Kaw Valley Farm Tour

The Kaw Valley Farm Tour is a driving tour at your own pace to about 25 farms around the area. You can go to as many or few as you want. This year we only made it to 4 farms on Sunday but we had a really great time! The weather was PERFECT.

These cows are at Iwig Dairy Farm about 20 minutes away from Lawrence.

Knapp Family Farm was my favorite! It is a small family run pig farm that has been around since 1954. They still run it pretty much the same way that their parents did back in the 50s. They grow all of their own corn for pig feed. It was really clean and the pigs seemed very happy. The Merc buys their pork and it is definitely fresh!

I got to hold a baby pig! So cute!

Crum's Heirlooms was the only non-animal farm that we made it to. They have a large, beautiful garden on a really nice piece of land north of Lawrence.

Next stop was Vesecky Turkey Farm. The Merc gets all of our heritage turkeys from them for Thanksgiving.

The turkeys hang out in the sorghum field and got really excited when we drove up on the tractor. They are funny!

The Lawrence Farmers' Market

I hardly ever get to go to the Farmers' Market because I work on Saturdays, so when I get the chance it's quite the treat! Chris and I went a couple of weeks ago to pass out flyers for the Lawrence Food Garden Tour which is this coming weekend and we are on it! (Shameless plug.) These are a few of my friends that have booths at the market:

Blackbird Bakery. Alison works with me at The Merc and makes delicious baked goods. This particular day I had a Moroccan asparagus pie thingie. Yum.

My dear friend, Audrey, and her son Lichen run Blessed Thistle Farm. And she sells tinctures at The Merc!

Dan and Cole Cottin of MAD Farm. Cole used to work at The Merc in the produce department and this is their first summer as full time farmers. I think their booth is extra fabulous!

Mural by Dave Loewenstein.

Jozie from Earth Flowers. They also sell flowers to The Merc.

Kevin Irick and his hot house tomatoes. He also sells at The Merc!

Lots and lots of Merc connections! We have a really big emphasis on buying local and the Farmers' Market really makes it apparent to me. Just walking through the market I have relationships with many of the farmers and growers or I at least recognize them from their weekly drop-offs of product. It's such a great feeling to be a part of the local food movement!

Oh Henry.

Last week, on a gorgeous Spring day, Kendra, Josh and I went to Henry's Plant Farm to buy some plants and go behind the scenes to the succulent greenhouses. It pays to know people. Teehee. Jozie, Brian and Homer do our flowers and plants at The Merc and also work at Henry's. They own a few greenhouses at the back of the farm where they grow everything. It was a lovely little field trip.

Foodie Club Round 2

Last Thursday was our second Foodie Club dinner party and it was so much fun!

Leah and I were in charge of the wine. She brought Prosecco and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and I randomly chose 3 different Spanish wines. They turned out to be a good match for the meal.

One of the wines was called Pinocchio.

Sean ordered this gorgeous farmstead cheese from The Merc and we were lucky enough that he shared it will all of us. The Rush Creek Reserve is made at Uplands Cheese Company in Wisconsin and is a young, creamy, earthy cheese. We all swooned over this cheese and its story. Thank you Sean for sharing!

Josh and Leah enjoying some wine.

Louis made these gnocchi from scratch!

The gnocchi dish was the first course.

A lovely, simple green salad.

Louis the chef.

Baked golden trout served over a bed of carrots and mushrooms.

Our dinner mate was so distinguished.

Sean made this delicious cake with corn flour, a wash consisting of coffee, Moscato & amaretto; and the cream was a mixture of the wash, crème fraiche, ricotta and sugar. It was a fabulous way to wrap up the meal!

Here's the group: Me, Nick, Josh, Leah, Chris, Sean and Louis (not pictured)

What a fun night!