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Boonville —
The sun baked on the Ellebracht’s property without the benefit of any large vegetation to duck under for shade Thursday afternoon.
At the 10-acre property outside of Boonville, an orchard of trees lined the driveway until October 2009, when what officials determined to be a microburst, a small, intense rush of wind, struck their property and destroyed much of the outdoor gardening arrangements and parts of the family’s home.
Debbie and Gary Ellebracht had most of the damage covered by insurance — the trees excluded — and though farming is not their main source of income, they decided to rebuild and continue to grow crops.
“We were standing there looking at it from the window,” Debbie Ellebracht said of the storm. “It could have been a lot worse.”
The family is one of the vendors you will find on Saturday mornings under tents at the Boonville Farmers' Market. In its second year, vendors say business has been steady, if not overwhelming, and they want to see the operation grow.
“We wanted to start out kind of small, put our toes in the water and see how it goes. I was expecting more people to come and visit. There are the regulars that are there every weekend.” Ellebracht said.
The market has transitioned from one person, Karen Green, an intern with an AmeriCorps program, spearheading the operation to the oversight of a board, president Kate Fjell said.
“I think we are going to continued to be challenged in terms of awareness,” Fjell said. “We are working on providing more public education.”
The items at the market, all of them required to be grown or made within the mid-Missouri region and deemed local, coincide with the growing season. That means while the grocery stores had tomatoes in April, the vendors at the market didn’t have any because the Missouri varieties weren’t ripe yet.
“When you open in April and May and people want tomatoes and peppers, we don’t have any. We’re trying to educate people about the ebb and flow of what goes in and what comes out,” Fjell said.
The vendors arrange the market in the parking lot of Orscheln Farm and Home. They try to stack their stands up close to one another to give the market a more cohesive feel, but vendors admit the temporary nature of the market makes that unity difficult.
“We want to make it a place where you can come hang out and not just drive up and get your cucumbers and get back in your vehicle,” Fjell said.
The sun baked on the Ellebracht’s property without the benefit of any large vegetation to duck under for shade Thursday afternoon.
At the 10-acre property outside of Boonville, an orchard of trees lined the driveway until October 2009, when what officials determined to be a microburst, a small, intense rush of wind, struck their property and destroyed much of the outdoor gardening arrangements and parts of the family’s home.
Debbie and Gary Ellebracht had most of the damage covered by insurance — the trees excluded — and though farming is not their main source of income, they decided to rebuild and continue to grow crops.
“We were standing there looking at it from the window,” Debbie Ellebracht said of the storm. “It could have been a lot worse.”
The family is one of the vendors you will find on Saturday mornings under tents at the Boonville Farmers' Market. In its second year, vendors say business has been steady, if not overwhelming, and they want to see the operation grow.
“We wanted to start out kind of small, put our toes in the water and see how it goes. I was expecting more people to come and visit. There are the regulars that are there every weekend.” Ellebracht said.
The market has transitioned from one person, Karen Green, an intern with an AmeriCorps program, spearheading the operation to the oversight of a board, president Kate Fjell said.
“I think we are going to continued to be challenged in terms of awareness,” Fjell said. “We are working on providing more public education.”
The items at the market, all of them required to be grown or made within the mid-Missouri region and deemed local, coincide with the growing season. That means while the grocery stores had tomatoes in April, the vendors at the market didn’t have any because the Missouri varieties weren’t ripe yet.
“When you open in April and May and people want tomatoes and peppers, we don’t have any. We’re trying to educate people about the ebb and flow of what goes in and what comes out,” Fjell said.
The vendors arrange the market in the parking lot of Orscheln Farm and Home. They try to stack their stands up close to one another to give the market a more cohesive feel, but vendors admit the temporary nature of the market makes that unity difficult.
“We want to make it a place where you can come hang out and not just drive up and get your cucumbers and get back in your vehicle,” Fjell said.
Fjell is recruiting guest chefs for cooking demonstrations using local ingredients, and she is encouraging vendors to give away free samples of food containing their produce or meat.
Other farmers’ markets often have live music or art. Fjell said she would also like to, but finding an electrical outlet for amplifiers and music equipment creates a hurdle.
Darin Gerke of Gerke’s Osage Valley Farms said the market has helped his business. He raises chickens and cows that appeal to niche customers who want grass-fed, free range meat and eggs.
He said he the market as an advertising tool.
“From week to week, I sell out of different items, just because I guess wrong on what people will want,” Gerke said.
The vendors who sold products last year at the market have improved their operations, dropping the items that don’t sell, Gerke said.
Ellebracht said there is camaraderie among the vendors. They help set up each others tents and trade information to discern old wives’ tales from useful tips.
“You might have a great season for a certain crop and someone else will have just the total opposite,” Ellebracht said.
