I am back on the road today, the
holiday and a conference has put me way behind. Today I am heading to Buckner,
Lexington, Odessa and Kansas City.
Mark and Marlin Frye have a farm
in Buckner as well as a road side store. This coming October they hope to have
a pumpkin patch in addition to their yearly sorghum festival at their farm
located on Buckner Tarsny road, north of 210 highway. When I arrived Marlin was
ready to show me around. Behind their house they were harvesting tomatoes,
eggplant, assorted peppers such as jalapenos and banana peppers, green peppers,
zucchini and green beans. Last week they planted additional tomato plants which
will be ready in September and will be planting turnips the end of July. Marlin
said their watermelons got a pretty late start due to the wet spring so won’t
be ready for awhile and their cantaloupes will be ready in a couple weeks. Mark
was out in the field when I arrived checking on a few things and Marlin’s
daughter in law was busy picking green beans from a raised bed. The Frye’s put
in raised beds a few years ago but have not been very happy with them, they
take a lot of water and the plants don’t produce very well. The only thing that
seemed to do well in the raised beds was the green beans. The Frye’s farm is
much smaller than it was in years past; Marlin hopes to add a high tunnel
before next spring so the weather won’t play such a big part in his planting.
Marlin picks all his tomatoes when they are green, just starting to blush and
then ripens them indoors. Today he had 65 cases of green tomatoes in his store
and will sort through them every few days to pull out any ripe ones to sell. He
does this so the tomatoes won’t split or sun burn in the fields.
Marlin also gets produce from his
oldest son’s farm located in Lexington, Missouri so Marlin road along with me
to their farm. This farm is used for Market sales only, no wholesale, and
consist of 25 acres. This location also had green beans which were flowering,
watermelons, cantaloupe, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes some of which will be
ready in late September. Marlins daughter- in- law sells at the Independence
Farmers Market and the Friday Market in North Kansas City which is where she
will sell the green beans she picked today. They also had cases of green
tomatoes they will pick through to sell as they ripen. Marlin and Mark are in
the Farmer with Local Supplement category, this means they must grow 50% of all
the items they bring to the City Market and can supplement 50% from other local
growers where the produce is harvested within 500 miles of the City Market. The
Frye’s are currently supplementing greenhouse tomatoes and peaches. The items
they are currently harvesting are eggplant, green tomatoes, green beans,
assorted peppers and squash. They also have a few hanging flower baskets for
those of you who did not have very good luck with the ones you bought in May.
Marlin’s son also raises horses
so I had to take a peek. He raises various breeds such as Clydesdales and also
has a miniature horse which his wife has named Twinkie. You don’t realize how
large a Clydesdale is until you are standing by one, they are beautiful.
After taking Marlin back home I drove
over to Odessa to visit Pete Economides. Pete was not home at the time but told
me I could show myself around. Pete is currently selling house plants and
vegetable plants in his stalls and will have peppers once they are ready. His
green house was stuffed to the brim with assorted plants. In addition to his
greenhouse he also has a plot near the main road where he grows assorted hot,
really hot and sweet peppers. Pete is located in shed
three stalls 105-106&107 on Saturday and shed two, stalls 87-88-89 on Sundays.
I cannot visit Pete without
stopping by Busy Bee Acres to see Bob and Liz Harrison. Bob and Liz have been
selling honey at the City Market for years. You will find them in the first
covered farmers shed in stalls 24-25 & 26. They have hives spread
throughout the area and on their farm. Last year I went with Bob to see a few
of the locations, very interesting to see. Today they were not home when I arrived
at least I think they weren’t. Every time I started to go up to the porch of
their processing house a raccoon, who was on the porch eating the cats food, gave me a “don’t you dare” look, I did not dare. Raccoons make me really
nervous. I couldn’t believe the cat was just laying there. Maybe it was a pet;
I didn’t want to find out. I did stick around long enough to take a picture of
Liz’s llamas and their fruit trees, bees do love fruit trees. The Harrisons are
in the first shed in stalls 24-25-26.
The last stop for the day is back
in Kansas City, on the edge of Lee’s Summit. Tim and Michele Dusselier
currently sell at the Lee’s Summit market on Saturday and will be selling at
the City Market on Sunday’s. When I arrived Michele was busy with customers who
were still buying hanging baskets and potted plants. I showed myself around the
fields; about 3 acres filled with tomatoes, egg plant, cucumbers, jalapeno
peppers and banana peppers. Michele has planted the tomatoes in stages so she
should continue picking through September. One of her greenhouses was still
filled with beautiful plants; she is very creative when it comes to mixing the
plants together in pots. I think the Dusselier’s will be a great addition to
the Sunday Market.
