Kentucky Food (home, buy, live in) - (KY) - City-Data Forum

wlc74 · 02-16-2016, 04:33 PM

I'm wondering what famous foods are found in abundance around Kentucky? Here in Florida, it's pretty easy to get fresh citrus, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, honey and seafood. The rest is mostly imported. There are local fields that produce peas, squash, eggplants, greens, onions and cantaloupe but not in major commercial amounts. It's also easy to find boiled peanuts at small produce stands by the road or at the flea market. Do Kentucky folks eat those?

Crazee Cat Lady · 02-16-2016, 05:16 PM

Yes, we eat all of those also....I like the Farmer Markets here, and what you get varies by season, but it's all good.
Some years we have a small garden and grow some of our own - nothing better than fresh home grown fruit and veggies, or ones from the Farmers Market.

wlc74 · 02-16-2016, 07:08 PM

I agree, fresh is best. What are some of the staple crops or commercially grown crops that mostly come from Kentucky? One nice surprise I learned is apple trees grow in Kentucky! We can't grow them here. I've never seen an apple tree! I'm excited about that one!

Crazee Cat Lady · 02-16-2016, 08:43 PM

Really just about every thing grows in Kentucky (except maybe tropical citrus fruits like you probably have in Florida)
You can buy almost all locally grown veggies and fruits...they probably just aren't in season as long as they are in Florida.
I didn't know they didn't have apples trees in Florida...you learn something new everyday I guess.

//www.city-data.com/forum/garde...t-grow-ky.html

Here is a list of harvest/growing times in Kentucky for various fruits and veggies...we also have nut trees.

Kentucky Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

kygman · 02-16-2016, 08:44 PM

You can grow apple, peach, nectarine, cherry and I'm not sure what other type of fruit tree. I worked with a man we called the "Ewel Gibbons" of the area. (Remember "Reminds me of the taste of wild hickory nuts"). Even though I don't like it, I know where to find asparagus growing on the side of the roads. Plenty of pecan and walnut trees. We have a black walnut tree in our back yard and I am so thankful it didn't produce this year.

marino760 · 02-17-2016, 05:44 AM

One of the things I'm looking forward to is growing a real veggie garden when I move out there as well as being able to purchase locally grown fruits.
I live in the desert area of So Cal and it's really hard to grow anything here. It's too hot in the summer even for tomatoes to do well come July/August/Sept with daily temps about 100-110 being fairly normal and the soils here are nothing more than pulverized rock. A tiny little bag of black walnuts or pecans will set you back about $10 and store bought fruits and vegetables taste like card board.
A couple of years ago, I planted some heirloom tomatoes and babied them all summer. I planted them in large containers and had them on casters to I could move them in and out of the shade depending how hot it was during parts of the day. I became a slave to them, rushing home from work to move them and water them daily before they began to wilt lol. I vowed never again.

CraigCreek · 02-17-2016, 07:11 AM

There are many farmers' markets in Kentucky, plus roadside stands and produce outlet stores other than groceries and supermarkets, and farm fresh produce is one of the summer delights of our Commonwealth. In addition, many larger farmers' markets offer flowers and ornamental plants and a few plant-oriented crafts, Kentucky raised meat, cider, baked breads and pies, honey, beeswax items, even geodes and Kentucky agates! There are also local orchards which offer various kinds of fruits and vegetables, along with related items and family activities.

Additional fruits grown in Kentucky include berries of almost all kinds, melons of all kinds, pawpaws, which are native to Kentucky, pears, and persimmons, also native. Cider can be found at orchards and farmers' markets in the fall, and is delicious. Corn was a pioneer staple, and continues to be popular in many forms: on the cob, corn bread, corn pudding, and more. Vegetables of all kinds can be grown in Kentucky, starting in spring with Bibb and other lettuces and other green crops. Cantaloupe is a summer treat, with Casey County cantaloupes being the best. Fresh Kentucky tomatoes are delicious.

Apples of various kinds do well in Kentucky, and are readily available at farmers' markets, starting in June with early varieties which usually are great for homemade applesauce, and peaking in the fall. Pumpkins, squash, and non-edible but very decorative gourds are found in fall farmers' markets, along with bittersweet and chrysanthemums.

Kentucky wildflowers will be starting to bloom next month, but you won't find them in the farmers' markets! However, they're welcome harbingers of spring (some literally!), and once they begin to appear, we know that winter is over and the warm days are returning.

Welcome to Kentucky.

marino760 · 02-17-2016, 01:43 PM

Speaking of Kentucky food in general, I recently found a recipe for Kentucky butter/bourbon cake. I didn't have any bourbon so substituted rum. OMG, what it delicious! Shamefully within a few days, I ate the entire cake by myself.

wlc74 · 02-17-2016, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazee Cat Lady

Really just about every thing grows in Kentucky (except maybe tropical citrus fruits like you probably have in Florida)
You can buy almost all locally grown veggies and fruits...they probably just aren't in season as long as they are in Florida.
I didn't know they didn't have apples trees in Florida...you learn something new everyday I guess.

//www.city-data.com/forum/garde...t-grow-ky.html

Here is a list of harvest/growing times in Kentucky for various fruits and veggies...we also have nut trees.

Kentucky Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

Thanks Cat! Yes, it's too hot here for some of the fruit trees like apple, pear and peach. The peach trees will grow here but just won't produce well. The edible peaches that do make it are small and not as sweet and juicy as they could be. My grandmother always had a peach tree here in Florida but the fruit was never that great. Growing up, we would always eat em anyway. The citrus, like oranges, tangerines and grapefruit will sure grow easy though! Farmers even get fancy and graft varieties together to produce new species like tangelos, honey bells and red or blood oranges.

wlc74 · 02-17-2016, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kygman

You can grow apple, peach, nectarine, cherry and I'm not sure what other type of fruit tree. I worked with a man we called the "Ewel Gibbons" of the area. (Remember "Reminds me of the taste of wild hickory nuts"). Even though I don't like it, I know where to find asparagus growing on the side of the roads. Plenty of pecan and walnut trees. We have a black walnut tree in our back yard and I am so thankful it didn't produce this year.

I didn't know cherry trees would grow in Kentucky!! I'm excited about that! There are pecan trees in Florida but mostly up near Georgia. I think this is the only nut bearing tree in Florida...I could be wrong about that. I don't think the pecans are commercially produced here. The small bags of them that find their way down the state near me (during the season) are crazy expensive so I don't usually buy them. I have a cousin that lives about 15 miles from the Georgia border and she has pecan trees on her property. They harvest them so we get lucky sometimes when she comes to visit but it's not often because she's about 3 hours away.

Why are you glad the black walnut tree didn't produce? I don't think I've ever seen a black walnut tree before. Are they messy?