Bridal showers and shopping are the usual reasons for taking me to Flag Fork Herb Farm; either appearing in pearls with a silver and white gift under each arm trying to stay upright in heels or searching for dainty embroidered handkerchiefs, Bybee Pottery replacements, or a really good trowel. I forget that this historic house serves more than sassafras tea, coffee, and the rich desserts to the guests of the blushing bride. It also serves a bustling lunch that is still a secret to many in Lexington.

That this cottage has a history is obvious the moment that you drive up the horseshoe-shaped drive of Flag Fork Herb Farm and Garden Café on North Broadway. It sits back on a lot off of a four-lane, is nestled among modern edifices of convenience stores and office buildings, but has preserved character of early Lexington settlements. Outside there is a long, covered porch on the front and wispy gardens of old-fashioned flowers and herbs. Inside are low, beamed ceilings, solid but creaking wooden floors, and small rooms filled with antiques, dried herbs, gardening novelties, and dining patrons.

Mike and Carrie Creech opened this piece of property as an herb farm and café in 1995, and have increasingly educated the public on the uses of herbs in cooking, medicating, and decorating. Mike is the chef for their Garden Café and has a menu that incorporates the herbs that they grow into the food that is being served. For example, his lemon geranium pound cake with glaze uses the leaves of a scented geranium. This cake is a personal favorite and an excellent reason to forego convention and have your dessert first.

The lunch menu, served Tuesday through Saturday, from 11:00 until 2:00, has many daily specials such as quiches (asparagus with swiss and mushrooms, and broccoli with cheddar) and fairly static choices that include sandwiches with homemade spreads (beer cheese, benedictine and bacon, olive nut, and pimento cheese) as well as sliced turkey and country ham. Soups, salads, and sides all have fresh ingredients to accompany the fresh herbs showcased. Reservations are suggested, as there is limited seating and many meetings, luncheons, and showers are held here.

If you are not interested in bourbon chocolate cake, then maybe chocolate pecan bread pudding with bourbon sauce and vanilla bean ice cream, or apple spice cake with rum sauce will be more to your liking. Whatever your needs, the desserts here are delicious and varied: chocolate chip carrot cake, dark chocolate raspberry cheesecake, black walnut chocolate fudge pie, and lowfat lime cheesecake with red raspberry sauce just to name a few more.

The Garden Café has several dining rooms; one in particular is a long, enclosed porch with windows along one wall overlooking the Bird and Butterfly Garden. Specific flowers and herbs are planted in this garden to attract birds and butterflies and very soon will be in full bloom for the viewing pleasure of those lunching. There are also lovely herb gardens behind the cottage and in a greenhouse lean-to that offer unique and common herb plants to purchase and plant in each of our gardens. They are useful for garnish, aromatic in a bouquet, and necessary snipping in almost any summer recipe.

To better inform us on the uses of herbs, there are several upcoming classes and talks at the farm. During the summer there are classes on making English Garden Wreaths and Dried Flower Topiaries, Green First Aid, and Planting a Basket Garden. "Dessert and Talks" are held every other Saturday from 3 until 5 and include Harvesting and Preserving Herbs, ABC's of Aromatherapy, and Perennial Planting for Fall. The cost for each of the classes varies but the "Dessert and Talks" are $7.50 and schedules for both can be picked up at Flag Fork.

This cottage is as cottages should be. It offers shade on its porch, beautiful gardens in which to walk, warm baked-goods, and cold glasses of iced tea. A nice reprieve for a hot, summer day.

Short History:

Flag Fork Herb Farm is located in the January Cottage built between 1790 and 1810 purportedly by Thomas January; one of the early settlers of Lexington who helped form its government, which created a recognized city in 1831. In 1839, the house and 150 acres around it passed from Mr. January's heirs to Dr. Benjamin Winslow Dudley, a famous researcher and lithotomist, who used the house as a surgery and classroom for the Transylvania Medical School. Around 1850, Mr. Dudley built Fairlawn, the large house adjacent to the cottage, and lived there for fifteen years until he moved into what is now the Bodley-Bullock house on Market Street that was then owned by his son, William.

Later, Gen. William T. Withers, a decorated soldier of both the Civil and Mexican Wars, bought Fairlawn in 1875 and established it as one the foremost breeding stables for trotters in the United States. He had several famous visitors at Fairlawn including Gen. U. S. Grant and King Kalakua, of Hawaii, who bought a stallion while visiting. After the General's death, the house and just a few acres of remaining land were sold the The Thoroughbred Record and now houses Host Communications.

Please email your culinary heads-ups to Karen at kworkman@aceweekly.com.