Ken Folks Farm

Ken Folks Farm Ken Folks Farm is a small family farm operated by Ken and Vernice Black. We use resources on the farm to produce maple syrup, jams, jellies and breads.

Everything is very small batch, hand-produced and labor intensive. But the results are delicious!

The forecast for this Saturday's peony festival is not looking good right now.  Of course, we all know the forecast can ...
05/13/2026

The forecast for this Saturday's peony festival is not looking good right now. Of course, we all know the forecast can change overnight, so we are keeping an eye on it. If rain and storms are still in the forecast by Friday evening we'll have to sit this one out. We put too much work into our products and packaging to risk having them get wet. We'll make a final decision on Friday evening and will post our decision here. Hopefully the forecasts are wrong and we'll have a beautiful day for the festival.

Mark your calendars!  We will be a vendor at Warsaw's annual peony festival this Saturday.  The festival takes place on ...
05/11/2026

Mark your calendars! We will be a vendor at Warsaw's annual peony festival this Saturday. The festival takes place on the courthouse square from 10-4 with lots of vendors, live music, food, free horse and carriage rides, riverboat rides for only $5, and more. We'll have our full line of "farmer's market" products including our local maple syrup, jams and jellies, and baked goods. New this year we'll have our shagbark hickory syrup and wild ramp seasoning salt. We may also have another surprise or two. We'll post again later this week with more details. We hope to see you there.

There hasn't been a lot to post about this week.  We spent lots of time mowing and bush hogging and even more time doing...
05/08/2026

There hasn't been a lot to post about this week. We spent lots of time mowing and bush hogging and even more time doing volunteer work. But today was a special day. We were invited to our local elementary school to talk to the four kindergarten classes about making maple syrup. The kids have been studying trees and they have learned a lot. A couple of them already knew the basics of how to make syrup and we offered them jobs on the spot. Of course, they are only 6 years old, so we'll have to wait a while before they can start! We always enjoy the questions these little folks ask. You can count on "How old are you?". This year one wanted to know my favorite color (blue) and my second favorite color (green). I think she was disappointed that I didn't say purple. But we also got some very good questions about what we do. Thanks to the teachers and staff for inviting us back to be part of Community Day. You are doing a great job with these kids.

We have some cold nights coming this weekend and I've had folks asking if that means the sap will flow and we can make m...
04/30/2026

We have some cold nights coming this weekend and I've had folks asking if that means the sap will flow and we can make more syrup. Unfortunately the answer is no. The taps have all been pulled from the trees at this point. Once the trees start to bud out and form leaves, the sugar stored in the tree is used to fuel that new growth. If you collect sap after that process begins, the sap has an off taste, referred to as "buddy" sap, and the syrup it makes is not good. It also robs the tree of needed nutrients. (Sap collection during the winter doesn't harm the tree in any way. There are farms in New England that have tapped the same trees for decades.). So, we'll have to wait until next winter to make more. You'll be able to get this year's syrup at the Old Pioneer Farmer's Market starting May 29. We'll post more about that as it gets closer.

In the meantime, we are spending lots of time mowing, taking care of equipment, getting ready for a small garden, and exploring/foraging in the woods. We are making another batch of ramp seasoning salt to bring to the market. Vernice found a nice flush of chicken of the woods mushrooms. We are watching the paw paw trees we found last fall. They had a few blooms, so we are hoping they produce fruit and this weekend's cold weather doesn't hurt them. Here are a few pictures from the woods.

Here's the final update before our early bird sale tomorrow.  We have a great looking assortment of maple syrup, jams an...
04/18/2026

Here's the final update before our early bird sale tomorrow. We have a great looking assortment of maple syrup, jams and jellies, and shagbark hickory syrup. We have a few jars of ramp seasoning salt. The girls have been busy and we have a few dozen eggs. We have a dozen or so raspberry plants. And Vernice is planning to bake blueberry bread and pineapple zucchini bread. As always, everything we offer is handmade here on the farm and supplies are very limited. So if there is something you have your heart set on, either come early or ask us to hold it for you.

Again, the sale is at 800 Sayersville Road. That's a Warsaw address. We are between Warsaw and Glencoe, about five minutes from I-71 exit 62. We will accept cash or Venmo. Sorry, but we aren't set up to accept credit cards.

If you have any questions just ask. We hope to see you tomorrow even if you don't want to buy anything. It's supposed to be a rainy day, so come on out and sit a spell!

Here are a couple more quick updates about the sale this Saturday.  We hope to have at least one kind of fresh baked bre...
04/17/2026

Here are a couple more quick updates about the sale this Saturday. We hope to have at least one kind of fresh baked bread. Could be blueberry, could be zucchini, could be??? We'll see what Vernice comes up with!

We were cleaning out the garden this week and have about a dozen red raspberry plants available. We bought the parent plants this time last year in Amish country. These started from shoots and will bear next year. They seem very cold hardy, as they came thru last winter just fine.

Some tips if you are coming out. Watch for the mailbox with the small American flag. We'll also have a sign about maple syrup. Our gravel driveway is almost 1/2 mile long. When you start back you'll see a house and garage. That is our neighbor, not us. Continue to follow the driveway around the bend to the right and soon you'll see our house and barn. Park by the garage and walk around back to the sunroom. We'll have everything set up there.

We'll have one more update tomorrow evening. Hope to see you Saturday.

Only a few more days until our early bird sale of local maple syrup, jams and jellies, and more.  We'll be open here at ...
04/16/2026

Only a few more days until our early bird sale of local maple syrup, jams and jellies, and more. We'll be open here at the farm this Saturday from 1-5 pm. The address is 800 Sayersville Road, Warsaw KY. Prices are the same as last year. No inflation or tariffs here! You can see the prices in the attached pictures.

We've added a couple of new products this year. The shagbark hickory syrup is excellent, with a woody, smoky flavor. Unlike maple syrup, which has only one ingredient (sap), shagbark syrup is sweetened with sugar. It's priced less than the maple syrup since it's easier to make and can be made anytime of the year.

On a completely different note, this year we are making wild ramp seasoning salt. We talked about ramps in an earlier post. Their taste is a mix of onions and garlic. When mixed with food grade sea salt and dehydrated, they make an excellent seasoning. Ramp salts are available online and are very expensive, anywhere from $5 to $25 an ounce! We are offering ours in a 4 ounce shaker jar for $12.

We may have another surprise or two for Saturday, so keep watching for future posts.

Mark your calendars!  We are still several weeks away from the start of the farmers market season, but we've had many re...
04/13/2026

Mark your calendars! We are still several weeks away from the start of the farmers market season, but we've had many requests for early sales. If you just can't wait to get your hands on some fresh, small batch, local, home made syrup, jams and jellies, here is your chance. We are planning an early sale day this Saturday April 18 from 1-5 pm. You can stop by and pick up maple syrup, jams and jellies (strawberry rhubarb, apple cinnamon, dandelion, red bud , blackberry, etc), and our first ever shagbark hickory syrup.

Depending on how our week goes and what ingredients we can find this early in the season, Vernice may bake some of her quick breads. We'll let you know later in the week if we're able to do any bread.

Ken Folks Farm is located at 800 Sayersville Road, about midway between Warsaw and Glencoe. If you can't make it between 1-5 due to work or other commitments, let us know and we'll try to work something out. And be sure to watch our posts this week for any updates about the sale.

If you've been following along for a while you may be wondering what happened to the little log cabin we bought at aucti...
04/11/2026

If you've been following along for a while you may be wondering what happened to the little log cabin we bought at auction in January. Here's a quick update. After the snow finally melted and it warmed up a bit, we disassembled the cabin and brought it here to the farm. Today the footers were dug and concrete poured for the foundation. Next week block walls will be laid and then we'll be ready to start rebuilding the cabin in its new home. (Note that when I say "we" I really mean the Amish guys who are doing all the work!).

In the meantime Vernice has gone to Pigeon Forge for a women's conference and left me in charge around here. I don't mind except that she expects everything to still be alive when she gets home. The dog, the chickens, even the plants. It's a lot of responsibility but I'll do the best I can.

This week we have been working on wild ramps.  Ramps are a spring delicacy normally found in the mountains of Appalachia...
04/10/2026

This week we have been working on wild ramps. Ramps are a spring delicacy normally found in the mountains of Appalachia. People look forward to this tasty sign of spring, so much so that many mountain communities hold annual ramp festivals.

When I found ramps on the farm a couple of years ago, I contacted our local agricultural agent to confirm my ID. He said these were the first ramps that he had ever seen in Gallatin county. So we are blessed to have these.

Ramps only grow for a short season each spring. They have a bulb like a small green onion and typically two broad leaves. They have a very identifiable smell and taste that is a cross between onions and garlic. They are delicious when cooked (we especially like them on fried potatoes). You can also dry them, either plain or with salt, to use as a seasoning.

Ramps reproduce and spread very slowly, so they must be ethically harvested to avoid doing permanent damage. If the whole plant is harvested it will not grow back. They spread from seeds produced in the fall. A seed can take 2 years to germinate and up to 7 years to produce a mature plant. The ethical way to harvest ramps is to take only one leaf, leaving the other leaf to feed the bulb. Needless to say, the supply of ramp products is very limited and what is available is expensive.

Last week we were working with dandelions.  This week we are making jelly from the blossoms of the eastern red bud tree....
04/07/2026

Last week we were working with dandelions. This week we are making jelly from the blossoms of the eastern red bud tree. These trees are prolific in our area of northern Kentucky and they put on quite a show for a couple of weeks each spring. While the blooms don't last long, you can preserve a little bit of their goodness by making red bud blossom jelly. The process is essentially the same as with dandelions. Pick the blooms, pour hot water over them and allow them to steep for several hours to make a tea, and then use that tea as the base for your jelly. Here is a look at some of our jelly from this week.

After getting the jelly finished, we spent a couple of hours today in the woods and creek with two of our favorite explorers. We didn't find any morel mushrooms (we'll keep looking) but it's been a great year for ramps. We'll tell you more about using and preserving ramps tomorrow.

Address

800 Sayersville Road
Warsaw, KY
41095

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