Merry Christmas

We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year and remember to keep smiling.

See you in the spring.

Wayne & Lavond Simpson

David & Teressa Simpson

Deborah & Morgan French

End of the season

We have come to the end of the season here on the farm. It has been wonderful meeting new people and visiting with our regular customers.
We have all the gardens cleaned up and hauled off.
Over the next several months we will be attending workshops and conventions and getting our seeds ordered so we will be ready to plant in the early spring. We hope to have some early spring produce from the high tunnel in 2011.
We want to thank everyone that came to the farm and the farmers markets in Cabool, Ava and Mtn. Grove for without you, we could not do what we love to do "farm".
Know your farmer know your food and remember "No Farms No Food".
Have a safe winter and we will see you in the spring.
Keep Smiling

Mums

The mums are beautiful and full of color. We have hanging basket (two colors and some solids) and single pots. Come see us at the farm or you can see us at the Farmers Market's in Cabool (on Wednesdays 11-4:30, till October 27) or in Ava and Mtn. Grove (on Saturdays 7:00 am till noon, until October 30).

High Tunnel

We have been busy putting up the high tunnel. It is almost finished. Now we have to decide what we are going to plant in it.

end of tomatoes

The tomatoes are just about done for the season. We still have those delicious sweet onions. The MUMS are looking good. They haven't bloomed yet but I see little buds on them so it won't be to long till they will be ready to go (probably a week or two).
We will be making strawberry beds next week (if the ground dries out enough). We hope to get them finished before the next round of rain sets in.

Blackerries are finished

The blackberries are finished for the season.
We are in full swing with our tomatoes. We have caners and huge slicers. We have them by the pound or by the bushel.
We also have those great tasting sweet onions. They sure do make those fried potatoes sweet tasting.
Be sure to come visit us at the Cabool Farmers Market on Wed or in Ava & Mtn. Grove on Saturday mornings or come on out to the farm.
If you haven't voted for Cabool Farmers Market for America's Favorite Market then please go to the link on the side and give us your vote. We are in the top 20 but still have a long way to go. We would appreciate your vote to be America's Favorite Farmers Market. Thanks

Blackberries

The blackberries are ready. Give us a call for picking availability and to place your pre-picked orders.

We also have tomatoes and sweet onions. Ours are grown on the farm (not trucked in) so you know they are fresh.

If you haven't voted yet for America' Favorite Farmers Market follow the link and vote for Cabool Farmers Market In Cabool Mo. We still need lots more votes.

Blackberries

The blackberries will be ready soon. Keep checking back or give us a call for picking schedule.

Strawberry season is over

The strawberry season is over for this year.We are so grateful for all our customers that came out to the farm for their fresh strawberries. We hope everyone had a great time at the farm and got plenty of delicious strawberries.

The next thing that we will have will be the tame blackberries. They should be in around the end of June.

Strawberry season winding down

We will open the strawberry patch Tuesday June 1 at 8:00 and pick while supplies last. The season is winding down. If you haven't gotten your berries yet come on out to the farm tomorrow and get them while you can.

Strawberries

We will close the strawberry patch Saturday and Sunday. We will open Monday May 31 at 8:00 a.m.

Strawberries

We still have strawberries. We will open the patch Friday May 28 at 8:00 a.m.

Strawberries

We will open the strawberry patch at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday May 27.

strawberry patch update

We will open the strawberry patch Tue May 25 at 8:00 a.m. We supply the boxes to pick in. See you at the berry patch.

Strawberry update

We will open the strawberry patch Monday May 24 at 8:00 a.m.

While mom and myself were walking in our little grape patch she noticed something There was a swarm of bees on one of the grape plants.

Morgan grabbed the bee supplies and I grabbed the camera.

Now they can get accustom to their new home. We had to sacrifice a grape plant to save the bees.

Strawberry picking date

We closed the strawberry patch today due to the rain that we received last night. We will open the patch at 8:00 am Friday May 21. Better wear boots.

Strawberries

We will open the strawberry patch at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday May19. It looks to be good picking. We supply the containers to pick in and for you to take home. Have a BERRY nice day.

Strawberry update

We will open the strawberry patch on Tuesday May 18 at 8:00 a.m. We will pick while supplies last then we will have to close for 2 to 3 days to let more ripen. As always it is a good idea to call before comming out to make sure that we are picking.

Strawberry update

We picked out the strawberry patch today. We will be closed till Monday. We will open the patch at 8:00 am on Monday May 17.

Strawberries

We picked out of strawberries today. We will close the patch for Saturday and Sunday. We will open the patch Monday at 8:00 am.

Strawberry update

The strawberries are ready but due to the shortage of the crop there will be a limited supply. We will open the patch on Thursday May 6, at 8:00 am and pick till they are picked out, and on a first come first serve basis. We always recommend that you call before coming to the patch to make sure that we are picking. We are sorry about the shortage but that is out of our hands. That is the life of a farmer.

Mothers Day is Sunday so why not come on out to the farm and get MOM a beautiful hanging basket.

We still have tomato and pepper plants.

We had another beautiful day at the Cabool Farmers Market. The weather was just fabulous and the friendship among us is just extraordinary. If you haven't been to it you need to come on down and visit us. We are there on Wednesday 11:00 till 4:30. We are located in the Gateway Park (corner of Main St. and Cedar) under the gazebo.

Hanging Baskets

The hanging basket are just beautiful. So much color. They are ready to go so think of Mom for Mothers Day. We also have over 40 varieties of tomato and over 20 varieties of pepper bedding plants and we also have the Cole crop bedding plants.
The strawberries are looking good as well. Keep checking for updates on the picking schedule.
I have been making jam. So far I have 8 different kinds plus the apple butter and mom has made some that I don't have.
We got our bee's last week and they are in their new home. I hope they work hard and put up a lot of honey this year. We are just about out.
The Farmers Market is going great. David & Teressa are going to the Ava market on Saturdays and they also go to Sparta. They also go to Bakers Creek.
Mom and myself will be going to Mtn. Grove on Saturdays.
The Cabool Farmers Market is on Wednesday from 11:00 till 4:30. The second season is off to a great start. The market is selling raffle tickets for a queen size quilt that was donated by Lavond Simpson, and the Cabool Chamber donated canvas totes with our name on them.

plants are growing

Everything in the greenhouse is growing very well. In fact some of the hanging baskets already have blooms on them. We are thinking that they should be ready to go around the end of April, maybe a little sooner if the sun comes out and the temperature stay up. New this year we have Knockout Roses in 4 different colors.
The veggie bedding plants are doing nicely as well. The cole crops should be ready to go around the middle of April.
We have over 40 varieties of tomatoes and 20 different varieties of peppers. We also have strawberry plants, potted and bare root blackberry plants.
The strawberry crop is looking good so far but depends on the spring frost. Let's hope we don't have any more frost for this year. Right now it looks like the projected date for the strawberries will be the 2nd week in May. We are now taking orders for pre-picked strawberries.Give us a call to get your name on our list.
You can visit us at the farm or come see us at the Cabool Area Farmers (Market Gateway Park) in Cabool, Mo on Wednesdays, 11:00 till 4:30 starting April 14, and on Saturdays at the Ava Farmers Market (on the square) in Ava, Mo starting April 3, 7:00 til 12:00.

Things are growing

The veggie plants are growing and the hanging baskets have a few blooms on them. It wont be to long till we will be putting the plants in the ground

Food Safety Workshop

Food Safety- From Field to Market
1 to 4 om Thursday March 11, 2010 at
Missouri State University
Fruit Experiment Station
Mtn. Grove, Mo
Faurot Hall 102

Topics to be covered

• Importance of Food Safety- Update on recent outbreaks associated with fresh produce
• State regulations for selling at Farmers Market
• Food Safety concerns in the field: Field preparation and planting, manure usage & crop cultural guidelines
• Irrigation methods and associated issues
• Harvest and post harvest safety

Presenters: Russell Lilly, Mo Dept of Health and Senior Services

Patrick Byers, Horticulturist, University of Missouri Extension

John Avery: Missouri State University Fruit Experiment Station Fruit Grower Advisor

Participants who complete the workshop will receive a certificate of completion and a laminated sign to display at their market booth.

Sponsored by Missouri State University Fruit Experiment Station Mtn. Grove, Mo

There is no FEE, but please call 417-547-7500 or e-mail LeslieAkers@MissouriState.edu to register if possible. Walk-ins are welcome.

Directions: From Hwy 60, take second Mtn. Grove exit (Hwy 95). Turn North, go past Wal-mart. Take next right (Red spring Rd). 9740 Red Spring Rd. Mtn. Grove, Mo

Farmers market Membership Meeting

The Cabool Area Farmers Market will have their general membership meeting on March 2, 6:00 pm at the Cabool Christian Church. If you want to sell at the market, or if you can't set up to sell but want to help support the market then you will want to attend this meeting. We will have information on setting up as well as all the other things that we will be doing this season at the market. Lots of thing are in the works for this year. Come and join us.

flowers

We got all the flowers potted. We ended up with 325 hanging baskets. Now we just have to go out and talk and sing to them everyday. Now we have to get the cole crop seeds started or we wont have any to sell at the beginning of the farmers market season.
So much to do. there is just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Everything will fall into place.

What are we doing now

All the seeds are ordered now. I am glad that job is done. Looking at all those catalogs, then getting it narrowed down to the companies that have what we want, then figuring out how many to buy, just takes a toll on my brain. The onions should be here in a couple of weeks. When everything gets here we will be getting the hanging basket, veggie seeds and onions planted. Just thinking about all that planting makes me tired.

MFMA annual meeting

The annual MFMA meeting was held Saturday Jan.23, 2010 at the Drury University in Cabool, Mo. We had excellent speakers and an excellent turnout and excellent food. Daniel Boykin catered the food for the meeting. There were 60 + people in attendance. The Cabool Area Farmers Market had the privilege and honor of hosting the event, which would not have been possible if it wasn't for our sponsor Cabool State Bank. I forgot to take my camera so I have no pictures, but if Eileen sends me some of hers I will post them. The Cabool Market had several items and baskets that they gave away. The winner of the big basket wanted to have a silent auction and then give the proceeds to Set Free Ministries in Cabool. Then the winner of the silent auction wanted to give the basket to Set Free Ministries as well. There are wonderful people in the world today. We hope everyone had a good time and learned some things as well.

MFMA annual meeting

The MFMA annual meeting will be held on Jan. 23,2010 at Drury University in Cabool, Mo. For more information contact Eileen Nichols at 417-673-5866 or eileennichols@sbcglobal.net.

Meetings and Conferences

Getting ready for and going to the different meeting and conferences. Dad and Mom are in St. Joseph at the Great Plains Vegetable Growers Conference. I didn't make it due to the weather. Dad and Mom went up on Thursday morning before it got to terribly bad.
Then next week they will be in Nebraska City for the Mid America Fruit Growers Conference.