OK, folks, it’s that time of year when we need
you to bring your friends and neighbors to the market, especially to the
weekday markets. We actually sent a bushel of peaches home yesterday!
On the bright side, we had enough cantaloupe
left over yesterday to supply all 150 families expected at Feed the Heart food
pantry distribution tomorrow night. It’s all stored in our walk-in produce
cooler at the market for the pantry to pick up.
What wonderful results we have had from our
collaboration with the pantry and with the annual fundraiser Empty Bowls. Thanks
to the generosity of many the potters who made the bowls, the restaurants who
filled them with soup and the donors who bought them, we were able to add $600
to our farmers’ sales yesterday (even with them selling to us at wholesale bulk
prices so you know that adds up to a LOT of food) and to add cantaloupe,
zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes to the diets of our neighbors in
need. We will add blackberries from the market’s research plot in Mt. Vernon so
it will be quite a feast for folks who rarely get to enjoy fresh produce.
So next November when Phoenix Fired Arts holds
Empty Bowls again, we hope you will consider buying one of the beautiful bowls.
Just this week, the potters began making the first of the 1,000 bowls planned
for the event.
Tomorrow, William Adkins plays on the market
stage. The MU Extension educators will serve samples of Watermelon, Cucumber
and Tomato Salad (yes, watermelon - Owen brought in the first of the watermelon
yesterday!).
The Free Kids Meal will be soft beef tacos,
cherry tomatoes, sweet pepper strips, cantaloupe and blackberries. It is served
from 11 to 1 on Thursdays. MU Extension will lead water games for the kids just
north of the tent.
Stewart’s Bakery is serving chicken and
noodles, mashed potatoes and a vegetable for $6.
On Saturday Cooking for a Cause
benefits Inch at a Time, which a community project to improve the athletic
facilities of the Sarcoxie schools. There will be biscuits and gravy, sausages,
eggs cooked to order, farm fresh tomato slices and coffee or orange juice.
Stewart's Bakery will have burrito bake for $5 to eat-in or
take out.
The Free Kids Meal will be egg casserole and market fruit and
veggies and milk. The Webb City Police Department will do free fingerprinting
at the kids tent from 9 to 11. The parents receive their children’s finger
print cards.
Red Bridge Trio will keep the market hopping with their high
energy bluegrass and gospel.
On Tuesday – remember we’re open on weekdays! –
we’ll have the free kids meal and a couple of meal choices from Stewart’s
Bakery. I will have the menu posted on the market’s website,
webbcityfarmersmarket.com, and on the market’s facebook page on Sunday.
The fabulous Geriatrics will play on Tuesday. That
alone is worth coming to the market.
If you are a gardener or a grower be sure and check
out the grower training page on the market’s web site.
We have two trainings coming up. On Wednesday,
July 26, from 1 to 4, we have a blackberry workshop at the Mt Vernon Research Center,
14548 State Rd H. Patrick Byers, MU Extension, will share information about transitioning
primocanes to the rotating cross arm trellis and blackberry insect and disease management.
You will get to see our research plot which is producing hundreds of pounds of
berries right now. The registration fee of $10 may be paid at the door.
On Monday and Tuesday, August 14 and 15, the
market is hosting the first ever Missouri Tomato Conference, in collaboration
with University of Missouri Extension and Lincoln University Co-operative
Extension. We expect it to be exceptional. Our presenters are nationally-known
experts in their fields. The conference will be held at the Continental Banquet
Center, just behind Granny Shaffers, from 8:45 am to 5 pm on the Monday and
there will be farm tours with in-the-field education from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm on
the Tuesday. The cost is only $30 per person. Details and a registration form
are on the market’s web site.
We are able to bring this together because the
Missouri Department of Agriculture allowed us to use funding left over from our
Winter Production Conferences. We always try to get the biggest bang from any
funding we receive whether it’s from a grant or from our farmers’ fees and we
have gotten such a bang from our conferences that now we can embark on a completely
different area of learning. We love our winter produce and love that the supply
is increasing both in quality and quantity in the winter, but who among us
doesn’t love tomatoes too? Tomatoes are
the top selling vegetable in Missouri but they can be very challenging to grow.
After August we hope farmers from across the state – and in nearby states – are
better equipped to grow and sell the best tomatoes ever. Because we love our
tomatoes – and our farmers. And we want the best for our customers, too.
Now back to my first point –Tomorrow would be
a great day to see you at the market!
