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…..

 

Food Safety Class for Growers Coming Up

 Food Safety Training is required for all growers selling edible produce at the market.  

 Register here by October 30 for the all-day November 5 class which includes: 

 
Introduction to Produce Safety, Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training, Soil Amendments, Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use, Agricultural Water (Part I: Production Water;  Part II: Postharvest Water), Postharvest Handling and Sanitation, & How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan

 
Benefits of Attending the Course

 
The course will provide a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan.  Individuals who participate in this course are expected to gain a basic understanding of: Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm, How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing produce safety practices on the farm, Parts of a farm food safety plan and how to begin writing one, & Requirements in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them. 

Taking the class does not guarantee admission into the market as a vendor but would benefit any grower regardless of where their food is sold.

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Bundle up this Saturday. It’s going to be chilly, but a trip to the market will be well worth making. In addition to our usual offerings, we welcome a special appearance by Just a Taste Webb City. This local business opened last September with limited offerings, but closed in March due to COVID. Now to celebrate their re-opening they will be at the market sampling a dish from their new menu – Mushroom Risotto, creamy mushroom and rice dish topped with a fried egg. Be sure and stop by their table for a taste.

Just a Taste has a special relationship with the market because their goal is to source 100% of their menu from local farms and ranches. They are already at 60% for their proteins which include lamb from our own Sunny Lane Farm. They also feature several of our other vendors’ products including eggs from Stormy Farms, microgreens from OakWoods and DnD’s spices. 

Sunny Lane's Greg Rasmussen leads the sheep to pasture

They hope to source 100% of their proteins locally within a year and 100% of their ingredients within a few years. Their sister business Just a Taste MO in St. James just reached that goal after four years of operation. 

Just a Taste Webb City will open its restaurant, tasting room, and cocktail bar on Wednesday, November 1. They will serve lunch from 11 to 2 and dinner from 5 to 9 on Wednesday, Thursday, and 5 to 10 on Friday and Saturday. Brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 2. The bar and tasting room will have the same hours. The menu will include entrees featuring steak, lamb, and pork, as well as seafood, pasta dishes, and salads. Reservations are recommended since they will be operating at 50% capacity due to COVID. Luckily they have renovated one of the largest buildings on Main Street so they have lots of room for social distancing.

Just a Taste Missouri began as a tasting bar in St. James featuring its own label – Eagles’ Landing wines which are made with grapes grown within the state. Just a Taste also carries its own line of mead made with honey from Peculiar. Eating and drinking locally is at the core of their values. You’ll find them in downtown Webb City at 105 South Main Street. Get more information on Facebook. 

If you’re hungry, the market is the place to be this Saturday. Breakfast will be biscuit and sausage gravy, cheesy scrambled eggs or loaded (with market veggies) cheesy scrambled eggs, and a drink for $5. The market puts on the breakfast in the winter and plows the profits back into its operation.

Songbird’s Kitchen will have just-made egg rolls, crab Rangoon, and other Asian goodies. MaMa JoJo’s will have artisan pasta freshly cooked with market-made sauces for eat-in or take out. You can also buy their uncooked pasta to prepare later in the week. Remember, now that the Tuesday market is closed, you’re buying for all week.

The Free Kids Meal is Breakfast – Butternut Squash quick bread (think banana bread with fall flavors), fruit parfait, and white milk; AND Lunch – baked barbecue chicken, potato salad, cucumber slices, and chocolate milk. Every child, aged 1 through 18, gets a free breakfast and a free lunch, regardless of where they live or their income status.

 

Breakfast and the Kids Meals run from 9 to 11. Songbird’s and Mama JoJo’s serve from 9 to noon.

And if you plan to be hungry this week, and who of us won’t be, the market is the place to be for local fresh produce – we’re expecting nine farms, plus our two mushroom growers, for protein from Sunny Lane, Garret Family Farm, Misty Morning Farm, and Clear Water Shrimp, and for baked goods from Harmony Hill, Redings Mill, and Sunflower Bakery. Spice up your life with frozen tamales from Good Golly Tamale and smoked salts, spices, and mixes from DnD, sweeten up life with honey and honey products from Helm Family Farms, savor life with freshly roasted coffee beans and coffee drinks from Juniper Coffee, and snack to your heart’s content with treats from Kings Kettle Corn. Love the clean with 2Ts Soap & Stuff. And make your kitchen pretty and practical with sewn goods from Debbie Fedie. Life is good at the market.

Randy Corbin and Phil Greer will play on the market stage from 9 to 11 if it isn’t too cold.

Next Saturday is Halloween and we’re working on some special and safe kids activities including a photo set featuring the market scarecrow family dressed for the holidays and kids meals with a spooky twist. Wear a costume, (bring the kids dressed up too) and make some fun memories at the market. If you have some ideas, we’d love to hear them.

See you soon at the market!

 

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, October 14, 2020

We’re heading into Winter Market this week, though we’re hoping for more beautiful fall days. Yesterday was our last Tuesday market for the year. It’s always bitter sweet to say goodbye to Tuesdays but invariably it is time by the middle of October. Our customer base begins to dwindle for the weekday market even though our produce supply is still good. For the first time all year, we had periods of time yesterday with no customers at all. When we first opened 21 years ago that wasn’t unusual, especially during the last hour of market, but it is virtually unheard of now – except on our last Tuesday of the year.

For our Tuesday shoppers who need uncrowded shopping, come to the Saturday market after 10 am and you should have plenty of room.

This Saturday, we welcome back Still Waters Farm and Clear Water Shrimp. We should have a total of 11 farms with local produce, plus our mushroom growers. Harmony Hill will have baked goods, as will Redings Mill and Sunflower Bakery. Garrett Family Farm and Sunny Lane Farm will have all-natural meats. Specialty vendors include DnD Smoked with salts, spices, and mixes, Good Golly Tamale, Juniper Coffee with freshly roasted coffee beans and coffee drinks, Kings Kettle Corn, MaMa JoJo’s Pasta, and 2Ts Soap & Stuff.

Both MaMa JoJos and Songbird's Kitchen will have tasty food for eat-in or take out.

Music and meals run from 9 to 11. Drew Pommert plays.

The adult breakfast will be, by popular demand, biscuit and gravy (with extra sausage in the gravy) served with scrambled cheddar eggs, and coffee or juice for $5. Profits from breakfast support the market.

The Free Kids Meals is free to any child, aged 1 through 18. This Saturday, the meals include a hot breakfast of biscuit and gravy, wedge of watermelon, and a couple of slices of kohlrabi, plus white milk. Kohlrabi is a vegetable but tastes very much like a crisp pear. I think the kids will like it, I do. AND a sack lunch of a ham, cheese, cucumber, and sweet pepper roll up, with broccoli salad, cherry tomatoes, and chocolate milk.

See what I mean about a lot of produce?  The kids meals include produce from Braker Berry Farm, E & O Produce, Harmony Hill, and Yang Family Farm. Both the adult breakfast and the Free Kids breakfast can be eaten at the market or packed for take away.

Remember as we move into the cooler season that the market remains open air, so dress for the weather. We aim to continue to be a safe place for the community to shop by providing plenty of fresh outdoor air and lots of room for social distancing. The picnic tables are spread out across the north lawn and the vendors are stretched out over 300 feet of covered space.  Welcome to the Winter Market!

Webb City Sentinel column - Wednesday, October 7, 2020

We’re looking forward to a beautiful Saturday. We had expected a miserable one last week, with a forecast of 50 degrees when we opened. I wasn’t expecting many folks to come for breakfast and certainly not many would eat at the market. I dressed for the forecast and arrived at the market at 6 am wearing five layers of clothing and immediately shed two. It was downright balmy. And the breakfast turnout was great. Over 60 adults ate breakfast and 118 children received breakfast and lunch. With the good forecast and tasty menus, we’re preparing for 75 and 150 respectively this week. Those tasty menus are:

Adults – Breakfast casserole, a ham, egg, cheese, & biscuit combo, hashbrown casserole, a wedge of watermelon, and coffee or juice for $5.

For kids, aged 1 through 18 – Breakfast:  Breakfast casserole, baked tomatoes oregano, cherry tomatoes, and milk. Lunch – chicken salad, Club crackers, ranch dressing with cucumbers and sweet peppers strips for dipping, and milk.

Folks picking up for their kids should bring a photo of themselves with the kids so we can get a head count.

All the meals are served for eat in or take out from 9 to 11 under the green canopy north of the pavilion. Justin Cauble performs in the pavilion from 9 to 11 as well.

Before I go further, I should acknowledge some amazing market supporters – Ann who held down the fort serving the kids meal, Paul who saw it looked like we could use some help and stepped in to serve drinks and keep the kid count, Rick who also stepped in to serve the adult meal and also serve as runner to the kitchen, and Dan who flipped literally hundreds of pancakes. I often write about how much I appreciate our vendors, which is very true, but our volunteers just blow me away.

We’ve got a dandy market lined up for you on Saturday. Ten produce farms will be there, plus our two mushroom farms. Saturday will be your last chance to buy elephant garlic from Hillside Farm. I’m stocking up. Grissom Dairy returns with cows’ cheese. Bakers include Sunflower Bakery, Redings Mill Bread Company, and Harmony Hill Farm. MaMa JoJo’s Pasta will have uncooked artisan pasta as well as cooked pasta to go and market-made sauces. We’ll have honey, specialty coffee, beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. Good Golly Tamale is coming, as well as DnD Smoked,  Kings Kettle Corn, 2Ts Soap & Stuff, and Alchemist Haven.

We still have loads of produce, including some new things like lemon grass and fresh ginger. We still have lots of mums and pumpkins as well.

This Tuesday is our last weekday market of the year. Songbird’s Kitchen will have Asian goodies like egg rolls and crab Rangoon. I’ll miss our quiet easy weekday markets, but they’ll be back in the spring and we’ll continue to have Saturday markets all year.

I’m going to close with another treasure I have discovered among my family’s possessions. And I readily admit this has nothing to do with the market, but, hey, it’s my column. This was a letter dated August 27, 1944, written from Amarillo, Texas, where my grandfather’s engineering company had a project underway. My father, who was 18, and was called Bob by his father had been hired to work on the project as a summer job. This letter was written by Dad’s father Marvin to his wife Ethel who was, of course, Dad’s mother. “Bob is certainly enjoying himself. He and I are rooming together. He charges his meals (to the room which Granddad was paying for), gets spending money off the dresser (where no doubt Granddad put his money), has his car rented to us (Freese & Nichols Engineering), and deposits his (pay) check each month. Currently he has been courting Frances Hardison of Eunice New Mexico who has been working at the hotel mail desk. 18 years, brunette, plays piano, cello, and has a voice scholarship at TWC for this winter. She returned home today.”  Yes, Frances was my mother. Marvin had no clue when he wrote the letter that four engagements later he would find himself in Eunice, New Mexico, attending his son's wedding.  Four engagements?  Well, that's another story.

 

What fun to find this casual comment on a chance meeting that resulted in a new family, one that I hold dear. I guess that is almost always the way it is, good things happen by chance.  And we often don't even know when they happen, the impact they will have.

I hope many good things come your way, on purpose or by chance, this week. And I hope one of those good things is coming to the market. See you there!

 

Webb City Sentinel's market column - Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Fall is rushing past us. E & O Produce has almost sold out of their gloriously in-full-bloom mums, but

Braker Berry Farm has a good supply that have blooms still tightly tucked in so they will be unfolding for several weeks. And then, folks, we’ll be done with Tuesday market for the year. I’ll keep you posted, but it’s looking like two or three more Tuesdays right now.

Saturdays, of course, keep going all year, changing with the seasons but always offering the best of local produce and artisan goods. This Saturday we’re looking forward to Allphin Orchard returning. They have had their share of struggles this year, primarily in the critter department. Jim Allphin told me he put up a game camera and it looked like an invasion each night as the deer enjoyed the fruits that were supposed to be his harvest. Even the wind falls, the apples which fall to the ground and which his family normally gathers for their own cider, have been spirited away by ground hogs. He hasn’t come up with a solution for the ground hogs yet but he has installed an electric fence. The one around his garden has kept deer out so he’s hoping one around the orchard will do the same. 

I was once in San Francisco presenting at a conference and was able to go on some of the farm tours connected with the conference. One stop was a Buddhist monastery nestled between the ocean and the wooded foot hills. The monastery had large gardens which were harvested for sale at area farmers markets. One of my fellow bus travelers asked the farm manager if she had trouble with critters. She was an articulate and attractive young woman, garbed in what I would call hippie type clothes and wearing dread locks. She looked bewildered at the question as if she did not understand so the man repeated his question “Deer. Do you have trouble with deer.”  “Ah, no,” she responded, “we always plant the two rows nearest the woods for the animals. The deer rarely venture out further than that and all the other creatures are usually kept pretty close to the woods by the hawks.”   The Buddhist solution to critters was apparently to not see them as a problem.

I don’t think Jim has any hawks so I’m glad he isn’t going to let the critters have ALL the apples.

We’re using some of those apples in a breakfast dish this Saturday. Cooking for a Cause ended with September and breakfast is going to be a little different for the rest of the year.

The market staff, with the help of a few volunteers, is serving breakfast to raise funds for one of our favorite charities – the market! And the menu will change each week. This Saturday it will be pancakes and sausage, along with apple & butternut squash casserole. Breakfast will be packed to go, and you’ll probably want to eat it at home because the forecast is for cold weather this weekend. We’re keeping the side walls up, probably until Thanksgiving, so the market remains super safe. The CDC says the great outdoors is the safest place for shopping. We’ll see how much of the great outdoors we can stand in the winter. So dress for the weather. We sure will.

Something else new for this unusual year is the Free Kids Meal which we are starting up again this Saturday. The USDA has continued the waiver that allowed us to serve during the school

year last spring. We will serve a hot breakfast to go along with a packed lunch every Saturday. The kids meals are served from 9 to 11 and each child, age 1 through 18, receives both breakfast and lunch, regardless of income or residency. This Saturday the breakfast is pancakes, apple & butternut squash casserole, and milk. The lunch is a wrap featuring ham, cream cheese, and fresh market veggies, watermelon, and milk. Parents can pick up meals for their kids if they prefer not to bring them. Just show us a photo of them with you so we can get a head count.

This Saturday we expect 10 farms and two ranches, plus DnD Smoked, Good Golly Tamale, Juniper Coffee, MaMa JoJo’s Pasta, Redings Mill Bread, Songbird’s Kitchen, and Sunflower Bakery. I have mixed feelings about such a good turnout of vendors because that means I’ll be at market before 7 am helping put up canopies on our south tents before I start flipping about a hundred pancakes. Having that extra 80 feet of

vendor space has allowed us to spread out so the market isn’t crowded. And it feels great to not have to worry that I’ll find the tents in a tangle again. Twice was two times too many. Without the canopies on, the wind just blows through the metal frames and leaves them unharmed. I’m not an early riser, but I’ll rise early one day a week to make sure our busiest day of the week is safe and successful.

I hope to see you on Saturday, if I’m not nodding off. It’s going to be another great week at the market.

 

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

Fall is officially here. And though we still have quite a bit of summer produce, the market has looked like fall for several weeks and gets more fallish every week. For example, we’re expecting lots of big beautiful mums and fall plants this Saturday, and a fabulous selection of pumpkins. We even had yellow pumpkins last week. And Allphin Family Orchard will have apples at the market on Saturday!  They will have Jonagolds and Golden Delicious varieties. Apples are considered storage crops, but fresh apples are so much better than stored ones. Get them while you can because fall rushes past quickly.

This time of year we always wonder, when will the first hard freeze come?  The average first frost date around here according to The Old Farmers Almanac is October 20. But there was a year about a decade ago when the first hard freeze was in September and plenty of times that we hadn’t had a freeze at Thanksgiving. Luckily we have so many farmers who farm under protection that that freeze will not affect us as much as it used to. Back then the market completely shut down until April once the freeze had hit. How things have changed.

We are, of course, thinking about the immediate future. Since the CDC tells us that an open air pavilion is safer than indoors we will be delaying dropping the walls as long as possible. Likely they won’t come down until the week of Thanksgiving when we’ll be preparing for the city’s Polar Bear Express events. We always take care of most of the Christmas decorations and I’m the official decorator of the streetcar. I really thought I wouldn’t be here this year for that, but construction of our “mother-in-law” quarters continues to be delayed by a slow moving gas company. A gas line has to be moved before the basement can be dug. In June the estimate was 2 to 6 weeks. Last week it had been whittled down to 2 to 5 weeks. I’m sure going to miss knowing folks who can make things happen when I move….

In reality, I’m going to really miss knowing folks period. We’ll be starting over on that but I have some good role models -  wonderful market volunteer Deb and her husband Gary. They moved here several years ago and have made friends and become regular volunteers in many community programs. Not only did Deb start our children’s reading program, but she also volunteers regularly at a nursing home. Sadly both have been suspended during the pandemic. Deb and Gary were the instructors for the parks’ pickle lessons and they play regularly at the park with the new friends they taught. Gary was recently appointed to the park board.

I might explain that I put quotes around “mother-in-law” because there will be a father-in-law too. In any case, it looks like it will be summer before we’ll be officially moved so I get to decorate for Christmas this year. The streetcar is particularly fun because it is small and easy to fill with glittering balls, bows, and garland. I need to train some others for next year, so if you’d like to be part of the fun, give me a call and we’ll decorate together.

An even more immediate project is Saturday morning meals.

The market will be taking care of breakfast for the public starting October 3. It’s going to be pancakes that day. We’re thinking about having a rotating menu, for example, pancakes the first Saturday of the month, followed perhaps by a breakfast casserole the next Saturday, and a breakfast burrito after that and so forth. We’ll see how it goes. It will be packed hot to-go so folks can eat it at the market if the weather is nice or take it home to enjoy if it is cold. We are also planning to start the Free Kids Meal back up on October 3 with a hot to-go breakfast that mirrors the public meal with a brown bag lunch. We could use a couple of volunteers each week so, again, let me know if you’d like to help. Call or text me at 417 483-8139.

This Saturday will be our last Cooking for a Cause of the year. The Webb City High School Band Boosters will be serving scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuit and gravy, hashbrown casserole, and a choice of juice or coffee for $6 from 8:30 to 11. David Loving will be on the market stage.

Tuesday will be our last pick up day for the online store. We’re suspending it for now but should demand ramp up again or COVID issues get dire, we can leap back online with a very short notice. Right now it seems like 99.9 % of our customers are comfortable shopping in the pavilion which is wonderful. Farmers markets are all about community and even with many of us wearing masks and social distancing that feeling of community is strong at our market. So if it’s chilly, bring a jacket. It may be cool at the market, but the welcome is warm.

See you at the market!

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, September 16, 2020

My stint of melon cutting has come to an end.

The melon crop will start petering out soon and I don’t want to take orders online that I might not be able to fill so I have removed them from the online store. But it has been a fun run. Since the middle of July I’ve cut and packed 110 quarts of melon and cut melon for about 600 free kids meals. That’s a lot of melon and it sure was good!

Now is the time to savor the season of fall. MU Extension was at the market yesterday with samples of pumpkin bread. It was lovely, not too sweet but full of fall flavors. Our Extension nutrition educator comes to most Tuesday markets so stop by and sample a tasty healthy recipe featuring market produce.

The market will look even more seasonal than usual this Saturday because in additional to the huge mum plants and all the pumpkins and gourds in every shape and color, we  will have large decorative corn stalks. Jann
Amos, and corn stalks from his garden, will be set up by E & O Produce. You may remember Jann as our honey vendor for well over a decade. This Saturday he’s happy to be your corn stalk vendor.

Saturday we’ll have ten farms, plus two mushroom growers. The farms will be loaded with produce, several will have pumpkins and mums, Maypop and Vang Garden will have lovely cut flowers. The flowers always seem to be at their most spectacular in the fall. Garrett and Sunny Lane will have all-natural meats, Helm’s will have honey and honey products, DnD Smoked will have a wide selection of their seasonings and mixes. Clear Water Shrimp Farm will be at the market, as will three bakeries. MaMa JoJo’s will have artisan pasta along with made-at-the-market sauces. Good Golly Tamales will have their frozen tamales, which by the way are gluten-free. They also have vegetarian and vegan options, as well as mild through super hot fillings. Ghost pepper anyone?

Juniper Coffee is back. They took a short vacation and they were missed!

Cooking for a Cause benefits Crosslines, our regional food pantry. The cooks and servers are recruited by Central United Methodist Church which is one of the more than 40 churches that supports Crosslines. Crosslines started in 1982 and serves Joplin, Carl Junction, and Webb City. It continues to meet its original mission:  to eliminate duplication of services while providing a centralized location to operate a food pantry and clothing bank. Since its inception, folks in need can go to one location for a wide range of services rather than search from church to church.

 

Justin Cauble will be on the NEW market stage which has moved to the center of the pavilion. We had to move music out to the tent for most of the summer to avoid crowding but now space has eased up inside the pavilion and we are so glad to have our music back with us.

 

The Tuesday market continues to be our easy day. Easy to park, easy to shop, easy to social distance, easy to get a tasty meal or snack. We have lots of picnic tables out on the grass and under the tent so folks can enjoy a Saturday breakfast or pasta dish on Saturdays or street tacos and grilled corn or Asian food on Tuesdays outside in the lovely fall weather. Plenty of room, plenty of fresh air. There's probably not a safer, more welcoming place to get your good food. Welcome to the market.

Webb City Sentinel market column - September 9, 2020

Note - one of these pictures is not like the others - it wasn't taken at the market and it's 65 years old.  Neither fresh nor local!

I’ve been walking down Memory Lane the last few weeks. I am sorting through boxes that have been stored for decades, some for over 10 decades. I am finding many treasures that must stay in the family. But, luckily there are things that I can let go. Thank goodness for my friend Debbie who sells them on Ebay for me.

For example, my father was a huge fan of all things connected with Route 66. He had books, maps, post cards, tie tacks, you name it. If it was about Route 66, he wanted it. Unfortunately, none of his children or grandchildren shares his enthusiasm for Route 66. I would have hated to simply throw away these things of which my father was so fond, or dump them in boxes for a rummage sale, so Debbie has listed them on Ebay and they are now owned by people all over the country who share my father’s love of Route 66, people who are delighted to have them, just as Dad was. That feels really good.   

Now multiply that by all the things that Phil and I have accumulated during 40 years in Webb City, all the things my parents accumulated and brought here when they moved to Webb City, many, many things Mother and Dad brought that had belonged to their parents, and even to Dad’s grandmother! And, of course, I still have a few of my children's things stored so that makes five generations of memories, treasures, and odds and ends.

My daughter, Cora, is particularly happy that I have taken on this project so she won’t have to do it later. She spent much of this summer helping her partner, Emmanuelle, and Emmanuelle’s sisters clear out their family home which has been sold. It had been in the family for 300 years! And it was big – three stories tall surrounding a central open courtyard. Cora is pretty sure all 300 years worth of stuff was still there. At least she didn’t have to go through all the written material because it was in French since the house is in France.

It’s that written material that really slows the process down, but also provides the most interest. I found a large box full of my parent’s love letters while they were courting in college. I have only read a few. I will take the box to Denver when I move and have more time to enjoy them. This is a part of my parents that I had not known and what I’ve read so far is endearing and lovely.

The letters to my father’s mother when she was 12 and 13 from her own mother were an entrancing look into the past. My grandmother, Ethel, who we called Granny, lived away, I think perhaps for schooling, and her mother was diligent in keeping in touch. The letters are lent poignancy by my knowledge that her mother died unexpectedly shortly after what turned out to be the last letter. It was a bit heartrending to find all these letters written over a hundred years ago
lovingly tied together with a pink satin ribbon.

I found several letters from Granny’s grandmother to her father. She would have been my great-great grandmother. Clearly she was in poor health and didn’t feel well and was not a happy person. I should preface the letter by saying that Granny I knew was a club woman, very proper, never leaving the house without a hat and gloves. As far as Granny was concerned, children were to be seen, not heard. She had many fine attributes, she was an able farm manager and business manager, and she was a community leader, but she was definitely not a babysitter. I have a photo of her and us kids posing for the Fort Worth Star Telegram to promote the Telegram’s society page. Granny is dressed oh so properly, and two of my brothers (the youngest wasn't born yet) and I were  dressed far more carefully than usual.  We are all on the floor "playing". 

I expect that was the only time she ever played with us, and certainly the only time I saw her on the floor.  I guess it was a sign of the times that the paper wanted to pose her with children rather than showing her raising funds for the restoration of Fort Worth's first residence.  My grandfather was featured in another photo, at his desk. 

So envision my very proper grandmother as I share the letter from her own grandmother to her father. Granny would have been about 16 when it was written:

Greenville (Texas) Feb 4^th 1913.

Dear James,

I will write you a few lines…. I am in hope that Ethel has quit her fast ways; the way that she carried on last summer was scandalous. I am in hopes that she will never visit Terrell any more….

Terrell was where Granny lived as a child and apparently had returned for a visit. This was a peek into the past that I had never expected.

You may wonder, what has this to do with the market?  Well, honestly not a lot, except that it acknowledges that my efforts have been elsewhere for some time and in many ways that has proven to be a good thing. It has allowed our market manager, Rachael Lych, to fully take the reins, albeit during challenging times, and she has risen to the challenge. My role is now primarily mentor, writer, grant administrator, and tent erector. We lost more than half our tents in the storms last week. Thanks to volunteer Terry and his good wife Sharon, we got them repaired and back up. I’m trying a new approach. The tent tops are only in place during the Saturday market. It means a little extra effort putting the tarps on Saturday morning and taking them off Saturday afternoon but hopefully with only the frames up during the week we won’t find them in a tangle again.

This Saturday we are expecting 11 farms loaded with fresh produce. We’ll have loads of pumpkins of every size, shape, and color. The mums are big and ready to pop out in bloom. We’re also expecting Maypop Flower Farm and Vang  Garden with cut flowers, Salt and Light Farmhouse with mushrooms, and Grison Dairy & Creamery with cheese. We should have fresh shrimp, frozen tamales, raw honey and honey products, artisan pasta and made-at-the-market red sauces, kettle corn, popcorn, pork rinds, baked goods from Harmony Hill, Redings Mills, and Sunflower Bakery. We’ll also have all-natural beef, chicken, pork, and lamb and farm fresh eggs. Alchemist Haven is back with organic skin elixirs, beeswax balms, all natural lip stains, moisturizers, perfume oils, sanitizers, body mists, body butters, and more.

Cooking for a Cause benefits Camp Quality on Saturday. Drew Pommert will perform in the big tent.

Our Tuesday market will have all our core farmers, plus honey, baked goods, kettle corn, meat ranchers, and more. The mum and pumpkin selection will be as good as what you’ll find at the bigger Saturday market. Open from 4 to 7, the Tuesday market is laid back, uncrowded, and easy. You can also order online at localline.ca-webb-city-farmers-market and pick up at the Tuesday market between 5 and 7. This Tuesday will be the last chance to pick up Melon Medley, but we’ll still have over 100 other items available online.

Come see us and enjoy the lovely fall weather.

Shopping at the market often means eating seasonally. 

This is something that was the common and expected experience before grocery stores began selling imported foods. When my mother was young, she would never have expected to eat summer fruit like blueberries or strawberries in the winter. Apples were stored for fresh winter eating but it would have been a special treat. Canned peaches were a possibility and my grandmother was renowned for her peach cobbler. She also was famous for her chocolate meringue pies. It a testament to her kindness that she never scolded her oldest granddaughter, who didn’t like meringue, for scraping off that beautiful layer before digging into the chocolate filling. But I digress.

Root crops like potatoes, onions, carrots or the winter squashes would be typical vegetables in the winter, along with canned green beans, tomatoes, and pickles to name just a few. We have been spoiled by access to food grown in other climes and many of us are unaccustomed to eating in season as was done for centuries.

Tis the season to can green beans!

I think it’s great that we have access to so much more food than before, but I also think those who ignore seasonal eating are missing some of the very best food. One reason is freshness. Imported food must spend time traveling so even if kept under ideal conditions, its shelf life is diminished by that travel and handling time. And travel requires a certain toughness to arrive in a saleable state. My family has a small claim to fame thanks to my first cousin twice removed (he was the son of my great-grandmother’s sister), Walter Baxter who owned a seed company in south Texas. According to family lore, Walter bred the first tomato suitable (i.e. tough enough) to withstand shipping. It was called the Baxter Beauty.

Much of the produce varieties at the market are too fragile for shipping. The variety may be an heirloom variety from the days before shipping or perhaps it was developed for other qualities like flavor and texture. But our farmers don’t take quality for granted just because they travel only a short distance to the market. They have received training on post-production handling, not only for the sake of safety but also for keeping the produce in the best condition possible. That’s one reason the market’s last purchase for our Jesup Wagon 2.0 was a cool-bot. Many of our farmers have an insulated room that is kept cool by a cool-bot. It’s a device that tricks a window air conditioner into cooling below the usual temperature. In fact, it can cool the room as low as 35 degrees without the unit freezing up. This is a technology that can significantly improve a small farmer’s bottom line by reducing waste and maintaining a high quality product.

Shon Bishop with Lincoln shows hand tools at a conference

As you may remember, the Jesup Wagon 2.0 is a market-led collaboration with Lincoln University Cooperative Extension and University of Missouri Extension and supported by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The original Jesup Wagon was a George Washington Carver concept that used a wagon and later a motorized vehicle to take the latest in agriculture technology to rural areas. It might include seeds, tools, fertilizer, and literature. Professor Carver called it a Moveable School and it reached about 2,000 people a month during its first summer in 1906.

Time to say goodbye to Canary melons

Our Jesup Wagon 2.0 includes hand tools for small spaces like high tunnels, irrigation equipment and supplies, fertilizing tools, attachments for small tractors, tools to make caterpillar tunnels, tools to reduce injuries on the farm, adaptive tools for farmers with disabilities, and many other tools. We even have a drone and two of our extension specialists have become licensed commercial remote pilots as part of the project. During normal times, the Jesup Wagon goes to meetings all over Missouri, to workshops in Southwest Missouri, and to national conferences. With all those cancelled, our team is working on online videos demonstrating the various tools so the learning can continue.

But we'll soon say hello to an abundance of greens.

So we finally come to the point. The seasons, they are a-changing. Owen with E & O brought mums to the market yesterday. Several growers have winter squash - acorn, butternut, and spaghetti. Boc choy is back. Pumpkins are appearing. Sadly that means a few things are leaving. Owen tells me he’ll have a few Canary melons on Saturday and then they are done for the year. We have sure enjoyed them and we can look forward to an even bigger crop next summer. Owen said he grew just a few to try them out several  years ago, and each year since he had doubled and tripled his planting and the demand is still growing. Weather permitting he’ll bring even more in 2021.

This Saturday we’re expecting 11 farms with local produce, plus two mushroom farms, a flower farm, a shrimp farm, and three ranches with beef, chicken, lamb, and pork. There will be tamales, honey, smoked salts, seasonings, and mixes, kettle corn, artisan pasta and sauces, and baked goods.

The Community Clovers 4-H Club is serving Cooking for a Cause.

Tim Snyder is on the market stage.

Monday is Labor Day, so please don’t forget the Tuesday market. People tend to get their days mixed up when there is a Monday holiday.  Tuesday, Ghetto Taco cooks up street tacos and Chochinita Mexican Street Food offers spicy grilled Mexican corn.  Tuesday continues to be our easiest market day for social distancing, although Saturday is easy too after the first hour. Tuesday is pickup day from 5 to 7 pm for our on-line store. Go to webbcityfarmersmarket.com and click on the link to “walk” through the store and do your shopping. Or come see us in person! See you at the market.