News from our vendors

Nancy Rasmussen of Sunny Lane Farms tells me they have raised some extra large roasting chickens for the holidays. If you want a 4+ pound pastured chicken, be sure to stop by her space during market on November 20 - or give her a call at 417 637-2001.

Marlee's Creamery has opened an on-farm store. It's open MONDAY - SUNDAY 6a.m. - 8a.m. AND 6p.m. - 8p.m. Those may seem like strange store hours, but since the store is in the dairy barn, it makes sense to be open while milking is going on. Get directions to the creamery by emailing: marleecreamery@live.com

Can't wait two weeks til the next market?

You don't have to!

My mother was telling me tonight that she has already devoured almost the whole pie she bought from Hazel's Bakery on Friday. "It was the best apple pie I have ever eaten," she said. High praise coming from a lady with extensive pie eating experience. That pie must have been pretty darn tasty. (That's Kay above with one of her grandsons.)

Both Hazel's Bakery and Black Forest Pastries do special orders. And many of their products freeze well, so you can order enough to tide you over till next market on November 20. You'll find their phone numbers in the column at right.

Also, if you're running short of fresh veggies, try Fredrickson Farms over in Carl Junction. They have winter squash, kale, leeks and several other cool weather crops. They also have herbs plants. Call Tami at 417 439-6141 for a run down of what they're harvesting, their hours and directions.

Winter Market

What a wonderful winter market we had today - sunny, if windy, lots of vendors, lots of customers(That's Tim Green decked out in his winter wear selling tomatoes from his high tunnel).

Jamey Smith's toasted flat bread was delicious, Fairhaven Gardens quickly sold out of their handcrafted cedar benches, Sunny Lane Farms lamb sold like hot cakes, the music was wonderful, lots of fresh veggies and baked goods. Marlee's Creamery arrived in a delightful antique milk truck. Organic Way Farms tells me that their kitchen has been certified so look for pickled beets, pickles and sour kraut from them soon!

The next market is Friday, November 20. See you then!

Free Pinecones

We'll have free pine cones at the information table at the market on Friday. Bring a sack and help yourself. Thanks to Rae & Joan Letsinger for providing them.

Annual Market Awards

Each year, at our annual Vendor/Volunteer Harvest Dinner, the market presents two awards.

The first, the coveted Golden Washrag, recognizes a vendor who has made a signficant contri- bution to the market.

The name of the award refers to the help that vendors provide in set up and take down. The most noticeable of those tasks is the wiping off of tables and benches. The winner of this year's Golden Washrag is Nancy Rasmussen, our chicken, beef & lamb rancher. Nancy organized and managed our Winter Market last year. Perhaps, even more impressive is that she kept the restrooms at the market clean and stocked all year. Now that's going way beyond the call of duty!

The second award is the Market Champion of the Year, given to a non-market vendor who has made a significant contribution to the success of the market. Last year the recepient was Donna Krudwig who ramrods Cooking for a Cause for the market. This year the award went to parks director Tom Reeder for his role in facility improvements at the market. Tom recognized the need for safer and sounder pavilions and last winter encouraged the park board to undertake strengthening the structures, the addition of the center pavilion, new roofing (which was done by city workers) and the installation of concrete floors (the concrete material costs were funded by the Perry Foundation). Tom also arranged for and supervised all the work. These efforts were particularly noteworthy after the May windstorm that probably would have taken down the pavilions had they not been reinforced and by the dramatic increase in the number of wheel chairs, walkers and strollers in the pavilions this year.

Our thanks and congratulations to Nancy and Tom.

Wow - Winter Market has lots of good stuff!

This Friday, 11 to 2, under the pavilions will be our first Winter Market & the forecast is for warm and sunny! & we have some new products that folks have been wanting:

Marlee's Creamery will have raw milk. They are a Grade A dairy licensed by the state milk board.

Sunny Lane Farms has added lamb to their selection of grass fed beef and pastured poultry. It's available by the piece or whole.

Jamey Smith will be toasting up slices of Greek and cheese flat bread at the market for lunch during winter market.

Amos Apiaries will be at the market this Friday, as will many of our growers and bakers.

Fredrickson Farms will be back after taking a month off to run their pumpkin tours. They'll have pumpkins, leeks, winter squash, herb plants like thyme, oregano and parsley for your winter kitchen window. In honor of the pretty weather, Tami will have a pumpkin painting table for kids at her stand.

Since the weather is supposed to be nice, we've asked Lee Ann and Jack Sours to add music to the mix this Friday, so come enjoy a super Winter Market.

Sentinel Colum - 10-30-09

So what is it with Fridays in October this year? The forecast, as I write this column, indicates that yesterday’s high was 70 degrees and today’s 56! And that’s probably the warmest Friday we’ve had all month.

Well, at least we have the right meal for chilly weather today – all-you-can-eat chili, plus cornbread, cookies and a drink for $6. And if it’s just too cold to consider al fresco dining, you can always get it to go and enjoy it in your warm kitchen while you think of me bundled up at the market. The Loose Notes are scheduled to play from 11 to 1.

We’re transitioning at the market. Winter Market starts next Friday but, except for the lack of music and a meal, it will look much the same to our customers. I, however, have started wearing some different hats – not that you won’t see me at the Winter Market running the token machine. I’ve been working on the market’s training program. That means organizing seven different workshops, plus helping with the state’s workshops. Luckily I don’t have to run the latter, just help select locations and topics.

A couple of weeks ago I told my husband, Phil, that I was savoring the fact that I had no presentations scheduled. During the past year, I ended up in about five different towns in Missouri, and in several other states, doing presentations on various market topics. The very afternoon I was savoring all this free time, I was called about doing two presentations in St. Joseph and two in Wichita (which, of course, I will do because I’m a big believer in sharing information). Then last week, I got a call from the board of the new O’Fallon farmers market asking if they could drive over to Webb City to get some pointers. That’s a four-hour drive each way! Yesterday, I provided information a North Carolina market wanting to know how we got our non-profit status (all those training workshops probably has something to do with it) and today I communicated with the manager of a market in Houston, Texas, about our meals at the market. Their health department requires a $70 special permit every time they serve a meal at the market even though their vendor has a certified kitchen and caterer’s license. It reminded me how thankful I am that we have a health department that facilitates our activities, while providing the guidance and training needed to make sure the public is safe. My advice to her was to move to Jasper County.

We are fortunate in many ways to be in our neck of the woods. Most of our market workshops are the result of our great relationship with the University of Missouri Extension. The first market workshop, on Tuesday, November 2, will be on irrigation, with an emphasis on low-tech systems and will be on the Crowder Neosho campus. You may think that’s an odd location for a Webb City Farmers Market workshop, but we try to move the workshops around. Many of our farmers are located in Newton and McDonald counties, so Neosho will be a great location for them. Plus we invite the farmers of all the area markets to attend our workshops, as well as the general public. It’s our way of sharing the (knowledge) wealth with the whole region that gives us support.

Then we have a workshop on Monday, November 9, at the Southwest Research Center in Mount Vernon. It will be a farmer/rancher grant-writing workshop. Details on both workshops are on our blog: webbcityfarmersmarket.blogspot.com.

Speaking of grant writing, we just received word that Webb City is the only market in the state to receive a 2010 Specialty Crops grant from the USDA (and we might be the only market in the country to receive the grant two years in a row!). The grant will allow us to work with Extension to put on regional workshops on high tunnels and on food safety.

This is the final market column of the season. News about the Winter Market and Holiday Market will appear in the news briefs. So it’s time to say thank you – to our wonderful volunteers like Marilyn Thornberry, Don McGowan, Duane Hunt, Sharon Nations, Donna Krudwig and Rick Ford. To our great non-profits who run Cooking for a Cause and the Benefit Breakfast. To General Mills and Schreiber for their generous food donations to the same. To the dozens of volunteers who help during various special market activities. To the Missouri Arts Council for their support of our music program and all the musicians who play at the market. To Tom Reeder, the park workers and the city for all they do and have done to make the market better. To Rochelle DeLucia and the master gardeners who supervise the Kids’ Community Garden. To the school for letting us share with students about local food and local farmers. To the area media who keep the community informed as to what’s happening and what’s in season at the market, especially to the Sentinel and Wise Buyer who go way beyond the call of duty. And, of course, to our vendors and customers to whom, in the end, the market owes all its success. We wish for you a wonderful winter, made all the better by the local produce, baked goods, honey and other goodies at the Winter Market. See you at the market!

Two grower/rancher workshops coming up fast!

Irrigation Workshop - 9:30 to Noon on Tuesday, November 3. for growers and hobbyists planting 5 acres or less. Topics includ low-tech irrigation systems, effective use of irrigation, mulching and other water conserving options. This free workshop will be on the second floor of the Arnold Fsrber Building, 601 Laclede, on the Crowder College Neosho campus in the Wright Conference Center.

SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Grant Writing Workshop - 9:30 to 3:30 on Monday, November 9. Farmers and ranchers can learn how to write and submit proposals for grants to promote sustainable agriculture practices on their farm or ranch at this workshop at the Southwest Research Center in Mount Vernon, Missouri. Cost is $15, which includes lunch and workshop materials. To register, call 417 483-8139 by November 5.

Green Tomatoes

Like many gardeners and growers in the area, Resa Amos found herself this week with many green tomatoes that had to be harvested before frost. Since Resa is not fond of green tomato relish, she searched for a different way to use them and found the following recipe. The trial run resulted in such good bread that she plans to use it for all her green tomatoes, freeze the bread and enjoy it throughout the winter. One note - she baked the loaves for 1 hour rather than just 45 mintues.

GREEN TOMATO BREAD
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 c. grated, drained, green tomatoes
3 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. raisins
1 c. chopped nuts

Beat eggs well. Add sugar, oil, salt, vanilla, and tomatoes. Sift dry ingredients together. Gradually add to tomato mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour into greased bread pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Webb City Sentinel - 10/23/09

In the past, the end of the market season depended on the weather. The first hard freeze put us out of business. Well, not this year. With farmers preparing for Winter Market, the weather may put an end to certain field crops, but it won’t end production.

Today, customers will find peppers, yellow squash, zucchini and green beans a the market. That produce is normally rare in late October, but we are reaping the benefits of farmers planning for the upcoming Winter Market. Next week we may even have the first of the high tunnel tomatoes and cucumbers.

Of course, we’ll baked an array of fabulous baked goods, jams, jellies, and mums.

Fall produce is in good supply. Expect broccoli, cabbage, peanuts, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, radishes and turnips at the Circle E Ranch stand. Other growers have lettuce, acorn squash, boc choi, mustard greens, green onions, pumpkins… The list just goes on.

Who can we thank for this abundance? As unlikely as it sounds, we can thank our meat vendors. They’re not growing the produce, but they came up with the idea that makes winter vegetable production profitable. That’s because the meat vendors wanted a Winter Market. A twice-monthly market through the winter keeps their customers supplied and their profits up. Nancy Rasmussen, our chicken and beef rancher, took on the organization of the Winter Market, handling vendor placement and support. I did a little advertising. This year volunteer managers will handle the market and operate the information table and the debit/credit/EBT token system.

The Webb City Farmers Market started out 10 years ago with three vendors and look at us now. The Winter Market last year was primarily meat vendors and three bakers. This year we have added a baker (Black Forest Pastries will be selling through December and won’t that be great for the holidays?) and at least three farms with high tunnels. Plus the Palmers at Fair Haven tripled their sweet potato planting in anticipation of the Winter Market. Resa Amos plans to be at every first market of the month with honey.

So despite the cold weather today, you can expect to find loads of good things. And come November 6, you will find an expanded Winter Market.

Lunch today is meat loaf, au gratin potatoes, corn, brownies and drink for $6. Lots of folks have been doing take-out since it’s a little chilly to sit and eat. The Sours will play traditional music.

Next week, which is our last regular season market with music, the Loose Notes will play. Lunch will be all-you-can-eat chili, plus cookies and drink for $6.

We had a busy day last Friday. As always, the scarecrows from Webster School were wonderful. Mrs. Wales’ Webb City ScareCardinal won first place. Second place went to Mrs. B. Fowler’s class and third to Mrs. Cox’s class.

The winner of the giant pumpkin weight-guessing contest was Susan Cha. At 127 pounds, her guess was only off by 2 pounds from the actual weight of 125 pounds (the pumpkin outweighed Susan herself by about 90 pounds). Organic Way Farms threw in two additional giant pumpkins that were awarded to the second and third closest guessers – Paul Amoriello at 128 pounds and Jeni Spiva at 120 pounds.

Finally we were delighted to have the third-graders from Mark Twain Elementary visit the market last week, as well as dozens of toddlers with Webb City’s Parents as Teachers program. Like most Webb Citians, we are continually impressed by the breadth and depth of the educational opportunities provided by our school system and by the teachers and staff we see working with the students.