Farmers' Markets/CSAs?

[Fedora]

Originally Posted by Miss Solemnis

Haven't run across Cheddar Block, Fish Market or Ma Ma Jeans. I'll give those a look. Thanks for the info! With breads I'm okay - I make ours. And I do order quite a few things online, as I still have accounts with some of my wholesalers, several of which will allow me to order smaller quantities. Plus, there's always Amazon!

Other than things that many people here might not buy - lamb shanks, hazelnuts, dutch process cocoa, edamame, good chocolate, speciality ethnic items, things of that nature - it's more a problem of quality and selection. I did find some Callebaut chocolate at Brown Derby, but it was past its expiration. No big deal, because that's something I order anyway, but it caught my eye while I was checking out all of their goodies! Like I said, there just doesn't seem to be the quality and selection of things here that I've always found elsewhere - it's all pretty basic. One example: good canned tomatoes. All I find in the stores are things like Hunt's, Del Monte, and store brands. But like I've said before, I may just not be looking in the right places yet - that's why I keep asking questions.

Love Einstein Bros.! We had those in Fort Lauderdale and used to hit the one near our house every Sunday morning. Sounds as if Tulsa has most everything you mentioned. Guess I'll continue my exploring around here and in the meantime keep ordering and driving to Tulsa! If I'm going to have to drive 4 hours, it's going to be to Tulsa - gives me another excuse to see my kids!

Originally Posted by mrschilicook

I assume you are talk about the big one (Brown Derby) on Glenstone? I found it several years ago and go there quite often. Have you checked out the Cheddar Block on Republic yet? Or the Fish Market on Republic.?
Ma Ma Jeans? I've also found that if you really want something, ask....I've had Price Cutter bring in white grapefruit and they were happy to do it.
The Artisian Bakery off Sunshine and Ingram Mill has great breads (Breadsmith on Campbell also has good bread).

What haven't you been able to find here? I"m sure some of us would be happy to keep our eyes open when we are out...which in my case, is often.

I've been able to order, on-line, most pantry staples. My guess is that $40 basalmic vinegar wouldn't be a big seller here. I brought 3 bottles of it with me from Santa Fe last year along with chipotle in adobo NOT in a can! I've also ordered procuitto from New York, deli meats from Boston, etc..even sourdough from SF..there isn't much you can't get on-line now days.

There are 4 Trader Joe's in the St. Louis area (and one coming to KC soon according to their manager) along with Whole Foods and a few bagel shops...and more! There is a big farmers Market called Soulard Market...it's one of the oldest in the country.

When I go to St. Louis I start on Manchester and I270 where Nordstroms and a big Macy's & Dillards are located. Then I head west to Trader Joe's (I take ice chests with me). Whole Foods is nearby. Then to DSW to check out the shoes. Then to Einstein Bros. for a dozen or so fresh and correctly made, bagels. Continuing west, I head to The SmokeHouse...a gourmet shop specializing in smoked meats, prime cut meat, and a variety of "essentials" including smoked jerky. Then south on 109 back to I44 and west towards home. It's a full day trip if we don't dawdle. We have stayed the weekend which allowed us to take our time and explore the area for more.

Great posts --- I'm new here (arrived in July) and just now sent company back to SoCal (she had to stay longer then planned due to emergency surgery). Because I'm fulltiming in an RV I don't have the storage space I was used to in a large house. But I love to cook and I really did have to do some digging to find things initially. I already knew TJ's was going to mean a drive to St. Louis (where my son andhis family live). Now that I know all the other places to check out up there I can make a real day of it.

I had found many places here in town --- have you been to Harter House? I love that place ---- and the employees are wonderful. My friends took me to the Brown Derby on Glenstone my first weekend here and it's great. I didn't know about the cheese place but will check it out.

I've ordered my spices from Penzey's for many years while in SoCal, so look forward to visiting the store in STL. I have a favorite haunts in SoCal which will ship me their locally produced Olive Oil, wine, etc. I've ordered cheeses directly from small farms across the country for years, so that will continue when necessary.

I am looking for a food coop to join --- and will continue to search for wonderful nooks and crannies around here to explore. It's great fun finding new sources for wonderful things. As a child my grandmother always had honeycomb on the kitchen table and I was thrilled to get local honeycomb here this summer.

This is a great thread --- am certainly interested loclly grown/raised food and love to support the local growers directly. In my book, that's what truly good food is all about.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by Miss Solemnis

After being here three months, I still don't know what's here and what's not! I'd love to find some great farmers' markets around Branson and see on the MO Dept of Ag site that there's one in Ozark that apparently starts tomorrow night, also one in Nixa, Reeds Spring, and a couple in Springfield. Anyone know what the selection is like at these various markets? Have preferences or good/bad experiences to share? Also, I haven't had any luck finding a CSA, so information on those would be appreciated also!

Check out Campbell's Farm at Campbell's Maze Daze & Pumpkin Patch also, Fairgrove has a good farmer's market, but I'm not sure when it is. LOL

I have been to the Springfield Farmer's Market and it is too crazy for me. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the vendors there who have been accused (although, I am not certain if the accusations are true or not), of buying commercially grown produce and reselling it as home-grown. There are also many Amish who sell produce from their farms along highway 60 east traveling from Springfield through Diggins and Seymour (look for signs along the highway).

Check out Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food for more information about where you can buy home-grown produce, grass fed and hormone free chicken, beef and pork in the area.

20yrsinBranson

[Fedora]

I'm finding the Local Harvest website very frustrating. I'm looking for someone who delivers fresh eggs. I'm by myself, so I don't need a huge amount of fresh food each week and I do go to the local (Springfield, MO) farmers' markets --- but I'm having trouble finding someone who delivers fresh eggs. Thanks.

[MSD61]

Originally Posted by Miss Solemnis

Your FIL could most likely attach the "free range" designation to those chickens. There's apparently no strict definition of what "free range" actually is. Despite the fact that "free range" would indicate no fencing whatsoever, many poultry farmers with a set up like you described call their chickens/eggs free range.

Wish I could grow my own veggies! Maybe next year. Our house is new construction and apparently sits on solid rock, covered by about two inches of dirt with some sod thrown on top. Raised beds would definitely be the thing, but there's no way I could get all of that done for this year. So I've practically covered the upper deck with enormous pots of herbs and things that I'll never find around here - like mizuna - and will content myself with that for now. And hopefully find a great farmers' market around here soon! In the meantime, I run down to Tulsa about every three weeks for a haircut and to do some shopping for things I can't seem to locate here - the big Asian markets, Whole Foods, Williams-Sonoma, etc. - and will hit the farmers' markets there. I'm gonna need to buy a bigger car to haul back all of this stuff from Tulsa!

Thanks for your responses. I feel as if I'm talking to myself around here most of the time!

Hey Miss Solemnis you should try your hand at growing sweet 100 tomatoes we grow them every year and they grow well in a large container. When we lived back in NH we grew them and if they can grow up there I am sure they will here. We had 5 plants and harvest over 500 tomatoes. These tomatoes are small like cherry tomatoes but so easy to grow with little effort. We have had plants up to 6 ft tall and they produce tomatoes all the way up until the start of the cooler weather.

We have never done anything besides normal care to get wonderful harvests. I would pinch out secondary leaders (you’ll see them starting at the crotch where a branch meets a stem) because they sap energy from the plant for no real gain. Full sun, daily watering, 1/2 strength water-soluable fertilizer like MiracleGro for Tomatos every couple of weeks is my regimen.
Sweet 100's are very verticillium wilt, tobacco mosaic virus and disease resistant. Spray with a soapy water solution for minor infestations of white flies, aphids and the like if you observe them. Hand pick any tomato hornworms as you notice them and squish em. That's all there is to rasing these wonderful little tomatoe plants