Inside the Block
We're shining a spotlight on the vibrant businesses and and unique history of the Warehouse Block in Lexington, Kentucky! Every first and third Sunday of the month we're serving up a fun blend of inspiring, behind-the-scenes stories of the Bluegrass region's most dynamic district!
Inside the Block
Lexington Farmers Market with Josh England!
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A farmers market can change a city. Josh England, who runs Lexington's 50-year-old member-owned market, walks us through how the city shifted from fearing "messy" agriculture to embracing a vibrant Saturday scene where coffee, flowers, and conversation sit beside corn, beans, and tomatoes. He walks us through the real variables shaping your shopping list, hyper-local weather, hoop houses extending the season, and the dance between price and supply. Plus, a fun looks at "veggie trends" like kale fatigue and cabbage's comeback, with practical moves to keep costs low and flavor high.
We also explore the market's strategic pivots: the move to the Warehouse Block created a welcoming weekday hub, while the Cold Brew Coffee Festival turned a late-August slump into thousands of visitors and protected farm income. As Lexington grows, Josh is eyeing winter options, expanded weekday vendors, and possible satellite markets, while partnerships with Seedleaf and FoodChain help new growers and kids connect with seasonal food.
Origins Of Lexington’s Market
SPEAKER_00Okay, cool. Hi. Welcome.
SPEAKER_01So uh you don't believe. One quick. So some places you I'm talking to you, sometimes I'm talking to cameras, which is what you're talking about. Oh you can just talk to me the whole time. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or just wherever. I mean, if you're talking about the yeah, feel free. Absolutely. Um, so welcome back to the Inside the Block podcast. I'm here with Josh England of like Mr. Lexington Farmers Market. It's like basically a one-man show, right?
SPEAKER_01So I'm the one full-time long-term employee. Uh yeah. So um, we are a member-owned cooperative, and this is actually our 50th year of being a member-owned cooperative. Um, most people 50? 5'0. 5'0. We've been a farmer's market in downtown Lexington, and for a little over 50 years, um, the first couple of years, um, there was lots of contention between the city saying, no, you can't have a farmer's market. And so um, it took our a former mayor of Lexington, Pam Miller, who the art um center downtown is named after, working before she was even mayor, um, and getting permission from the health department to allow the farmers market to set up downtown. So over 50 years.
Why The City Resisted Farmers Markets
SPEAKER_00Wow. So why would Lexington not have wanted a farmer's market? Like, why was there resistance?
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Back in those um in the 70s, um, there was a lot of um fear that agriculture was dirty, messy, and that the only way to have um good, safe food was to do it in a more factory-style way. So big mega farms, um, confined feedlots, things like that, where you could track every single metric. And so it was often seen that um Kentucky just needed to stick to tobacco and hemp and let other places worry about the vegetable growers.
SPEAKER_00Interesting. Wow, and so that came back full circle in Pam Miller's time period, like 90s.
SPEAKER_01So she no, she before she was even mayor, this was just as a concerned citizen, she wanted access to um homegrown tomatoes and um beans, and she couldn't get those at the grocery store, and so she worked with um some farmers in the area. There are very few in central Kentucky that were actually growing um vegetables for sale directly to consumers, um, and just said, let's let's make this work. Um, and so uh before she was mayor, before she had any political career, some people say that this might have been her introduction to getting um that political activism going.
Josh’s Path From Ag Student To Manager
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the politics side. That's really cool. So let's let's talk about you. Where did you grow up? Yeah, and how did you come to be the head guy of the Lexington farmers market?
SPEAKER_01A great question. So I was originally born in Pike County, all of my family is like eight generations Pike County, but my family, when I was very little, moved to Madison County, so Berea and Richmond. Uh, and I grew up in central Kentucky my whole life. Um like many people that end up going to UK, I moved to Lexington in 2006 to go pursue the bigger dreams of the huge city of Lexington, metropolitan. The metropolitan. We used to only come up here maybe for one basketball game in the preseason um and Christmas shopping. That was when we came to Lexington. And then I moved here, uh, studied international studies at UK. I wanted to go travel the world, be an ambassador. Um, quickly I learned that that was not exactly what an ambassador did. They didn't just get to travel on the government's time. And um then the financial crisis happened. I looked around and said, I needed a vocational, some sort of hard skill. And UK had just launched their sustainable ag program. Um, so I uh signed up to be in that one of those very first classes of the sustainable agriculture.
SPEAKER_00Like as an elective.
SPEAKER_01Um, so it's a minor. It was a minor. Oh, you got a minor aggression. I got a minor in sustainable agriculture. I worked on UK's organic farm for a summer, um, determined that I really I am not a farmer. I hate it. Um, and just to be blatant, I am not the kind of person that wakes up at 5 a.m. and gets excited to go out and pick 2,000 pounds of tomatoes.
SPEAKER_00This is shocking. I mean, you're the Lexington farmer's market guy.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and you're not a farmer. No, that's I love talking to people about farming and agriculture, and I like letting these um wonderful people behind me do that work. The pros. Yeah, they many of our farmers they would um have um a condition fit if they were told that they needed to talk on camera or talk on stage or design a flyer. So that's where I really shine.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01You're the front guy, yeah. So at my house, I have um one bucket that I grow cherry tomatoes in, one bucket I grow potatoes in, and then some herbs, and that's all.
SPEAKER_00That's it. That's all you're doing at your house. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I love cooking, and so that's what actually made me decide um agriculture over maybe being a teacher back when I was trying to decide do I become get a hard skill as a teacher, medical, whatever. And it's because I just love cooking. I've always loved cooking.
SPEAKER_00So that's what really drew you to the C Think overall.
SPEAKER_01Overall was I love food, I wanted the best ingredients, I wanted to have that tomato that um tasted really good. Uh this in middle school, so this is to go back a little even further. Um, we were really lucky uh at my middle school to have a classroom garden. Um, and so we planted a garden and we got to harvest things as part of our science class um and see that whole life cycle. Um, and I think that did also lend itself to like wanting to be involved, wanting to know, wanting to um see that really good product and then turn it into something delicious.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, that's great, like a community garden, essentially. Yeah, and everybody got to work on it together. Yeah, that's incredible. So tell me about how and in what ways the Lexington farmers market has changed since you have been at the helm.
From Early Birds To Experiential Shoppers
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um the Lexington farmers market has changed um a lot of different ways over its 50 years, but specifically, I've been here for 12 years now. Um, and I started out as a seasonal part-time employee, only working 40 hours a week, um, making sure that the farmer's marketing So only, yeah. Yep. Um now I um work just a little bit more than that, but um I have full-time salary, thank goodness. Um but um if we think about how Lexington has changed and uh over the last 12 years, that has had a direct impact on the farmer's market. And so um 12 years ago, what nightlife existed for people that was 25 to 55? Yeah that wasn't just a bar. People weren't going out to bars. Now we have breweries, we have social clubs, there are restaurants that are open past eight o'clock at night. Um, and so that's changed how people interact with our weekend farmers markets. Uh before, when I first started, there was a line of people waiting to buy a massive amount of produce at 6:30, 7 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Now people sleep in because they've stayed out later the night before. Um they come, they want a coffee, they want to eat something because they're not gonna go back home and cook. It's already 9 a.m. when they show up to the farmer's market. They want flowers, they want a whole different experience than just getting 10 um ears of corn, five pounds of beans, and going home. So that has been a huge shift.
SPEAKER_00We've also seen Because people are waking up later and they want it to start later.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And so people their their whole your whole habit, your whole habits are changing.
SPEAKER_00So when does the Lexington Farm Market start like downtown, for example?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so in the morning we start at 8 a.m. We used to start at 7 a.m. Yeah, okay. Um, and so we've seen that um, especially after um COVID, people want to sleep in a little bit longer. They're the the whole community has changed. And so our busy time used to be at 8 o'clock. Now our busy time is at 10:30 um for Saturdays. Sunday market is also really, really changed. Um, and so uh we used to see a really laid-back crowd there. Um, now it is our biggest market. Our Sunday market on Southland Drive is our most frenetic, most crowded, most vendors market. Um, and then of course we've changed all of our weekday market since I've worked at the farmers market because of um changes in Lexington. Um, the development of Reparena uh and all of the facilities that they're improving there has led us to be at this our newest, our new home on National Avenue.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So what's it how do you feel about being in the warehouse block? How is that different than all the other spots?
New Venues And Warehouse Block Move
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a lot of people don't know that we aren't a government organization. And so we're uh uh, as I said, a cooperative. And so um we get to work with a lot of different kinds of people, groups, and organizations to make sure that our farmer's market happened. And so it's been really wonderful working with the warehouse block in getting this space. Um, it's a beautiful, wonderful open space. We have awesome neighbors, so Blue Door, Void, um, Wild Lab, all of the these other businesses have been really welcoming and we love it here. Um, and we're excited for some of the development um that the um Walker Properties is doing to this specific lot um over the next couple of weeks that will really improve this whole um neighborhood, but especially for us as the farmer's market.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I know that um the walkers were really talking about whenever they had planned the next like iteration of what this lot will be, that the farmer's market was like a major component into making sure that you guys are really well taken care of.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, so we're very thankful for that. Yeah, um, and we're also thankful that parking will be better. Um, apparently, um there's some sort of spring underneath this gravel lot. Yeah, no, there is. Um, and so uh as we know, this sometimes I call it mirror twin lake. Um, because sometimes it just doesn't dry up. Just like a bubbling, babbling brook of uh just beerful, but it's not a great place for people to park necessarily. So we're very thankful for some of that development to come with.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. Do you think that the farmers market culture, like I keep thinking going back to what you had said about how um people are wanting to wake up later and how like the culture has shifted. Do you think brunch culture has something to do with that too? Because what when I think to myself, like, I'm gonna go to the farmer's market, I'm always like, I'm gonna go to brunch with my friends and I'm gonna hit that afterwards. And so, like, there's just this new generation of people that really want I don't know for it to be like an entire experience, an entire it's not just like I'm going to the store to shop. Absolutely, it's like I want this whole experience of going to the farmer's market.
Brunch Culture And Market Vibes
SPEAKER_01The difference between shopping for groceries and going to a festival. And so that's also been a change that we've seen over the last 50 years, but especially highlighting people are really wanting that experiential, uh, experiential um uh morning. They don't just want to go buy food, they want to go see people, they want to meet the farmer, they want to experience something, they want to hear stories, they want to know oh, um Red Buffalo Farm, they moved from Arizona here because they wanted to be able to farm in a specific way, or they want to talk to Scott, whose family has been farming on the same plot of land for um many generations in Madison County. So they want to hear those stories, know that they're impacting their community in a positive way, and not supporting just some um private equity group that owns a megalopolis of stores.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So a lot of the um your farmers, I've noticed, they often come from, yeah, I mean, it makes sense, like more rural areas. Do we have any like from Fayette County proper?
SPEAKER_01We do. Um, that's also something we've seen change through the years is that um we don't have as many farmers that are growing in the ground in Fayette County because land prices in Fayette County are so very high.
SPEAKER_00Right, and just like horse farms in general. Yeah.
Who Grows Where And Why It Matters
SPEAKER_01And so um we represent at our market um about um 35 different counties right now in central Kentucky. Um, and uh our farthest commuter is um down along the uh Kentucky border, um, and he grows on former strip mines. And so one day um he has about an hour and 45 minute drive to our market. Um, but he really thinks that coming and bringing his products from um eastern Kentucky is really important um for both his livelihood and to make sure that people here have that product. Yeah, what's the product? What's he growing? He's growing a wide range of uh vegetables, um uh orchard trees that he has. Uh, and he faces some different uh sort of issues than we do here right in central Kentucky. His very first day coming to market, he was late because of a bear in the road. A bear? A bear. Uh yep, there was a black bear in the road. And uh we just don't have to worry about that typical.
SPEAKER_00I was about to say, like, that's not an excuse that you hear very often around Lexington.
SPEAKER_01He didn't get to have as good of a peach harvest because the elk were eating the peaches. Yeah. So things like that.
SPEAKER_00Full-blown wildlife situation.
SPEAKER_01Full-blown wildlife, very different. Um, and then we have farmers that are uh in um central Kentucky that have been dealing with crazy flooding this year. Where yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, that's what Brandon and I were talking off camera right before we started about how like even right because they're we're we're experiencing a cold snap right now, and I didn't know if that had anything to do with like so what are the fluctuations in regards to like who comes and when and weather and usually in central Kentucky we can anticipate 34 inches of rain throughout the growing season. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um what we've noticed this year, and we've seen this in Lexington especially, is that half the town will get a cloud burst and the other half of the town will be completely dry. And so I think a couple of weeks ago, the north side of town um flooded and Broadway was under three or four inches of rain, and downtown was completely dry. Uh, when that happens on a farm, we see a cornfield get flooded, and then maybe the uh tomato patch doesn't get any rain on the same exact farm. And so that does create some inconsistency in product availability, and it makes it really hard for um then uh farmers that aren't growing on irrigation. So some of our farmers grow under what's called plasticulture and they irrigate. Uh, and then some of our vendors don't grow everything under plasticulture, so they're relying on the rain to make sure their corn grows. And if it's not raining, we don't get corn.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It's god, the whole it's the whole culture of it. I mean, it's just so up for grabs, right? I mean, it's a story as old as time. I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, if we think about the history of civilization, right? It was literally farmers' markets, people growing things and bringing it to the city. So um, yeah, it's the tale as old as time, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, god.
SPEAKER_01So what is your burning? I know you're interviewing me, but what's oh, I've been asking them. I've been peppering you my burning questions.
SPEAKER_00Okay, here's some burning questions. Um you let's go back to the fact that you like to shop and cook using produce. So, like, what are you cooking and shopping and like what are your weaknesses? Because right now, let me tell you, my weakness is a um tomato sandwich.
Weather Whiplash And Farm Resilience
SPEAKER_01So the best. I usually go for tomato sandwiches with really crispy bacon. So I am a thick-cut crispy bacon fan. Um, I know that's controversial. How do you do you ever? Oh, I'm I'm with you.
SPEAKER_00Okay. 1000 people.
SPEAKER_01Like the the flap flop, no, that's the floppy bacon is not for me. But this year I have been obsessed with watermelons. I have personally consumed between nine and eleven full watermelons by myself this summer.
SPEAKER_00Amazing. I thought you were gonna say per week, but the whole summer. Okay, great. So it's about a watermelon a week. Watermelon a week. Yeah, like and a big fat one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a big fat one. How do you cut a watermelon? Um, I uh will just attack it with a knife and um usually I I will sometimes just cut it in half and go at it with a spoon. Okay, like an entire half with a spoon. Half a watermelon with a spoon.
SPEAKER_00And how much of a half of a watermelon can you put down in one sitting? A whole half in one sitting. Okay, it's like you on the couch, Netflix, and a watermelon. Okay, okay. I'm getting I'm getting the visual now.
SPEAKER_01Um, but other things that I've been obsessed with cooking this year um are probably we've had some really interesting heirloom tomatillos, and so I mean they're so sticky, yeah. They are sticky, that's why you have to wash them. You typically have to wash them off. And so um, these have been uh we're used to the little bulb green tomatillos. These are more ox heart shaped, and they have been purple, and they've been making some really interesting salsa verde with hot peppers. Um but in general, this is also another surprise. I don't cook as much in the summer as people would think. I freeze a lot of things in the summer and then end up cooking all of the produce um in the fall. I love making big batches of chili and soups and things like that. With your farm fresh stuff, from farm frozen things, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I was at a doctor's appointment the other day, and the nurse was like, Oh, I just went and got me a whole bunch of you know, sweet corn and I'm gonna um freeze it and then I'm gonna use it for like my corn pudding at Thanksgiving. And I was like, this is genius. It was like a brand new concept to me. I was like, oh, there's all these things that we can do for these holidays that are like not too far around the corner.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let's let's not talk fully about that, but yes, I I love having um uh uh a local corn um pudding or even my uh we can get tomatoes sometimes that will last up to Thanksgiving, and making um something with fresh tomatoes that are still grown, groundgrown for Thanksgiving is sort of mind-blowing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so what is the growing season then? So you can do here in some because we're kind of blessed, right? Like, what is our our number is seven, right?
Cooking Joys, Freezing Habits, Summer Cravings
SPEAKER_01Isn't that um most of our farmers in yeah, we're seven. Um that's shifted also since I've been at the farmers market. We used to be six B um here in Lexington, and so that's shifted some. Um, but our farmers grow from about five um all the way to And can you explain what we're talking about? Yeah, so that's the USDA um freeze recommendation number, basically. It says um this is how long your growing season is going to be, this is how hot or cold it's gonna be, and this is if we are ensuring your crops, this is when you can plant the crops, basically. And so that helps I um inform when you can typically like hardiness. It's called the hardiness, the hardiness scale. That's right. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00I was like the word will come to me. I just know it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And so it's how resilient your area is to um frost.
SPEAKER_00Uh basically, it's say so we can still have tomatoes around here all the way till Thanksgiving. Yeah, really?
SPEAKER_01The way that that happened is um we can only grow in the ground for some of our summer crops about um six months to seven months. Um, but a lot of our farmers have started adding hoop houses, so they look like greenhouses, but they're really just the frame with plastic. Oh, I've seen this, yeah. And then they're growing in the ground, and that adds about another two to three um degrees of protection. Uh, and so that adds another month or so of growing. And then if you put another smaller layer inside with what's called um a fabric, uh, agriculture fabric, that gives you another one to two degrees. So that gives you another month, and so all of a sudden we're able to grow uh two months earlier and two months later, and so we can get about 10 to 10 and a half months of growing in the ground. Uh, and then some of our farmers also have greenhouses, so that is a facility where you're not growing in the ground. It's a hard packed bottom, usually concrete or cement. Um, and then that's a heated, and we can grow um lots of things in that. So we can have things like kale, um swish. Swish, my least favorite vegetable.
SPEAKER_00Same. But they always like go together when you talk about like those winter veggies. I'm like, who cares about switch?
SPEAKER_01Um it's the oh, it's on my no list. I try it once a year, yeah, just to see if my palette has changed, and then it's done. I pickled it, fried it with bacon, done all those things. There's not there's nothing to be done. Um, but we have potatoes, but then the farmer's market is not just vegetables and produce like we have here, but we have value-added products, so jams, jellies, kombuchas, beer, wine, um, cheeses, beer cheese, yeah. All of those things our farmers are working hard year-round to make sure that they have available. And then one of the newest additions that we've seen is is the trendiness of sprouts, shoots, and microgreens.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, microgreens. What's up with that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they are easy to grow, and so there were some nutrient dense, right? Uh, and you can grow them in your basement. So uh anyone can do that, uh, and it's easy to scale up. So that's why we've seen that that change uh as we've seen.
Extending Seasons With Hoops And Fabric
SPEAKER_00Well, let's talk trends. Like what were people buying when you first started? What's been because I mean, let's like the first thing that pops in my mind is kale. Kale used to be like a garnish on the side of your plate or wherever, and now it's like you know, the the Swiss Army knife of vegetables. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um the the weekday farmers markets for Lexington have been built on the backs of corn, beans, tomatoes. Corn, bean, tomatoes. That makes sense. That's the tri the holy trifecta of the holy trinity. Yeah, the holy trinity of what keeps the weekday markets going is corn, beans, and tomatoes. Um those, if we don't have those, which we're a little light on today, the the weekday markets don't survive. But the weekend markets have a different clientele. Each of our markets has a different sort of personality, I say. And yes, kale has been a rapid changer. It's on the decline. Is it? It's on the decline. Kale's like out. Yeah, kale is not out. It's just I think people have had their film there. Had their film. They don't you don't see the I kale farmer's market shirts anymore.
SPEAKER_00Uh it's well, it's one of those too that it's like, man, it's a lot of effort. You gotta sit around massaging it, talking to it, you know, being sweet to it, for it to even like and kale chips, like every everyone of the kale chips were all the rage.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but they're just dehydrated kale. So what the what's up with that?
SPEAKER_00Right. I feel like cauliflower really is like the better version of I mean, like granted, they're not like related, but so we saw a spike in cauli cauliflower. Talk about a Swiss army nine, they can do anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yes. And so did did cauliflower ask to be all of those things? Did it ask to be rised? Did it ask to be turned into pizza crust? Pizza donuts. Did it ask to be turned into mashed potatoes? I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00Um, and so have you ever overextending cauliflower. Yeah, we're buttons. We're asking too much.
SPEAKER_01So the brassicas have had their ups and downs. So that's all of the um cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage. And I I do think that cabbage, just plain cabbage, is probably the next thing to because it's so vertical. Versatile, so cheap. So good. It's a recession indicator or two. People go back to it. All of the old time recipes, cabbage rolls, stretch your thing, making yep.
SPEAKER_00So oh, that's fascinating.
Beyond Produce: Value-Added And Microgreens
SPEAKER_01Um yeah. So I think that as we see people struggling with food prices, people want that because it is cheap. It is cheap. Why is it cheap? Because it can grow in so many conditions. It can handle the heat, it can handle the cold. Okay. Um, it the way it grows is I'm gonna put this down. So it makes that head, you know. And so the inside leaves are actually protected from bugs. Where kale grows like this, and so each leaf has the potential to get eaten by bugs. So it's it's more protected.
SPEAKER_00So it's hardy in and of itself.
SPEAKER_01Very hardy in itself, too, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Cool. Okay, I want more fun facts.
SPEAKER_01Um, fun facts. Tal let's talk about pawpaws then.
SPEAKER_00Let's. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So what did you know? What did you know about pawpaws before L8?
SPEAKER_00Don't ask me before L8 because that's the only thing. What did you know about pawpaws? I knew I knew that pawpaws grow on trees.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00And I know they're kind of shaped like an oval.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And they're kind of hard on the outside and hard to get into. Is that wrong? That's not quite right. But Google disclosed them. I know that they're considered Kentucky's like tropical fruit because they're a mix between a banana and a they taste like they're a mix between a banana and a mango. Sort of, yeah. Okay. And that's they have fleshy insides.
SPEAKER_01Yes, that's absolutely right.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that's about it. That's where I went.
Trends: Kale’s Decline, Cabbage’s Rise
SPEAKER_01So that you got some of those things absolutely correct. And some totally wrong. Let's start. So um uh it's called Astamina Triloba. Um, and so that's the scientific name. Plus you're a uh thank you. Um uh it is a native fruit to the Americas. Um, it really grows along the Appalachian Mountain Ridgeline and about a hundred miles to either direction. Indigenous. Indigenous, yes. And so um scientists say that it survived the last major ice age. Um, and so it was able to thrive in a little bit cooler conditions than a lot of other tropical plants, and so it is considered a subtropical fruit, it's our largest native fruit tree here in Kentucky.
SPEAKER_00Is it Kentucky's tree? It is not, no.
SPEAKER_01Okay, it should be. Our tree is the tulip poplar.
SPEAKER_00Oh, come on, that sounds kind of lame.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, there's a whole fun history. You should definitely go to the um Kentucky History Museum and find out about the controversy behind the not official tulip poplar incident. Okay, and so for a long time the tulip poplar was the unofficial tree, and then some renegades came in and said it needs to be the Kentucky coffee bean tree, and they submitted legislation and they got it, and then all of the tulip poplarites freaked out, whole thing. It was stuff it like completely put the um General Assembly to a standstill for several weeks while they what if you and I started a new movement for the pawpaw tree? I think that there's probably some there could be some movement there. Yeah, so um, yeah, it's native here. We're in the core part of its range, so it goes up to um New York and down to northern Alabama, but it we are really in the heart of its growing range. Um, I used to live near Reparina, so if anyone's familiar with Reparina, I had a pawpaw tree that was over 70 years old in my yard there. So we are literally having them in our yards in Lexington. Yeah. And you might not even realize it, but you're right, they are um a mango-sized and mango-shaped fruit. They have uh an outside that starts off yellowish green and as it ripens, it turns to a brown. And so if you compare it to a banana, lots of people think that it's already too ripe by the time they pick it or get it. Um, it only has a growing season of about three weeks when it's ready. Wow. And that's one of the reasons why it's not commercially available. And each of the mangoes, they grow in a group of cluster of one, two, or three. They will um basically ripen at a different time. And so you can't say, oh, that tree's already ripe, we can go pick off all the fruit from that tree. You have to literally touch each fruit individually.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01And then the fruit only lasts on the shelf or in the refrigerator for a couple of days before it goes back.
SPEAKER_00So it's like even worse than an avocado. It's worse than an avocado. Which that I didn't think there could be anything worse.
SPEAKER_01But it's it's it has it's from the very similar growing range uh um originally of that avocado. So it has it's very temperamental.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sounds like it. So are are they sold at the farmers markets?
SPEAKER_01They this is the weekend that they are starting. Oh, okay. Yeah, so and we will have them for probably two to three, maybe four weeks. Okay, um, just because we have a range of where our farmers are from. But yeah, right now is the time to go.
SPEAKER_00And we're we're filming this in late August. So late August, very, very early September is really pawpaw season.
SPEAKER_01So we usually say there's a six-week window that it could be in from middle of all um the the second week of August through the third week of September. That's the peak season where you try to know when it's gonna be in.
SPEAKER_00And how do you know there that it's going to show up on a certain weekend within that? You have like a pawpaw group chat or what? Basically, yeah.
Pawpaw 101: A Native Treasure
SPEAKER_01Um, our farmers are sending me photos of the trees saying, look, this one is almost ready. Start telling people to get ready for pawpaws. There's not gonna be much time. Love it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love so what do you do with a pawpaw then? Um you have a good one, how are you cooking it or making it?
SPEAKER_01So I um I like them, I don't love them. Okay, and so I'll eat one or two in hands. So I'll scrape out the center um with a spoon, um, eat the flesh off around the big seeds, and then that's it. Um purist. A purist. Some people like making it into uh pancakes or other breads or um making it into a soda or ice cream. I liked that soda. Did you have it? I've had it. I do like it. Yeah, I don't think it tastes 100% like a pawpaw picked off a tree. I think you get the essence of it, which is really, really hard to do when you're doing tropical things, because you can get that flavor that's either too citrusy or too fake. It tastes just enough like a pawpaw that I'm really impressed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I think they did a really good job too, for sure. So baked goods then. Is anybody making ice cream out of it? Like we need to get sal in on this.
SPEAKER_01Um, salve is uh has made it before, I believe. He has um uh and then there's uh crankenboom has made it uh pawpaw ice cream before. Um, and the Kentucky State University, that's where they put all almost all of their pawpaw produce in production into because it can keep, unlike the pawpaw itself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, interesting. Yeah, yeah, to preserve it for sure. So speaking of preservation, are you canning things too? Are you doing your own jellies and stuff?
SPEAKER_01I have in the past, yeah. Um, but now I just have my deep freeze. And so canning is a process that I let people who have the time, the space, the energy, and the know-how to do. I'll buy lots of delicious jams and jellies and chutneys and all of those um canned items from other people, but I just slice, freeze, and use. Yeah. Um, I'm too simple of I make some pickles. I love spicy pickled okra. Yes, yes. But that's a fridge pickle, so I just pour hot vinegar over it and put it in the fridge, and that's all that I have to do. It doesn't last months, but it will I I finish a jar in a couple days anyway.
SPEAKER_00Oh, same, same. I don't know what it is. Like I'll have to spend like an entire workday out, and then when I get home, the only thing I'm craving is like something like sour from the fridge. I don't know if it's like the salt or what, but yeah, wildly important. So, what does your average Lexentonian do in those dark, deep winter months where the market's not like out and about?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, the weekday markets are very seasonal. Yeah. And so we will be wrapping up the Tuesday, Thursday market um near Thanksgiving. And so, what do we do after Thanksgiving? Yeah, what do we do? Uh, we are actually open year-round on Saturdays, and we're gonna be open hopefully through the win most of the winter on Wednesdays as well. Um, but the biggest thing is you can go ahead and, like we said, save up some things that you already have now, come to the farmer's market, buy two dozen ears of corn, eat a couple ears, and then freeze the rest. Absolutely. Buy some peppers. Peppers at the grocery store in the winter, so very expensive. Yeah. Um, and and there's no reason for that when you can come here, buy uh 10 pounds of peppers, and save literally hundreds of dollars by slicing them and freezing them yourselves rather than buying the um mix, the frozen slice mix at the store.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I want more tips and tricks like this. Um uh I yeah, let's let's talk about tips and tricks. Um, freezing, always a good thing. Dehydrating. If you don't have a dehydrator, that's okay. Lots of air fryers and lots of um toaster, mini toaster oven things, um, have a dehydrator mode on there, and you can dry out silent and dried tomatoes, slice them in half, put them on there, um, and then you can have a little snacky treat. Um, I love that with zucchini too. Zucchini um chips, um, you can't buy them anywhere. But what I do is I will slice zucchini uh in a about um a quarter inch slice, cover it with ranch powder. Ah, now we're talking. Uh, and then put it on the dehydrator, and then it dehydrates, and that ranch is sort of like soaked into the zucchini, and you have a ranch chips. Ranch chips, yeah, with two or three calories. Yeah. So that's a really good thing.
SPEAKER_00That is a really good thing. So our air fryers are essentially dehydrators. How did I not know that?
Preserving The Harvest At Home
SPEAKER_01So then you can, if you do the lowest settings on some of them, they have that built in as some of the features. They're not all, they don't all have that ovens. If you set it at 120 degrees, you can usually dehydrate things on trays in your oven at the lowest setting, too. Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00Okay, go back and tell me more about the um cold brew festival. How did that come about? Why? It just seems like a very niche thing. I mean, like I'm I'm on board, but why cold brew coffee and why a festival and when did it happen? And what's the what are the details?
Cold Brew Festival: Strategy And Scale
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Um when August comes around every year, as you see, um, we only have about three or four or a couple of farmers out here in the middle of the week. The production starts to go down because it's very weather dependent. But more important than that, people go back to school, fall activities happen, and we start to see a huge decrease in customers, usually about 30 to 40 percent the last two weekends of August. And then as we get into September, we have all of those fun festivals and orchards and things, and sports, sports, yeah, and so we would notice that we would see this huge decline. We still had farmers working really hard to grow stuff in the harder conditions of the summer because Kentucky summer really does go through the middle of September here. Um, and uh I was disappointed. I wanted customers to be buying delicious tomatoes, delicious peppers, things like that. Um, and so I got talking to some of our vendors that um make products that aren't growing necessarily. I said, What kind of festival can we put on to help attract new people? Uh and so what is one thing that people need as they go back to school, they're dealing with sports, they're um starting back in UK, they need more caffeine. Yes, and so at the time our uh coffee vendor from uh Lacey said, Let's throw a cold brew festival. Uh and I said, I don't know what that means, but let's do it. And so we set a date for four weeks in the future and said, We're gonna throw a festival. Let's see if we can get five coffee vendors to come and sling cold brew. Um, that first year uh we had five coffee vendors from Central Kentucky come. Um people could buy beer flights, basically, is what we called them that year, and sample from all the different vendors and vote on what their favorite one was. Um, we had maybe a couple hundred people that came to the festival, uh, and it was a big success because we didn't see that 30% drop in customer attendance.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, smart.
SPEAKER_01The next year um we had, I believe, 14 coffee vendors and 2,000 attendees. So that was a huge jump. Um we had lots of growers.
SPEAKER_00Word traveled fast, word did travel fast.
SPEAKER_01It was a little terrifying. I'm sure. And we were a little underprepared because a small farmers market festival is one thing, a city um wide festival is a completely different thing, and so we had to go back to the drawing boards, figure out new things, and then finally this year um we had um 11 vendors signed up and a couple thousand people um come to this festival that help support the farmers market, help support our artists' market, uh, and just make sure that people have that caffeine to keep them going. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So, is that like your big event of the year, would you say?
SPEAKER_01It is our big event, yeah. So that weekend used to have um many years ago, we had a group called the Friends of the Lexington Farmers Market, and they used to throw a um uh farm to table dinner that day, basically. And that's a lot of extra work. You get to coordinate chefs, sell tickets, all those sorts of things. Um, and we just didn't have the energy to do that. When I started the Coldbrew Coffee Festival, I was the only full-time employee of the market. Now I have a co-worker that is um grant funded, so but there's two of us that help manage all of this along with seasonal staff. But um, throwing a festival that that's that's bringing in thousands of people by yourself while also doing your day job at the exact same time was a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00I'm really shocked that the Lexington farmers market, it's like there's one full-time employee. Like you would think it's like a huge team of people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a lot of people assume that. Yeah, a lot of people assume that, yeah. Um, and so no, um, we want to keep the the farmers are all members, and so they're paying dues. Their dues are what pay for me, pay for our spaces, pay for electric cords and marketing and advertising and square fees and all of those sorts of things. And so we want to keep their price as low as we can while still providing the services. And so if you want to have two people, their fees have to figure out a way to cover that, and we don't want to put that weight on them if we don't have to. Absolutely. Um, and so yeah, we're more expensive than many other farmers markets in the state. Uh, it's a little bit more complicated, but that comes with the age and the demand. So last year we had 74 cottage bakers apply to be in our farmers market, and we have about three spots available.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
Running A Market With A Tiny Team
SPEAKER_01Um, so we are we have to be selective. We can't let everyone in um like some other farmers markets might be able to. So that is something that we um have gained a reputation for, which is either good or bad, is that we are strict and selective, and that can have its pros and its cons.
SPEAKER_00Totally. Well, as you know, a consumer, I like that you're strict. Yeah, that's great. So, what about future plans? Any like what's on the horizon?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we always are looking at future things, and so we're really excited about this space. So there's gonna be more green space, more parking. Um, we've started to plan on adding more weekday vendors for next year to make sure that we are able to meet the demands of our customers. Um, we are um updating our winter market, so we're gonna be back inside again this winter. We'll announce that move date um from the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion in Tandy Park soon. Um, but once again, plan on us to be inside, available all winter long. Great. Um, our Wednesday market is expanding to be more um uh winter based as well. Uh, and then we're always looking at new ways we can um meet the community where they are. So uh we are uh we partner with Seed Leaf to do a beginning farmer um program. I love Seed Leaf. So they are always training their farmers to grow things, their gardeners to grow things, but if they don't have a place to sell, then that is not as good. So we have a program and partnership with them where they can bring their products to the market and sell them and get that experience, um, even if they can't afford or don't have the capacity to be a full-time farmer or grower. Um, and so we continue to look at ways to make that uh.
SPEAKER_00What a great program, yeah.
Growing Next: Winter Plans And Satellites
SPEAKER_01Um, and then we um are looking for uh what does it mean in the next 10 years? Where are we gonna have more locations? So some cities have lots of uh one big farmers market and lots of neighborhood farmers markets. So what does that look like for us? Are we helping support farmers markets in smaller communities? Are we setting up satellite markets throughout town? Are we gonna eventually have two Saturday markets? Then you get to choose between which one you want to get. What's the answer? What do you think? Um I I don't know if we'll ever have two full big Saturday markets, but I think that there's an opportunity to have some satellite markets as because people are growing more vegetables, they're growing and making more products, and the demand um in Lexington is continuing to grow. Uh, the city 10 years ago was 300,000 people. Now it's almost, I think, 330 or 340,000 people. And in 10 years, it's probably going to be 400,000 people. So that's a huge base of people customers that we want to make sure are getting all the things that they want.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And um, that's just on the growing side. Then we're always looking at how do we make sure that consumers are educated about growing seasons. If they come in uh August and want strawberries, why don't we have strawberries in August in Kentucky? Why can't Why don't we? Um because um strawberries are typically an early summer crop here um just because of pest pressure and growing, and um a lot of our farmers are um focusing on other products. So we might have another couple of um strawberry plant vendors that show up later in the season, but we're also facing um an unprecedented uh virus and fungus that is attacking strawberry plants, and so we're not having we're not gonna have as many strawberries grown in Kentucky next year unless we can find a solution for that.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow, I didn't know about that at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and so they're always looking at new pest pressures. Um, so the most famous pest pressure right now is probably the lantern fly. Lots of people know about that. But they're I've heard of this, yeah. And so you want to squish them, but there's all kinds of pests that are always moving and changing, so you're always thinking about what that's gonna look like in the future.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yet another complication.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But mostly um it is how can we make sure that we are providing uh outlet for farmers to be able to make a living wage and for the citizens of Lexing to be able to buy that product at an affordable price and feed their families.
SPEAKER_00Have you ever thought about going more into like um there being some curriculum for Fayette County public schools?
Education, Schools, And Access Hurdles
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we've um worked with uh the Fayette County Farm to School program before. Cool. Um, it's hard because um Fayette County is so large. Huge. Um, and uh unlike some counties, their food service, for example, um, is not centralized. So if you go to Louisville, they have a central commissary kitchen where you can have one drop-off for food that may be a local apple, um, and they can distribute it to any of the schools that they're um providing food for. In Lexington, if a farmer wants to provide apples for a school, they have to go to each individual school and talk to a person and uh um schedule a drop-off time. And so that makes it a lot harder to get um local fruit produce into schools, and then it's harder to talk about local produce being available if you can't provide that to the students. And so if you're just talking about we can grow tomatoes in Kentucky and the students never get to taste those tomatoes, that's not very good either.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, what a yeah, it's I used to be a teacher and it is really there's a lot of red tape around the food. It's not even it's not even a Fayette County thing, it's like a completely separate entity that handles the food, and it's it's not it's not great. I mean, I'll I I know you're not saying I'm saying that. You're not saying, but it's like it could be so much better, and there could be such a better connection between what you do and what's currently happening.
SPEAKER_01And and so that's uh again why we partner with Seed Leaf and then Food Chain, if you're familiar with it. Yeah, I love Food Chain. Um, and so they help provide our summer education curriculum called POPS or Power of Produce Kids Club at our summer farmers' markets. And we would love to be able to expand. That's another program we'd love to expand um with funding um more year-round. Yeah um and uh it helps kids uh learn about products at that are seasonal and available and how farms work, uh, and they get money to then go spend at the farmers market anyway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then do like simple recipes, like kid-friendly stuff. Yeah, that's great. That's awesome. Well, it sounds like you're doing like so many incredible things. I mean, like, do you ever sleep? Do you ever rest?
SPEAKER_01Um, this is only one of my jobs. So, yes, uh, I try to do many things, but um I love it. I've always been passionate about it. I always want to make sure that our farmers are getting highlighted. They do the hard work, yeah. They are waking up, like I said, early in the morning. They're the ones that are when it is negative seven degrees outside, figuring out how to keep their chickens and lambs warm and alive. Yeah, um, and I just have to show up and um make a social media post.
SPEAKER_00So I think you do a little bit more than that, but yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we're always happy.
SPEAKER_00Cool. Well, Josh, thank you so much for being on the show. Anything else you want to say?
SPEAKER_01Um if you can't make it to Lexington and you're seeing this, um, really do support whatever farmer's market is closest to you because we're all doing really hard work. Um, we want to all succeed. Um, and uh just try your best to support that local um farmer because if you're having trouble waking up when it's raining outside, just remember that farmer also is having to do that totally and then they have to stay outside all day. So come spend five dollars at the farmer's market, it does make a difference.
SPEAKER_00Totally. Way to really put it in perspective for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you, and everyone come down to the warehouse block.
SPEAKER_00Warehouse block, yeah. Tuesdays, Thursdays, yes, and Saturdays at Fifth Third Pavilion.
SPEAKER_01And Sundays on Southland Drive.
Supporting Farmers Year-Round
SPEAKER_00Sundays on Southland Drive. I always forget about that one, but I'm glad to know that it's so hoppin'. I mean, that's your most popular one, right? Most popular. Thank you. Very cool. It's good parking, too. So cool.