The Summer season is ushering in fall as we prep for winter and renewal while looking back on all that we accomplished this season. What a season it has been for the Owsley County Farm To School Site!
Ushering in Fall
Our gardens are prepared for winter. Any remaining summer crops have been harvested since Jack Frost is stopping by for an extended stay the next few days. We have cleared out spent plants, bush-hogged our garden spaces and have only season extension plants fall plants remaining. Our food preservation equipment has been cleaned and readied for next year. Now we prepare to rest and renew this fall and winter while we enjoy all the foods, old and new, that we tried this year.

The Fruits of Our Labor
Our group did the traditional basics but they also ventured out into a lot of powdered and dehydrated preservation this year. Tomato juice and tomato powder is being made into soups and chili. Beans are canned and dried, ready for Thanksgiving and everyday suppers. Herbs have been dehydrated or hung up to dry naturally. We are still in the process of drying some apples, canning applesauce, pressing into juice and freezing them for fried apples.

The Owsley County Farmers Market
Several of our project members joined The Owsley County Farmers Market two days a week for four months as produce vendors, providing fresh local foods in an area qualified as part of the food desert of Eastern Kentucky. They were particularly successful marketing beans, okra and tomatoes this year. The market has closed its regular season now (planning on a few fall/winter pop up) but a few of our participants planted fall – crops-mustard, onions, and carrots, just for the pop ups.

Our group has had a very successful year. They are still chatting in our online group, despite the growing season being over, with plans for crops and new methods and recipes for food preservation, online organization of all our guides, files, recipes, and resources for future use. We have started something good!