Team
Jamie Aramini
Jamie Aramini grew up in Kentucky and has channeled her love for the land and people into Sustainable Kentucky. What she had hoped might be a little blog about gardening and living self-reliantly in the Bluegrass has developed into a passion (obsession?) for supporting Kentucky farms and the people who are making the state a better place. Jamie can usually be found at one of three places: chatting with someone, somewhere about farms and the joys of local food, sitting at her computer working on her writing career, or playing in the garden with her two wild child boys. She carves out her home in Central Kentucky and acts as the site’s primary writer.
Holly Godbey
Born onto a small on-again/off-again farm, Holly grew up with fresh veggies and a myriad of farm animals. These days, she’s a student at the University of Kentucky, where she studies English Literature and hopes to one day obtain her doctorate degree. When she’s not writing term papers or working as a receptionist, Holly can be found reading, traveling, eating, or all three at once. She dreams of one day having a backyard large enough for a goat or two and a large dog, or at least being able to grow a tomato plant. Holly is our awesome editorial intern, helping us make sure that all our i‘s are dotted and our t‘s are crossed.
Ongoing Contributors:
Jesse Frost
Although born in Colorado, Jesse spent his formative years in Richmond, Kentucky. After high school he received an opportunity to cook at Le Relais Restaurant in Louisville under Chef Daniel Stage where he spent two years learning the importance of local produce before moving to New York City. While there, Jesse found himself managing a small wine shop in lower Manhattan. Specializing predominantly in organic, biodynamic, and sustainably-produced wines, he discovered a fondness for natural fermentation and farming. After four years, he left the city and returned to Kentucky. A two-season internship at a small farm in Southern Kentucky called Bugtussle introduced him to farming, his first ferments, and a wonderful lady. He now runs Rough Draft Farmstead with his wife Hannah in Danville, and you can read their blog and follow their story at roughdraftfarmstead.blogspot.
Alison Wiediger
Alison Wiediger and her husband Paul were among the first Kentucky farmers to gain organic certification in the early ’90s. They have continued their visionary approach to farming by always thinking outside the box of normal farming conventions. At Au Naturel Farm, they led the way for other farms in Kentucky with high-tunnel production, growing food throughout the winter as well as unconventional crops like ginger. They have shared their knowledge by authoring a book on high tunnels as well as speaking around the country on the topic.
Jeremy Porter
Growing up as a suburban kid in a rural Kentucky county, Jeremy only knew agriculture through driving along the corn and soybean fields, setting tobacco once as a teen, and semi-annual trips to his grandparents’ hobby farm in southern Tennessee. He barely ate tomatoes and the smell of squash made him sick. With a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Kentucky and 10 years as a youth minister, being a candidate for farm apprentice seemed unlikely. Yet in 2009, he apprenticed at Three Springs Farm in Carlisle, KY and subsequently began running his own CSA, Eden’s Gate, confirming his love for nature, the pursuit of good work, and the relationships that tie them together. Jeremy, his wife, and son make their home in Lexington where he works for the non-profit Seedleaf coordinating Seedleaf Farms, a small plot intensive urban farm. He also serve as a consultant for CLUCK! (Cooperative of Lexington Urban Chicken Keepers), helping folks in all stages of their backyard chicken keeping needs.
Carolyn Gahn
Carolyn and her husband Jacob began farming three years ago as apprentices at Rolling Fork Farm, a Certified Organic mixed vegetable farm in Gravel Switch, KY. From there they joined up with St. Asaph Farm to lease a portion of the farm to start their own operation, Food Leaf Farm. They currently raise dairy goats, pastured poultry, and have a biointensive vegetable garden. They also started and run Sweetgrass Granola, an extremely hip granola company. Carolyn and Jacob are Ag Legacy leaders with Community Farm Alliance and have served on local food panels in Central Kentucky.
Rachael Brugger
Rachael Brugger is a volunteer and board member with Faith Feeds, a gleaning organization that seeks to alleviate hunger in the Bluegrass through the provision of fresh fruits and vegetables. She is Senior Web Editor for Hobby Farms and Contributor to Urban Farm. On weekends, she moonlights as a flautist for Lexington’s March Madness Marching Band. As a newbie gardener, her container garden has now grown to incorporate a raised-bed garden, where she grows basil, rosemary, cukes, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, Swiss chard, butternut squash and her beloved Meyer lemon tree, which gave her two lemons in its first year. She can’t wait to one day have her own piece of land to grow the majority of her own food (and raise chickens), but until that day comes, she is indebted to her CSA farm, which keeps her rolling in fresh, local fare.
Nick Redmond
Nick, his wife Leah, and their three children make their home in Lexington, Kentucky. They hope to one day own their own farm, where they can more fully engage in subsistence agriculture, hospitality, and the call to stewardship. Meanwhile, Nick works as a civil engineer and they are practicing their homesteading skills on a little over 1/8th of an urban acre. They compost religiously, keep chickens, fruit trees, brambles, and strawberries as well as a fair garden, and look forward to adding grapes, grains, an asparagus bed, and rabbits. They enjoy baking their own bread, brewing their own beer, and sharing the bounty. They are trying hard to simplify, but the truth is that sucking the marrow out of life is fairly complicated.
