Fresh, delectable and locally grown describe the many U-pick farm market and eatery stops on or near U.S. Highway 41 in Knox County, near Vincennes, Indiana. Read on for a few highlights of the southern Indiana agritourism scene, and let us know in the comments if we’ve missed any of your Knox County favorites.

Beginning at Oaktown, the Melon Patch’s Delish Deli opens daily. They’re known for fresh produce, fudge and their gift shop. Mayall’s Market, open from May through October, specializes in garden plants, flowers and locally grown fruits and vegetables. Blann’s Berries make for a juicy U-pick or purchase stop when strawberries and other berries are in season from May through June.

SEE ALSO: Cantaloupe Odyssey: Indiana Melons’ Farm-to-Fork Journey

Melon Acres, open April through Oct. 1, raises asparagus, sweet corn, cantaloupe and watermelon. Prairie Acres, also at Oaktown, serves breakfast and lunch, and sells their fruits and vegetables along with other treats from May 15 through Sept. 15. And McKinley’s Orchard Restaurant boasts home-cooking buffet style food along with a fruit stand from July through Labor Day. Make a reservations by calling (812) 745-4175.

South of Oaktown near Bruceville, the Big Peach beckons travelers along the highway offering freshly baked pies, locally grown fruits and vegetables, and a gift shop from mid-May through Nov. 1. Nearby Apple Hill Orchard also offers fresh pies and delights along with orchard tours from July 5 through December.

Vincennes is home to the Happy Tomato in spring and summer. The Vincennes Historic Farmers Market also features items ranging from perennials to breads, produce and jams. Halters Market is recognized for its garden center and home grown produce, while Atkinson Farm Yarns offers knitting classes and a vast inventory of respective supplies.

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Learn about Indiana’s limestone heritage during the 5th annual Limestone Month celebrations in Bloomington throughout the month of June. A variety of events, tours and exhibits are scheduled all month long, so there’s lots of chances to be a part of the fun.

Experience the history of the state’s limestone industry on the “Land of Limestone” tour, or learn about the historic Empire Hole, which is the source of the stone used to build the Empire State Building in New York City. There will also be stone carving exhibits and demonstrations, BBQ in the quarry and more!

The celebration kicks off June 1st with events held throughout the month. For a full list of events, visit limestonemonth.com.

SEE ALSO: Summer Events in Bloomington 

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Get the facts on selection, storage, prep and nutrition for our Lemon Basil Potato Salad with Bacon recipe:

Selection, Storage and Prep:

• Substitute small red potatoes if you’d like. Yukon Gold potatoes just give salads an appealing color.
• Any sweet onion will work, including Walla Walla, Oso Sweet or Rio sweet.
• One lemon produces between ¼ and 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed juice.
• Tip for getting maximum juice from the lemon: simply microwave lemon for 10 seconds before juicing. Or, roll on counter-top for 10 seconds before juicing.
• The dressing and potato-bacon mixture can both be made ahead of time and refrigerated separately. Just add dressing right before serving.

Nutrition:

• Contrary to popular myth and misconception, potatoes are an extremely nutrient-rich vegetable.
• Potatoes are filled with vitamin C, potassium, B6, fiber and other vitamins and minerals.
• In fact, potatoes provide one of the affordable and concentrated sources of potassium – more than bananas, tomatoes, broccoli and oranges.
• About 20% of potato nutrition is found in the skin; the majority is in the flesh. But keeping the skin on for potato salad means you’ll get all the great nutrients!
• In the true spirit of moderation and balance, this recipe contains decadent bacon. Yes, this dietitian does enjoy bacon occasionally!
• Use light mayonnaise to balance the higher-calorie, higher-fat bacon.
• Chives are an excellent source of vitamins, A, C and K and contain phytonutrients that may help reduce the risk of some cancers.

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Who better to lead the war against hunger than those who grow the food we eat?

Operated by the nonprofit Farm Journal Agricultural Foundation, Farmers Feeding the World, is an industry-wide campaign with a mission to rally American agriculture for the war against hunger, with the goal of raising at least $20 million annually for charity and education.

Indiana farmer, Kip Tom of Tom Farms, helped launch the campaign and will act as the farmer spokesperson, championing the effort to fellow producers and agribusinesses.

Tom and others involved in the campaign, aim to educate the general public about U.S. agriculture’s role in feeding the world.

For more information or to get involved, visit farmersfeedingtheworld.org.

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Bask in summer’s warmth at downtown Frankfort’s annual Hot Dog Festival.

This family- and pup-friendly event features dachshund racing, the greatest American hot dog challenge, a 5K bun run and walk, live entertainment and more. Bring your pooch along for some guaranteed fun in the sun.

The 2013 festival takes place July 26-27 in downtown Frankfort. For more information, call (765) 654-4081.

SEE ALSO: Sample A Taste of Indiana at Dig IN Food Festival

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Before making these Triple Citrus Rosemary Almond Shortbread Bars, get the facts on smart selection, storage, prep and nutrition for the recipe:

Selection, Storage and Prep:

• Be careful when zesting the citrus not to get the white bitter part, known as the pith.
• Substitute 1 teaspoon almond extract if you don’t want to use amaretto liqueur.
• Rosemary is so easy to use. Simply hold stem at the top and run fingers down the stem to remove the individual needles before chopping.
• Turbinado sugar is also known as “raw” sugar. The coarse blond-light brown crystals have a delicate molasses flavor. You’ll find it in the baking aisle.
• These bars freeze exceptionally well. Simply place in freezer bag and thaw at room temperature.

Nutrition:

• Using unsalted butter means you control the sodium content better in this decadent dessert.
• Rosemary naturally contains compounds that have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties.

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Hundreds of great, hardworking insects live in our gardens. Their jobs range from eating the bad bugs and pollinating flowers to improving the soil by helping decompose organic material.

Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly.

Many of those ugly bugs will become beautiful butterflies or moths, all of which go through a larval stage. The strange-looking larvae are eating machines, so please don’t kill them, despite their frightening appearance. The larva then pupates, forming a cocoon or chrysalis, and then emerges as a butterfly or moth.

Although only 3 percent of insects fall into this category, some bugs are actually bad for your backyard.

In addition to being an annoyance, mosquitoes can carry disease. Eliminate standing water, because even a small amount – the size of a soup bowl – will breed mosquitos. Invite purple martins, a type of bird that can eat 200 mosquitos a day (as do night-flying bats, another misunderstood creature). In fact, most of the birds you feed all winter will return the favor by eating hundreds of insects in your yard this summer.

Japanese beetles will harm your garden, so hand-pick them off plants or use a beetle bag or traps. Protect the prehistoric, evil-looking wheel bugs, as they eat Japanese beetles and other bugs.

Everyone knows red and black ladybugs love aphids, which are small, sap-sucking insects. A rectangular black and orange bug known as the soldier beetle is another important predator of aphids. These helpful beetles also consume nectar and pollen, becoming minor pollinators.

No aphid-eaters in sight? Spray the infested plant with a few strong blasts of water. Once aphids are knocked down to the ground, they can’t climb back up. A home remedy of 2 teaspoons mild dish soap mixed with water in a squirt bottle, sprayed weekly, causes the aphids to dehydrate by washing off their protective waxy coating.

Beneficial praying mantises emerge from egg cases in the spring. They then start eating other insects and quickly grow from a tiny size to a whopping 4 to 5 inches in late summer.

Spiders eat other harmful insects, so ignore your arachnophobia and allow them to protect your plants.

Some of the “bad” bugs don’t make it to adulthood – they’re killed by beneficial nematodes. In fact, beneficial nematodes control more than 250 different species of insects that spend some part of their lives underground, including grubs, fleas, mole crickets, Japanese beetles and weevils. They live in almost any soil but prefer moist conditions. You can purchase beneficial nematodes such as Steinernema and Heterorhabditis at your local garden center or online.

So when you’re in the garden this summer and you spot the “bad” bugs, see if you can also find the “good” bugs. It’s all part of nature’s plan to balance out the cycle.

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Jim Campbell fights fires by day, but he spends his free time cultivating fiery flavors.

The Indianapolis fireman has been growing chili peppers as long as he can remember.

“I was one of 10 kids, and my family had a victory garden,” Campbell says. “We were allowed to pick something to plant, and from age two I always picked chilies. I was fascinated by them.”

Later in life, he turned his passion into a business, Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co. On a camping trip to New Mexico, he became entranced by the vast variety of dried chilies on display at a local flea market. With fellow firefighters at the Pike Township Fire Department eagerly consuming his homegrown chilies, he realized the potential for a business to grow out of his beloved hobby.

Campbell began planting more chili peppers and ordered a mixed case of hot sauces out of a catalog. He called the hot-sauce companies and offered his services as a chili grower. Some of his first customers grew to be the biggest names in the industry, including Dave’s Insanity Hot Sauce and Blair Lazar’s Death Sauce.

In the decades that followed, Campbell says Mild to Wild steadily enjoyed double-digit growth. He gained the reputation of an international chili pepper expert and traveled overseas to advise on production.

“I’ve never known anyone that knows more about peppers than Jim,” says Barry Tippman, who now owns Mild to Wild. “He is so passionate.”

Tippman runs the Fort Wayne-based Great American Spice Company, and acquired Mild to Wild after he saw Campbell was shutting down his business after 20 years.

“We sold Jim’s products on the Great American Spice website,” Tippman says. “When I went to order more, I saw they were going out of business. Some of their products were our bestsellers, so I called Jim and asked if he was interest in selling.”

Since the trade-off, Tippman has continued to run Mild to Wild just as Campbell did. Nothing business-wise has changed, he says.

“We bought the company because it had such a good reputation. Everyone knows Jim in the industry and we wanted to keep the company the same.”

They have, however, grown Mild to Wild to include a whole line of peppers along with two new hot sauces using two of the hottest peppers in the world: the Ghost Pepper and the Scorpion Trinidad. Those sauces have already risen in popularity, snagging awards at several shows.

Although he has no official part in the company, Campbell says he is still proud and interested in the success of Mild to Wild.

“I feel honor-bound due to the integrity of the folks I sold the company to,” he says. “They’ve allowed me in the booth at the occasional show, and I still enjoy standing there for hours dressed in full firefighter gear, answering the same questions.”

Along with being a chili expert, Tippman says Campbell is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, even helping his competitors. He showcases that kindness each fall during his annual chili pepper festival, Open Fields. The event raises money for Step Up for Charity, which in turn supports other lesser-known charities.

The festival began as a way for consumers to pick their own chilies from Campbell’s commercial fields after the first Indiana frost. People were allowed to take as many peppers as they could for free.

Since its early days, Open Fields has grown into a secret event for “chili-heads” in the know. The strictly non-commercial festival gives all of its proceeds to charity, so even famous manufacturers that attend must lay low.

Although Campbell doesn’t sell his own peppers anymore, his fiery passion is still there.

“Even after 20 years, I’ve never lost the joy that comes with what we call the moment of enlightenment,” he says. “It’s that wide-eyed, panic-stricken instant when a person comes to realize they didn’t really know what ‘hot’ was.”

Pepper Power

Those interested in attending or learning more about the Open Fields Festival can contact Campbell at jim@stepupforcharity.org. The subject field must say “Open Fields 2013” to be read.

Enter for your chance to win a collection of Mild to Wild spices and sauces and check out Jim’s top chili pepper picks.

For more information about, or to buy, Mild to Wild products, visit wildpepper.com.

The post Indiana Fireman Turns Pepper Passion Into a Business Called Mild to Wild appeared first on My Indiana Home.

Indiana fireman Jim Campbell turned his pepper passion into a business, and now you can share in his tasty success! Enter below throughout the month of June for your chance to win a collection of spices and sauces from Mild to Wild Peppers and Herbs. And check out Jim’s top chili pepper picks while you’re at it!

The prize pack includes:

Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper Ground
California Chile Ground
Chipotle Pepper Ground
Red Savina Flakes
False Alarm Fire
Fiery Hot Habanero Sauce

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Enter to Win Mild to Wild Peppers & Herb Co. Prize Pack appeared first on My Indiana Home.

Discover how the heat of peppers are measured on the Scoville scale, and see chili grower and former owner of Mild to Wild Peppers & Herb Co., Jim Campbell, top pepper picks.

What’s an SHU?

Developed by U.S. pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, the Scoville scale determines the piquancy of a chile pepper. Scoville Heat Units measure the amount of capsaicin present in peppers based on how much sugar water must be added until the heat is no longer detectable

Pepper Grower Jim Campbell’s Hot List

1. Gypsy – Also known as Corno Di Toro (Bull Horn) chilies, these are another very mild chili that absolutely can’t be beat for grilling and tossing into salsa or salads. To this day, Jim grows at least a few of these just for my own consumption. If you can find it, Aconcagua is another giant, mild great roasting chili. 0-100 Scoville Heat Units (SHU)
2. New Mexican – These include the varieties Anaheim, Sandia, Big Jim and 6-4. These flavorful and fairly mild chilies also taste great roasted, grilled or diced into salsa. As with all chilies, they require little in the way of growing – just consistent water level in the soil (not too much to avoid root rot) and a tiny dash of 12-12-12 fertilizer in the early summer. You might need to stake the plants as the weight of the chilies can topple the plant! 500-1,000 SHU
   
3. Chipotle – If Jim were stranded on a desert island with only one chili to choose from, the chipotle would be his chili of choice. The chipotle (pronounced chee-POAT-lay) is a smoke-dried jalapeno pepper. Maybe it’s from his career of firefighting, but Jim says he’s always been attracted to smoke. Part of the confusion with chili peppers names are because they are often called one thing when fresh (e.g. jalapenos), yet another when dried or smoked (e.g. chipotles). Chipotles have a rather fragile flavor that is best added to dishes at the table prior to eating. Using it early in the cooking process can drive off the smoky flavor. 5,000-10,000 SHU
4. Cayenne – A favorite for making sauces, this medium-hot pepper has a great, well-rounded flavor. It is easily dried (even in Indiana’s humid summer), simple to grow in great quantities and can be found at most any greenhouse. Additionally, like all other chilies, it contains great medicinal qualities. 30,000-50,000 SHU
5. Habanero – A sentimental favorite for Jim, this is the chili upon which his company was built, even though he doesn’t eat them himself unless there’s money on the table. He was one of the first licensed Red Savina Habanero growers in the world, back when it long occupied Guinness World Record status as the hottest chili pepper on the planet. 100,000-350,000 SHU
6. Scorpion – Guinness currently lists the Butch T Trinidad Scorpion as the hottest chili on the planet, even exceeding the more well-known Ghost or Bhut Jolokia chili. Butch T (Taylor) is a personal friend of Jim’s, who can often be found wandering his chili fields in late fall during his annual chili pepper festival. 1,463,700 SHU

Learn more about Jim’s story here, and enter to win a Mild to Wild Peppers & Herb Co. prize pack here!

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