Saturday, May 8, 2010

Farm Inspections May 5th & 6th, 2010

This week I will be checking farms for two days and visiting three states. By the time I get back I will have traveled 1100 miles.
I knew I had a long day ahead of me so I left Kansas City at 6:00 a.m. headed east on 50 hwy to visit a soon to be new vendor at the market. Jill Smith raises longhorn steers and will soon be bringing free range longhorn beef products to the City Market. Jill currently has approximately 57 head, 17 of which are calves. The star of her herd is “Bo” the bull. Although I arrived at Jill’s around 7:00 am she was kind enough to take me out to see the heard on her “gator”. I have never been in the middle of a longhorn heard before and it was very cool.

My next stop is an 83 mile drive to Osceola, MO and White Oak Berry Farm. Michael Goth had “gone fishing” so his neighbor and employee walked me around the farm. The strawberry plants were covered with green berries and should be ready to bring to market in a couple weeks. Michael also raises gooseberries and blueberries, both of which were thick with green berries. This should be a good year for blueberries. After much pruning Michael’s blackberries looked very healthy and one variety will produce seedless berries. Michael got back before I left without any fish. White Oak Berry Farm is in pavilion 3 stall 120 on Saturday and should be at the market shortly before the end of May.

Back in the truck I head west on MO 82 to Seneca, Mo which is just south of Joplin (114 miles). The Lee Family Farm has been farming for the past 12 years and have been selling at the City market for two years. The Lee’s are located in pavilion 3 stalls 116-118. They will be back at the market Saturday May 8th for the first time this season and usually are at the market every Saturday through October. The Lee family has a beautiful farm which is farmed by the entire family. Unlike most of the surrounding areas Seneca has been a little dry lately and Lor Ge is hoping for a little rain. They sent a bundle of freshly picked onions and onion tops home with me. Lor Ge told me the flowers on the onion tops are great in stir-fry, they give it a little sweetness. I will give it a try when I get back home. Time for lunch so I head into Seneca and find a great local dinner, I love dinner food and was not disappointed.

My next stop is only about a 30 minute drive to Anderson, MO. Ying Xiong is the owner of this farm and has been in the area for about two years after moving from Minnesota. Since my visit last year Ying has really expanded his operation and has added a green house. All his plants are in and look very healthy. Ying and his wife Nhie have been coming to the market for the past few weeks with onions, assorted greens and lettuces. In addition to growing produce they also raise cattle and have about 60 head. Ying and his family are on the market’s waiting list so will be in a different location each week.

Now I head east of Joplin to Fairview, MO and the farm of Ton and Helen Cha (35 miles). As with many of the new farmers selling at the market the Cha’s operation has also expanded. They have doubled in size since my last visit due in large part to Helen’s parents doing a great deal of the growing. Ton is mainly in charge of taking the produce they grow to the market. In addition to selling produce he also raises turkeys for Butterball. They have added strawberries which were ready to pick so I had to sample one or two.

Only a short 9 mile drive and I am in Purdy, Mo to check a new vendor who has just applied to be a vendor at the market. Mai Thor Yang has planted a few plots but much of what she has planted has been beaten down by the rain. I don’t think she will have enough produce ready this year to justify driving so far to sell it. They have additional acreage which they plan to farm next season to help supplement their income from raising commercial chickens. They have three chicken houses behind their home.

My next stop is to Cleveland, Arkansas to visit the farm of Bill & Audrey Sturtevant. Cleveland is located north of Conway, AR this is a 4 hour drive most of which is sharp 35 mile curves. I had hoped to make it to their farm today but did not get in their area till after dark so will visit them first thing in the morning. I had a little trouble finding a hotel so had to drive past my cutoff to Conway, AR.
Up at 5:00 am and off to see the Sturtavant’s. Cedar Rock Acres has been at the market for four years and is best known for their wonderful grapes, blueberries and strawberries. This season their strawberry crop is not producing as much as they had hoped so Bill will probably not be selling strawberries at the market this season. Blueberries will be ready the first of June and grapes in July. Bill and his son Sheldon are very excited about a new variety of green grape they will be bringing to market this season, they will be sweet and seedless. Cedar Rock Acres is best known for growing the Mars variety which is similar to a concord grape but seedless and a little sweeter. Audrey provided me with a quart of strawberries to snack on, there is nothing better than fresh picked strawberries.

I am back in the truck for four more hours heading north to Gentry, Arkansas (197 miles). I will be meeting five new vendors who all rent a section of land from Dao Moua. Each farmer has their own section of land, similar to a community garden plot but much larger. Houa Lor also farms a section of land in Garfield, AR. Dao Moua, Houa Lor, Me Lor, Xong Lee and Blia Lor are all Hmong farmers originally from Laos. (Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west) Everyone was hard at work when I arrived and were a joy to meet. I look forward to seeing them at the market.

It is getting late in the afternoon and I am heading west towards Tulsa, Oklahoma (73 miles). After maneuvering through all the construction I arrived at a fairly large farm operation, The Yang Farm. I was lucky enough to catch Ying Yang’s daughter at home and she was nice enough to give me a tour of their five hoop houses and gardens. They had a very nice farm and a nice variety of produce.

One more stop and I will be heading back to Kansas City. I have to backtrack 18 miles to Claremore, OK and the See Lao Farm. They have a large backyard garden which even includes about 10 peach trees. I am not sure that they will have enough produce to justify such a long trip to the market.

If I don’t make too many stops I should get back to the market by 9:30 p.m. It has been a great trip, beautiful scenery and great to be able to meet and visit with such wonderful hardworking farmers. Next week I will be heading north.

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