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.
If you were at the market last Saturday, you saw three new
vendors. They’ll be back this Saturday, plus an even newer one! We’ll have farm-raised shrimp from Clear
Water Shrimp Farm based near Neosho, Asarum Flower Farm which is a specialty
cut flower farm also near Neosho. If you’d like to see beautiful flower photos,
check Asarum out on Facebook. Good Golly Tamale from Billings has frozen tamales
and fresh tamale sauce. Last Saturday they had green chili chicken, chipotle chicken,
and vegetarian cheese. Our newest vendor is Missouri Mushrooms from Ash Grove. They’ll
have oyster mushrooms and lion mane mushrooms. More on Saturday below, but
first let’s talk about tomorrow.
Now, let’s get back to Saturday. In addition to our four new
vendors, most of our farmers will help us bring in August – Agee’s, Braker, E
& O, Harmony, the Lees, Nature Valley, OakWoods, Pates, and Still Waters. We
expect three bakers – Harmony, Redings Mill, and Sunflower. Two ranches –
Garrett and Sunny Lane. And our specialty vendors – 2Ts Soap, DnD Smoked, Juniper
Coffee, Kings Kettle Corn, and MaMa JoJo’s. And I won’t be surprised if we hear from a few
more vendors as Saturday nears.
The meals are free to any child, aged 1 through 18,
regardless of residency or income. 
Finally, a couple of celebrations. The market was notified
this week that it has received a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, a state
agency. They are helping with our music costs to the tune of $1,800 this year. We
also learned that the WR Corley Trust has awarded the market’s WIC program
$1,000. The WIC program is funded without any government support so gifts from
foundations, trusts, 
