This week I had a MFMA meeting to attend in Jefferson City so I thought I would visit a new vendor’s farm while I was in the area. MFMA is the Missouri Farmers Market Association and I have been a board member for quite a few years. www.missourifarmersmarkets.org

The farm I visited was located east of Jefferson City in Bonnots Mill, this is the first time we have had a vendor from this area. I have been having conversations with Alan, Rhonda and their son Jesse for a couple months and meet with them at the City Market last month. The Borgmeyer’s will be bringing fresh Tilapia to the Market, that’s right fresh fish. They have also been working with their local Health Department and the Kansas City Health Department to insure they are meeting all the state and city requirements. They raise the fish in three large tanks located in a large shed next to their house. When they received the fish they were smaller than minnows and now are about 12 to 16 inches long, they have about 3000, give or take a few. It took the fish about six months to get to the size they are today. The fish get fed three times per day and the tanks are kept clean using a filtration system. Unless something changes they plan to sell the fish whole, and on ice. They are working on getting a licensed kitchen finished so they will be allowed to fillet the fish. At this time the customer will take the fish home and clean it themselves. They hope to be raising bass in the near future.

In addition to fish Alan and Rhonda also grow vegetables on their 26 acre farm. When I arrived at their house they had just finished planting cauliflower (purple, green and white) and broccoli in a small section of land behind their greenhouses. They have three greenhouses which consist of 1500 square feet and are heated by burning saw dust. They have tomatoes in one greenhouse (640 plants) which are   green now but will be ready in a couple weeks. I can’t wait to buy fresh tomatoes, I see a BLT in my future. The second greenhouse was filled with carrots which were planted in the fall. Alan washed off a few for me to try, they were wonderful. Rhonda told me the carrot tops are great chopped up in a salad. They also had Chinese cabbage, radishes, spinach and lettuce planted in this house. The largest of the three greenhouses was not completely planted but did have cucumbers, candied onions, yellow tomatoes and cherry tomatoes planted. They also have another field behind their house that has already been plowed, this is where they will plant green beans, zucchini, cantaloupe and watermelons. They have 48 peach trees which have been planted for eight years and were in bloom, they were beautiful.

In a field on Alan’s mother’s property they grow asparagus, which isn’t coming up yet. They grow white and green asparagus. I did not realize in order to keep the white asparagus from turning green you need to keep mounding the soil around it, crazy and a lot of work. The Borgmeyer’s also will plant potatoes later in the summer and have rows of logs where they grow oyster mushrooms and shiitake’s which are not producing much at this time.

Cadet Creek Farms & Aquatics are in the Farmer with Local Supplement category which means 50% of what they bring to the market each day must be grown by them and 50% can be supplemented from a farm within 500 miles from the City Market. The Borgmeyer’s will be supplementing produce from a farmer near Marshal, Missouri. I plan to stop by his farm when I am in the area again. Vendors in the supplemental category must post that the produce is supplemented and where it is from. I am so excited to have a vendor at the Market selling fish, I am always on the lookout for vendors who have unique items.