Friday, August 17, 2012

Farm Visits August 16, 2012

It seems like every Thursday that I check farms in the last few weeks there is a chance of rain. I always bring my umbrella but never seem to get wet. Today I had a new vendor to visit in Warrensburg, MO. Doug Miller is the owner of Prairie Schooner Produce. A funny thing happened on the way to his farm today; the spare tire fell off my truck and went bouncing into a ditch. Luckily I was not on the highway and no one was behind me. Needless to say I thought it was one of the truck tires, my heart stopped. I was on a very narrow road with no place to pull over, only deep weed filled ditches Once I realized I was in no danger I just went on to Doug’s farm which was just a mile away. I decided I would look for the tire on the way back and hoped Doug might help me. I was not looking forward to going into that ditch.
Doug is new at farming and has picked a very challenging year to get started. Luckily he had a water source close by although it was city water and as everyone knows pretty costly. Many of his crops had already been tilled under such as cucumbers, green beans and squash, these have been a challenge for everyone. Doug had also planted 3 acres of corn with drip line which he had to till under. He did manage to salvage his tomatoes and peppers by covering them with a shade cloth to protect them from getting sun burnt. The plants actually looked pretty good and were covered with tomatoes and Anaheim and cayenne peppers. Doug is having trouble with turtles eating his tomatoes. Any tomato which is close to the ground has been munched on; this is a new one for me. I usually hear about raccoons, deer or coyotes. Doug will be in the farmer with local supplement category on Sundays if he has enough produce to bring this year. You will be able to spot him since he sells his produce out of a replica of a prairie schooner he built, hence the name of his farm. By the way Doug graciously helped me retrieve my tire.

I thought I would have to take a detour on the way to Higginsville due to construction but luckily it was finished and saved me a lot of time. I made it to Peacock Farm in no time. Betty Mendenhall was out delivering to her CSA members. A CSA is a program where customers purchase a share of a farmers produce, usually during the winter months, and receive fresh produce all summer. I am sure this year has been a struggle to provide all the share holders with produce. Who could have predicted the extreme summer we have had. Betty did not have much left at all, only tomatoes, peppers and purple hull peas. If we get some rain her green beans might hold on a little longer but this is doubtful. I visited with Betty’s husband who told me they just had their 40 acres of corn checked and what normally should yield 220 bushels per acre will only produce 50 bushels per acre if they are lucky. This is just so sad and really places a financial hardship on the farmers. Betty has two stalls in the Farmer 100% category and one stall in the Farmer w/ Local Supplement category so most of the produce she brings to the market must be hers. Luckily for Betty she also has a commercial kitchen on her property so can include jams and jellies as well as eggs in her stalls. For more information about Peacock farms visit their web site at www.peacockfarmsmo.com or stop by her stall in shed one (south side of market) stalls 15-16 & 17.

My next stop is on the south side of I-70 in Odessa, Mo. Going to Odessa is always a little easier since I have three vendors within a mile of each other. I decided to visit Pete Economide, Odessa Greenhouse, first. Pete is located along M highway so very easy to find. The last time I visited they had a very big dog who did not like me at all so I was very leery getting out of my truck. No one was home so I just looked at his greenhouses quickly before Rover spotted me. The greenhouses were overflowing with house plants which are a large part of what Pete brings to the market in addition to peppers. Pete has had a tough year growing peppers. Trying to get water to the plants is expensive and very time consuming. They were keeping the weeds pulled until they decided to leave the weeds to shade the plants. Pete told me he felt like he was just wasting his time watering the weeds. Luckily Pete planted 100 pepper plants in the greenhouse so they should produce enough peppers to get him to the market a few more times. Pete raises pigs and sheep (which are not for resale purposes) so I could not resist taking a quick picture. Odessa greenhouse is in the Farmer 100% category located in shed 3 (north side of the market) stalls 105-106 & 107.

Last stop for the day is just around the corner from Pete. Bob & Liz Harrison have been selling honey at the market for many years and have quite a large operation. Busy Bee Acres processes all their own honey in a certified kitchen on their farm. Bob took me through the bottling area and the room where they take the honey out of the comb, very interesting and a little sticky. Bob & Liz have quite a few apple and pear trees on their farm which the bees love. This year they did not spray the apples so they are inhabited by some worms and will probably not be sold at the market. I have never visited Bobs other location where he has hives so Bob drove me to three additional location. He has about 20 other locations in the area where he has 10 to 25 hives per location, which is a lot of bees. I did not get out of the truck when we pulled up to the hives since it was obvious the bees were a little cranky. I always stay clear of cranky bees. Bob told me they were agitated because they have been extracting the honey the past couple weeks which has disrupted the bees working environment. Who knew! Busy Bee Acres is in the Farmer 100% category and located in shed 1 stalls 24-26 every Saturday.

Still on the fence where to go next week, possible Platt City, MO. I have a few vendors with new commercial kitchen which I need to see.

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