A trim woman with a set jaw and dark flashing eyes rises in front of the crowded room at Douglass Boulevard Christian Church. She doesn’t rise too far, since she isn’t that tall, but her energy brings a hush to the chatter and fellowship before her.
It is a cold late-winter evening and the spicy aroma of chili warms the air – and the appetite. Breads, chips, dips, pickles, and banana pudding grace a simple table. Ceramic bowls are empty and stacked nearby. It is time to talk.
A bold, young woman, organizer Blair Helvey welcomes all to the first gathering of vendors of the Douglass Loop Farmers Market, an eco-friendly and community-minded market that, beginning April 16, will run on Saturdays in the parking lot and indoor facilities of the church.
Helvey is no stranger to these participants, having spent time on their farms, in their kitchens, and connected by computer and phone for many months.
Sturdy men, who I’d presume are Baby Boomer age with their salt and pepper beards and hair, are comfortable in denim and ball caps embroidered with their farm’s name. Most are accompanied by their wives.
There seem to be three generations of the King family, Mennonites from Ridge Acre Farm. The children, from toddler to teen, settle ‘round their mother’s skirts. I smile at a young girl’s plaited hair, the honey colored braids traveling down her back. She sits on an elder’s lap, leaning in to hear what is being said, her little black shoes swinging contentedly.
Residents from the Highlands-Douglass, Belknap and Deer Park neighborhoods find their folding chairs, while members of the church, as well as its two pastors, Derek Penwell and Ryan Kemp-Pappan, welcome all into the meeting.
I score a space in a pew against the back wall and introduce myself to Adriel Gray from Stone Cross Farm and Cloverdale Creamery. He looks like an alt-rocker in a band, but I am assured he is a farmer. Chuck Smith of Smith-Berry Winery lives in the neighborhood and has as many questions as he does praise for the market plan.
Introductions around the room begin after a few words from Helvey, then a vigorous question and answer session ensues, including crucial information from Shadrick Adams of the Food Safety Branch in Frankfort.
If you’re wondering what brings almost 50 enthusiastic people together on a cold, rainy night, it is the love of the community and the eagerness to launch another successful market in the area.
The growers know one thing for certain and it could be traced back to something about Helvey that is quite small yet very powerful.
Her stock in trade? Bugs. Helvey is an entomologist. Known through the region as “the bug lady” she owns and operates Louisville-based Entomology Solutions, LLC, specializing in biological pest control, also known as insect pest management – IPM to those in the know.
I did not know.
I learned about Blair Helvey by visiting her website, Bugs Behaving Badly, a humorous nudge at the otherwise bookish thoughts on entomology. Helvey is not bookish and, in fact, pretty much defies the image of a science-minded professional. A sharp looker in blue jeans and boots – not a lab coat and pocket penholder – the Germantown resident, wife of a schoolteacher and mom of a toddler, has a passion for bugs with benefits.
On her website, Helvey notes the overuse of pesticides as a short-sighted fix that negatively impacts other beneficial bug species and ultimately harms the environment. And with egg cases of mantids riding shotgun, she is always ready to spring the beneficials on ailing gardens and injured crops.
Helvey’s range is impressive. She can recommend the right Sphrodomantis viridis to fit your gardening needs while nabbing State Fair blue ribbons for her pickles. There is a strong appreciation for a bountiful, sustainable table for the home as well as an ecosystem of winged, stalk-eyed creatures that put the buzz in her business.
Tireless in her efforts to bring a harmonious balance and something new to the ever-growing farmers market system in the Louisville area, Helvey might just reach that goal with the opening of the Douglass Loop venture.
The participants she has assembled for this new market are a handpicked crop. Eggs, meat, cheese, bread, herbs, produce, plants, health and beauty products, pastries, live music and more are in the works.
What will be the most noticeable difference in this market for customers?
“The hours, for one, which are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will also be featuring local chefs and businesses, as well as having festivals with music for different times of the year. Music will be featured on Briney Hall’s front porch,” states Helvey, adding that the church has a certified kitchen where canning classes and other workshops will be offered.
Creating a trade for Kentucky growers and food products is a key element, as stated on www.douglassloopfarmersmarket.com, a direct conduit between Kentucky producers and local consumers for the sale of healthy and affordable goods.
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Visiting the Helvey home, I find the kitchen all the way in back; like many renovated shotgun houses in Germantown, it used to be the porch. Everything is homegrown or homemade and we enjoy a delicious lunch with the delightful company of Helvey’s well-mannered and curious 3-year-old, Isaiah.
The home is spacious and makes the most out of each room, all of which seem to have exceptionally beautiful cats running through them.
“They’re all rescues!” Helvey beams, while simultaneously prodding the plump orange tabby, Chuck, away from the dining table with her bare foot. Ozzy is outside and a well-fed Calico named Cracker is poised by the window. Such focus. Soon, I’d find out why.
With our bowls and plates clean, it is time to meet the other household pets. Blair goes to the decorative muslin curtains and brushes her hand along a crease.
“Would you like to meet Rambo?”
Sure! And what is not to like? Hair-thin legs, joined and flowing, Rambo the mantid, or “praying mantis” as I’ve always heard, is gingerly placed in the cup of my hands. We acknowledge each other with a look; he is less surprised than I. Making his way up my arm and onto my chest, it occurs to me that I have never taken the time to witness the simple beauty of these fellows. Rambo doesn’t so much “pray” as he does sample the fuzz of my flannel shirt and wag his graceful antennae my way.
“See his wing pods?” Helvey gushes. She also points out his Ecdysial split. Ohhh. I feel a wave of modesty for the young fellow about to molt and get his wings. He goes back to roost in the window. Now, it is time to meet Baryshnikov.
Why?
“Because he’s so graceful and handsome,” says Helvey, as she plops him on my wrist.
I sit and hold Baryshnikov, petting him as best I can with my fingertip while Helvey offers him honey on the end of a stick. He gazes upon the nectar with expansive blue-green eyes. This is very sweet, literally. She explains that watching him gnaw on a cricket is also incredible. Well, you gotta draw a line somewhere.
Helvey regales me with success and horror stories of her beloved mantids.
The cat-death fate of Mr. Tilde as he became whisker lickin’s after getting lost in a box of potatoes.
Or the tale of one mantid, her thorax powered by nerve endings, wandering across the floor after somehow losing her head. I name her Anne Boleyn, posthumously.
Isaiah says he would like to hold Hot Dog. He is gentle and loving with the mantid that shares his home. The mantids make good pets, are easy to care for and will take care of your garden. And occasionally feed your cat.
Isaiah may not follow in his mother’s footsteps, as far as insects are concerned, but I’m positive he will be right by her side at the Douglass Loop Farmers Market, moving jars of pickles and jams that are grown, harvested and canned in his home.
And yes, there will be bugs for sale right alongside the strawberry preserves.
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