This time of year we are super busy at the Farmers Market and I got a little behind on updating the farmer market blog, I hate it when this happens. A couple weeks ago Sarah and I headed out on a drive to South Greenfield, MO which is located near Springfield. We drove in and out of rain all day but the sun continued to shine, so strange.

John McDowell with McDowell Land and Cattle has been in business for the past thirty three years and has been vending at the Sunday market since 2016. John recently signed a contract for the Sunday farmers market so you will find John and his son Travis in the third pavilion in stall 122 every week. As you probably guessed from his business name John raises cattle as does his entire family. John walked us through his cattle pens and explained the mixture of feed the cows are given daily, gasses being a big part of the mixture. All meat being sold at the City Market must be processed in a USDA or state inspected plant and the Kansas City Missouri Health Department issues permits for their product to be sold at the City Market. John’s cattle are processed at Lockwood Packing located in Lockwood, MO. the first and last weeks of each month. The McDowell’s ranch consists of 1,800 acres and he currently has 350 cows. The area we visited had 60 cows who will be the first to head to the processing plant. In addition to cattle John also has a portable chicken coop which houses 80 laying hens so he also sells fresh eggs on Sunday. The number of eggs he is able to bring to the market depends on how the chickens are laying so I would suggest you arrive early before he sells out.

Once we left John’s we headed north to Sedalia, MO to visit Galina Sheremeta and Sweet Delights Bakery. Galina had recently completed construction of her commercial kitchen located behind her home, it is beautiful by the way, and was looking for a farmers market where she could sell her baked goods. Galina is from Alaska where she became familiar with vending at farmers markets when she grew and sold European cucumbers at the Fairbanks Farmers Market with her sister. They were known as the “cucumber girls” until they expanded into bakery items. Their baking business grew so fast they had to quiet growing cumbers and concentrate on bakery items only. When arriving in Missouri Galina continued to bake although she admitted it was not the same without her sister. Galina bakes wonderful breads, pies and pastries with are very different than any other vendor is selling at the Market. As we strolled through her bakery admiring how nice it was I was able to sample French coconut macaroons, mocha mouse New York Cheese Cake, nut cookies, peach cookies and cream rolls, I was in heaven! Galina will be selling at the Sunday and Wednesday farmers market every week. On Sundays you will find her in pavilion 3 in stall 138. On Wednesdays all of the vendors are in the middle pavilion from 2 p.m. till 6 p.m.