Now I lay me down to sleep...

We’re just doing a little “bed time” prayer around here. While we enjoy having a break in the winter, it’s always kind of bittersweet to take the high tunnels down in the fall. By the end of the week, all tunnels will be “put to bed” for the winter, all crops will be taken out, the soil will be worked and cover crops will be planted. Since it’s close to Thanksgiving, we always like to remember the things we are thankful for this time of year. Thankful for a bountiful crop, our great customers, the hard working field laborers and our strong able bodies, that by the way really need a good message right now... Here are a couple shots of the empty tunnels. At least we've had beautiful weather to work outside in. Oh how we’ll miss those tomatoes!

Have Pumpkins, Will Cook!

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year here. It means one, that we survived another growing season (praise the Lord!) two, we can slow down a little from the long last few months and three, it’s getting cooler outside so it’s time to bake and cook! Let’s face it, there’s nothing better than a house filled with the aroma of fresh baked goodies.

Halloween marks the end of pumpkin season for us and in usual Fahrmeier tradition; we must try a new different recipe using our bounty of produce. We made a stew in one of our pumpkins and used other homegrown ingredients for the stew. While at first I admit, I thought it was going to be a pain. Much to my surprise and Bret’s pleasure it was lots of fun and the end result was very delightful! We shared this pumpkin stew treat with family and needless to say, they were impressed! We found that the pumpkin adds creaminess to the stew and to boot it didn’t add any extra fat. Give it a shot, especially if you have left over pumpkins that need to be put to use. I added some thyme and a little extra garlic to our stew. Here’s a shot of the beauty baking in our oven- thank you GE for baking it to perfection!

Ingredients
• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 cup water
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 large green pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 pumpkin (10 to 12 pounds)

Directions
• In a Dutch oven, brown meat in 2 tablespoons oil. Add water, potatoes, carrots, green pepper, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Stir in bouillon and tomatoes. Wash pumpkin; cut to 6 to 8 in. circle around top stem. Remove top and set aside; discard seeds and loosen fibers from inside.
• Place pumpkin in a shallow sturdy baking pan. Spoon stew into pumpkin and replace top. Brush outside of pumpkin with remaining oil. Bake at 325° for 2 hours or just until the pumpkin is tender (do not overbake). Serve stew from pumpkin, scooping out a little pumpkin with each serving. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Food and Wine Festival Recipe!

We hosted a food and wine festival at our farm a couple weeks back where we did a cooking demo. The demo was focused on busy day meals to fix but still feel kind of fancy having it with some yummy Missouri Wine.We paired our Norton with a simple beef stroganoff recipe that is a snap to put together. Here’s the recipe- enjoy!


Simple Beef Stroganoff

1 pkg. Hormel pre-cooked Beef Tips and Gravy
1/3 c. Missouri Norton wine
1 container of sliced fresh baby portabella mushrooms
3 tblsp. Minced garlic
2 medium onions sliced
¼ c. sour cream
½ can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of dried Thyme
Cooking Instructions

In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms and onions in a little olive oil. Once they are soft add in garlic, wine and beef tips. Let cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add in soup and sour cream. Combine until all ingredients are warm throughout. Add salt, pepper and thyme at the end for seasoning. Let simmer for a couple more minutes. Serve over rice or egg noodles. Simple and oh so good for cool nights!

Well it has been a super summer to say the least. So super that blog updates kind of, well did, come to a halt for over a month… work has continued at the farm as the pumpkins are ready, tomatoes are winding down and grape harvest is in full swing.

We’ve been hosting groups of kindergarten kids from the Kansas City area as well as Richmond and Higginsville to talk to them about where their food comes from. We simply don’t know where teachers get their energy! After corralling the large groups of kiddos for a few days we all need a nap! It’s been a lot of fun having new visitors on the farm though. It’s cool to see the expressions on their faces when they see pumpkins growing in a field or get to pick and eat tomatoes straight from the plant. We tend to take simple things like the fore granted and it reminds us to be thankful for our many blessings we have.

With apple harvest in full swing in our area here’s a yummy and very simple recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman’s website. If you’ve never read her blog before a visit to it is very much worth it! The recipe is for mini apple dumplings and get this, you use Mountain Dew as a part of the sauce. It had to be tried! Here is the link to the recipe. Supper may have to be skipped tonight and we’ll just go onto dessert. That is the best part after all!   

Fahrmeier's Tomato Day 2010

Tomato Day 2010 is this Saturday! There is a small gate fee of only $5 but from 5-7 p.m. you will enjoy tomato tastings, food samples from fabulous area chefs, a buffet dinner that will be out of this world good, games for kids, music, plus beer and wine. Bring your friends and have fun with us! If you’re not familiar with our location, the farm is right off 24 hwy about 2 miles west of Lexington MO. Our buffet dinner will be prepared by Bradley Gilmore, manager of Trezomare Restaurant located at Briarcliff Village in North Kansas City. Here’s what’s will be on it:

Pulled Pork
Spaghetti Squash with a tomato vegetable sauce
Fresh Fruit Salad
Slaw
Potato Salad
Tomato Salad…of course!
Green Beans with Onions

All that for only $10! Along with our excellent buffet we will also have tastings from Yummy’s Choice, The Tasteful Olive, Trezomare Restaurant, No Name Restaurant from Lexington MO, Green Dirt Farm, Chef Renee Kelly, Homemade Fudge and we will have a table featuring our Fahrmeier Farms private labeled products that are amazing.

The music for the night is Brother Bagman from KC…this group alone will be worth the trip!
We hope that you can make it. This event continues to grow year after year and this one promises to be the best yet!

Time? What Time? Summer? What Summer?

The summer is flying by and we can’t believe it’s almost August! So far the month of July has been filled with lots of tomatoes and fresh grown produce, busy market weekends, visitors to the farm, late nights working and did I mention the produce? We’ve been gearing up for our Tomato Day on August 7th and new this week are new solar panels to help improve our energy efficiency. Be looking for those pictures soon! The heirloom tomatoes are beautiful and bountiful as well. Every year we’re amazed at their color and taste. They are truly a treat!

Speaking of treats…because of our long work days, our supper times have moved back considerably in recent weeks as well. The other night after a long day delivering tomatoes and running errands it was obvious that we were in for another late night nosh. We some of our produce in the crisper and I came up with this yummy concoction. It’s not an earth shattering recipe on the difficulty scale but in worked in a pinch and tasted really good with grilled steaks and tomato and mozzarella salad. Give it a whirl! It has 2 of our favorite food groups…Bacon and Butter!
Crisper Fried Corn

4 ears corn- cut off the cob
½ diced green pepper
½ small white onion diced
4 tblsp. Bacon bits (don’t skimp, use the real ones)
2 tblsp. Butter
Add all ingredients to a frying pan and heat until butter is melted and vegetables are warm throughout. Enjoy!

Tomato, Oh Tomato, How We Love Thee...

Is it weird to write a love poem about tomatoes? Yeah, ok, it is but our season that began in late May is now in full swing! We love them so much that we have a one day festival celebrating them each year. Tomato Day 2010 is scheduled for August 7, 2010. See below for a little bit more information! It’s sure to be a good time.

In more tomato news…simplicity saves time. Time saved is time that gets to be spent with family. So, simple time saving recipes are what we love! I made this yummy salad for the big party we had a few weeks ago. The same party in which “Stella Salad” was created. There are lots of tomato salad recipes out there; this one is just our variation. The centerpiece is our Fahrmeier Red Tomato’s and a few herbs and seasonings that everyone typically has in their cabinet or can be requested in your next CSA delivery. I made this for a large scale crowd so that means I had to go back to the drawing board for closer ingredient measurements. Keep this one handy...the tomato’s are coming!

“Who Doesn’t Love a Fahrmeier Red Tomato Salad?”

3 lb. Fresh Tomato’s– or use different varieties for an added splash of color! (Cut them in eighths)
1/2 C. Feta Cheese (white or yellow cheddar cheese curds, shredded parmesan or cubed Gouda would be really good too)
Dressing:
¾ cup Olive Oil
2 tblsp. Minced Garlic
Small handful of minced fresh basil
½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper (for a little kick of course)
2 tblsp. Celery Salt
2 tblsp. Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
How to:
With a wire whisk mix all ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl until fully blended and set aside. Place cut tomatoes in a large salad bowl. Take dressing and pour over salad and stir lightly. Let them marinate for an hour or so at room temperature so the flavors will marry. Right before serving top with cheese. We like to eat this at room temperature to get the full tomato flavor. It’s so easy! Enjoy!

Check out these early Heirloom's fresh from our farm garden...

Stella Salad

Cooking is just what we like to do. Well, the eating part is the most fun but cooking brings us together and doesn’t include as big of a calorie intake. Especially considering how much butter gets used around here. A couple weeks ago we had a family party at the farm and in typical Fahrmeier “can do” fashion, we decided to do our own catering for it. We made a series of salads and other good stuff. As usual, I didn’t have a recipe to follow, just some gut instincts on what would be a tasty combination at the end. Well, right as we were packing up my car to take our food treasures to the farm the sky decided to open up and pour. This was not a light sprinkle by any sense of the word…more like buckets, boots and barrels with wind…lots and lots of wind. Well in the panic of trying to pack the car without getting completely drenched, Stella, our beloved puppy, decided to go for a frolic through the rain. It was a fast paced yet slow motion moment that happened all at once. 2 giant tubs of salad were left unattended in the backseat of my car with the door wide open and then the 3 fateful words crossed my mouth…”Load Up Stella” and slick as a cat, I had a soaking wet border collie puppy sitting in the middle of one of the tubs of salad that my friend Julie and I had thoughtfully prepared. Stella wasn’t budging and all we could do is laugh at the site of the dog in a bright blue bucket filled with fresh spinach, raspberries, onions and feta. Needless to say, that batch got tossed in pretty quick fashion and the surviving tubs were devoured that evening at our party. The bonus is that we came up with an instant name for our salad that also brings up fond memories. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did!


Stella Salad

2 small bags of fresh baby spinach
1 small tub of feta cheese
½ c. red onion diced
1 pt. fresh red raspberries
½ c. pecan pieces
Your favorite raspberry vinaigrette to drizzle

Prepare: Dump spinach into large salad bowl and sprinkle all other ingredients on top and serve dressing on the side. Simple and done in 5 minutes. It’s delicious and very colorful!

Sometimes it's just easier to look...

The past few weeks have gone by very quickly and luckily we've captured lots of it with photos. So without going into great detail with lots of words we thought pictures could better explain the progress on the farm!

Sweet Corn is here! And it's super tasty! Everyone has enjoyed it, including our dog! We will have it ALL Summer long!

Our eggplants are dark purple, beautiful and yummy. I'm currently seeking a recipe to wrap, roll or stuff it with something really fatty!

Pumpkins! Orange, white, green, warty, baby and cute. Our early patches have taken off and are looking great. The vines are officially growing together which means they will be one their way very soon. Fall is coming which is kind of a scary thought considering at the end of everyday we are drenched in sweat from a hard day's labor in the summer heat.

And tomatoes...the pride of our produce. We will grow litterally tons of the juicy, flavorful, big, small, yellow, RED, green and purple fruits. Our varieties are extensive as my jewelry collection and we love them all! Ron, aka "Dad" is pictured here sorting, grading and cleaning our first large picking of the season. This will be a familiar sight as our summer on the farm continues! Now, onto trying to keep up with everyone...that's a job within itself!

We're All Ears!

Although the heat has been turned up for a while now, this week is the official first of the summer. The crops are going looking good as we continue to put in hours and hours of hard work to make sure we produce the best product we can. With that comes lots and lots of tomato’s, zucchini, greens beans (oh the taste of fresh green beans cooked in bacon with potatoes) and of course sweet corn! Check out these photo’s of our early corn. It’s going to be ready hopefully within the next couple weeks and we can’t wait to have some.

To tide you over here is a yummy looking recipe I stumbled across in Southern Living Magazine.

I believe I’m going to give it a whirl tonight. Sacrficing heating up the house with the oven will be worth it. It looks super easy and let’s face it… Cheese, corn and bread can’t be all that bad!

Fresh Corn-and-Asiago Cheese Bread Pudding

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup whipping cream

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 (12-oz.) French bread loaf, cut into 1-inch cubes (8 cups)
4 cups fresh corn kernels
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded Asiago cheese

1. Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add bread, tossing to coat. Let stand 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375°. Stir corn and cheese into bread mixture; spoon into a well-buttered 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Off and Running!

Wowza! What a great week we had last week. Time flies when you’re having fun and working like crazy people. Last week we stretched ourselves to the limit by going to several different locations to promote the farm and sell our fresh grown produce but it was completely worth it! I mentioned last week that we were heading to Columbia to the Farm to Table Festival on Mizzou’s campus. We met lots of people, reconnected with old friends and the best part is that we had the chance to tell them all about what we do. We were even fortunate enough to have the photo of our booth on the cover of The Missourian newspaper. Check out the photo!
Even through more rain over the past few days, the crops are still growing well. The pumpkins are starting to peep through the soil and we’re looking forward to the tomatos coming in full force. Here are a couple pics of Tomato Berries. They’re a new variety we’re trying out this year. Cute little guys aren’t they? They look like strawberries, a favorite fruit around here, but taste like tomatoes. Tasty!

Ready to Rock!

This is by far one of our favorite times of the year. The past couple week’s we’ve been running 90 to nothing, hence the gap in blogging, and gearing up for what we would call the super bowl of our year otherwise known as PRODUCE SEASON! This is the time of the year of 23 second phone calls about 15 times a day, eating on the run, sweating, suntans and little sleep. While other’s vacation during the summer we’re planting, picking and packing our goods for deliveries and markets. Some days I really feel like we’ve lost our minds but it’s completely worth it. Especially when our customer’s enjoy their first Fahrmeier Farms tomato, make a big batch of salsa using our peppers, onions, tomatoes and herbs or enjoy one of our fresh picked berries.
This week we will be at the Farm to Table event at the University of Missouri- Columbia (MIZ- ZOU! Sorry...had to get that in there!) promoting and selling our veggies and goods. We’re hosting a wedding at the winery at the farm and will be at our usual farmer’s markets in KC this weekend too. It’s so much fun meeting lots of new people and telling them about our farm and what we do.

Above is a pic of Bret working the fields and prepping to plant more pumpkins...Yes, it's already time to think about the fall.

It's All About Timing...

As the old saying goes, “If you’re on time you’re late and if you’re early you’re on time”. This is the case with a couple of our crops so far this year. Our red raspberries are growing like wild fire and our early tomatoes are starting to get ripe. Both crops are running about 2 weeks ahead of our schedule which makes our hearts smile!

Timing is everything on the farm and anticipating the wants and needs of our customers is something we work very hard at doing. With some more luck and lots of prayers this dryer weather will allow everything to catch up and jump start their growth.

Watching the plants grow is like dangling candy in front of a baby! It makes us want to eat the produce immediately but is so worth the wait when it’s fresh. We hope everyone enjoyed their first delivery of CSA’s. We appreciate any and all feedback we can get from our guests and customers! Now…back to work! The produce needs us!

Carrying On About Our Business

So we’re thinking about building an arc here at the farm…with all the rainy weather it feels like summer will never come. I believe we’ve even stopped checking the rain gauge knowing there’s just going to be more to dump out. Somehow with the all the moisture everything is still looking healthy and growing. On the upside, our first week of CSA’s are being delivered this week, we’ve been hosting some school tours, market weekends have been going strong and our roadside market is now open on the weekends with fresh asparagus, a few strawberries, bedding plants and a few other items. Stop by and see us soon! The market is located just west of Lexington on 24 highway.

With all of the veggies on the verge of finishing growth and ripening it’s easy to stay optimistic through it all. Here is a pic of the sweet corn taken the other day when the sun was actually out. Can’t wait for it to be ready! Everything sweet corn related is a hit around here.

And here is a pic of some okra- still in its growth stage of course but any growth is good growth. The fuzzy stuff will be ready June to July and is a good source of vitamin A and K. Most people like it fried but a favorite here is to eat it pickled from the jar.

If you're looking for a different way to fix Okra here’s an easy recipe to add to your collection. It was found in the Seasonal and Simple guide from the University of Missouri Extension Service. Enjoy!

Crusty Okra

2 tbls. Bread Crumbs
3 tbls. Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 tbls. Cornmeal
3 c. Okra, sliced
¼ c. Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, minced

Mix bread crumbs, cheese and cornmeal. Add the okra and stir to coat. Heat the olive oil, then sauté the okra and garlic for about 5 to 10 minutes. Most of the roping should disappear and the okra should be tender.

CSA's Are On The Way, Yummy New Recipes Shared Today!

Just a little heads up. We will be starting our CSA’s next week! Of course since it’s still early to have lots of crops everyone will be getting some asparagus which around here, getting some of the fresh stuff is like winning the lottery. Be checking your email for more information.

And now for a really important topic…Rhubarb. I’ve always thought that this odd plant was something that only an 80 year old grandma would enjoy cooking with but boy have I been proven wrong in recent days! Sorry to all you younger folks that have come to know and love this vibrant plant before me. You’re a true pioneer. We stumbled upon this ridiculously easy recipe, made a couple changes to suit our tastebuds and made this creation with flavors and color unlike any out of the freezer pie or cobbler. Serve this cobbler warm with vanilla ice cream and be prepared to want seconds! I added a cup of halved strawberries, because we had some fresh picked ones in our fridge and it worked out very nicely.I’ve never really cared for cooked strawberries, it’s a consistency thing but trust me, in this, it’s very much worth it!

Turn somthing kind of odd looking into...

This! A very "rustic" rhubarb cobbler. Baked in Missouri made pottery I might add...

Make this for your family tonight. They will thank you!

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

• 3 cups Diced Rhubarb

• 1 cup strawberry’s, halved

• 2 tablespoons Orange Zest

• 1 package Strawberry Jello, 3 Oz. Box

• ½ cups Flour

• 1 cup Sugar

• ½ teaspoons Cinnamon

• ¼ cups Butter, Softened

Place diced rhubarb and strawberries in a small baking pan. Sprinkle zest over the top then sprinkle the package of strawberry jello over the rhubarb mixture. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Sprinkle over the top of the rhubarb goodness.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until it’s bubbly.

Fresh picked early berries!

Cook Out Time!

Bret and I love lots of things but two of our very favorites is cooking and spending time with our family and friends. When we get to combine the two it’s even better! Over the past four days we’ve had dinner with the Fahrmeier family 3 times, at two of these dinner’s I brought a salad that was literally a brain child made on the fly using the fresh ingredients that we had in our fridge. It was a hit with our family so I thought I would share it with you.
The items are simple but good and it’s an easy recipe to adapt to make your own also. After careful thought about the quantities of the items used (because I usually don’t measure things out when cooking) here is the recipe for what I’ll call the “On the Fly Asparagus Salad”. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! What I like most about it is that it’s using some things that we already have growing on the farm!


“On the Fly Asparagus Salad”

1 lb. Fresh Asparagus break stalks in 2 and blanch until bright green

8 cups Red Leaf Lettuce or your favorite spring mix salad blend

1 half of a Red Onion thin sliced

3 cups Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1 small container of Feta Cheese

Dressing:

¾ cup Olive Oil

¼ cup White Vinegar

1 tblsp. Dijon Mustard

1 tblsp. Minced Garlic

Small handful of minced basil (rosemary and terragon will be good)

Salt and Pepper to taste
How to:

With a wire whisk mix all ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl until fully blended and set aside. Place Asparagus, Lettuce, Onion and Tomatoes in your favorite salad bowl and toss together. Take dressing and pour over salad and toss again. Once all ingredients are coated, top with the feta cheese and serve!

It truly is simple but so tasty. We enjoyed it last night with beef kabobs and a black bean salad.

We're lucky...

Oh farm life! Our crop is flourishing after the rain and all of our high tunnels are repaired after the strong early thunderstorms too. Something else we haven't mentioned is the animals that live on our farm. We tend to take forgranted how lucky we are to have some many wonderful things surrounding us on a daily basis that a lot of people don't have the chance to see.

For example, last week we had a couple guests from the Netherlands tour our farm. Our daily surroundings is something they have never really gotten to experience before. At the time we laughed but then it made me think of how truely fortunate we are here in good ol Lafayette County Missouri! Below are some pics Bret took today while driving around the farm. The animals are enjoying the sunshine as much as we are!

The babies and their mama's are playing in the sun. Notice the one on the left standing on it's back legs to get the first taste of greenery from the tree. These crazy goats will eat ANYTHING!!!

Holy cow...the girls are drying out and soaking up the sun. Wonder if they think the skyline is as pretty as we do?

Here is the view from our back step at the house. This rainbow is going directly over the top of the family farm. It started as a double rainbow but our camera skills weren't fast enough to catch it though. We admired the site for a couple moments then headed back into our house then turned to get one last peak and it was gone! We're hoping the pot of gold is hiding over one of the hills!

School Tours

We love having visitors to the farm. It's important to us to educate as many people that we can about agriculture and where their food comes from. A part of our mission to do that is to host kids from Kansas City area schools. While on the tours the kids get to plant veggies and flowers and get the chance to have a real farm experience. As you can see Ron really likes interacting with the kids too...He probably won't admit it but he's a big softy! Especially when it come's to little one's and dogs. Below he's showing some youngsters how to plant cilantro, one of our favorite herbs!

And so it begins...

We've been having so much darn fun on the farm we can hardly stand it recently. We mean that...kind of...and there's really no need to even say we've been busy because that would an understatement and misrepresentation of the word. Ok, enough with the big words. We seriously have lots and lots of pictures of our progress that must be posted. Photos of the high tunnels, Ron tilling the soil, prepping the vegetable beds, the asparagus field being burned and our puppy Stella showing her Alpha Gamma Rho pride. With that said, stay tuned and we'll stay excited because we get to wake up and do it all over again tomorrow. The end product is worth the work!

Chick Knives

We’re looking forward to another good week at the farm. Saturday we hosted a tour group and KMOS TV. The guys gave a tour of the produce fields and greenhouse then ended in the winery. It’s always good to have visitors at the farm! Here’s a pic of the group in the greenhouse, with Joan in the foreground.

You may be wondering why on earth there is a picture of a dirty pinkish red box knife posted. Weird I know. This little gem actually belongs to me. Or I should say, DID belong to me. We’ve seen many good times together. Ripping up carpet, breaking down boxes and believe it or not, it works great as a can opener as needed in the past couple of weeks, thanks to the breakdown of a certain Kitchen aid can opener….anyway, that’s another story.

I believe Fahrmeier Farms might want to buy stock in the Husky Brand as Bret has lost several within the last few months which leads me to this particular picture. My girly knife is now turned into a “manly” all purpose tool. Its new purpose is cutting black plastic and drip tape in the field along with other farm tasks and I christened it Saturday morning. I’m taking bets that it will never be in my full possession again. The funny thing is that I made fun of the fact that I had a chick knife and now I’m coping with the fact that I will never have sole custody of it again.

Gotta Love Missouri Weather!

Well, this week has started off with a real bang. Our place was covered in a blanket of fresh white stuff over the weekend along with the rest of the surrounding area. The joys of living on top of a hill are 1.) North winds...awesomely bad on a snowy day and 2.) having a driveway that looks like a freshly iced cake from those north winds.

This artwork is of Bret's truck as he attempted to make it out of the drive. I'll title this- "I should've listened to my wife and driven in the field" 

His words were, "I didn't think it would be that bad!" I did the proper thing and watched and laughed from the comfort of our living room.

Brandon came to the rescue with the tractor and dug him out and they were off and on with the rest of their day.

Here is a pic of the first of 12 high tunnels going up this week. It's spring prep time for the vegetables and every break in the weather has to be taken advantage of. The process of covering the high tunnels is long and exhausting. Especially when you have to wade through mud to get the task complete. It's a good thing the end product is well worth the work it takes. And is a welcomed sign of warmer weather on it's way.

And We're Back...

Ok, the blog hiatus is now over along with the cameraman’s. Bret and I have finally gotten moved into our home. Moved is the key word- settled is another part of the story. Boxes are stacked, cabinets are not even close to being full and the walls are still naked. But that’s ok. We have to start somewhere. And I’ll take the disorganization for now. Especially since our landlords were nice enough to put some new flooring in AND replace that awful pink toilet…may it rest in peace!

Now, onto the real business at hand here- We’ve had many inquiries about our CSA program which we are growing more excited about. The vegetable plants are looking healthy and the flowers are starting to bud. What a relief to see some green with a few patches of color mixed in.

Remember that rogue tomato I told you about a few weeks ago? Well here it is! She’s almost ready to pick and looking mighty delicious in all of its tomato glory. There’s probably going to be a fight over who gets a bigger bite of the little guy!

Also, here is a pick of the tomato’s we grafted a couple weeks ago. They are looking strong and their graft clips are falling right off. This means two things. 1.) We are going to have strong heirloom tomato plants that will hopefully produce lots of yummy varieties and 2.) We didn’t kill them!!!! That was the part I was most afraid of as this whole grafting thing is very new to me. So far we're running in the high 80% success rate of survival. But I don't want to jinx it...

Flower Power!

So begins another week. We were lucky to have some sun shining down on us at the farm over the weekend. The light and warmth makes growing conditions better and makes everyone on the farm much more pleasant to be around. The flowers and vegetables are going strong and looking healthy in their early growing stages. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow veggies and flowers and that hard work and planning really pays off and is more rewarding when we produce a high quality product for our friends and customers to enjoy!

You won’t believe what we found in our greenhouse last night…Our very own garden fairy! Photo above. I love garden fairies, there’s something magical about them. They are right up there with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Sandman. Some people don’t think they exist but I do. Fairy’s travel around and sprinkle their pixie dust on the growing plants and it makes them stronger, prettier and makes them last longer. For the non-believers out there I have proof that they are real.  This one’s name is Carly, she loves flowers and was having some fun as you can see here.

Some Call Him the Gambler

We all have friends that enjoy going to the riverboat casinos to see if lady luck is on our side. I have to admit; I've even done it a few times and actually got lucky. Gambling is fun and exciting right? Well, it's not as much fun when you're livelihood or annual salary is a gamble everyday that you go to work. Farmer’s are big risk takers everyday and this year, Florida’s produce farmers unfortunately lost their gamble because of a long cold snap. Not only does it stink for them but also for consumers since the crop failure will force our prices up. Attached is a link to the story about Florida’s cold snap.
On a positive note, tomato seeds have been planted and we’re looking forward to growing them into hearty, tasty Missouri tomatoes for everyone to enjoy this summer!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Ok, so... oops! It’s been longer than I’d like to update. The week has been crammed with farm, greenhouse, winery and vineyard madness. Plus the head photo taker seems to have been on hiatus. It’s hard to find good help sometimes… The break in the weather has been great for starting to get things done outside as it’s nice not to have to wear 20 layers of clothing to perform a simple task.
The greenhouse continues to look great and is filling up rapidly. Brandon is the point man with Joan by his side making sure every plant is up to par for springtime selling. Bret is the conference guru this week as the time is upon him, he’s focused to get vegetable fields prepped and ready to rock while learning about local foods, policy and networking all at the same time . The tomatoes we grafted last week are still alive and doing well…or as well as a chopped in two plant can do. More tomorrow…hopefully with photos.

So Ends Another Week...

Cleaning, planting, grafting, wood cutting and more cleaning. The work is never done and there's never enough hands to get it complete. For everyone's information, with continuing colder temperatures, we're going to extend our membership joining date for our CSA to March 15th.  

Bret is in the Kansas City area for a couple days with his ALOT (Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow) class touring businesses and networking. He enjoys going to the sessions because he learns tons and meet's cool people, but also misses being at the farm. The group is ending their session tomorrow at our farm. They're taking a small tour of the place and then have a home cooked lunch in the winery. After that, reality will set back in and we'll get back to work on our house. Have I mentioned that there is a pink toilet in it's bathroom? How retro chic...

Sunday we're celebrating Grandma Fahrmeier's 85th birthday at the winery. Friends and family are planning to come help us celebrate the special occasion with one of Joan's cakes. YUM!  

As the sun shines on this very cold day. I'm reminded of the warm spring and summer day's filled with activity at the farm. I can smell the fresh cut grass and turned soil now. I stole this picture from Brad, who I might say has a pretty good eye for natural beauty and does a great job capturing it in photos.

As I’ve said before, spring is a very busy time for all of us. My dad has lots of sayings that are “full of wisdom” that as a child I never really understood but now as I’ve gotten older I’m starting to get them. One of my favorites is “I’m busier than a one armed paper hanger.” Politically correct no….is it funny and true? YES! Very much so… Picture that image in your mind right now and try not to laugh.


In an effort to be responsible, knowledgeable growers and business owners we all like to take the opportunity to attend workshops and conferences not only to educate ourselves but others about local foods, growing methods, the agriculture industry, agritourism and our niche in our local and state economy.

Tonight, Bret will be in Higginsville to speak about the benefits of high tunnel production and how we do it on our farm. He’s also planning to attend the Farm, Food and Health Conference in March at the American Royal Pavilion in Kansas City, MO. The conference is about improving local food for our health, economy and communities and how consumers and producers can strengthen their relationships.

By day I work in town and have started moonlighting as a new farm wife as we fix up our new rental home, babysit and potty train our new puppy, Stella and continue the learning curve of all things Fahrmeier. All of these things and try to keep up with the rest of my family while trying not to look a fright all of the time.

Yesterday, Brandon spent some time in Columbia tasting some new grape varietals. Joan and Ron have been doing a few home improvement projects.
All of this plus the regular day to day farm work, greenhouse preparation and produce season planning. Needless to say a good night’s sleep is fast on our tails when our heads hit the pillow at night.

A Case of the Monday's!

So another ice and snow storm passed through the area yesterday leaving everything in a blanket of the white slick stuff...again. Mother nature keeps playing with our emotions and we're tired of it! Don't forget that the deadline to purchase a CSA share is this week so don't miss out on this great opportunity. Above is a photo of some of our heirloom tomato's waiting to be grafted in our farm garden. What an exciting time it's getting to be here at Fahrmeier Farms. Now, no more doom and gloom of winter, bring on the sun...seriously...anytime now will be great.

Butter Makes Everything Better

With tomatoes being one of our primary summer crops we always like to try different recipes using what we have in abundance. Even though our crop won’t be ready for a few more months there’s never a shortage of sun dried tomato’s at your local grocery store.

Here's a photo of a rogue tomato plant in the greenhouse just dying to make it's debut!

We like using flavored butter’s for lots of dishes we make for our family. They are great on steaks, warm breads, potatoes, pasta and one of my favorites, corn on the cob! Below is a basic recipe that can be adapted and changed depending on your favorite herbs but we never forget to add the garlic!

Since buying and eating local foods is something our family likes to do I’ll suggest using Shatto Milk’s fresh butter. Shatto is a local family owned dairy from the Kansas City area and they also make some of the best chocolate milk we’ve ever tasted! Have a great weekend!


Sundried Tomato Butter

• 1 lb. Softened Butter

• 12 pieces sundried tomatoes

• 3 cloves garlic

• 2 Tbsp. basil, julienne

• 3 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 1 Lemon, Zest

In a mixer, place the softened butter. Using the paddle attachment, whip the butter until smooth.

Puree the sundried tomato, lemon zest, garlic and herbs and combine with the whipped butter. Season with salt and black pepper. Chill before using.

Another Spring for New Beginnings

Another week closer to season! The greenhouses are looking good and filling up with flowers and vegetables. With a few minor exceptions everything is on schedule and will be ready to transplant soon.

This week Bret and Lorin attended the Missouri Agritourism and Small Fruit and Vegetable Conference at the Lake of the Ozarks. They returned with lots of tools and ideas to make this year’s season bigger and better! In other exciting news, this past weekend, Bret and Lorin also got married in a small wedding at the winery on the farm. Surrounded by family and close friends they started their new life together in fine fashion. Below is a couple photos from the evening. Enjoy!

Join Our CSA!

This year we are offering a CSA program, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSA’s offer a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer and gives us, the farmer, a chance to get to know the people we grow for and educate them about agriculture today. CSA’s are also a great way to expose you and your family to new fruits and vegetables, cooking methods and offers a hands on experience with local agriculture. If you want to get your hands dirty, schedule an appointment and we will glad to provide a guided tour of our farm garden. Visitors are always welcome!


A Fahrmeier Farms CSA membership will entitle you and your family to a weekly box of produce ranging from six to nine different vegetables a week (some weeks more or less depending on the season). The quantity increases as the season progress, always enough produce to feed your family based on the size of the CSA you choose in your membership. You will also receive an invitation to our Tomato Day Festival; an evening filled with live music, tomato tastings, education about local produce, area chef’s preparing samples of tomato dishes and Chef Brad of Trezomare Restaurant located at Briarcliff prepares a delicious meal featuring our tomatoes and other farm grown vegetables. The event is located at our winery, Three Trails Winery at Fahrmeier Farm.

We added your name to our mailing list because you’ve visited us once or twice at a farmer’s market or at our roadside market just west of Lexington, MO. We’re currently farmer vendors at the Downtown Overland Park Farmers Market, Kansas City River Market and Briarcliff Village Market. Because you have patronized us at one of these markets we know that you are interested in “fresh, nutritious food” at the very best price available. That is why we are offering you an opportunity to become a member of our CSA. We have a limited number of shares available and will close the opportunity as soon as planting season begins.

Reserve your CSA today. If you’re interested please take time to read, sign and mail the contract with the joining fee by February 28th, 2010 as planting will begin the first of March. We will plant to feed the number of family members in our CSA’s to assure their share of our garden. We look forward to bringing you produce fresh from our family farm to your home!

For questions or more information about CSA’s or our farm please email at fahrmeier.farms@gmail.com, call 816-934-2472 or visit our Fahrmeier’s Market facebook page or our blog at http://www.fahrmeiersmarket.blogspot.com/

A CSA is rewarding expericence for all of us and hope you'll consider joining ours!

Delish!

What a great day it has been. Here’s a picture of the progress our onions are making. I’m still amazed at how fast things grow around here!

With the weather still in limbo of cooler days and nights here’s a recipe for onion soup. It’s one of our favorite winter dishes and this recipe from the Food Network's Paula Deen is awesome. It also uses staple ingredients that are kept in our kitchens-Garlic, which is Bret’s favorite, olive oil, bay leaves and thyme. Not only is it easy to make but the flavor is unbeatable and is a great start to a meal or perfect with a green salad for light supper. Enjoy!

Paula Deen’s Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 8 onions, sliced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 8 cups beef stock

• 1/4 cup dry white wine

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• Salt and pepper

• 1 loaf French bread

• 2 cups grated Gruyere

Directions

Sauté onions and garlic in oil over low heat until tender and golden yellow. Sprinkle flour over onions, cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well. Add stock and wine and bring to a boil, add thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Meanwhile, slice French bread into 3/4-inch slices and butter both sides. Toast slices on griddle until golden brown. Ladle soup into an ovenproof bowl, add toasted bread and cover with cheese. Place ovenproof bowl on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees F or 5 minutes under a hot broiler

It’s only Tuesday and it feels like it should be Friday! The family has been working diligently in the greenhouse. Joan aka mom, bought an ipod last weekend to help break up the monotony of planting. We were all proud of her for figuring out how to load music and itunes on it by herself. She swears she wanted one so that she didn’t have to listen to everyone else’s music and fuss but we’re betting she wanted a cool new toy! Either way, she really likes it and will be putting it to good use while grafting and planting in coming weeks. I wonder what songs are going to be on her frequently played list?

Posted are some pics of some of the herbs we recently planted…two of our favorites actually. Rosemary and Thyme- we like using these herbs with distinctive flavor to marinate steaks and other meats with, oven roast potatoes and squash plus they’re really great to use when cooking rice to give it a little something extra. Not only do they taste great but they smell amazing and their leaf shapes look really pretty in spring and summer deck pots!

Catchin Some Rays

As mentioned last week, greenhouse preparations are in full swing. This week has been focused on starter plant cuttings for our greenhouse business and starting our tomato plants. Tomatos are one of the farm’s largest crops and we take great pride in growing several varieties of red’s and heirlooms. Just imagine, one of those delicious fresh picked fruits sliced with just a smidge of salt and pepper. For a tomato purist, it doesn't get any better than that!

One of the best things about working in the greenhouse is the warmth and sun light it provides the plants and us…who would have thought it was possible to get a sun tan in January?! The swimwear is still hidden in the back of the closet but warm days tempt it to move its way closer to the front.

Mud Pies!

This week has been up and down as far as the weather is concerned. We've gone from an icy winter wonderland to an absolute muddy mess! Clifford, our farm dog is living it up with the conditions and literally making tracks everywhere he goes. This freeze and thaw business is wearing it's welcome out in short fashion!

As for farm business, we had a busy week fixing a water leak in one of the greenhouses, cut lots of wood for the stove and worked on profit and loss statements. We also hosted some visitors at the farm on Wednesday. The University of Missouri's- College of  Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources had an elite group of freshman and sophmore students come hang out with us for a few hours to learn about our farm operation and the challenges facing local growers. With 3 of us being Mizzou alums, it was great to get back in touch with old friends and make some new ones with these students, faculty and staff.

Last night we had the opportunity to have dinner with the group at TrezoMares Restaurant located at Braircliff Village in Kansas City. We're fortunate to supply TrezoMares with our fresh grown produce throughout our growing seasons and the people there are as awesome as the food they serve!

Check out both sites!

Mizzou's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

TrezoMare's Restaurant

A Splash of Spring

Finally some sun! A much needed thaw started today around the farm. The outside temperature reached a balmy 42 degrees today...It's a bit sad to call 42 degrees balmy but it's a welcomed change from previous weeks where virtually everything has been covered in ice and snow. Posted are couple pictures snapped in the past couple days. It's easy to appreciate all the seasons and the interesting photo opps that come with it. The photo of the vineyard was taken this past Monday morning and the flower is from a hibiscus tree seeking shelter in the greenhouse for the winter. Beautiful!

Spring Preperations In Full Bloom

We’ve been working diligently to prepare for the spring planting season. These little sprouts are the beginning of sweet onions that we’ll transplant into a portion of our nearly 150 acres of fresh fruits and vegetables grown at the farm. The onions are just one of the over 30 different crops that are produced.

These beauties along with our other locally grown produce will be ready and available early spring at our roadside Market, the Overland Park, KS market and the Kansas City River Market.

The green houses used to start our plants are fueled by a wood burning stove that heats 3 large units used for growing. The sights of the young plants are an exciting reminder that warm weather is around the corner as each growing season is always full of surprises. We can’t wait to see what this one holds for us!