Farm Visits July 5, 2012

I had not planned to do farm visits this week with the 4th falling in the middle of the week but changed my mind and visited two farms today, both in Kansas City, Kansas. Both farms I am visiting today are in the farmer 100% category which means they are only allowed to sell what they grow.

Tillery Farm is located off Holiday Drive and Randy and Marsha are at the market every Saturday, June through October. Shortly after I arrived Randy pulled up with a tank full of water on the back of his truck which he had just filled from the business across the street. With the extreme heat and lack of rain it is a full time job just keeping the plants watered. The tomato and pepper plants were really showing the effects of the heat. The tomato plants were starting to turn brown and some of the tomatoes were a little sunburned. The various varieties’ of squash and melons did not seem to mind the heat too much. Randy is one of the few farmers that I know of that grows Brussels sprouts to bring to the Market. They should be ready to harvest in another month or so and are sold by the stalk; they are always quite the crowd stopper. The cantaloupes looked ready to harvest and the watermelons should be ready soon, I can’t wait for local watermelons to be ready I usually buy one every week. On Saturdays you will find Tillery Farms between the first and second shed in stalls 46, 47 & 48.

I thought I would check Hmong Vaj Farm next which is located south of I-70 before I called it a day. The temperature was already in the high 90’s so I knew it wouldn’t take much to hit 110. Chiong Vang is on vacation so his father, who was busy picking green beans when I arrived, showed me around. Green beans are one of the more time consuming things to pick. They told me it took two of them one hour to fill a 5 gallon bucket with beans. One of the main items the Vangs bring to the market are cut flowers, the heat is really taking a toll on the zinnias and lilies. The only flower that seems to be thriving is the sunflowers. Chiong is starting to lay rows of drip line to better provide water to the plants; he uses well water and city water for his watering. Like many of the farmers whose families originated in Laos the Vang’s grow long beans, bitter melons, assorted herbs and lemon grass all of which are struggling with the extreme heat and lack of rain. In a few weeks I plan to check the other farms in the area and will check the remainder of the items being grown by Chiong and his family, not all of their produce is grown at this location.Hmong Vaj Farms are at the market every Saturday and Sunday April through November.

Not sure what I will do next week, in addition to checking farms I also visit the crafters to verify they are making the craft items they sell at the market. I have not really checked any crafters this year so need to do so pretty soon.