I can’t believe it is March 1^st already; the Market will be filling up fast if this warm weather keeps up. I now have a co-pilot with me on the days I am visiting farms and crafters workshops. Sarah Adams started working at the City Market in July of last year and is the Assistant Farmers Market Manager. It will be nice to have someone to visit with when I am on the road for eight hours.

This week we started the day by visiting the Central Missouri Produce Action in Fortuna, Missouri. Missouri has eight such produce auctions, that I know of spread around the state. Our goal is to visit each one this summer. The Central Missouri Produce Auction is a corporation owned by shareholders made up of mostly farmers. This week the items being auctioned off were mainly vegetable and bedding plants which are grown within a 100 mile radius of the auction. Each seller has a number which coincides with his products. When shopping at the City Market Farmers’ Market you will notice that each of our vendors have a large sign posted in their stall which tells the name of their farm/business, where there from and what category they are in. Many of the vendors who sell in the Farmer with Local Supplement category get their supplemented produce from these auctions. Farmers in this category must grow 50% of the produce they bring to the Market each day but can supplement no more than 50% of their products from an auction or a farm located within 500 miles of the City Market. Vendors in this category are required by the City Market to post the name of the farm and the town where the supplemented items have been harvested. We spent about 45 minutes sitting and listening to the auctioneer, it was very interesting to see.

Our main focus today was to visit at least three greenhouses which grow bedding plants, hanging baskets, vegetable plants and tomatoes. Just a short time after leaving the auction we arrived in Versailles where we have two vendors who sell at the Market. We stopped at Daryl Unruh’s farm first only to discover he had added another greenhouse, he now has three. Daryl and his family were busy planting the flower starts into pots and hanging baskets. They start these plants with seeds, plugs and un-rooted cuttings. In a few weeks there greenhouse will be filled to the brim with beautiful hanging baskets, container plantings, annuals, perennials and vegetable plants. The Unruh’s recently expanded their line of succulents which are very popular right now. The Busy Bee, which is the name of their business, has been in operation since 1997 with the help of his wife Diane and their four children. The Busy Bee will have one space at the market on the 4^th and if weather permits will expand to four Saturday stalls in the very near future located in pavilion two stalls 60-63.

Just a short jaunt through Versailles and we arrive at Highway 52 Greenhouse or the Green Thumb as it is sometimes known. Chris Pifer has taken on a huge endeavor this year and constructed a ¾ acre greenhouse filled with 6,000 tomato plants. I must say this is something to see and I was very impressed. It took Chris and one part time person 100 hours to fill all 6,000 bags of organic compose which he purchases from Blue Bird Organic Compose Company if Fulton, MO. All of his tomato plants are grown in these bags. The greenhouse environment is very controlled to maintain the right temperature and air flow to ensure the plants stay healthy. To ward off disease Chris let loose predator bugs to eat the bad insect and has boxes of bees placed around the greenhouse to pollinate all the plants. The pictures we took cannot even begin to show how impressive this it. Most of the tomatoes are a beefsteak variety but Chris also planted a couple rows of Heirloom tomatoes as an experiment, they are yielding way more tomatoes the Chris ever expected. I was already to purchase some tomatoes for a BLT but sadly they will not be ready for a couple more weeks. 

In addition to tomatoes, Chris’s mother Nancy has three greenhouses where she starts all of her hanging baskets and containers from cuttings in December which explains why the plants in their baskets are so huge. Nancy has a knack for combining a very unique mix of plants in her baskets; she told me she wakes up in the morning thinking about plants and how to combine them. Starting plants from cuttings take a great deal of time and patients but I think the results are well worth it. Highway 52 Greenhouse is located in the 3^rd farmer pavilion on Saturdays in stall 110 and in the 1^st pavilion on Sundays in stall 7-8.

Our last stop for the day is a little closer to home in Buckner, Missouri. Marlin and Mark Frye sell in the Farmer with Supplement Category and usually supplement tomatoes and peaches grown within the markets 500 mile radius. Today we are checking part of what they will be growing to bring to Market. We found Marlin in one of their two greenhouses where they have started transplanting vegetable and bedding plants grown from seeds and plugs. They had about 200 hanging baskets planted which should be ready to bring to the market in early May. We saw stack after stack of bagged potting soil and Marlin told us he was expecting a delivery of pots any day. Frye Farms is located in the third pavilion in stalls 129 and 130. Mark Frye, Marlins son, is located in pavilion one in stalls 27-29.

I will be taking a little time off next week before the Market gets too busy but Sarah and I will be heading out again on March 15^th and 16^th. Were planning to travel to Topeka, Lawrence, Edgerton and Gardner for now but I am sure we will add a few more locations before we take off.

February has been super busy at the Market, the weather has been unbelievable! Last Saturday we hosted our Annual Farmers Market Vendors Meeting, we had about 85 vendors in attendance. Once a year we meet to go over the markets rules and regulations, update vendors on what is happening in the neighborhood and what to expect in 2017. Since the City Market participates in the SNAP ( Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Double Up Food Bucks Program we are required to train our vendors each year to ensure everyone complies with the government guidelines and understands how the program works. It is always great to see all the vendors together again, trust me there is a lot of catching up going on at this meeting.

Wednesday, Sarah Adams (Assistant Farmers Market Manager) and I took a break from working on contracts and visited one of our Sunday craft vendors. Kelly Daniels and her children have been vending at the City Market for a few years and have decided to change up what they make, the perfect time to check things out. The Daniels’ are switching from making tutu’s and flower barrettes to everything perler beads. Perler beads are small heat activated beads you can use to create any kind of design. Kelly and her children make mostly minecraft, minions, pokeymon, sports logos and super heroes. They will do special orders while at the market using a photo provided by the customer. I was amazed that they can also create a person’s face from perler beads. Their prices range from a $1.00 key chain to a $50 large wall hanging. The Daniels will start vending at the market in another month or so and are located in the first covered pavilion in stall 5.

Next week Sarah and I are planning on visiting an auction in Missouri and a few vendors that have greenhouses which should be full of bedding and vegetable plants. I can’t wait; nothing makes you ready for spring like walking through isles of beautiful plants.

There has been a great interest in vending at the farmers market this year so I am trying to stay on top of things and checking new vendors as soon as I can. All vendors in the Artist / Crafter category must have their art work or handmade products approved by market management prior to renting a space. We do this to insure that the person selling the item at the farmers’ market is also making it. 

We received a new application from Jordan Long a couple of weeks ago. Jordan is fairly new to Kansas City and his day job is teaching art at an elementary school in Kansas. Jordan paints in acrylic and watercolors and in some cases creates custom canvases to enhance his subject matter.  I had a lovely visit with Jordan and his mother, who is visiting, about their family farm in Oklahoma. I do love talking about farms.

Jordan plans to sell his art at the Sunday farmers’ market in the very near future; he brings something very unique to the Market.

  

Next week the City Market will have a booth at the KC Lawn and Garden show at Kemper Arena, I am sure I will not have enough time to visit any vendors next week but I hope to get out to quite a few of our existing Artist / Crafter vendors workshops in the next few weeks. I need to get this done soon since it will be time to visit greenhouses before I know it which means spring is almost here, thank goodness!

It seems much longer than three months since I have hit the road to visit farmers and crafters, maybe it’s because winter seems like it will never end. I am getting an early start this year since we have had so much interest in how to become a vendor at the City Market. We have received numerous new applications for the Sunday and Wednesday afternoon market and many of these vendors have products that are ready now.

I have people ask me all the time if I work during the winter months. My job never slows down no matter the time of year. The winter months are spent on getting everything lined up for a new year.  Which means sending out contracts, attending conferences, promoting the City Market and lots and lots of meetings. I am always glad when I can get back to being out of the office, visiting vendors and enjoying the bustle of the farmers market.

Last weekend I attended the Missouri Farmers Market Associations www.missourifarmersmarkets.org annual conference which was held in Saint Louis, Missouri. I figured I might as well visit a few farms and an artist/crafter vendor on the way there and back. We have received two new applications from farmers who live in or near Columbia, Missouri. The Grow Bros. Natural Farm is located in Sturgeon, MO which is about 20 miles north of Columbia. Hubert and Nathan Shaw along with their business partner Christopher Edwards grow oyster mushrooms. They currently sell at the Columbia Farmers Market www.columbiafarmersmarket.org but are looking to expand their operation so have searched out an additional market. I met with Hubert who showed me the mushrooms they have growing in their basement. All of their mushrooms are grown in straw bales which have had spores implanted, trust me Hubert did a much better job of explaining the process. They hope to add a new barn very soon to increase the amount of mushrooms they can grow to better keep up with the demand. I think their product will be a great addition to the farmers market.

I miscalculated a little so had to backtrack to get to Tutt’s Farm Fresh in Columbia. I met Kevin and his wife at a conference I attended a couple weeks ago in St. Joe, Missouri. During the summer months they operate a roadside stand located next to their farm fields and greenhouse. I was amazed when I walked into their green house and saw 2,600 pepper plants which were covered in beautiful red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers. What a difference a greenhouse makes. They also had a few radishes ready to harvest and sweet potatoes stored over from the fall. The trick with holding sweet potatoes is to not wash them until you are ready to eat them. In this case a little dirt is a good thing. I will be stopping by the Tutt’s farm again in the spring once they have their other crops in but for now they will be bringing peppers, sweet potatoes and radishes to the Market. www.tuttsfarmfresh.com

 After a wonderful three days in St. Louis, great information to get me excited about the upcoming season and a chance to visit with other market managers and vendors from the state I headed home but had some time to visit with two other new vendors on the way.I had to take a slight detour to get to Sedalia but it was worth the time. I found a great place to have lunch and got a chance to meet Carol Jasper. Carol has been soaping for the last twenty years but has started making soap full time the last three years. Her soap operation has taken up the majority of her kitchen and the back room of her home. I was so impressed with the list of soaps she makes and how organized she was. When visiting a craft vendor I am always looking at their supplies and work area, Carol did not disappoint. Carol has her soaps in local shops, does a nice mail order business and sells at the Missouri State Fair. Since her schedule is a little busy she will be selling at the Sunday Market off and on through 2017. Carol said this shouldn’t be a problem since her soaps lasts a long time. www.jasperleesoapworks.com

I am so glad I saved Hemme Brothers Creamery for the end of my trip, you will find out why a little later. The Hemme family has been farming in Saline County since 1848. The farm is still a family operation with David’s four sons splitting up the responsibilities; crops, heifers, cows and cheese making. David gave me a tour of the creamery; they will not be making cheese until Tuesday so it was pretty quiet. What a beautiful spotless operation. I was really impressed with their product and facility. I was able to try “Quark’ for the first time, I had no idea what it was. It is a spreadable cheese which is very popular in Europe and is pretty much a staple on every table. I am now a fan, I tried it on an English muffin, so good. The creamery also makes various flavors of cheese curds and apple wood smoked cheddar, their cheese has a very distinct taste.  I left the creamery and was just in time to see the cows being milked. David had me follow him into the milking area which is below the cows so the milking machines can be attached to each cow. It was amazing to watch the cows walk in, on their own, in a row, angle themselves and back up into position. You might be guessing where this story is going, one of the cows let loose and I got a little splattered, thank goodness there was a shield or I would have had a cow pie on my head. I must admit this city girl had to swallow hard. If David is able to get all of his Kansas City permits lined up by Saturday he plans to be at the Market on the 28^th.

This winter has been much colder than last year so we have all of the farmer market vendors in the third pavilion located on the north side of the market on Saturday and Sundays, they will spread back into two pavilions in a couple more weeks. The vintage sale is taking place in the first heated pavilion on Sundays during the winter. The Farmer Market hours November through March are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The Wednesday market will kick of on June 7^th from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. In a couple weeks you will start to see the farmers market vendors start trickling back in, I can’t wait.