This Friday and Saturday at the Market

This is the last Friday of the season. 

Starting in November, we will be open every Saturday from 9 to noon in the pavilion – and, in addition, to the farmers market we’ll have our Christkindlmarket featuring artists and artisans selling their locally-made goods.  

We’ll be glad of the sidings on the pavilion with the cool weather moving in this weekend.  Our farmers have been busy placing row covers in the fields to save the crops from freeze damage.  High tunnel crops are protected as well.  We should have a LOT of produce, including pumpkins, at the market this weekend.

On Friday the Webb City Farmers Market is open from 11 to 2 under the pavilion at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park.    Lunch, served from 11 to 1, is all-you-can-eat chili, plus one drink and a brownie for $5.  Friday’s Cooking for a Cause will benefit the Tri-County Cerebral Palsy Center.   The Granny Chicks perform Friday.  Marlee's Creamery will be here Friday after an absence of almost a month!

In addition to tables loaded with fresh local produce, there will be farm fresh eggs, baked goods, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, freshly roasted coffee beans, energy bars.  The Joplin Business Women will sell Rada utensils as a fundraiser for their MSSU scholarship program on both Friday and Saturday.  

On Saturday, the market is open from 9 to noon under the pavilion.  Breakfast benefits the Webb City R-7 Foundation’s Latimer Scholarship and features pancakes, ham, and farm fresh eggs cooked to order.   Jim and Karen Latimer, honored by the Foundation as this year’s Distinguished Citizens, will be serving breakfast.  Marshall Mitchell takes the market stage Saturday.  He always gets the kids dancing!  

On Saturday we expect local produce, energy bars, farm fresh eggs, freshly roasted coffee beans, bbq ribs, and tamales.  Green’s Greenhouse and Gardens is back on Saturday after a several month absence preparing for winter market production.  They will have bell peppers, spinach, green beans, onions, butternut squash and spaghetti squash. 

This weekend at the market - 10/11 & 12

            It’s a Bright Futures weekend at the market with Cooking for a Cause benefiting Carl Junction’s Bright Futures program.  Plus we have Fall Foos Fotos on Saturday!  The Webb City Farmers Market is open on Friday and Saturday this week.

            On Friday the Webb City Farmers Market is open from 11 to 2 under the pavilion at the Main Street entrance to King Jack Park.

            Friday lunch, served from 11 to 1, is all-you-can-eat chili, plus drink and a brownie for $5 and will benefit Carl Junction’s Bright Futures program.   William Adkins will perform Friday.

In addition to tables loaded with fresh local produce, there will be honey, jams and jellies (including this season’s apple butter), farm fresh eggs, baked goods, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, freshly roasted coffee beans, energy bars and mums.  The Joplin Business Women will sell Rada utensils as a fundraiser for their MSSU scholarship program.  

            On Saturday, the market is open from 9 to noon under the pavilion.  Breakfast benefits the Carl Junction Bright Futures program and features pancakes, ham, and farm fresh eggs cooked to order.  John Henry & Friends, a great young bluegrass/folk group from Fayetteville, Arkansas, take the market stage on Saturday.  On Saturday we expect local produce, honey, baked goods, energy bars, farm fresh eggs, bbq ribs, tamales and mums.  

            On Saturday, Bob Foos (who is honored in the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame) will take fall portraits in a setting of market mums and pumpkins.  Photo package prices are:  8 wallets with two 4x5s - $15; 8 wallets with one 5x7 - $15; Either of the previous plus an 8x10 - $20;  Extras:   two 4x5s - $6; 4 wallets - $6; 5x7 - $6; 8 wallets - $8; 8x10 - $8.  Bob calls this annual event “Photos for a Cause” because he donates all profits to the market’s music program.

Last market column of the year!

I hope you get your paper in the morning – otherwise you may miss our first ever Friday Cooking for a Cause today. During October, the Friday meal, served from 11 to 1, will benefit a local non-profit. Today Webb City’s Bright Futures program receives the profit and to make it even better, it’s being served up by the R-7 Foundation’s 2013 Distinguished Citizens, Jim and Karen Latimer. For a mere $5 you get all-you-can-eat ham and brown beans, plus cornbread, a brownie and a drink. (And since it was prepared by my husband, Phil Richardson, who is a carnivore of the first order, it will have LOTS of ham.)

It’s a Bright Futures weekend at the market because the Cooking for a Cause breakfast tomorrow also benefits the Webb City program. Bright Futures fans Emily Wade and Cheryl Moreland will help market volunteers serve up pancakes, grilled ham and farm fresh eggs from 9 to 11.

Bright Futures was started last year by the school district to build partnerships between the community and the school district to ensure that every child has his or her needs met and is successful. It’s a great program that involves individuals, businesses and churches in the schools. 

Next week, you can support the Carl Junction Bright Futures program. Same menu on Saturday, but Friday will be all-you-can-eat chili!

And on that Saturday, October 12, Bob Foos will be at the market taking fall portraits. The prices and packages available will be in next week’s Sentinel, but make plans now to bring the family in their fall glory to the market between 9:30 and 11 to make a memory amid the mums and pumpkins.

This is the last week for the market column. Market news will appear in the Neighborhood section of the paper. Be sure to check there because the market will be going all winter long. Plus we have some exciting plans for our farmers and area growers. We’ve teamed up with Lincoln University Extension to bring in Dr. Betsy Bihn of Cornell University to lead a Food Safety on the Farm conference in November. She’s the national expert in the field and we’re super excited to have her come train our farmers. For more information, you can go to our web site:  webbcityfarmersmarket.com.

Today we have Jack and Lee Ann Sours playing traditional music on the market stage. Our wonderful Extension ladies are serving and sampling Herbed Baby Eggplant. This recipe uses the small Asian eggplants grown by several of our farmers.

Tomorrow William Adkins takes the stage.

And don’t forget, no Tuesday markets until next spring!  

See you at the market!

Webb City Sentinel column - 9-26-13

Janet Taylor, a market volunteer and friend, loaned me a copy of Vegetarian Times Farmers' Market Cookbook. It's called a cookbook on the cover, but it's actually a magazine full of seasonal recipes and has an excellent article on farmers markets.

Sometimes articles on farmers markets seem to read as if they had been put together based on some sketchy internet research, but this article, called Market Intelligence – how to score the best produce at your farmers' market, is right on target. It asks the right questions, and asks them of the right people.

Here are just a few of the questions and answers, with comments I can't resist making:
 

How can I be sure that the produce is really organic? Ask at the stand or look for a sign. Though some farm stand signs are emblazoned with “Certified Organic”, many farmers who follow organic practices don't bother to certify because of the paperwork, and in some cases, the cost, says Larry Johnson, manager of the Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, Wisconsin. These vendors may describe their produce as no-spray or pesticide-free.
 

We get this question a lot on our WCFM facebook page and our answer is: We have no certified organic producers. Talk to the grower and find out about their growing practices.
 

Is it inappropriate to negotiate prices? Yes, says Johnson, who emphasizes that farmers work hard to put a fair price on their products. “You wouldn't haggle at a grocery store,” he adds.

This has come up at our market as well. As a policy, we discourage bargaining for lots of reasons. One is that our customers who pay the posted price would have good reason to feel cheated if someone else bought the same product for less. Another is that bargainers can be very aggressive and it's just painful to see one of our gentle farmers being browbeaten into lowering their price. That's certainly not the atmosphere we strive for. Another is that our farmers set their prices according to their costs and investment of time. Selling at a lower price could put their livelihood at risk and failing farmers is not what we're about.

I think customers wanting to bargain usually come from other countries where bargaining was the norm. You would never expect to pay full price at a market in Mexico, or India, or anywhere in Asia. But in those places, the merchant takes bargaining into account when setting the prices. He starts out high so he can meet the customer somewhere in the middle. In Webb City, our vendors set their price where they need to sell it. They don't inflate the price in order to bring it down.

There are occasions when the price might be discounted some, particularly when buying large quantities, say for canning. When you buy a bushel of tomatoes, the price per pound will usually be less then when you buy a quart box. They're probably not as pretty either.

If there is a huge variety of produce at a stand, should I be suspicious about who grew it? Not necessarily, says Amelia Saltsman (author of the Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook). Many small farmers grow a row or two of different root vegetables and greens, and can then sell a variety of goods (opposed to industrial farmers obliged to grow a lot of one thing to supply giant distribution centers).

Again, this is very true at our market. While a few of our farmers specialize in a single type of produce, Broken Wire which specializes in peppers would be an example, most grow a wide variety of crops. And even Broken Wire branches out into melons, squash and tomatoes, as well as eggs. Pates Orchard focuses on fruit, but you'll find some pretty fantastic onions and tomatoes at their stand. It makes sense for a farm to have as many profit centers as it can. An extra $30 in flower sales can pay for the gas to drive to market.

That's just a taste of the article and doesn't touch all the recipes in the magazine. It's well worth a read.

At the market today, stop by the University of Missouri Extension table and try some Sweet Baked Apple Wedges. Gospel Strings takes the market stage and Granny Shaffers serves lunch for the last time this year: home style chicken and noodles and chicken salad sandwiches. Next Friday, Phil & Friends (that would be my husband Phil Richardson) cooks up all-you-can-eat ham and beans with fixin's and a drink for $5. It will be a Cooking for a Cause and all profits will benefit Webb City's Bright Futures program. Fair warning, they'll be brown bean because that's what Phil and I like. You want white beans? Volunteer to help!

A special bonus today – Jo and Rae Letsinger of Sarcoxie are moving their iris beds and have 250 German bearded iris bulbs to give away.

Tomorrow Trish Reed serves as our Market Lady for the last time this season. She'll be cooking up something good to sample. The Market Lady project was funded by a USDA grant that is wrapping up this month.

Hubert Sigler will be at the market selling and signing his book Tyrone Dust. A novel set in the 1930's in Texas County, Missouri, it is loosely based on family and community stories Hubert grew up hearing. Hubert will also be at Minerva's from 11:30 to 2 should you miss him at the market.

Andrew Pommert performs tomorrow and breakfast benefits the Downtown Joplin Alliance. The menu will be biscuits and gravy, sausage, and eggs to order. Starting next week, the Saturday breakfast menu goes to pancakes, grilled ham and eggs to order.

All these changes for next week means that our October schedule will be in place. No more Tuesday markets till next year but we'll be open on Fridays and Saturdays through October and then on Saturdays all the way until mid-April when we re-start the regular season. It all happens under the market pavilion.

See you at the market!

Sentinel column - 9/20/13

Do you get excited about the changing seasons?  I sure do. I am so ready for fall foliage and crisp weather, just as I was so ready last March for brilliantly green grass and the soft gentle breezes of a spring day. I guess I’m in the right line of “work” because seasons are a big part of the farmers market.

We’re beginning to see hints of fall at the market. There are big beautiful locally-grown mums for sale. They’re winter-hardy so you can plant them if you want and enjoy them year after year or you can be like me and just enjoy them for a season. Honestly there are only so many mums my courtyard can hold.

The pumpkins are coming in too which is lucky because I have orders from my daughter Emily for a carload. When I visit her in Indianapolis next week I’m to bring two large mums, four large misshapen pumpkins and 10 pie pumpkins. “Misshapen”?  Yes, I asked too. They are to be the bodies of spiders crawling down the hill in front of her house. Apparently Emily wants creepy spiders.

Emily loves decorating for the holidays (I think Jeanne and Stan Newby are her inspiration!). She sure landed in the right neighborhood to enjoy Halloween. Irvington, where she lives, is celebrating its 67^th annual Halloween Festival Week this year. The festival culminates with a street fair and costume parade that draws over 12,000 people. Emily became a homeowner and Irvington resident last year and she decorated in a big way for Halloween. It paid off. She won fame and glory as Irvington’s “Rookie of the Year” during the festival. This year she’s not a rookie so she’s going to have to try harder. Maybe I’d better take more pumpkins.

September brings the market’s annual Arts in the Park celebration and do we ever have a good one planned this year. It takes place tomorrow from 9 to noon under the pavilion. Breakfast benefits the Webb City Parks. 

The Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center will host a leaf rubbing table. The trees may still be green but I’m sure we’ll find some very colorful leaf rubbings at that table.

Spiva Center for the Arts is hosting the ever-popular Veggie Art tables. The kids love turning veggies into aliens, bugs, cars and other objects. And if you’re not a kid, play with us anyway. There’s no age limit at the art tables – and there’s no charge either.

Our market artists will also be there with glass work and jewelry.

The highlight of the day will be our music. We were fortunate to receive a small grant from the Missouri Art
Council and from Bob and Frances Nichols (yes, they would be my biggest boosters – and my parents) so we could bring in WildHeart. Also known as Jan and George Syrigos from central Missouri, WildHeart will take kids on a musical adventure through nature at 9, 10 and 11 o’clock. It’s not often we have Emmy award winners at the market so don’t miss them. 

On the half-hour, we have bluegrass from the Missouri Millstone Trio. The Trio includes Randy Corbin who has played often at the market and who ramrods the bluegrass at the Carl Junction Bluegrass Festival. The CJ event is a week from tomorrow and will have lots of great groups playing. 

Thanks to support from MAC and my folks, the market was able to partner with Madge T. James School to bring a performance by WildHeart to our kindergarteners today. They’ll hear some great music and learn about nature from two professional naturalists.

Speaking of school partnerships, you should have seen the kids digging sweet potatoes at the Kids Garden Wednesday. It’s always a fun “treasure” hunt, as well as a challenge to convince them not to dig the whole crop at once. Last year I made the mistake of letting them do that. We had so many potatoes that they couldn’t carry them home!

Today at the market the Plainsfolk play traditional music and Granny Shaffer’s at the Market serves lunch.

Next Tuesday is our last Tuesday market of the year. William Adkins will play and Granny Shaffer’s will serve lunch.

We’re planning ahead for the changing seasons at the market. In October, we go to Friday and Saturday only. The Friday meal becomes a Cooking for a Cause. My husband, Phil Richardson, will prepare the meal in the inspected kitchen of Central United Methodist Church. He’ll do all-you-can-eat ham and beans one week and chili the next. It will be served by volunteers and the profits will go to non-profits chosen by the volunteers. Our first Friday Cooking for a Cause lunch will benefit Webb City’s Bright Futures on October 4th.

Another change coming up in October will be the Saturday breakfast which will be pancakes, ham and eggs to order. And it’s a Bright Futures weekend because the October 5th breakfast will benefit Bright Futures too. Want to volunteer at either meal?  Just give me a call at 483-8139.

We’re also looking for artists and artisans for our Christkindlmarket in November and December. More on that later, but if you or a friend makes high quality art or crafts, give me a call.

Last but not least, we still have loads of produce at the market. There are plenty of tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini and more, plus the cool weather crops like lettuce, sweet potatoes and winter squash. Fair Haven just made a batch of apple butter and will have it at the market today. Now doesn’t that sound like fall?  It’s coming!