Welcome to Homegrown Bites by Jake's Run!

Tasty food, lamb meat, jams and jellies, fresh produce, and crochet accessories.

Tag Archives: farmlife


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The Ups and Downs…

Being a farm owner / food truck / farmers’ market vendor comes with its shares of ups and downs. There are the highs of seeing your favorite people at each market, knowing you’re going to give them your very best. We share our life experiences, offer compliments, congratulations, or words of comfort. We listen to their updates, their exciting stories, their accomplishments, their funny experiences, their memories and the general day-to-day of lives shared. It is, by far, the best part of being a vendor. Trust me, most vendors are not out there rolling in the dough and living high off the hog on their revenues. What we do takes a lot of hard work, wearing many hats (grower, chef, jam maker, maid, chauffeur, bookkeeper, marketer, shopper, organizer, banker, landscaper, farm hand, shepherd – well, you get the picture), and an extreme level of dedication. There is never enough time or money when you’re a vendor, but I guess that’s everyone’s story these days, isn’t it?

On the farm itself, we celebrate new lives of lambs entering the world. We shed a tear when we lose one. We enjoy our fresh eggs and tomatoes fresh from the vines. The blackberries and blueberries are juicy. The herbs are fresh. The apple and plum trees are maturing. The trees and grass are beautiful. Moonlit evenings with fireflies covering the trees and fields in glittering light. We embrace the quiet and solitude that is living in the country. Don’t mind the mess and the weeds – we’re busy here.

Not all days are great. For example, just this morning, I was reminded of the beginning of my market morning exactly one year ago:

Yep, that’s gravy. In my trunk. a FULL container of gravy. The only gravy we had for that day, with no time to make more. The pot shifted as I drove. Luckily, I have a trunk liner, but it was still a huge mess to clean up. That gravy ended up destroying the closing mechanism to my trunk and cost $428 to repair. My car smelled SO BAD! **HELPFUL SUGGESTION** A bag of charcoal with the front cut open and laid flat will absorb odors and worked wonders on this situation – highly recommend.

I can look back on this and laugh – now. That morning however, was a different story. I had to tell our customers we didn’t have any gravy. I felt so bad that day.

But, the day still happened. We still fed people and enjoyed our time with them. After it was all over, we packed up, ate lunch, hit the car wash to absolutely BLAST the liner and clean out as much of the mess as possible, then we went home to rest and start the process all over again.

Overall, this season has been really good. Last year’s helpers moved on, so we had to find new ones. Then one we hired had to step away. We had a friend step up to help and hired two really great people. It’s been a lot of learning, teaching, and improving by everyone. With the increase in business (THANK YOU!!), we’re learning new ways to streamline our processes to create a smoother and more enjoyable process for customers.

We appreciate your support and your patience. We look forward to seeing you each week. If you keep showing up, we’ll keep cooking for you! Until next week…..

This blog is written by a real person – not AI. 🙂


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August!

I didn’t forget the blog this time, but August blew by in a flash!

Each year, the farmer’s market slows down once school starts. I get it. By the time you’ve done the school morning, sports practices, laundry, etc. that is required when school is in session, when Saturday rolls around, you might not feel much like getting up early to get to the market. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. There is nothing quite like it. While you’re in the midst of it, it can be challenging.

Market attendance did drop after school started, but it’s still a very good crowd count. I love that customers are still visiting. This means we’re doing something right. I hope the market continues to grow so we can serve more of our community through different programs. The Saturday market will always be the biggest market of the week.

Even though we mainly sell at the Saturday market, the prep takes all week. Reconcile the cash box, write the reports, shop for supplies, cut the veggies, bake the biscuits, make the gravy. I admit I DO NOT cook – Wes does all of the cooking, which is what HE’S really great at! I’m a really great recipe tester and I’m an okay prep chef. I’m the business person. I will balance the checkbook, crunch the numbers, order the supplies, etc. I make the jams and jellies, but I don’t consider that cooking.

Speaking of jams and jellies, we were getting really low on our inventory. Totally my fault. July and August were hot. Miserably hot. I’m not a hot weather person. Give me a good snow and I’ll be the happiest camper on the planet. When it’s hot, the last thing on my mind is making jams or jellies. I kept telling myself, “Just two more weeks and the temps are supposed to break.” It was my mantra. “Only one more week.” “I just gotta make it to Tuesday.” Some market days, I felt like I was going to melt. I resorted to Liquid IV intake to try to stay hydrated (spoiler alert: It didn’t work). If you visited us during the hot days, you probably saw me drenched in sweat, red faced, personal fan around my neck, with an ice water-drenched towel draped over my shoulders and back, drinking as much water as was physically possible. I was very uncomfortable. But we made it through and the heat FINALLY broke. :::::insert Happy Dance here::::::: I made some more jam and jelly.

Thanks to the better weather and our awesome customers, we’ve had really great days at the market. We’ve seen in increase in customers and have a number of customers who return each week to enjoy our food. It’s very cool and makes us smile. We’re proud to share the made-from-scratch food that we love to eat. We recently introduced breakfast wraps and pancake bites. They’ve been very well-received.

It’s such a warm feeling to see familiar faces – to get weekly updates on each person’s life – to watch the kids grow – to say “hello” to the puppers we know and love.

We’ve been doing this for 12 years now. We’ve seen babies grow, friends who tell us about their visits to other countries, vacations, grandchildren, and adventures. Some people tell us about their challenges or their victories. A few have shed their mortal coils and we’ve attended their funerals. That part never gets easier and it’s heartbreaking. But we love them all. If we didn’t love our customers, we wouldn’t do this. The customers (and sometimes their pets, too) make this adventure worthwhile. It’s not just about making money (although that helps). It’s about the relationships.

It’s a small (but growing!) farmers’ market in Western Kentucky. It’s 4 hours on Saturdays. But it’s also a time to get outside to enjoy the weather (even if we all might melt or if it’s raining) and spend time TOGETHER. Even if it’s not OUR market, find a farmers’ market and stop by, buy some healthy veggies and fruit, get some fresh meat. If you’re hungry, get some food to eat and find a picnic table. Keep an open mind about everyone, because we’re all there seeking a connection. Offer up a smile and a “good morning!” You never know how interesting people can be until you make the time to get to know them.

For the month of September, Wes has to work every Saturday and one of our helpers will be out for school activities. We will be a 2 or 3-person crew. Please be patient – we’ll be doing the best we can. Because of this, we will be offering a breakfast-only menu for September. But it will be a REALLY good breakfast, so stop by!

Hopefully I’ll have time to sit down with my laptop and tell you guys about our adventures. Until next time… S.