Webb City Sentinel market column - October 28, 2020

Fun news and good news fill this week’s column.

The fun news is that Halloween is falling on Saturday and so we’ll be having some safe holiday
activities. For the kiddos there will be a scavenger hunt. Just pick up the clue sheet at the information table and look for fall crops and other seasonal finds. The last stop is at Kings Kettle Corn so you can probably guess what the reward for completing the hunt is. There will also be a craft table where kids can transform a baby butternut squash into a ghost. Or if you prefer, your kids can pick a squash to take home to decorate. Our thanks to Misty Morning Farms for supplying the little butternuts. Finally for everyone, there will be a photo set complete with the market scarecrows decked out in costumes next to the red barn just north of the pavilion. We hope you’ll share your photos so folks know that, yes, indeed the Saturday market is open all year!

Saturday will be a great day for making some memories….and picking up some good food.

The market breakfast for adults is biscuit with sausage gravy and a choice of cheesy scrambled eggs or cheesy scrambled eggs loaded with produce from the market, plus juice or coffee for $5. All profits support the market’s programs, including the live music which this week will be Dr. G and the Tall Man.

The Free Kids Meal will be a breakfast of biscuit and sausage gravy, a cutie orange, and white milk. Lunch is MaMa JoJo’s artisan pasta with cheese, aka mac ‘n’ cheese, a grilled hot dog, mashed acorn squash, broccoli, and chocolate milk. The squash is from Misty Morning Farm and the broccoli is from Harmony

Hill. Lunch is packed cold and ready to pop into the microwave at home. Every child, from aged 1 through 18, gets both a free breakfast and a free lunch, regardless of where they live. And if the kids aren’t with you, you can pick up a meal for each. Just show us a photo with you and the kids – and that goes for grandkids too.

Music and the above meals run from 9 to 11. Breakfast for the kids and the adults can be served to-go or eat-in. We’ve taken down the tents for the season, so you’ll find them in the north end of the pavilion.

MaMa JoJo’s will serve ready-to-eat artisan pasta with made-at-the-market sauces, as well as uncooked pasta to prepare at home.

We expect five produce farmers, plus both our mushroom growers. Mushrooms are abundant right now, so it’s a good time to give them a try. I did, and now I’m buying at least four packs every week. I sauté the whole bunch and use them every morning in my omelet along with some other market veggies. My husband buys his own mushrooms (I’m not good at sharing) and they were delicious with the steak he prepared tonight (he’s much better at sharing).

Clear Water Shrimp and our meat vendors will be at the market Saturday, as well as Good Golly Tamale. We’ll have honey, freshly roasted coffee beans and drinks, Sunflower Bakery and Redings Mill Bakery. Harmony Hill is taking a break this week and next for some family activities, but they’ll be back after that.

2Ts Soap will be in their regular spot.

The good news is that we learned on Tuesday was the official announcement from the Missouri Department of Agriculture that the market’s proposal “Learning to Love and Grow Specialty Crops at the Market” was among 13 projects awarded grants this year. This grant will allow the market to establish a

teaching garden just north of the Kids Tent and offer education to adults and children about specialty crops. Specialty crops include all the edible crops we sell at the market, plus honey, flowers, and other plants. So we'll have lots to learn about!

We’ll have demonstrations throughout the next two years on all sorts of growing techniques, plus food safety and nutrition education and tastings. We are partnering with University of Missouri Extension to make this a great opportunity for the market and our community. This winter we’ll plan in earnest and you’ll begin to see the garden and education happening in the spring. Since we may still be socially distancing then, we’ll be glad to have the Kids Tent so folks can spread out to learn after the meal is served.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the market on Saturday – especially those in costume. I bet we’ll have some celebrities like Peppa Pig, Spider Man, Minnie and Mickey Mouse, maybe even a fireman or police officer. I’m pretty sure we’ll have some farmers…..