Fork & Knife

Television interview

Got a call yesterday as I was leaving work from a KOMU reporter. She is doing a story on the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program coupons that are coming out soon. As usual, an interview was requested. She wanted to interview me today, but after discussion between us and her discussions with the editors at the station, she followed me out to Dad's farm. She followed me around shooting as I worked and asking me questions. The story should be on Channel 8 KOMU today at 5 p.m and 6 p.m. There may also be a live remote from today's Columbia Farmers' Market. The story might run at 10 p.m. also.

First day of market

The Columbia Farmers' Market opened at 8 a.m. this morning in a light rain with threatening skies. We had nine vendors. I was there handing out CSA flyers with my "Get Fresh with the Community Garden Coalition: Volume 1" cookbooks and "Seasonings" Missouri garden almanacs. We had 3 bakers, lamb & eggs (not spam and eggs), beef, chicken, goat cheese, lettuces and value-added agricultural products, and transplants. We had hot coffee and Uprise Bakery muffins, cinnamon rolls, and croissants. I think we had about 250 customers who were ready to buy local, fresh food after the long winter. KMIZ & KOMU were there as was the Columbia Daily Tribune. There was also news reports on KFRU. There were ads on KFRU and KBIA.

So the market was a little smaller than the 15-18 we had last year, but that was in April. I think we will have at least that on April 3 when we do our Spring Fling.

First Market

Well, tomorrow is the first session of the Columbia Farmers' Market. Today was beautiful and the temperature tomorrow looks good, but it might be raining. I will be there to help orient the new market manager, Alouette Mayer, and to hand out CSA subscription information. I had planned to sell spinach and green garlic. Unfortunately, Dad plowed the overwintered spinach out, but I told you that earlier. The green garlic is still pretty small.

I spent the day today in Concordia at a seminar put on by the Missouri Department of Agriculture on managing farmers' markets. Vance Corum who wrote one of the definitive guides to farmers' markets was the speaker and he has lots of ideas growing out of a wealth of experience. He has been helping start, organize, and save farmers' markets for over 25 years. See the Brainfood list for his book. A lot of this stuff is common sense to me, but it was earned the hard way from eleven years of selling and about seven years on the board, the last three or four as president. But of course, even the most experienced and dare I say jaded of us can learn from talking and, most importantly, listening to the experiences and perceptions of others.

Spending the day at the conference meant not going to the farm. There just is not enough ready to warrant driving a hundred miles at night. Not to mention using a spading fork in the dark with a headlamp. I nearly lost a toe last year digging garlic in the dark.

So, hopefully, I will see you tomorrow, or saw you yesterday depening on when you read this.