I am so glad I wasn’t out yesterday doing farm visits with all the tornado warnings all over the state. I picked a beautiful day to be out of the office. I didn’t get going till late morning so will only visit four farms today.

Last week I stopped by Bao Vangs house but didn’t want to just roam around their back yard without anyone being home, so I went back today. Bao has a small greenhouse behind her home which is still full of plants they haven’t got in the ground yet. They have a large wood trellis which will soon support snake gourds and bitter gourds. Even though it is still early they have a nice selection of sweet peas, lettuce, Chinese cabbage and tall and baby bok choy. In addition to produce Bao will also be selling cut flowers at the market on Saturday. The cosmos are already blooming and are beautiful. I had to just stop and enjoy the beautiful fragrance of honeysuckle as I walked through their back gate. The fence was thickly draped with the beautiful vines full of blooms. The lower section of their property is planted with various flowers such as zinnia, sun flowers, gladiolas, bachelor buttons, crow comb and status flowers. They are just starting to come up; I would love to see the hillside when everything is in bloom. Bao will be a vendor on the daily waiting list so her stall will be different each week she is at the market. She plans on coming around mid to late June.

I thought I would be at my next location in no time at all. Little did I know that many of the streets in KC, KC don’t go from north to south without dead ending many times. After a few shout outs to Sai Lee for directions I finally made it to her house. Sai’s garden is located at the rear of her property. Sai is planning to come to the market this weekend with green onions, greens, lettuce, radishes and maybe cilantro. Over the next few months her tomatoes, green beans, chili peppers, garlic, lemon grass and assorted squashes should be ready. Lemongrass is a plant similar to thick grass which is used to give foods a lemon flavor; this is used in many Southeast Asian meals.

After grabbing a quick sandwich I headed north on I-29 to Wathena, Kansas. Wathena is home to two City Market vendors John Goode and Jared Juhl. I am stopping at John’s farm first and caught him just as he was getting ready to leave. Luckily he was able to give me a tour of his new hoop house. John was able to get a hoop house last year through a grant. John also received a grant to have his hillside terraced; I can’t believe the change in his farm. A few years ago Goode Acres expanded their operation to include cut apple wood which can be purchased in bags at the market. All the cold crops are located at the top of the hill and include green and red cabbage, collard greens, lettuce, snap peas and potatoes which are just starting to produce. The first hoop house we come to has rows of beats along the inner walls, dill, peppers and assorted herbs. The field next to the hoop house has plastic in each row which John and his help do by hand without the help of any machines; I am thinking that might be on the top of his wish list. The lower field has a cover crop in it right now but will soon be planted with winter squash. The farthest field from the house has been planted with 2500 garlic plants which are earmarked for various restaurants.

When I first started visiting Goode Acres John had one small greenhouse behind his house, he has since added a hoop house and a green house. He hopes to add another hoop house yet this year. Goode Acres is at the market every Saturday (shed one), Sunday (shed two) and Wednesday (shed two) now through October.

I am a little leery heading out to Jared Juhl’s house. It is located on a dirt road and I am not really sure how much rain they got yesterday and if I will be able to get down it. Luckily the road was in good condition. Jared’s greenhouse door was open and the radio was blaring but I could not find Jared anywhere. After taking a few pictures I was startled when a not so happy dog came out of the tall grass next to the green house. I think I was a little too close to a new litter of puppies. I bolted to the truck and called it a day.

I won’t be visiting farms next week because of a short holiday work week,(yea!) a Friday night concert and the “Get Your Sweet on Celebration” on June 4th. Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend.