On Thursday, August 11th my plan was to visit two farms and one craft vendor. Both Farms were located east of Kansas City along I-70, these farms are located the farthest east of any vendors that vends at the City Market. 

Rhonda Borgmeyer’s farm is located in Bonnets Mill which is located just east of Jefferson City about 45 minutes from Colombia. This is a beautiful area with lots of rolling hills. Rhonda met me outside one of their two greenhouses as I pulled in. The first greenhouse still had a few ripe tomatoes and green tomatoes although the plants were looking pretty sad; the extreme heat has really taken its toll on them. Rhonda took me to the barn where they usually have three tanks of tilapia. Last month they had a little catastrophe with the fish and most of the fish died due to lack of oxygen when the pumps went down. They were able to save approximately 80 fish which were cleaned and frozen immediately. Rhonda’s son Jesse started cleaning all of the tanks and plans to start over. Before I arrived they harvested onions which were now piled in a wagon drying.  Last week Alan plowed under all the other crops and they have started to replant for fall.   I don't anticipate the Borgmeyer’s vending at the market for a while until their crops have time to come in and they can start harvesting. As with many vendors this time of year the summer just takes a toll and they need to regroup and restart so there's sometimes a little lull depending on where they live and the weather.

My next stop is about an hour north of Jefferson City in Moberly, Missouri. Dan and Joanna Nelson, DanJo Farms, have been vendors at the Market since 2013. The Nelsons had a tornado go through their property about three weeks ago, they're really lucky that it didn't take their house and all of their outbuildings. The damage was obvious as I drove down their drive there were downed trees and piles of brush everywhere.  The tornado blew out the back of his barn and tore shingles off of his house. Luckily that was the extent of the damage to his home and the attached garage where their licensed kitchen is.  Most of his livestock was safe; Dan thinks he might have lost a couple of chickens. Dan raises sheep, pigs and chickens which he has processed in a USDA plant and also sells chicken and duck eggs.  The storm tore off the plastic on his greenhouses and most of the plants have since died due to the lack of protection and the heat. DanJoe Farms is in the supplement category which means they can supplement 50% of the items they bring to the market. This will allow them to continue coming to the market this summer supplementing fresh local produce from neighbors or one of the four produce auctions in his area. DanJo Farms is at the Market every Saturday year round in the middle pavilion, stalls 78 and 79. www.danjofarms.com

My last stop for the day was in Gladstone, Missouri. I visited a new arts and crafts vendor that will be starting at the market this coming Sunday. Caesars Palace it's fairly new at his craft, which makes the City Market the perfect location for him to get started. Caesars makes very unique coat racks out of glass bottles, hanging candle holders and a unique collection of drinking glasses. The glasses are made out of wine bottles and other various bottles which all are different sizes and weights. Caesars demonstrated how he cuts the bottles and heats them to have a clean break, he then sands the edges smooth. I think he will be a nice addition to the Sunday farmers market. 

  

I'm not sure where my journey will take me next week but I'm sure I will be out on the road, it's already mid August and I still have a lot of farms to visit.