| The Jenkins family works together
to raise a diverse plethora of commodities on two Kentucky farms.
Led by Lawrence "LB" and Judie Jenkins, the extended family works
in a unique partnership to raise organic vegetables on a former
tobacco farm. Complementing the operation is an aquaculture enterprise
- featuring hybrid striped bass and catfish - and sugar cane. On
their second farm, they raise beef cattle, vegetables, pasture-based
chickens and eggs. From this bounty, they process their own value-added
products in a certified kitchen trailer and sell at the county farmers
markets as well as through a statewide organic producers association
that LB helped found.
To showcase some of their antiques, they developed
an African American "living history" farm that displays, among other
things, a horse-drawn sugar cane mill that makes sorghum molasses.
At their farm, which draws an equal number of farmers and tourists,
and at festivals and meetings, the family promotes small-scale sustainable
farming. LB is a regular presenter at Kentucky State University's
Small Farm Field Days, which are partly funded through a SARE professional
development grant.
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