Our roadside stand will be closed this Saturday, business will resume on August 10th minus pre-orders. Kenny and the gang will be hard at it on Saturday while I am enjoying some girl time at the beach.
This Saturday we will be headed to Indianapolis to enjoy a very special day at the Indiana State Fair with the family. What an honor it is to have been chosen as a featured farmer at the Indiana State Fair this year. We gladly took this opportunity to share with others what it means to grow and provide healthy and delicious fruits and vegetables to our community.
These are some of the things will be doing… it will be a full day and very exciting.
- Breakfast with the Indiana State Fair Board
- Visit Habitat for Humanity AG home build
- Meet FFA officers and visit STEM activities
- Lunch in the Pioneer Village
- Be host of the Daily Parade
- Participate in Featured Farmer Chat in the Glass Barn
- Visit the culinary stage for Recipe Chat – our Asparagus Tart will be featured and prepared
- Visit Little Hands on the Farm
- Special invited guest to the Circus
This is the article that Corteva Agriscience published after visiting our small farm this spring…
Following Family Tradition: Russell Veggies Grows A Cornucopia of Produce
Val and Kenny Russell do their part to ensure their local community has access to plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
A family farm for more than 50 years, Russell Veggies operated as a commercial farm for many years before scaling back and transitioning to a 2.5-acre vegetable farm in recent years.
“Kenny is the last Russell to farm this land in Southern Indiana,” Val said. “We still retain our traditional farming roots by growing many varieties of fruits and vegetables.”
A retired railroad worker and lifelong vegetable producer, Kenny enjoys the challenge of finding new vegetable varieties to grow and loves the long hours of outside tending his vegetables.
“I love to work. I sleep about four hours each night. I worked seven days a week for 13 years in a row without a day off,” he said.
“He’s a daylight to dark worker. He can work circles around me,” Val said. “I can sell anything he grows, which speaks to the quality of his product.”
Among the vegetables grown on the farm in Floyd County, Greenville Township, Indiana, are asparagus, radishes, cherry tomatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumbers, sugar snap and English peas, eggplant, Swiss chard, Kenny’s famous elephant garlic and heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, basil, carrots, squash and a selection of greens and lettuces. The duo also produces a crop of jumbo blackberries and Indiana red cockscomb flowers.
The Russells grow many of their vegetables in a low tunnel production system.
“Our veggies are as naturally grown as possible,” Val said. “Our produce is fertilized with rabbit and chicken manure.”
Until 2019, the Russells sold the majority of their naturally-grown produce at the New Albany Farmer’s Market in New Albany, Indiana. This year, they will instead operate their own local roadside stand.
They share their bounty with the local community. “We donate our over-production to Veggie Rescue, which is part of the Let Us Learn program, based out of New Albany, Indiana,” Kenny said. “We’d rather feed people than hogs.”
For more information, visit www.RussellVeggies.com. 
