Farm visits have started - learning continues

This week, we visited three growers & a rancher: Countryside View Greenhouse - wow! they are loaded with plants!
Fairhaven - expanded our egg selection with 200 chickens, all with access to green pastures (& cool exterior doors for collecting eggs),
Pates Orchard - looking good (see the panel to the right), and Sunny Lane Farms - complete with new baby calves.

Tim Green, who is very experienced in growing in high tunnels, went along to advise Lester of Fair Haven who is undertaking his first year of growing tomatoes in a high tunnel.

Nehai Xiong, one of our experienced vegetable growers, is interested in putting in a peach orchard. John Pate of Pate's Orchard invited Nehai to come along on the inspection and John spent 2 hours showing Nehai the orchard and explaining his techniques.

One reason the Webb City Market is special? Our exceptional growers!

The Market is Open April 1st - no foolin'

The Webb City Farmers Market is open Friday (tomorrow) from 11 to 2 under the market pavilion. Jimmi’s will serve soup for lunch or take-away: Roasted Pork with cabbage and apples soup and Pasta Fagioli. Jack and Lee Ann Sours will play traditional music.

At the market Friday – Amos Apiaries with raw honey and Fairhaven with LOADS of farm fresh eggs, plus LOMAH Farmers with cheeses; Marlee’s Dairy with raw milk, Black Forest House with American and European pastries, JJ's with frozen blueberries & blueberry syrup, Redings Mill with artisan breads, Freda Mae’s with cakes, pies, and fruit breads, Small Cottage Coffee with freshly roasted coffee beans, and our ranchers with all-natural pork, beef, chicken, lamb, elk and bison.

The market will be open from 11 to 2 under the market pavilion at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park.

The Winter Market is open from 11 to 2 on the first and third Friday of each month through April.

Selection and sales begin when the bell rings at opening. The market is located at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park under the market pavilion. It’s open rain or shine, but not ice or sleet. Customers wanting last minute information on Friday can call 483-8139 or check the market’s facebook page.

Canning Classes start May 31

Sign-ups are open for a series of Food Preservation Classes to be held in Webb City on the topics of:

Home Canning

Making Fantastic Jams & Jellies

How to Pickle

Salsa from Your Garden

Drying & Freezing Produce

Classes are $15 each or $60 for the series and reservations are required. For details, click here.

Our Farmers Are Getting Ready!

Tim and Vi Green have two high tunnels full of tomatoes & they look great!

Free High Tunnel Installation Workshop

If you are considering putting in a high tunnel at your farm or garden, you'll want to attend all or part of the free workshop on Thursday and Friday, March 24 & 25, from 8:30 to 4:30 each day. It will be on the Xiong Farm in Exeter, west of Cassville. Registration is required so enough lunches can be on hand. For details,click go to the flyer

Vendor Applications Available

The Webb City Farmers Market will have applications available for new and returning vendors this Saturday from 10 to 11 am at the Webb City Public Library, 101 South Liberty.

The market is a producer-only market. No resale is allowed. Vendors selling edible produce must complete a food safety: from field to market class prior to selling at the market. A food safety class will be held in Mountain Grove on Thursday, March 8, from 1 to 4 pm. To register for this free class, call 417-547-7533.

Applications, policies and rules may be downloaded here.

The winter market, held on the first and third Friday, will continue through April. The regular weekly Friday and Tuesday markets held from 11 am to 2 pm will begin on Friday, April 22. The weekly Saturday market held from 9 am to noon begins May 7. Food, garden and recycling-related crafts are allowed on Saturdays only. The market will host an Art Market on the second Saturday of each month. Download the Art Market application here.

All applications must be approved prior to selling at the market.

The market is located at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park under the market pavilion. It’s open rain or shine. For more information, call 417 483-8139.

Market just keeps getting better

LOMAH Farms adds mild cheddar to their selection of cheeses on Friday, 3-4. Donna was making neu chattel and cheddar cheese curds last night, so they'll be super fresh. She'll also have havarti and Monterey Jack - and larger quantities and a second salesperson to keep up with the demand. (Above - Yes, we were excited about cheese at the last market!)

JJ Blueberry Farm will be back with frozen blueberries grown on their farm in Fairland, Oklahoma. Perfect for baking, these berries also make a healthy, delicious frozen snack.

Also at the market Friday – Marlee’s Dairy with raw milk, Amos Apiaries’ honey, Black Forest House with American and European pastries, Redings Mill with artisan breads, Freda Mae’s with cakes, pies, and fruit breads, Small Cottage Coffee with freshly roasted coffee beans, Broken Wire with eggs and our ranchers with all-natural pork, beef, chicken, lamb, elk and bison.

Jimmi’s will have corn chowder with ham and leeks soup and herb tomato soup with dumplings for eat in or take out. Weather permitting, Bill Adkins will perform from 11 to 1.

The market will be open from 11 to 2 under the market pavilion at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park.

The Winter Market is open from 11 to 2 on the first and third Friday of each month through April.

Selection and sales begin when the bell rings at opening. The market is located at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park under the market pavilion. It’s open rain or shine, but not ice or sleet. Customers wanting last minute information on Friday can call 483-8139 or check the market’s facebook page.

Today at the market

The Webb City Winter Farmers Market welcomes LOMAH Farms to the market on Friday. LOMAH (Land of Milk and Honey) produces cheese from the milk of their Jersey cattle. The cattle are grass-fed on their 400 acre farm near Wyandotte, Oklahoma, and watered from an artesian spring. On Friday, they will have waxed wheels of Monterey Jack, Cheddar Cheese curds, Havarti, and Neu Chatel soft cheese.
The market will be open from 11 to 2 under the market pavilion at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park. Jack and Lee Ann Sours will play traditional music from 11 to 1.

The market ranchers will have pork, beef, chicken, lamb, buffalo, and elk. Fairhaven will have jams, jellies, and fresh pecan meats. Amos Apiaries will have quarts of local raw honey for sale. In celebration of the weather, Black Forest House will have spring flower basket cookies in addition to a large selection of their usual products. Freda Mae’s is adding whoopee pies and buttery rolls to her baked goods selection. Small Cottage Roasters will have freshly roasted coffee beans in light, medium and dark roasts.

Soup Du Jour by Jimmi’s will serve a bowl of Greek Potato soup or Chicken with Homemade Dill Noodles Soup with bread for $4. The soups will also be available for take home by the jar.

The Winter Market is open from 11 to 2 on the first and third Friday of each month through April.

Selection and sales begin when the bell rings at opening. The market is located at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park under the market pavilion. It’s open rain or shine, but not ice or sleet. Customers wanting last minute information on Friday can call 483-8139 or check the market’s facebook page.

To Sell At The Market

We've gotten a few inquiries from folks wanting to sell at the market this year, so here's reminder that all growers of edible produce at the Webb City Market must complete a food safety training course before selling.

We've already held our food safety workshop for this year. There are a couple of other options - there's a workshop in Mountain Grove on Thursday afternoon, March 10. To register, call 417-547-7533.

Cornell University is opening an on-line course up for registration in the next couple of days. http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/eventscalendar.html

The Mountain Grove workshop is free, the Cornell University course is $50 and this may be the last course they offer at that rate. Their grant is running out and it may have to go up to $300.

Taking the training does not guarantee a spot at the market. The vendor still has to have an application approved.

We'll have information available at our new vendor meeting at 10 am, Saturday, March 12 at the Webb City Library, 101 South Liberty.

Smoked Chicken Salad

I was with Carol Parker today on KSN and did a smoked chicken salad recipe that's really good. Sunny Lane Farms sells fully cooked smoked chicken that's perfects for this recipe.

Smoked Chicken Salad

1 smoked chicken
1 half lemon
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons minced chives
8 oz mayonnaise
Garlic powder to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Remove skin and debone chicken, keeping dark meat separate. Rough chop white meat. Pulverize dark meat in a blender.

Add lemon, parsley, and chives. Mix in mayonnaise little at a time until desired consistency is reached. Season to taste with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I forgot to take the garlic salt to the studio, but I didn't think we needed it. I also added red seedless grapes cut in half which added a nice burst of sweetness. I would have included a photo of this because it's quite pretty, but the KSN folks snarfed it all up!

The market is open this Friday from 11 to 2 and Sunny Lane will be there.