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Madison County cured country ham winner talks about the Four-H project

11 Year Old Kyla Harris Competing in the Country Ham Project
Madison County 4-H
11 Year Old Kyla Harris Competing in the Country Ham Project

Another 4-H country ham project in Madison County is in the books.

After county competition, comes state competition at the State Fair, and then the finale is the auctioning-off of cured and shined hams. 37 participants’ hams were bid on last Thursday. 11-year-old Kyla Harris took first place in the speech contest at the state. Harris and her Four-H friends competed in the non-smoked division. She said she hasn’t tried smoked ham but is well satisfied with her cured ham.

“I think it tastes…I don’t think I want to change how it taste or anything. Yeah, I like it pretty well. Do you like it more than bacon? I like it more than bacon actually," said Harris.

Harris’ cured ham brought 700 dollars. She said her family farm includes some pigs. Harris admitted the cured hams for competition get a little more attention.

“So, it is a little different. On our farm, what we do, we just put it up in the barn and take it down when we’re ready to eat it. But, in the Four-H project, since were doing competition for it, we take it down several times and clean it and we shine it for competition,” said Harris.

Her mother, Contessa, said the youngsters were surprised to find the auction money was theirs to take home. She said Kyla and her sister got the bug to compete after watching previous Four-H cured ham contestant speeches.

Stu has been reporting for WEKU for more than 35 years. His primary beat is Lexington/Fayette government.
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