For those of you who never leave the city you are missing out on how beautiful Missouri actually is. Once you get off the interstate the hills just roll and the landscape is truly beautiful. Last year at this time the fields were dry and brown, the corn fields were just dried out stalks. Today everything was green and thriving. It is days like today when I really appreciate what I get to do every week.

I visited three farms today, all of which were located north of the city. My first stop is in King City, Mo which is located on hwy 31 just south east of St. Joe. I always know when I am getting close to King City, they have mile after mile of wind turbines. I think they are beautiful and I love to hear the whooshing sound they make.

Lost Creek Farm is named after the creek that once ran through Donna and Darrel Clausen’s farm. When I arrived Donna was busy making zucchini bread for Saturday’s market and Darrel had just finished working in the fields. Darrel hires a few high school girls to help with the farm; they sometimes also help with their stalls at the Market. You can never have too much help since the work is never ending. Darrel drove me through his fields and pointed out what was what and the crop that was struggling and those that were doing well. All the heavy rain and wind they had in late May really damaged a lot of the plants and have caused everything to be late this season. His field tomatoes are just starting to turn red, the banana peppers were coming on and he had beautiful Swiss chard and onions. In a few weeks Darrel expects to have purple hull peas, his second planting of radishes, and shell peas. I thought everything was looking pretty good, Lost Creek Farm has a great selection of produce planted and should have something new each week. After my tour of the farm I checked in on Donna. The Clausen’s have a commercial kitchen separate from their home but located on their farm, this puts their baked goods in the farm category. Donna and Darrel bake assorted cookies, pies (her cherry pie is my favorite), cinnamon rolls and breads. The zucchini bread she was pulling out of the oven smelled heavenly. The Clausen’s stalls are located in the first pavilion on the south side of the market in stalls 9-11 every Saturday year round. For additional information visit their web site at

 www.lost-creek-farm.com

Comanche Acres Iris Garden, located in Gower, Mo is my next stop. I normally visit Jim Hedgecock in May so I can see the iris when they are in full bloom; he has over 200 thousand bulbs planted so it is quite a site to see. Jim has been growing Iris for 33 years and has the largest operation east of the Rockies, quite an accomplishment. Jim will continue to sell iris bulbs through the season and rounds out his stall with an assortment of local vegetables he grows and supplements from other local farmers. Jim has planted cherry tomatoes which should be turning within the next week and a few other varieties that are also close to being able to harvest. I always learn something new when visiting farms, today I noticed quite a few of Jim’s onions were trampled down. I had to ask what had happened and apparently if you stomp on the tops it will produce larger onions. Jim and I are both a little skeptical but he felt it was worth a try. In addition to tomatoes he also had planted assorted squash, pumpkins and cucumbers. As we were walking around the farm I noticed Jim has two peacocks, the male peacock is white. I have never seen a white peacock before so had to get a picture. Comanche Acres Iris Garden is located in Pavilion one stalls 30 and 31 every Saturday. For additional information visit his web site at www.comancheacresiris.com

Last stop for the day is Christopher’s Farm located in Lothrop, Mo. Tom and his wife were new to the City Market last summer and operate a 150 acre farm. When I arrived everyone was extremely busy but Tom was nice enough to take some time and drive me around the farm, this farm is very spread out so not one I would be able to see on foot. We started out with the two high tunnels (www.hightunnels.org ) which were packed with tomatoes, 800 plants. Ron, Tom’s right-hand man, was busy picking cherry tomatoes and is the face you will see at the City Market. Next we headed to the fields which contained 7 acres of various varieties of potatoes, 55 acres of squash and pumpkins, a large plot of Heirloom tomatoes (if you haven’t tried heirloom’s you really need to give them a go) a few fields of assorted melons, eggplant, peppers, okra, cabbage, beets, cucumbers and even celery. They really have it all. I was really fascinated by new variety of cauliflower they were growing. They actually raise four different colors, cheddar yellow, lime green, white and purple. What a beautiful salad these would make. Tom is not a big cauliflower eater so sent some wonderful samples home for me to try. My husband and I ate the cheddar one last night with our dinner, it was wonderful! Another new item Tom is trying this year is white sweet corn; it is suppose to be supper sweet and should be ready soon. Tom and Ron raise a lot of corn and should have it at the market through fall if we ever get some rain. For those farmers living north of the river it is very dry, the drought is not really over. Christopher Farms will be at the market every Saturday, their location will vary but they should always be in the second pavilion. If you can’t find them just stop by the yellow information tent and I will point you in the right direction.

 

I am hoping to have the market’s new truck to drive next week so will be heading to the Columbia area, I hope. 

Now that cherry tomatoes are coming on I thought you might enjoy this “Cherry and Grape Tomato Salad” from “In Season Cooking-Fresh From the Kansas City Farmers’ Market” published by Julienne Gehrer

Cherry and Grape Tomato Salad

1 pint red or yellow cherry tomatoes                                      ½ cup buttermilk

1pint red grape tomatoes                                                       4 oz. gorgonzola crumbles

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil                                                     6 Tbsp. chives

1 tsp kosher salt                                                                    6 strips crisp bacon

Cut tomatoes in half and marinate in olive oil and kosher salt for about ½ an hour.

Meanwhile mix buttermilk and gorgonzola crumbles in a small bowl. Mince chives, crumble bacon and add both to the bowl. Stir well and pour over tomatoes. Toss lightly. Serve immediately.