Henry County Harvest Showcase
Henry
County event features
local farmers’ products, wares
Activities
include hayrides,
tractor displays, family fun
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
NEW CASTLE, Ky. (July 2010) – When Buck Herrell
retired, he and wife, Janet, began raising vegetables to provide a supplemental
income. The outcome was excess crops that they have been able to sell
through local farmers markets and related venues such as the Henry County
Harvest Showcase.
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Photo
provided The
annual Harvest Showcase |
“I never farmed for a living,” said Herrell.
But he has done something right because the venture has paid off and
kept the couple extremely busy during the summer months on their 15
acres, located between Sulfur and New Castle off Hwy. 157.
In addition to farm work, Herrell takes care of his granddaughter, Emily,
and has named his produce business after her: Emily’s Out Back
Nursery.
The Herrells are like many other Henry County residents who sell their
produce when in season at local farmers markets. Herrell said in addition
to the Showcase and the Henry County Farmers Market, he would be selling
produce in Oldham County at a farmers market set up at the YMCA.
Only Henry County farmers can sell their wares at the annual Henry County
Harvest Showcase and Lunch at the Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
on Saturday, July 31. The free event will be held at the Henry County
Fairgrounds and is open to the public. Many resident farmers, crafts
people and ag-related businesses will have their products for sale and
on display.
The Herrells will be selling tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, zucchini,
several varieties of squash, 16 varieties of peppers, corn, watermelon
and cantaloupe. The Showcase is “an excellent way to sell products,”
said Herrell.
Janet crafts handmade jewelry, which she sells at farmers markets and
will have available at the Showcase. Janet’s jewelry is made mostly
of stone, but recently, she began creating her jewelry with glass beads.
“A friend gave me some gemstones for my birthday, and I started
collecting them and then making jewelry,” she said. Janet first
considers “how a stone would look in a necklace,” then designs
her own earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
When working on a new design, Janet “puts together stones until
it pleases me and is unique.” She often gave the jewelry as gifts
to family and friends, but found that she had so many extra pieces that
she began selling it at farmers markets and at the Showcase.
This year’s Showcase will include a farmer’s breakfast at
7:30 a.m. sponsored by the Henry County Chamber of Commerce. Lunch will
be available at the Farmer’s Market. It will include locally grown
beef, pork, vegetables and homemade cantaloupe ice cream.
Returning traditional crowd favorites include hayrides, antique tractor
displays and pulls, kids, games, livestock exhibits and a variety of
homegrown products, such as the ones provided by the Herrells. For those
who want to be entertained, Patrick Henry Hughes will sing with local
country-gospel group, Music N’ A Box, at 11 a.m.
A few fun events have been added to this year’s lineup that also
offers attendees an opportunity to earn a little extra cash. The Husband
Challenge will take place at noon with a chance for participants to
earn $100 in prize money.
Following this event, Capstone Produce Market will sponsor the Largest
Watermelon Contest, providing another chance to win $100. The watermelon
must be grown in Henry County, and the heaviest watermelon will be auctioned
with proceeds going to help offset Showcase expenses.
“For a long time, I understood the event was a way to showcase
Henry County people and their products,” said David Neville, owner
of Capstone Produce Market. The Largest Watermelon Contest is “a
way for Capstone Produce to say thank you to them.”
Capstone Produce Market, a distribution hub for locally grown produce,
is located at the intersection of Hwy. 421 and Hwy. 55 in Campbellsburg.
“We’re now in the heart of the growing season and sell anything
anybody cares to raise in a 14-county region,” he said.
Neville said the Showcase is a “people-to-people” event. Unlike
what the county fair has currently become (with lots of carnival rides
and other entertainments), the Showcase “harkens back to an earlier
time of an old-style county fair, reminiscent of the way farmers would
bring their produce to market.”
He has participated as a visitor and as a cattle producer in all but
one of the Showcases since it began 11 years ago. “You have folks
from multiple states and counties looking for products processed right
here in Henry County,” he said.
In the past, Neville has donated a heifer and auctioned it off, with
proceeds benefiting Showcase expenses. He encourages “all growers
to participate” in the Showcase.
• For more information on Capstone Produce Market, visit www.CaptstoneProduceMarket.com. For more information on the Harvest Showcase, contact the Henry County Extension Office at (502) 845-2811.