Franklin native wins big at fair
When it comes to Southern culture and business, there’s one thing that stands out to people across the nation: farming. The South, with all of its rural areas, has been a hub for farming for generations. And more often than not, it’s a family business or tradition. The Herring family of Franklin County is a prime example of this.
“My husband’s family has been in Franklin County for over 100 years,” Jody Herring said. “Gardening and farming is a family tradition, especially on my husband’s side.”
The growing and building genes have been passed down to Luke Herring. According to mother Jody, the 10-year-old Luke has been gardening since he was 5.
She said Luke had his own rock garden for a while, and when the family moved back to Franklin County, they started an herb garden. Those herbs are part of what made Luke such a hit at the North Alabama State Fair this year, where in total he earned 19 blue ribbons, three second-place titles and three third-place titles, Jody said. The fair contests were free to enter, and Luke left the fairgrounds having won a total of $190.
“I’m going to use it to buy a camera,” Luke said.
His love for photography earned him one of those blue ribbons. In January he took a picture of some icicles he found in Franklin County, and that 8×10 picture won him first place at the fair.
Luke’s other blue ribbon-winning entries were strawberry jam, salsa, beans, nanaimo bars, carrot cookies with an orange glaze, stevia, basil, sage, mint, rosemary, lavender, coneflower, zinnias, green peppers, white eggs, brown eggs, blue eggs and a magazine rack. The magazine rack was a project that his grandfather helped him build, Jody said.
“He learned about canning from me, but I’m not good with the angles and wood cutting like his grandfather,” she explained.
The Nanaimo bars and carrot cookies are a family tradition from Jody’s side of the family. Jody, who is from Canada, explained that Nanaimo bars are named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
“They were my favorite to make and eat but also the hardest,” Luke said.
The carrot cookies are a special family recipe of Jody’s.
With all of the family history and creative genes being passed down to Luke, it’s no wonder he enjoys baking, canning, woodwork and photography. He also revealed he plans to enter the fair again next year – with a goal of 20 blue ribbons.
Luke attends Covenant Christian School.
