Everything was going according to plan until...

It wouldn't be life on the farm if we didn't have a few setbacks every once in a while. After all, it is just like I said- LIFE ON THE FARM! We can only plan so much.
For example, we laid field tile back in early December to help us increase our growing abilities in our tunnels, we cleaned up in and around our packing shed, replaced a water line, ordered seeds and planted them in the greenhouse too.
All was going as planned until yesterday when the hot water heater in our greenhouse decided to hibernate...for the rest of its life. Without the heater our seedlings won't grow which in turn won't allow us to have an early crop of fresh vegetables or a crop at all for that matter.
The cool thing about being farmers is that we are used to ever changing situations and making the best of what we have at hand. After trying to bring the old heater back to life, we made the decision to replace the heater so we could get back on track.
With that, tonight the seedlings are tucked away in warmer conditions so they can continue to grow into healthy vegetables to enjoy and sell to our customers. If you're interested in trying our vegetables I might suggest that you purchase a CSA share from our farm. Its a great way to try the variety of crops we grow. Here's a link to the information.

Baby It's Cold Outside... Better Start Planning for CSA's!

Well we survived another hectic holiday season and it's time to start preparing for our Spring planting schedule.
Last year was our first year of selling CSA shares. Oh what a learning experience that was but while we were learning we also had a lot of fun getting to know our cool customers so we decided to offer it again this year.
For those of you who aren't familiar with a CSA, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's an great way to buy local, fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers directly.
We enjoy the program because it gives us the chance to get to know our customers and it allows us to educate more people about what we are passionate about... Agriculture. The Local Harvest website is an excellent resource to help you find a farmer in your area. Of course if you live in the greater Kansas City area we'd love for you to consider purchasing a CSA from us!

Here is a link to our 2011 contract if you're interested. Cheers to a great New Year ahead!

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!