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EXPLORING
KENTUCKY - August 2006 by Katherine Tandy Brown You Pick 'Em!
“So often when people take a bite of one of our apples, they tell me they didn’t know real apples could taste that good,” says Trudy Reed, who with her husband Dana, owns and operates Reed Valley Orchard, located between Paris and Cynthiana. “You don’t savor the flavor of grocery store apples like you do those fresh from the farm.” The same is true of any farm-fresh fruits or vegetables. And at a number of Kentucky farms and orchards, you and your family can get out into the clear country air, pick your own produce and come home with a luscious bounty that’ll be the envy of your store-shopping neighbors. Though already-picked apples are available at Reed Valley and at their booths at Farmers Markets in Lexington and Paris, this thriving orchard – which boasts more than 3,000-plus apple trees with 85 varieties, 65 of which are picked – offers not only you-pick apples, but also blueberries, red and black raspberries, blackberries, peaches and Asian pears, the latter from the largest Asian pear planting in the state. In Nancy, near Lake Cumberland, fifth-generation Haney’s Appledale Farm grows 70 acres of fruit on 450 acres, with some 25 varieties of apples and 10 of peaches. “Kids who come here on school tours come back with their families,” says Don Haney, who owns the business with his son, Mark. “We’ve been in business long enough to see their children coming. It’s a great family outing.” About half its business is you-pick, but what really draws the crowds are the pies. “People from New York or Minnesota stop here who’ve never heard of fried pies,” he laughs. “It’s a Southern thing, but they always leave here loving them!” Pumpkins for pies and jack-o-lanterns are the you-pick specialty at Lambert Land Maize & Pumpkin Patch in Owensboro. Founded shortly after the Civil War, the enterprising farm replaced its tobacco income three years ago with “agri-tainment” and now offers hayrides, bonfires, scarecrow-making and a 15-acre interactive corn maize made even more challenging by flashlight at night. Lambert even custom-designs programs to fit school curriculums, and kids can learn teamwork, navigational skills and all about agriculture. Years ago, a Georgetown farm boy had learned all he wanted to know about cleaning out a hog barn, and his emphatic comment about its smell led his family to name their property Double Stink Hog Farm. These days, the pigs are gone. Instead, the Fister family now grows you-pick corn and pumpkins on their 200 acres. Some of the orange orbs are small enough to fit in your hand while others are more than 100 pounds. During the height of fall, weekends at Double Stink herald Pumpkinfest, with fresh-grilled ribeye steaks and pulled pork sandwiches, pumpkin carving and crafts demos, horse-drawn wagon rides, farm animals and of course, pumpkin picking. Attractions at Benton Farm U-Pick in Walton include exotic longhorn cattle, cute baby animals, a chat about honeybees at a glass observation hive and a corn maze and straw maze. As for picking, the 260-acre Northern Kentucky spread seasonally offers pumpkins, sweet corn and green beans to take home by the bagful. And for a real Norman Rockwell Christmas, you can even cut your own tree. Just BYO chainsaw - or Benton will provide a handsaw - and take your pick from 10 acres of trees splendid enough for any great room. You have to pay for the tree but bragging rights are free.
Katherine Tandy
Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report. |
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Copyright 1996-2006, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2006, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
Most folks don’t realize that those shiny red and yellow apples in your local grocery store may have been picked a year, maybe even two years, before hitting the shelf. Their nutritional content may pass FDA standards, but according to one Bourbon County apple grower, the taste can’t compare.
Like Haney’s, the majority of you-pick farms cater to school outings and group tours. While Reed Valley teaches about how bees pollinate fruit trees, Bramble Ridge Orchard’s Appleseed Tour meets KERA standards for preschool through grade three. At this family-owned Mount Sterling farm, you can pick from 2,700 trees; savor apple cider, fresh cider doughnuts, caramel apples and fried pies; peek into an observation beehive; and if you’re really good, try out Kentucky’s largest apple slingshot. 
Kentucky Bourbon Festival