomatoes – is used for their catering operations.

Some of the berries make it into their berry wines, made a special way by Dominique. She doesn’t add the other fruit juices that complicate the flavors of berry wines, such as, for example, apples or bananas contributing to wines named for a berry. “I just put whatever that berry is in a tank,” she said.

Linda meets tasting room customers from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and Dominique joins her to tell customers about the wines they’re sampling.

Appointments after hours can be arranged for more special presentations by the entire family. The winery has mounted special events for clients such as Centre College, Kentucky Women in Agriculture, and a local group of optometrists.

Dominique says the winery is in the middle of an effort to re-do tourism signage coordinated by the Danville-Boyle County tourism office.

Their wines are available at Liquor Barn (all three Lexington and all three Louisville locations), The Party Store (Northern Kentucky), Capital Cellars (Frankfort), and various Kroger satellite liquor stores.

The tasting room.

10 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

KENTUCKY CALENDAR OF EVENTS September - October 2015

SEPTEMBER8/29 - 9/5: Jackson Co. Fair – McKee 1-7: Grayson Co. Fair – Leitchfield 2-7: Alexandria Fair – Alexandria 4-5: Cumberland River Music Fest –

Williamsburg Isom Days and Rodeo – Isom Tobacco Festival – Sandy Hook4-6: Heritage Days – Augusta Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival –

Winchester Kentucky Bluegrass & Bourbon

Experience – Louisville Swift Silver Mine Festival – Campton4-7: WorldFest – Louisville5: Goldenrod Gala Arts Festival –

Carrollton5-6: Kentucky Native American Heritage

Museum Festival – Corbin5-7: KWW Arts & Crafts Festival –

Grand Rivers5-12: Pecan Festival – Hickman 6: Riverfest – Newport

7: Labor Day Celebration – Paducah8-13: Powell Co. Fair – Stanton9-11: Civil War Days – Columbus9-12: Fraley Festival of Traditional Music –

Olive Hill10-12: Old Fashioned Trading Days –

Williamsburg10-13: Balloons, Tunes & BBQ –

Bowling Green10-19: Edmonson Co. Fair – Brownsville11-12: Family Fun Festival & Craft Show –

Middletown11-12: Area Days – Neon11-13: Chautauqua Days – Millersburg Civil War Days – Munfordville Kentucky State BBQ Festival –

Danville Mainstrasse Village Oktoberfest –

Covington Roots & Heritage Festival – Lexington ScareFest – Lexington Septemberfest – Louisa 12: Homeplace on Green River - Fall

Heritage Festival – Campbellsville Harvest Homecoming – Mackville Rolling Fork Iron Horse Festival –

New Haven Via Colori Street Painting Festival –

Elizabethtown12: Airfest Aviation Festival – Georgetown12-13: Apple Festival – Georgetown Trimble Co. Apple Festival – Bedford12-19: Banana Festival – Fulton13: Fall Arts Festival – Frankfort Hillbilly Daze Festival – Millville Kids Fest – Richmond13-20: Gaslight Festival – Jeffersontown15-19: Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival –

Morehead15-20: Kentucky Bourbon Festival – Bardstown17-19: Black Gold Festival – Hazard Blazin’ Bluegrass Festival – Whitley City

17-20: Airfest Georgetown/Scott County Aviation Festival – Georgetown

Robertson Co. Ag Fair – Mount OlivetRolling Fork Iron Horse Festival

– New HavenVia Colori Street Painting Festival

– Elizabethtown18-19: Autumn Daze Festival – Vine Grove Cow Days – Greensburg Festival Latino de Lexington – Lexington Hazel Day – Hazel Heritage Festival – Horse Cave River Days Festival – West Point18-20: Poage Landing Days – Ashland Secretariat Festival – Paris Spoonbread Festival – Berea19: Arts, Crafts & Music Festival – Rochester Dragon Boat Festival – Paducah Fort Harrod Jazz Festival – Harrodsburg Harvest Festival – Pembroke Kentucky Fried Zine Fest – Lexington Mighty Pumpkin Run, Gallrein

Farms – Shelbyville National Jug Band Jubilee – Louisville Oktoberfest – Butchertown, Louisville Simon Kenton Festival – Maysville19-20: Fall Festival – Midway Harvest Festival – Georgetown Jane’s Saddlebag Bluegrass Fall

Festival – Union23-26: Honeyfest – Clarkson 24-26: Apple Festival – Liberty Barbecue on the River – Paducah Bluegrass Festival – Vine Grove Carroll Co. Tobacco Festival – Carrollton Casey Co. Apple Festival – Liberty Tobacco Festival – Carrollton World Chicken Festival – London25: Squash, Sweet Potato and Zucchini

Festival – Munfordville25-26: Cave Run Storytelling Festival –

Morehead Pansy Festival – Russell Springs Proud Days – Cave City Wall Street Festival – Lebanon Junction

(continued)

List your event here

Email details, with the single word “Event” in the subject line, to j i m . t r a m m e l @ k y . g o v.

Fall Heritage Festival

Saturday, September 12 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. EDT

Homeplace on Green River

5807 New Columbia Road (Hwy 55) Campbellsville, KY 42718

Festival family fun $5/carload parking

(includes 3 free tickets)games & prizes 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.family games during the day

free music under the tentart activities for kids 1-3 p.m.alpacas and horses to visit

hay wagon ridespioneer re-enactors

barrel train ridesart vendors - food vendors

nature scavenger huntlearn about mason bees

face & nail painting - self defense demo

sheltered activities area for children age one to five

www.homeplacefarmky.org Homeplace on

Green River, Ky. (270) 789-0006 On Facebook

GREENSLEEVES FARM of Alexandria presents their continuing

FARM TO PLATE DINNER SERIES

Sept. 20 Matt Buschle of Virgil’s CafeMore information and tickets:

www.greensleevesfarm.com10551 Pleasant Ridge Road, Alexandria, KY 41001

www.virgilscafe.com Virgil’s Cafe, Facebook

Agritourism Monthly • September 2015 • 11

SEPTEMBER

(continued) 25-27: Burgoo Festival – Lawrenceburg Ohio Co. Fair – Hartford Ole Cider Days – Newport Sorghum Festival – West Liberty26: Cannon Farm Fest – Stamping Ground Central Kentucky Crafts Festival –

Owenton Happy Days – Radcliff International Festival – Bowling Green NULU Fest – Louisville Roebling Fest – Covington Sorghum Festival – Metcalfe County26-27: Country Ham Days – Lebanon HarvestFest, Shaker Village –

Harrodsburg Heritage Harvest Tour – Louisa and

Catlettsburg Ole Cider Days – Utica Irish Fest – Louisville Steamboat Festival – HawesvilleOCTOBER1-3: Fair and Homecoming – Caneyville Heritage Trail Days – Whitley City Old Fashion Days – Greenup1-5: Washington Co. Fair - Springfield2-3: Bittersweet Festival – Mount Vernon Jim Beam BBQ Classic – Springfield Mary Breckinridge Festival – Hyden Octoberfest – Taylorsville Sorghum Festival – Springfield 2-4: Corn Maze and Fall Nights –

Eminence (all Oct. weekends) Festival of the Horse – Georgetown

2-4: Kentucky Wool Festival – Falmouth St. James Court Art Show – Louisville3: Arts & Crafts Festival – Wilmore Kentucky Apple Festival – Paintsville Octoberfest – Smithland Pumpkin Festival – Edmonton Pumpkin Festival – Marion Woofstock – Carrollton 3-4: Arts & Crafts Festival – Henderson Lincoln Days – Hodgenville 3-10: Tobacco and Heritage Festival –

Russellville4-10: Daniel Boone Festival – Barbourville7: Taste of Louisville7-10: Jenny Wiley Festival – Prestonburg7-11: Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass

Celebration – Rosine9-10: Belknap Fall Festival – Louisville Country Ham Festival – Cadiz Downtown Days – Columbia9-10: Forkland Heritage Festival & Revue –

Gravel Switch Garvin Gate Blues Festival

– Louisville Railroad and Bluegrass

Festival – LaGrange10: Turning of the Leaves

Festival – Augusta Pigapalooza II --

Horseshoe Bend Vineyards, Willisburg

Southwest Festival – Louisville10-11: Arts, Crafts & Antique Fair –

Bardstown11: Hunters Moon Fall Festival –

Grand Rivers

11-13: Kentucky BBQ Festival – Danville 16-17: Fall Festival – Mt. Washington Foothills Festival – Albany16-18: Salt Festival – Union16-19: Court Days – Mount Sterling17: Bluegrass Festival – Shepherdsville ColorFest – Clermont Craft Beer Festival – Bardstown Crossing Festival – Glendale Maiden Alley Oktoberfest – Paducah17-18: Apple Festival – Owensboro 23-25: Woolly Worm Festival – Beattyville24-25: Independence Bank Sorghum

Festival – Hawesville30-31: Field of Horror at Devine’s

Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch – Harrodsburg

Compiled from the listing of county fairs and ag events posted at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture website, www.kyagr.com; and the Kentucky Festivals Schedule page at ohiofestivals.net. Events are subject to change or cancellation; check with site before attending.

30 to enjoy Farm To Tablealpaca ranch dinner eventRiver Hill Ranch and Hill Restaurant, Richmond, is sponsoring an Alpaca Farm to Table Dinner Saturday, Sept. 26 from 5-10 p.m. The event is the only one in the country “that highlights the unique meat of alpaca,” ranch owner/operator Alvina Maynard said.

Five courses of alpaca meat and local foods will pair with wine from nearby wineries. Chef Robert Weickel will prepare the meal over a wood fire near tableside.

Only 30 tickets will be sold. The farm gate at 680 River Hill Dr, Richmond, opens at 5 p.m.; a welcome presentation at 6:30 will be followed by the dinner at 7.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Farmer Veteran Coalition, Maynard said. “This year River Hill Ranch received a grant from FVC to fund shearing equipment and fencing for more pasture,” and they want to “pay it forward,” she said.

Tickets and information: www.riverhillranch.us/ranch-events/2015/9/26/farm-to-table-dinner

-- River Hill Ranch press release

TOURS OPEN AT BOONE’S CREEK CREAMERY -- Ed Puterbaugh (below left, and below right as a signboard cutout), takes Holly Shouse of Lexington on a tour of his Lexington cheesemaking operation. We reported last spring in Agritourism Monthly how Ed’s business received national attention in a TV ad campaign.

Tourist, customer, and friend of Boone’s Creek Yvonne Hamilton.

12 • Agritourism Monthly • September 2015

Name ______________________________________Phone _____________________________________Email ______________________________________

I enclose my check payable to the Pennyrile Area Agritourism Associationfor reservations for _______ guests at $30.00 each

Mail to:Christian County Extension OfficeFarmer’s Feast 2850 Pembroke RoadHopkinsville, KY 42240

Phone: (270) 886-6328

Sugar GroveCarriage House

9650 Palmyra RoadOak Grove, KY 42262

5:30 p.m.Wine Tasting and

Cheese and Crackers

6:00 p.m.Welcome

and Seatingfor Dinner

www.sugargrove carriagehouse.com