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!