Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, June 23, 2020


Can June really almost be over? A week from today will be July 1st. In my world in Denver, where I rarely see anyone but family, it feels like time passes slowly and then I look at a calendar and realize that it has been rushing by! But I certainly won't complain about my time here, filled with the laughter of grandchildren, the kindness of my daughter and son-in-law, the beautiful weather of Colorado, the Facetime with my French family. There are lots of silver linings for me during this time that has been so hard on so many.

And I am happy to hear good things about the market. The blueberries are pouring in. Blackberries are in season as well. Word is that sweet corn is only a few weeks away.

The market is loaded with tomatoes of various sizes and colors. There are eggplants too in different shapes and sizes. I know a certain loyal customer who is always eager for the Japanese eggplants he loves for grilling. Good news, Bob, they're here! The Yangs and Vangs are bringing lots of cut flowers. We're seeing green beans and new potatoes, squash and zucchini, goose berries and popcorn, cabbages and cauliflower, carrots and beets, and so much more.

Tomorrow Max Barnett is on the market stage. Songbird's Kitchen serves eggrolls and other Asian specialties to go featuring ingredients from her family's farm. 



Thursdays are a great day to come to the market if you want to avoid crowds. Really any market day is pretty good for social distancing if you don't come in the first hour and a half, traffic and parking are easier too. We are working hard on spreading the market out more to reduce crowding, and thank goodness, the Perry Foundation funded our pavilion extension which was finished just in time for the summer. Without it, I don't know what we would have done. It increased our space by 25%. Hopefully some canopies and other shelters will soon add another 25% or more before we hit the busiest time of year – the 4th of July. Our manager, Rachael, is doing an admirable job keeping the market as safe and welcoming as possible during very challenging times. Please give her and our other staff and volunteers a thumbs up when you see them. They deserve it.

Remember, if you cannot or prefer not to enter the pavilion, or just don't want to stand in line, check out the market's online store at localline.ca/webb-city-farmers-market. It's open from Thursday noon to Sunday noon with pickup at the market on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 pm.

Saturday we host The Mayfields with their lively bluegrass and gospel. Cooking for a Cause this week benefits the Wildcat Glades Friends Group who will be cooking and serving breakfast. The $6 meal is packaged to go so you can take it home or over to the splash pad or lakes in the park or stay at the market and enjoy it at a picnic table.

The Free Kids Meals are served up hot to-go and this week's menus are:

Tomorrow from 11 to 1 in the tent north of the market: pepperoni pizza roll-ups with veggie sauce and spinach, local blueberries, and milk.

Saturday from 9 to 11 at the Cooking for a Cause table (kids get both breakfast AND lunch): breakfast – choice of sausage biscuit or biscuit with gravy, plus Braker blueberries, and milk; AND a sack lunch of pepperoni pasta, applesauce, sliced market cucumber with D'n'D ranch dip, and milk.

I thought you might enjoy hearing what's going on at one of our farms so I asked Mabel with Harmony Hill to give me an update:

Believe it or not, we're actually wishing for rain! It seems the endless rain clouds suddenly vanished, and we have enjoyed day after day of beautiful, sunny skies! The mud began to dry up and we were finally able to work in fluffy soil instead of in mud, though you could barely call some of the soil fluffy because the rain had packed the dirt so hard it turned into dirt clods when disked or cultivated! We were thrilled that the sunny weather allowed us to get caught up with all the weeds and planting.  Plus,  with the days finally warm,  all the sad yellowish plants took off growing at an amazing rate,  and finally, one by one the crops have begun to give of their bounty!



We're already getting zucchini by the bushel, the cucumbers and green beans are kicking in. Now that we've harvested the last green onions,  we're pulling out the big sweet onions,  some weighing nearly 1.5 pounds each! The tops of the first onion setting we planted are beginning to droop,  signifying that harvest is near.  We went through and pulled all the weeds around the onion plants and threw them on the hot,  dry soil with an almost vengeful delight,  knowing the sun would soon scorch them beyond hope of growing again.  We could hardly believe the last time we'd weeded them three weeks earlier,  we'd been wading through mud and water! Thankfully the onions didn't drown since they are planted in raised rows under plastic mulch.

We're also beginning to dig the potatoes,  and we love our potato digger we got this year.  No more crawling through the dirt and digging through it for hidden potatoes! We're hoping we can use it for the onions too,  because harvesting thousands of onions by hand is an exhausting job!

The tomatoes are going strong so far,  and the early crops such as cabbage and cauliflower did well. We have one more setting of early crops to go before those are over because it's about time to drop some crops as we gear up for our biggest crop of the year: melons! Because of the cool, wet weather,  they'll be later than some years,  but we're hoping the cantaloupe and an early small,  yellow variety of melons will be coming in about three weeks from now. 

We were finally able to get some mulch for our fruit bushes and trees. It's a pleasure to see the rows well mulched instead of weeds growing there.  The raspberry crop was nearly a failure this year from the cane borers, but the blackberries are loaded! We're also getting a few blueberries from our small plants.  The peaches are loaded this year as well as other fruit trees. We're grateful we didn't get hit by a hailstorm like the one last year that stripped the trees bare of their leaves, fruit, and even some bark!

This year we had a successful hard winter wheat harvest, the kind of wheat we use to make our bread.  Last yea was too dry just as the heads were forming,  but this year was just right,  so we are excited to add wheat to the list of foods we can grow! It wasn't a big batch,  but now we know it's possible to grow it in this area. 

Our customers know Mabel for her skill as a farmer, baker, and gracious salesperson, but she is also a talented writer,artist and now videographer. You can take a tour of the farm on the Harmony Hill Produce Farm Facebook page. Mabel is one of the many lovely people we are privileged to work with at the market. We hope you will stop by this week or order online to enjoy the fruits of their labor.






 
 
 
 

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Webb City Sentinel Market Column - Wednesday, June 10, 2020

As my friend, Matthew Baker, says when he starts his virtual tours “Alrighty then.”  Some of you may know Matthew. He grew up in Sarcoxie and moved to New York City to become an actor and eventually became a tour guide extraordinaire. With a flair for performance and a deep interest in history and culture, Matthew is a perfect fit for his profession. Since tourism is a no-go in New York during COVID, he has taken to you tube and has over 50 five-minute free tours online. The latest one is on NYC gardens. You can tour from home by going to https://www.facebook.com/matthew.baker.5011 or search for him on you tube.

So, alrighty then. I have some exciting news for cheese lovers. Graison’s Dairy and Creamery will be at the market on Saturday. This dairy is based in Ava and the cheese is made in the commercial kitchen of our own Terrell Creek Artisan Cheese. Creamery owner Adrian Buff is trained in the Swiss tradition of cheese making. His cheese is made from cows’ milk and includes several varieties including Ozark Mutschili and Grisentaler. The Creamery will be selling in the new south section of the pavilion right beside Terrell Creek.

The on-line store is growing too. Adding OakWoods Farm and Nature Valley last week really expanded our produce selection. Nature Valley offered sugar snap peas, zucchini, cauliflower, beets, carrots, green beans, green onions, Thai cabbage, garlic, mint, cilantro, and basil, and customers could choose the size – small or medium zucchini for example and quantity. One customer ordered 50 bunches of beets for pickling and plans to order more. And free range farm fresh eggs from Stormy Farm are on-line for the first time. And don’t forget the tomatoes from Braker Berry Farm and Harmony Hill Farm. So hop on-line tomorrow after 12 noon and see what’s on offer. You can pay ahead and park at the market on Tuesday between 5 and 7 to pick up your order. If you need something that is not in the on-line store, you can pop into the market and make your visit safe and short. The farmers harvest their on-line orders at the same time they harvest for the Tuesday market so it’s the freshness and quality you expect at the market. Click the link on the market’s website:  webbcityfarmersmarket.com  

Free Kids Meals are served in the tent north of the pavilion and are free to kids, aged 1 through 18, regardless of income or residency:

Thursday from 11 to 1 – Lunch is spaghetti with veggie and meat sauce, garlic bread, mixed veggies, and milk

Saturday from 9 to 11 – Breakfast is a choice of sausage biscuit, fruit and milk or biscuit and gravy, fruit and milk, and a bonus lunch of locally raised grilled applewood bratwurst, applesauce, fresh market veggie with DnD smoked ranch dipping sauce and milk.

Drew Pommert is on the market stage on Thursday. 

On Saturday, we welcome Justin Cauble to the stage. Saturday the Friends of the Webb City Public Library serve breakfast. Cooking for a Cause features scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits and gravy (or jelly), hashbrown casserole, local tomato slices, and juice or coffee for $6.


On Tuesday we host our first Eat Street of the season from 4 to 8. Food trucks will include Ghetto Taco (plus grilled Mexican corn), Culver Creek Barbecue, Flounders Fish and Chips, Songbird’s Kitchen, Smack Dabs with Creole cuisine, plus King’s Kettle Corn’s Squeezers Fresh Lemonade. Dance Monkey Dance will liven up the market stage. And of course we’ll have all our wonderful market vendors and a free meal for kids from 4:30 to 6:30.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, June 3, 2020

 Gentle readers, this will be a short column.  I lost my biggest cheerleader and best supporter on Saturday.  Though dementia had robbed my mother, Frances Hardison Nichols, of many of the strengths she honed as a parent, a community organizer, and all round special person, she held on to her social skills, continuing to charm all who met her with her graciousness to the end.  She had a long, productive life, but I miss her too much right now to focus on the market.  Luckily the market no longer depends on just one person so it will continue to be there for all of us.

The market is open tomorrow from 11 to 2.  We have a new food truck, Slider Shack, and, you guessed it, they serve sliders and sides. 

The market will host it's first Cooking for a Cause in a long time this Saturday.  The Webb City High School Redettes will serve scrambled eggs, hashbrown casserole, sausages, biscuit and gravy (or jelly), and juice or coffee.  You can get breakfast to go, or eat it on the market picnic tables, or bring your own blanket for a picnic, all while supporting our school's dance team.
Jake and Corky are on the market stage.

On Saturday, the market premiers “Put Your $ Where Your Heart Is”.  We hope you will toss your change in the market's donation jar at the information table every time you shop.  If all, or even half, of our customers get into the habit of putting in a quarter or two, we can ensure the market thrives long into the future.  We're often told how much the market is appreciated, what excellent farmers we have helped train, how important the market programs are.  To keep the market at its best, we need financial support from our community and we hope this is a painless way to do that.  So please toss some change into the jar as you pass the information table.

Tuesday will be Taco Tuesday again with Ghetto Taco and Cochinita Mexican Street Food.  Randy Corbin and Phil Greer are on the market stage.


The Free Kids Meal this week will be served up hot to-go in the tent north of the pavilion:

Tomorrow, lunch is served from 11 to 1:  grilled beef hot dogs, whole wheat chips, carrots, a banana, and milk

Saturday, served from 9 to 1:  Breakfast is a choice of biscuit and gravy with fruit and milk or a sausage biscuit with fruit and milk.  Kids will also receive a bonus brown bag lunch.

Please remember to socially distance while at the market.  Tuesday and Thursday markets are the easiest for that.  It's best to plan to wear a mask during the first hour of any market day as its always fairly crowded when the market opens.  If you don't like wearing a mask, please come during the last two hours of market when it's less crowded.  Remember, you are protecting our community, our farmers, our customers, our volunteers, when you keep it safe at the market.