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| Do we have cucumbers? Oh, YES! (& lots of kids too) |
One of the many pleasant and interesting aspects of
volunteering at the market is making farm visits. This year I’ve done it a bit
differently. Previously I always took another volunteer or board member along –
our policies require two people to make inspections on most visits. This year I
have been able to take Patrick Byers and Shon Bishop, horticulture specialists
with the University of Missouri Extension and Lincoln University Extension
respectively. It’s been a win-win for everyone. Patrick and Shon get out in the
field and see what’s happening on the farms in Southwest Missouri (without having
to worry about mileage costs), I get the inspections completed, and our farmers
get the benefit of expert advice.
On Monday, we had a full day from 8 am to 7 pm, starting out
south of Mount Vernon at Madewell Pork’s farm, then heading up to Lockwood to
see Nancy Rasmussen and her sheep, chickens, cattle and one llama at Sunny Lane
Farm. The llama is a “watch dog” and indeed he gave me a very close eye when I
approached the yearlings to take pictures. After that we stopped at Broken Wire
Ranch just south of Stockton and then Pate’s Orchard in Stockton. We finished
up at Fair Haven visiting Joe and Carrole Palmer.
That particular loop is one of our longest inspection trips, over
250 miles. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be heading over to Springfield to
see PT Gardens’ urban farm and to Fordland to Terrell Creek dairy. And on another trip we’ll visit two of our new growers, Harmony Hills and Zebra Farms
for the second time this year, as required by our policies. Once they have a
year at the market under their belt, they’ll have just one visit each year.
The market began requiring farm visits about 10 years ago. Our
rules from the beginning (in 2000) required sellers to grow or make what they
sold at the market. And that is what I publicize regularly on behalf of the
market. That’s what makes us different from other food outlets. But I soon became
uncomfortable with making that claim based just on a farmer’s signature on
the application. Much as I’d like to just trust all farmers, the fact is that
sometimes folks aren’t truthful and I didn’t want my word to be based on
someone else’s honesty – or lack thereof. So the market members agreed to
require an inspection of all vendors. Initially it was once a year, then we
went to twice a year. Now we’re back to once a year, except for new growers who
are inspected prior to setting up and again later in the season the first year.
Market policy allows me to visit, with or without notice, anytime and I’ll
often pop in to see how things are growing if I’m in the neighborhood.
Even with inspections, the producer-only requirement means
there must be a lot of trust between the grower and the market manager. After
all, I can’t be on every farm every time they harvest. That’s the reason that
if that trust is broken, there’s no going back. A few years ago, I had two
farmers within a week come under suspicion. One had a ton of beautiful green
beans which someone questioned. I had actually been on that farm the week
before and could check my records. They had four fields of green beans and
photos showed them ready for harvest. There was no question that the farm
produced the beans being sold at the market.
The second farm didn’t have such a happy ending. They sold
beautiful sweet corn in August, so beautiful that it would have had to be
sprayed and irrigated. I knew from my prior visit that particular farm didn’t
spray and had no irrigation in place. I called immediately after market to tell
them I was heading their way for an inspection. Before I got in my car, they
called back to say that it was their cousin’s corn, not theirs. Well, I knew it
wasn’t their cousin’s corn either, but it didn’t matter whose corn it was. If
they didn’t grow it, they couldn’t sell it. I told them they could no longer
sell at the market and sent them a list of area markets that they could apply
to, some of which did allow resale. Those particular growers will never sell at
Webb City again, though we are on amiable terms and they have since attended
some of our training sessions.
It was a disappointing experience but it had its pluses. The
farmer found another outlet for their product through the list I gave them and
word quickly spread through our vendor community that producer-only meant
producer-only. You better believe when I visit a farm, they show me every last
thing that they’re growing and if any question comes up later, they want me to
immediately come inspect their farm to verify that they’re following the rules.
Trust, but verify – it’s a combination
that seems to work for us.
Trish Reed, one of our Market Ladies, is focusing on food
preservation. Last Saturday she showed folks how to pickle – cucumbers,
zucchini, and okra. Tomorrow she’s demonstrating how to can tomatoes. It’s a
perfect time of year to do both. The farms are loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers
and zucchini and many of the farms are bringing in boxes of seconds that are more
economical and just right for preserving. Seconds are veggies that have a
blemish that makes them unsuitable for the vendor’s market table, but are
otherwise sound. A little prudent trimming and they’re just fine for canning
and pickling. If you’d like to buy in bulk, just visit with your favorite
farmers. If they don't already, have what you're looking for, ask them to bring it to the next market for you.
Tomorrow Apple Road Farm will have cucumbers for
sale in “pickling batches”. That’s about 6 pounds. Xiong Farm, Brakers,
Fredricksons and others have been bringing big boxes of tomatoes for canning.
Today, William Adkins will perform. Granny Shaffers at the
Market will serve homestyle chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, chicken
salad sandwich and a fresh fruit plate. Our Extension ladies will demonstrate
and sample “Farmers Market Salsa”. They’re spicing up the recipe with corn
freshly roasted at the market. (Broken Wire has started roasting corn as well
as peppers at the market.)
Tomorrow, the Loose Notes play at the market for the first time
this season. The Master Naturalists will serve breakfast till 11.
Tuesday, our easy day – after the first 15 minutes, the
Pommerts will play and Granny Shaffers at the Market will serve freshly grilled
hot dogs and hamburgers, chicken salad sandwiches and a fresh fruit plate.
A week from tomorrow will be our annual Tomato Contests. Bring
us your biggest, weirdest and tastiest tomatoes (in the tasting category we
need two version of the same tomato, one for tasting, one for looking at.) There’s $20 in market tokens for the winners
in each category.
Farmers Market Salsa
Serves 4
1/2 cup fresh raw or cooked sweet corn*
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, diced*
1/4 cup onion, diced*
1/4 cup green pepper, diced*
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 cloves garlic, finely minced*
1/4 cup picante sauce
Baked corn tortilla chips or cut up vegetables for dipping
Wash your hands well. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Drain
before serving. Serve with chips or veggies. Refrigerate leftovers immediately.
*Available now at the market.
