What a perfect day for visiting farms, sunny, breezy and 85 degrees. I always try to check farms that are fairly close to each other and in the same general direction. Today I headed to Fort Scott and Westphalia which are both located in Kansas. Fort Scott is about 94 miles from the City Market off 69 Hwy.

The Fort Scott area received 4 inches of rain on Tuesday so I was expecting to see a muddy mess but things weren’t too bad apparently this has to do with the amount of sand in the soil. Dennis and Linda Clayborn own Clayborn Farms and were busy digging potatoes when I arrived. A creek runs along the east edge of their property and came over its banks on Tuesday covering a section of tomato and zucchini patches. The plants were looking pretty good, just a little muddy. The creek looked very calm as we waded through it but on Tuesday it washed an Amish buggy and family off the road, thank goodness all were rescued and were unharmed. I think I spent an hour with Dennis walking past row after row of tomatoes, cabbages, peppers, eggplant, onions, potatoes, kohlrabi, cantaloupe, watermelons, corn, sugar peas, garlic and pickling cucumbers. I hope I am not forgetting anything. I am always amazed by the number of plants that a farmer puts in the ground. Dennis and Linda planted 40 kinds of tomatoes for a total of 1800 plants, 1500 cabbage, 1400 broccoli, 5000 eggplant. That is a lot of plants and a crazy amount of work. Dennis showed me an area in an old milking barn where they store last year’s onions, turnips, beats and garlic on large orange racks covered in straw. He keeps this area dry, heated and circulates the air with large fans, this is why you will see him selling larger onions than some of the other vendors. As I learn more and more about farming and food safety I always ask the vendors where they wash their produce and where they get the water for their fields. Dennis and Linda wash all their produce with city water which they then reuse to water the plants. They also are lucky enough to have a 21 acre lake on their property which they pump water from for their fields. All their plants are watered at the roots, not on the plant, this is good to know. The Clayborn’s are at the Market on Saturday in stalls 99 and 100 and on Sunday you will find them in the first pavilion in stall 39. 

Once again I got a late start leaving the office so will only get one more farm visit in before heading back to the city. Next stop Westphalia, Kansas which is located just SW of Garnett and 63 miles from Fort Scott. The drive was beautiful; all the wheat was glistening in the sun and in constant motion from the breeze. I do love my job! When I arrived at the Heck’s farm Duane was not yet home so I roamed around checking his three greenhouses, two of which were bursting with tomato plants. Duane’s main crop is corn; you might say he is the corn guy at the City Market. I have been getting bombarded with customers wanting to know when fresh sweet corn will arrive, I knew Duane would be the one to ask. If all goes well he expects to have sweet corn by the second Saturday in July, he didn’t think he would have it by the 4^th. What a difference a year makes, last year corn arrived at the Market the last week of May. The reason for the delay in planting was the late snow we had in April and May. The Heck’s will hopefully be at the Market on Saturday with tomatoes. They have three locations on Saturday in all three pavilions, stalls A, 52 and 143.

We should have a great day at the market tomorrow, just a little warm so come early. Green beans, onions, broccoli and Tennessee peaches are starting to show up this week. See you at the Market!