Challenges of Growing Produce in the Winter

There are real challenges in bringing fresh vegetables to our tables during the wintertime. Excessively cloudy, rainy, and freezing conditions are less than ideal for most crops, including winter crops. While covering with row cover and plastic keep plants from dying, tough weather conditions keep them from thriving. When conditions are favorable, winter crops can make good growth, though slower than spring and summer plantings.

The time when daylight is shorter than 10 hours a day, not much plant growth occurs and plants exist in a semi-hibernation state. In this area this time stretches from late November to mid January and are referred to as the Persephone days. For growing winter crops, these dates are more important than frost dates. The trick is getting plants to a good stage of growth before the days of deep winter set in. The winter basically prolongs the harvest season, not the growing season.

Cold temperatures can actually be a blessing for the taste of winter crops, as it seems to sweeten and crisp up many vegetables. Lettuce, spinach, and other winter crops may not make huge growth during the cold months, but their quality seems improved and maintained.

A few growers in this area are experimenting with growing winter crops for sale. Consumer patience is needed, while it takes trial and error to learn what will work in this area, the quality of the produce can be fantastic. Be sure to support their efforts through Cape Locally Grown while they work to create a sustainable winter food system.

Seasons Greetings and a Gift for you!

Seasons Greetings!

It’s that time of year again when we show appreciation to the ones we hold dear, both friends and family.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of the local farmers, growers, and artisans that make up Cape Locally Grown. As a Christmas gift, we are offering all of our customers $5.00 off this week on their orders of $30.00 or more. Take advantage of the local meats, baked goods, veggies, nuts, soaps, and clothing items available this week for your Christmas time celebrations!

New growers this week include Steve McKaskle’s family farm (Braggadocio, Missouri) in the Missouri Bootheel. He grows high quality certified organic rice, popcorn and corn meal products. They make a great addition to our market and provide you with more opportunities to support local growers.

Also April Calvin at Crow Moon Farm (Fredericktown, Missouri) brings her luxurious soaps made from organic oils and essential oils. If you want a special gift this Christmas, this soap is it!

For Christmas shopping, check out our gift certificates that make a great stocking stuffer for your locavore friends. Also our gift boxes are a great way to get a taste of local flavor for family and friends as our boxes offer several growers’ products in one gift!

Don’t forget the other great products for your Christmas celebration – grass-fed beef from Double B Ranch, ice cream from Cream of the Crust, eggs from Manoor Manor, baked goods and salad greens from Green’s Garden, jams and winter squash from Null Farms Produce, black walnuts from First Fruits, alpaca wear from Three Sisters Farm, and young fryer rabbits from Maple Cottage Farm.

We appreciate your support as we do our part in helping to build our local food system.

Lance and Sharla Green
Cape Locally Grown

Grass-Fed Sustainability

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that much our land area in this region is hilly and covered in grasses and trees. This is great from an erosion stand point, because the grass sod and tree roots hold on to these topsoils to keep it from flowing away down to the creeks and rivers and out to sea.

Our hill region presents some unique challenges and pastures and managed forests are a sustainable use of our sloping ground. The land really dictates what kind of agriculture can be maintained sustainably, thus grass-fed (ruminant) animals and forest-fed animals are a great sustainable use of our land-conserving pastures and trees.

As consumers looking to purchase local meats, we need to prioritize sustainability in our food choices. Grass-fed beef, lamb, goat (along with their other products like milk, cheese, leather, wool, mohair, etc.) and forest-fed pork are great options to meeting the region’s protein needs in a way that conserves our topsoil and utilizes our sustainable resources.

Local Food Time!

Greetings from your local food producers!

We’re excited for the opportunity to bring great local foods to your table this week!

We welcome Karen Null this week from Null Farms Produce in Marble Hill. She’s got some lovely winter squash and whole fruit jams available this week. Karen is also growing hydroponic lettuce in her greenhouse and will be having beautiful red and green lettuces available soon!

For your holiday baking, Mike Edmunds with First Fruits in Gordonville has his delicious black walnuts in the market! They make a great addition to cookies, cakes, brownies, and breads along with salads, squash dishes and more!

Jan and Jim have this to say about their new hats – Our highly anticipated package finally arrived at the farm from El Paso, Texas. Inside were hand crocheted, one-of-a-kind winter hats. Each hat had it’s own unique design and was made from our very own Three Sisters Farm yarn. Our yarn is all naturally colored and milled in Kansas by Shepherds Mill. But, what makes them truly special to us is that they were hand made by our son. Larry is an orchestra teacher and director. When he gets home from work he crochets for relaxation. Such a talented guy. (Of course we are a little biased.). Look for the hats here at The Market.

For those looking for delicious bulk local beef, Jennifer Culbertson at Maple Cottage Farm has half of a steer available (or 1/4 if desired). You can find out more info about her beef under the beef category in the market.

Check out our other growers: Double B and their grass-feed beef, Manoor Manor’s eggs (with muffins to come!), the best ice cream from Cape’s own Cream of the Crust, and Green’s Garden’s organic salad mix and sourdough baked goods (with flatbreads back on the menu!)

We thank you again for your support of our local growers. Demand is growing each week, so order quickly before things run out!

Lance and Sharla Green
Market Managers

Thankful after Thanksgiving!

Greetings!!

How was your Thanksgiving? We hope you had a great time enjoying the fruits of this year’s harvest with family and friends. We always make it a tradition to save the bounty of our gardens for Thanksgiving and remember the joys and tough times of the year through partaking of a feast together.

Speaking of food…it’s that time again to partake of the availability of your local food supply! We have more products available this week, as our growers and their products are growing!

We welcome this week, Cream of the Crust, a small Cape micro-creamery making gourmet ice creams utilizing local fruits for all to enjoy. It’s a great idea to support local food processors like Charlie and Lisa at Cream of the Crust.

Take the chill off this winter and get cozy with the warmest alpaca wool products from Jan and Jim at Three Sisters!

Also, check out the organic sweet potatoes from Manoor Manor (they will be going fast!). Katey and David are doing a great job on their picturesque farm in the Ozark foothills!

Don’t forget the delicious and nutritious grass-fed beef from Double B Ranch, and the organically grown salad greens and sourdough breads from Green’s Garden.

Pick-up will be Saturday in downtown Cape for Cape folks and for folks west of Cape, we offer another Saturday pick-up location at Patton Junction.

As always, we appreciate your support as we work to build your local food supply, increasing opportunity for farmers, and strengthening the connection to your food!

Lance and Sharla Green
Cape Locally Grown