It was way to wet to visit any farms this week especially since farm visits mean driving on some kind of dirt road and walking through a lot of muddy fields. I know we really needed the rain especially if we want an abundance of produce this year but I would really like to see the sun.

I opted to stay in Kansas City and visit Dorothy Bragg who has been vending at the City Market since 2015. Dorothy has recently relocated to her family’s home which made it possible to have the entire upstairs dedicated to her crafting/sewing area. I found Dorothy busy getting special orders made to bring to the Market for pick-up this weekend. Dorothy makes her own tea towels and aprons which she will embroider especially for that special someone, remember Mothers Day is just around the corner. 

Her specialty is little girl’s dresses featuring all their favorite characters. Dorothy has been working really hard to make a variety of sizes for KC’s little Royals Fans; the dresses are so cute and even include a little pair of matching shorts to wear underneath. You will find “Dottie” at the Market most Saturdays and Sundays year round. For more information visit her web site at www.dottiesdesignskc.com

If you feel the need to get out of the house come by the City Market tomorrow, I am pretty sure it is going to be dry and maybe a little sunny. We are at the point where we will see more and more farmer market vendors each week. We have four greenhouses coming in tomorrow, a magnolia tree expert, Cut tulip bouquets, fresh Missouri greenhouse tomatoes, grass fed beef, wine, spirits, lettuces, spinach, radishes, fresh ginger, baked goods, jams and jellies, honey, salsa, fire wood, hand crafted items and the list just goes on and on. The farmers' market is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. If the parking causes you stress try the street car, it will drop you

off at the entrance and exit to the City Market.

Sarah and I headed to Topeka, Kansas to visit a new Artist Crafter vendor today. We visit all the new vendors who sell at the market to verify that they do make the items they plan to sell. I have had various conversations with Charles DeCesaris over the last couple months so am anxious to get a chance to meet him. Charles is only part of the Cutting Board Authority he also works with his son Bernie DeCesaris. They actually live next to each other so share their garage space. As you can tell by their name they specialize in making hand crafted cutting boards. We met them in their shop and found them hard at work. The cutting boards are just beautiful and are made to last a lifetime. They use a wide variety of hard woods for each board, each with its unique natural color, no stain used here! They glue the boards together with FDA approved glue and clamp them till dry, and then the magic happens. Charles told me each board comes with a card explaining how to care for your cutting board; they even make their own wax which they sell to keep the board conditioned. It was obvious after seeing their work that both had some kind of building background, it turns out that Charles and Bernie are from a long line of master craftsman. They plan on attending the Market on Sundays this year and hope to start soon. In addition to selling at the City Market they also sell their products on Etsy, visit them on Facebook or their website at www.cuttingboardauthority.com

We plan to work our way back to Kansas City and have three more vendor to visit on the way back. Jeff Stanley started selling his tye dyed clothing at the market in 2008 and has been a Saturday and Sunday regular at the Market ever since.  Jeff has been creating tye dyed clothing for 23 years and dyes everything from hats, shirts, sox and tapestries, no two items are ever alike. I never realized how many steps go into creating a tye dyed t-shirt and how complicated some of the designs are. Christine does all of the intricate folding and stitching and Jeff does the dying, they have quite the system down. Jeff uses only the best dyes to ensure that the color in his clothing stays vivid for many years. Cosmic Dyes will be at the Market this weekend at the east end of the first pavilion. If you would like to know more about Cosmic Dyes visit their web site at www.cosmicdyes.com.

Our next stop is in Olathe, Kansas at J & D Glassworks. Jeff and Debbie Belzer have been making beautiful stained glass for at least 20 years. They also teach classes in their home and restore and clean stained glass. When the Belzer’s are at the Market they also sell stained glass sun catchers, glass jewelry and flattened bottles which can be used as cheese trays, soap dishes or wall hangings, the options are endless. Needless to say they are always on the lookout for unique bottle to put in their kiln. J & D Glassworks will be starting back at the Market very soon; you will find them at the Market on both Saturday and Sundays. Their web site lists the classes they have available and more information on the types of items they make. www.stainedglasskc.com

One more stop in Merriam, Kansas and we called it a day. Theresa Liu met us at her studio, at the market Theresa is known as the dried flower artist. Theresa has spent much of her life collecting flowers, twigs, bark and berries and giving them a new life. She is a true artist who painstakingly looks at a dried up flower and sees how it can once again be vibrant and part of a beautiful dried flower arrangement. Her workshop is full of assorted flowers she has trimmed, dyed and straitened over the years so as an idea for an arrangement comes to her she has everything she needs. When she runs out of a specific flower she usually has to wait for the next season when they bloom again. I think my favorite flower that she restores is the hydrangea and the celosia, they look amazing. Theresa will not be at the Market till late April or May on Saturdays or when she has enough arrangements to bring.

I am taking a week off from farm and crafter visits next week so I can take a moment to regroup before the farmers market gets any busier. The weather forecast is beautiful for this weekend so we will have vendors in the first and third pavilion, approximately 30 vendors. We are seeing green house bell peppers, lettuce, kale, tomatoes and green onions starting to come in. We are also seeing a few of our bakery vendors, vendors selling value added food products such as salsa and artist crafter vendors returning this week. We also have quite a few Vintage Sale vendors setting up on Saturday and Sunday, it should be a great weekend at the Market.

I took a little time off last week so we plan to do back to back vendor visits this week. I was hoping it would have been a little warmer since we are visiting farms all day on Wednesday, I will just have to bundle up a little. Since we have very little crops to check this time of year we are focusing on Greenhouses, vendors with animals and artist crafter vendors.

It has been awhile since I visited Peter and Susan Kohl; they raise buffalo in Belton, Missouri and have been vendors at the City Market since 2003. I can tell you the cold did not seem to faze the buffalo, they looked very content. The Kohl’s raise 300 head of buffalo which they have processed in a USDA meat processing plant and in addition to selling their product at the Market they also have a small store on their property where customers can purchase products right from their farm. KC Buffalo provides a wide variety of individual cuts of meat or you could order a side, split side, 40# variety pack or 20# variety pack. I am hooked on their Summer Sausage and jerky but have also tried a roast which I cooked in a Crockpot, it was very good and a great alternative to beef. Peter is at the City Market every Saturday year round, April through October located in stall 87 in the middle pavilion. KC Buffalo accepts cash and the City Market $5.00 debit tokens which can be purchased at the SNAP tent during Market hours. For additional information visit their web site at www.kcbuffalo.com

I always look forward to visiting greenhouses in the spring since they are warm and usually bursting with flours. This year I am trying to get a head start and got to Enright Gardens located in Edgerton, Kansas as they were just getting started. Sue Enright has been selling at the Market since she was a child with her family and even met her husband Steve here. The Enright’s started their business in 1979 and currently have 15 greenhouses on their property; one of these will be planted with tomatoes very soon. The advantage of visiting a little early we were able to walk though the greenhouses with Sue and Steve and see all their fantastic gadgets. Since it was spring break they were able to have a lot of extra help getting the seeds started and transplanting small plants into pots. They have a new machine that is able to put each tiny seed into compartments on the trays which saves a lot of time. They also have added heated beds which help to keep the trays and seeds warm so they are able to grow a little quicker without having to keep the greenhouse so warm. Steve demonstrated the machine that fills the hanging baskets with potting soil and another that fills all the trays. This is a huge time saver since they fill 4,000 hanging baskets and a crazy number of trays. In addition to running the greenhouse, which is open to the public, they also have a rental facility on their property for hosting weddings, it is beautiful. Enright Gardens should start back at the Market in mid to late April if the weather is warm enough and are located at the east end of the middle pavilion in stalls 47-50. For additional information visit their web site at www.enrightgardens.com

We had planned on stopping by The Flower Farm in Gardner, Kansas but found out they were not open yet so decided to wait a couple weeks. We opted to drive to Drexel, Missouri to visit a new greenhouse that David Bird purchased last year. David is known as the orchid and carnivorous plant guy at the Market but has expanded to this greenhouse where he can grow some edible plants, succulents and a few unique varieties. David is always experimenting with new things and always thinks outside of the box. David made sure he was at the greenhouse when we arrived so he could show us each new plant; I have already started my shopping list when he starts back at the Market. David has added new items that are perfect for customers who live in the neighborhood who have very little outside space for growing their own food. Birds Botanicals will feature a different type of plant each week so you will want to make sure and stop by his stalls each week to see what new and wonderful things he has. You will find Bird’s Botanicals at the Market every Saturday stalls 22-23 and Sundays in stalls 124-125. If you have not had a chance to visit the caves where he grows the most amazing orchids and carnivorous plants you will want to make plans to do so. For more information visit his website at www.birdsbotanicals.com or befriend them on facebook.

Tomorrow we are heading out bright and early and heading to Topeka, Kansas. The weather looks like the perfect day for a road trip.