Mike Wiggins of Granny Shaffers fame stopped
by the market yesterday. He was picking up tomatoes for the restaurant. I love
a restaurant that goes the extra mile to bring fresh and local to their
customers.
Mike commented that the produce looked
terrific, which it does. The main reason for that that our farmers have high
tunnels. We do have some produce coming from the fields, but the farmers with
two or more tables loaded with produce are mainly harvesting from their high
tunnels which generally are unaffected by the rains.
I hadn’t thought of this until Mike made his
comment and I pointed out the farms at the market yesterday – Misty Morning has
two tunnels, E & O has three, the Lee Family Farm has two, Yang Family Farm
has three, Oakwoods has three (that's Doug putting up their third tunnel last year), Nature Valley has one, Harmony Hill has two, and
Braker Farm has four. That’s a lot of
protected growing.
And we have at least three other farms which
weren’t at the market yesterday who also have tunnels.
It all started over ten years ago when the
market first partnered with MU Extension to hold high
Training, state and federal support, and marvelous
farmers are why even with difficult weather the market was loaded with fresh
local produce yesterday – and will be tomorrow and Saturday. Oh, and there’s
one more reason – customers! The market
just wouldn’t work without our customers who brave the rain or traffic to buy
our farmers’ produce.
Someone else who benefits from our abundant
produce are the kids who are also enjoying the taste of freshness. These are
the menus for the Free Kids Meal.
Wednesday at the Webb City Library from noon
to 1: turkey, ham, and cheese wraps,
apple sauce, market sugar snap peas, and milk.
Thursday at the market from 11 to 1: grilled
hot dog, with apple sauce, market veggies, and milk.
Saturday at the market from 9 to 11:30: Ham and egg casserole with a banana, milk and
juice.
Tuesday at the market: homemade meatballs with
spaghetti, apple sauce, market veggies, and milk.
The meal is free to all kids aged 1 through 18
regardless of where they live.
On Thursday the Webb City Police Department
will be doing a free Kid Print at the Kids Tent. Parents and guardians can have
their kids finger printed and take home the card. Hopefully it will just become
a fun keepsake, but in the mean time they’ll have it in case of emergency.
FitFoods is serving roasted chicken, baked
potato, salad and lemonade for $7 Thursday. MU Extension nutrition educators
will be at the market with a good-for-you recipe to sample. Randy Corbin is on
the market stage.
Saturday is another special market, made even
more so by the return of Marshal Mitchell. It’s been
several years since he’s
been on the market stage but before he got so busy being in demand elsewhere he
was a regular at the market. Likely he’ll have his cowboy hat on and be sitting
on a saddle Saturday and I’m expecting his signature farewell of “Happy Trails
to You.” It will be a treat to have him
back.
The Friends of the Webb City Library serve
Cooking for a Cause. Biscuit and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausages, hashbrown
casserole, market tomatoes slices, and coffee or juice for $6. The profits from
your meal will help fund Clickety Clack and other Friends projects.
The Kids Garden Club meets Saturday and it’s
all about sunflowers.
Tuesday Ghetto Taco will be at the market with
street tacos, plus beans and rice if you want the full meal – which I always do
because Carlotta’s beans are wonderful. Yoga starts at 5:45. Sorry, I don’t
know who is playing so it will be a surprise!
What won’t be surprising? Loads of fresh and local, good meals, good
music, good fun, and good folks. See you at the market!
Update - Max Barnett is playing Tuesday.
