June 25, 2022 (This is Anne)
So… this has been a CRAZY last few months. We have been so busy we are not sure how we are still going. Doing 4 markets a week and keeping up with the store has been an adjustment that’s for sure. Produce is coming on full swing now. Tomatoes are getting ripe. The first pints of okra have been picked. My mom’s amazing Jasper cherry tomatoes started getting picked this last week. She also picked the first few of her snacker cucumbers. Strawberries are long gone sadly, and they were SOOOO good and sweet this year. My mom was getting worn out picking. Little Olivia was all over it though. She lived for picking strawberries daily!
Olivia would move in with grandma if I let her most days. She loves helping her outside in the tunnels. She is a helper. She did her first Rodeo pageant over Father’s Day weekend. She loved it! She keeps her brothers in line also. Hunter has become a big help at market as he will jump in and help customers with their items when we get busy. Michael has been busy with the farm work and he just got approval on his eagle project for scouts. We are hoping to have that complete by the end of the year. He is building a blessing box for the community of Lake Lafayette. The bad thing is that with our busy schedule he may have to wait a few months to get it done but he was just thrilled it was approved and he can move to the next steps.
We added a milk cow to the mix a few weeks ago and have started selling the raw cow’s milk. It has taken off a bit faster than we expected and now are considering a second milk cow so Dandelion, Olivia named her, will have a friend and we can keep up with demand.
Mums were finished being planted last week and hope they do well. We were able to get corn planted to use as feed for the animals which we hope will cut some costs since the prices have skyrocketed. Fingers crossed it does well.
We got the processing dates for 2023 booked as again the processors are backed up and have waiting lists. Hope to be getting chickens in to be processed in the next few weeks. That’s a hard date to book to far out as sometimes things don’t go as planned.
Jan 2, 2022
JAN 2, 2022
HAPPY NEW YEARS! (this is Anne)
So, it was an amazing last few months. We are finally getting use to having the farm store. My parents are STILL remodeling the house…. It’s only been like 11 months now LOL. My husband and children got me all kinds of things for Christmas that will make baking easier on me during market season. That was a growing concern for me as I was trying to figure out how we were going to do 4 markets a week and have the store…. Yes, we decided we are at least going to start all 4 markets again this year! We will see if I can keep my sanity through it all. Since Michael has his own vehicle back from the shop now it has been awesome! He is able to be finished with his schoolwork by noon (I home school the kids) and then is out the door to the farm to do chores and whatever else grandma may snag him to do. She has to move fast though because he is sneaky in and out. Him being able to drive himself and take care of all the farm animals has been a huge weight off my husbands and mines shoulders and frees up time for me to get other things done. Most of you know but some may not that both my husband and my dad work off the farm. So, when you see them at market in the evening they have come from their job and their days start at 4:30am at the latest.
On the farm lots has happened. We, of course, must pull plastic on a high tunnel (I think this is the case every spring) so we can get it ready for planting. My mom has decided to change hog breeds. She is staying with a type of heritage hog though. My husband and the boys are working clearing brush and trees to get fencing up on our farm across the road from my parents to get animals moved over there. We are coming into calving season. We have 2 born so far and both heifers which is a nice change of pace from the nothing but bulls we have had born for last 2 years. All our slaughter dates for next year have been set and they are filling up as again the processors are booked out a year in advance again. We have been lucky to have an amazing relationship with our processors who sometimes can get us in even when we are not on a list but are running low on meat. We also have now gotten set up with MO Dept of Ag to be an authorized wholesaler. We can sell our meat to other stores and restaurants now. We are working on adding more chickens as you all seem to love our eggs so much, we have a very hard time keeping up… it’s a good problem to have though.
The kids are looking forward to market season. This year Olivia will be on hand to help more… maybe send wine for me lol. You may have seen her helping fill bean and tomato boxes last year at market. If she could sleep in her muck boots, she would. She loves being outside and helping. If any of you remember the granola bars that Michael and Hunter started out making when they were little, well she has started making those and will be selling them this year. Hunter is still making his candles. He also helps with the honey. He spins the frames out so he gets some of the honey money. Michael has his gummies he packages and sells. He mainly is the muscle at market.
We are looking forward to an amazing 2022! We cant wait to see everyone at market again but until then you are always welcome to come shop the farm store.
November 1st, 2021
This is Anne….
Its been awhile since we got time to blog. We finished up our last Market of the year October 30th. We also got our farm store open mid August. So as you can imagine it's been extremely busy. We have been greatly blessed with all of our customers support and along with our communities support once we got the store open.
This year has flown by and we are planning for next year. Seed orders are being finalized and some have been ordered already. We are planning on turning the smaller hoop house into a greenhouse to get things going earlier. We are also getting ready for the freezing temps as its will wrap up our produce for the year. We will be adding some other vendors in the farm store and decorate it for Christmas in the next few weeks also.
The kids are becoming a bigger help each year. Even little Olivia will fill baskets and take to the table. She can take down tables and tents and say, “I do it!” Hunter loves markets more than anything and is bummed its over. Michael having his license has been a major help to everyone.
June 4th, 2021
This is Anne…
Well all four of our markets are up and going full swing now. We are still working towards getting the on Farm Store built/bought/done however needs to happen. Originally we were going to build from scratch exactly what we wanted and then the price of lumber skyrocketed. So now we're thinking a shed type option to see how fast we can outgrow that. At one point we even considered screening in and finishing the front porch LOL. As always our customers have been absolutely amazing. You guys are keeping us extremely busy which is a good thing.
We just had 510 mums delivered this week so we are potting those up to get them going for the fall. Yes that's right I fall that's how far ahead were thinking. If you happen to see the oldest boy, Michael, at Market he just turned 16 on the 3rd so give him a happy birthday. We feel so bad for him because he's the only one that has a birthday in the middle of summer all the other kids are January. We're always so busy that it's hard to really do anything but we make sure we take a day just for him however on his actual birthday he got to fill up pots of dirt. We told him it was a new experience he'd never got to prep pots for mums before so on his birthday we were going to let him LOL. We're hoping to get the driver's test done in the next week or so for him. He would have a truck to drive however, mom locked up the engine on it so now we get to do a new engine for him. He will be your next generation of farmer as that's what he's decided he wants to do when he grows up.
April 16th
This is Anne..
We are gearing up for Farmers Market to open. Our first official Market is April 22nd in Odessa. This weather changing back and forth has really made things difficult this year. We plan on being in Odessa, Blue Springs, Higginsville, and Concordia, the same markets as last year.
The farm kitchen is still under remodel but my mom is making do to be able to make the yeast bread still. Plants are going in the ground on both farms. My husband and me decided to name our farm A&D Farm. So if you see some things at market that have that labeling they're still coming from our farms. We even ordered new t-shirts that have both farm names on there.
We can't wait to see all of the familiar faces at market and hopefully a lot of new faces!
Feb 20th
This is Anne…
So… We survived the arctic blast from last week. Chores where brutal as Michael and myself did them. What normally took Michael 45 minutes to do was taking us 3 hours. May have been me slowing him down who knows lol. We were jumping for joy when yesterday the hose was thawed so we were able to fill the tanks on the ATV with it instead of bucketing the water to ATV tanks then from the tanks to water pans for animals. We were lucky that nothing had babies during this. We had some lambs born before and the cows just started calving yesterday.
It has continued to be a busy few months. The farm kitchen was supposed to be remodeled back in January, however its been pushed back several times to where its just now getting going. The back porch and laundry room are also going to get done and Hunter was extremely excited to “help” knock out the old walls.
We have started seeds over the last few weeks. The goal is to have flowers by Mother’s Day and bedding plants available around that time also. My mom took a cut flower class recently and learned how to arrange bouquets so keep an eye out at market for those.
Olivia has continued to be moms shadow and pulls a stool up to “help” me while I am doing anything in the kitchen. Have not decided if that was a blessing or a curse yet lol.
January 4, 2021
This is Anne…
Well, we survived 2020 and no one in our family got COVID. This year was an unexpected whirlwind that is for sure. We saw a huge influx at ALL our farmers markets. We were extremely blessed on a few different fronts. First off, my husband got to work from home which allowed him to be able to attend markets and help which was needed badly. It also meant that little Olivia, who turns 2 in a few days, got to stay at home with grandma… not sure that will be the case this year though. Second off my husband and myself were able to buy the farm across the street from my parents so we can expand. No home on it, just land, so we still live in Warrensburg and make the drive daily for now. So again, when you support local business you are supporting their families.
We already got seed orders in and will be starting seeds soon for this spring and summer. Slaughter dates have been booked for 2021 and 2022 as again all surrounding processors are booked out until December 2021. We are excited for this year! We are missing a lot of our regulars that we have not seen in a few months even though we have been doing deliveries about every 2 weeks.
The boys are figuring out what they want to do for markets this year. Olivia tries to help with baking but not sure she can do anything yet unless she takes over Hunter’s granola bars. Not sure people will recognize Michael this year as he is now 5’9”. He has been a HUGE help on the farm. He takes care of the animals most days. He has the idea that he may want to be a full-time farmer when he is older, so we have let him go for it. Will be nice when he can get his license this summer.
We look forward to this coming year and hope to see you all at market!
Oct 22nd, 2020
Well I do believe that mother nature is spot on for the way that 2020 has gone so far!! It has been a crazy week of weather. Last Saturday after market we discovered that the strong winds had ripped the plastic roof off of tunnel 2. It was getting close to needing replaced anyway but was hoping maybe 1 more year. Sunday was so nice that kids where running around outside with no jackets. Then it got cold Monday and turned gray and rainy. It was just yuck through last night where it drizzled and a fog rolled in. Now they are saying will be in the 80s today when its been in 50s last 3 days then… SNOW in a few days. We are not the only ones this crazy changing back and forth takes its toll on. It is hard on the animals and we have to keep a closer eye on them this time of year.
We are getting seed orders ready for next year and making plans on what we will be growing. The kids just unloaded a trailer of compost. In a few months we will be cutting elderberries and getting them ready to ship out. There is still lots to do even with markets closing down for the year. We will still have items all year like meat, eggs, baked goods and elderberry syrup. Once we figure out what days we will do our Thanksgiving and Christmas run we will get those out.
September 9th, 2020
Well three of our markets come to a close this week. While we always hate to see the end of the season come sometimes we're just so exhausted that we're okay with it. We will still have lots of produce until the first hard freeze. However with this weather that's going on who knows when that may be. We have already started making plans for next year and potentially have a lots of new exciting announcements.
I know that a lot of people came to markets this year for mainly two different reasons. The first being to get out of their homes because of the quarantine a lot of them hadn't been out and about doing things and secondly because the grocery stores are running low on things. We hope that everybody continues to visit the markets and support local farmers and businesses as this is our livelihood. Because of this year we were able to make improvements on the farm and get some equipment that we needed for a while. We also had to hire a farm hand on a more permanent basis which means that not only when you buy from us are you helping to support us but it's helping to now support someone else.
Also be sure to keep an eye out for our announcements to do orders for Thanksgiving and for Christmas.
June 18th, 2020
Well everybody has been a few months but we have literally hit the ground running and it's been full steam ahead ever since March. We do four markets a week now. We are in Higginsville on Tuesday evenings, Concordia on Wednesday evenings, Odessa on Thursday evenings, and Blue Springs on Saturday morning. Each market has done jaw dropping amazingly each week. If we look a little frazzled and worn by this time of year because we really are LOL. We need about 10 more hours and our days. Along with the extremely warm weather last few weeks it has made it very hard to get a lot of things done outside and in the tunnels. So were usually getting up before the sun comes up and going to bed well after the sun goes down. However sleep-deprived as we are, we are truly blessed right now. We did manage to get some beef and pork to the processor a few weeks ago so will have more of that in the next week or so. We have more chickens going in in 3 weeks. We also just pulled honey from the bee hives. Been very busy.
Now if you've been to market the last few weeks anywhere besides Odessa you will notice I have not been there as we decided with the heat to leave Miss Olivia and me at home. The girl LOVES being outside but if she does not like being extremely hot.
April 13th, 2020
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter even though it likely wasnt as it normally was.
Well we have not had a chance to set down and write for some time. We have been extremely busy. Since the COVID 19 pandemic stopped our two winter markets we were doing, we began making delivery drops. We were unsure how it would work but it took off. We have been blessed to be able to have this boost in income right now as it helps us get what is need for the farm to get us going for market season. This year we will need a new canopy, scales and some other smaller items.
We have been out planting in the tunnels on the nice days, then having to cover the items when it gets extremely cold, like it did last night. So far, we have onions, garlic, snap peas, cucumbers, zucchini, mini cucumbers, cabbage and tomatoes in the ground and outside in raised beds one round of potatoes, next round goes in the end of this week. . All the grandkids helped; sometimes help we didn’t want. Little Miss Olivia (15 months old) was “helping” mom when she was planting onions. She would pull the onions mom had planted and bring to her. We finally convinced her that they belonged in the ground. We also have several hanging flower baskets and edible baskets done up. This is a new thing for us this year. We usually have just purchased our hanging baskets from the Wagler family.
The crazy chickens have been laying this winter like they didn’t know it was winter. I was easily getting 30-40 eggs a day. Now I am getting at least 60 eggs a day. Nothing like a good free-range brown egg. My oldest grandson and I even moved the chicken house (it’s a portable one we built on a wagon frame) to see the action view the video on our Farm Page on FB https://www.facebook.com/burroakfarm
The ducks are doing their best to get eggs laid and start nests. So far, we have found them all. Last year they hatched eggs out into October.
We are done with elderberry cuttings for the year. We took orders for plants this year. That was something new to us. We are now turning our focus to markets. We start Odessa on the 23rd and then Higginsville on May 5th. Blue Springs was put off until at least mid May.
January 20, 2020.
Well, folks I am from Kansas City area so you know what I did yesterday instead of taking pics at the farm and blogging LOL
So, today, Ted just left (a friend who lives in our guest quarters and sometimes helps out) with female cats headed for their once in a lifetime “special” appointment with the veterinarian. I will pick up happy cats with a new attitude on Wednesday. We kept the ducks shut up half a day so we could draw the cats in with feed and NOT fight off the ducks.
We opened the door to let them out and they all came rushing out, all 31 of them, and then turned around and headed right back in. Ducks are smarter than they look. We got another inch or two of snow this morning LOL
Now, while they are cute to look at and funny, we occasionally get too many, No, ducks don’t go the vet. There is a choice. They can go out in pairs or trios to live on someone else’s farm or they can go to someone’s dinner table.
IF you are interested in either, contact me by email only. Otherwise, just enjoy looking at the pictures :)
burroakfarm64071@yahoo.com
January 11th, 2020
Never too old to curl up with a Cup of Hot Chocolate and enjoy a SNOW DAY
Yes, that’s what I have! We had a week end conference that cancelled out to do the incoming storm, they sent us home and I have an unplanned day. Yes! AND I have a recipe for bomb diggity hot chocolate mix that is better than any I ever had from the store. I wish you were here with me (especially since I may decide to sort through some stuff in a closet later on, I could sure use help, but I am certain YOU never have a closet like that, Haha) Starting tomorrow afternoon, I again have a full schedule, but for today, I am going to enjoy life. We all need a break now and then. Hope you get to take one. OH, that recipe for my easy home made super rich hot chocolate mix? Yes, I’d love to share. Friends share recipes.
burroakfarm64071@yahoo.com
Happy New Year!
January 1, 2020
Well a new year is upon us. There has been lots of changes around the farm this last year. The first biggest and best change was that there was a new addition to the daughter’s family last January. Little Miss Olivia Anne added the drama of a little girl that none of us realized was possible from a newborn. She has definitely turned the boy’s lives upside down. You may have seen her at market in a box. She loved those boxes until she realized there was a world outside of them. She was walking by end of August and nothing can stop her now.
The biggest farm improvement has been that we got the 3rd high tunnel up…finally. The plastic was on it a whole 10 days before a terrible storm blew through and ripped it off. We finally were able to get it re-pulled in November. That’s when the stars all aligned (weather, number of people needed and dry ground). We also hatched out more ducklings then I ever imagined would or could happen. The crazy ducks were still hatching out into October. Some of them raised 3 sets of babies this past year. That’s when we made the jump into offering ducks as part of our frozen meat selection.
We added more hives to the farm and our honey sales took off this last year. However, the drought really hurt the amount of honey the bees made. So, if you were lucky enough to get some of our honey feel very lucky as it was usually gone a few days from when we pulled it.
We had our first intern that was a college student this past summer. She was a true blessing. Really helped us out on the farm. Was also very nice to have an extra brain as mine is not getting any younger and the daughter was lucky she knew what day it was and where one of her three kids were since dealing with a baby. (Don’t worry the other two kids can fend for themselves at 5 and 14.)
This fall we added a second “winter” market. You know since we had nothing else going on. We were going every other Wednesday, to John Knox Village in Higginsville and The Groves in Independence. These are both senior living communities. They really enjoy seeing the kids and we enjoy visiting with them also. We did our last market Dec 11th. We also always do my oldest grandson’s Boy Scout craft fair the first weekend in Dec. The scouts organize it and it take a big chunk out of the cost of summer camp. His troop travels around the U.S. for camp each summer. He really enjoys going to them. This summer they are off to Wisconsin. My daughter oversaw the vendor side of the craft show this year too.
We take the month of January off from all markets to re group and get a break. We also need the time to get our elderberry cuttings ready for shipping. We get all our planning for the next years markets done. Make sure all seed orders are in and start getting tunnels prepped for plantings. We are really looking forward to this coming year. We also think over ways to improve our actual market stand set up as well. We changed our market set up about June of last year and it worked out really well. As some of you know our scales officially bit the dust around end of August, so they will need to be replaced if we are to continue to sell by the pound.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Produce Rocks
We just experienced the blessing of a record breaking week, not just in temps, but in sales and in number of customers served. We are looking at ways of streamlining check out at market when it is peak time and customers are lined up. What we have talked about so far, is having a cash only, non weighed items line, so a second person can be standing off to the side with a cash apron. We will still have to write down your purchase on a note pad. You can't imagine how much difference it makes to have each sale recorded so we can go back at the end of the year and see which weeks we sold the most of what and when we had the most customers. It is key to our successful planning (weather is key to successful implementation and we seem to have no control over that), so please be patient as it takes a minute longer. As we look around, we see few other vendors keeping any kind of records. Go ahead, ask who, consistently, is the top vendor. Selling produce is a business for us. We are thankful healthy soil and healthy food are also a passion, but passion can't over ride business or the business fails. It took me a long time to get over trying to save every single plant and letting "useful plants in the wrong places" stay and take up nutrients and space. Any plant in the wrong place is a weed. Any plant in the right place serves a purpose. This winter, maybe I will do a blog about the important overlooked plants. Too busy right now. This has been weeding and trellising week, just before the mad rush of tomato season hits, trying to get some semblance of order while we can.
I have two more flower beds early in the morning, one is part finished. I have about one row of cantaloupes to trellis, late getting that done. It will be tomorrow evening. Mondays are always tomato days, when I have to wind new growth onto the guide string and prune off new suckers, it is an all day job, as many hours as we can stand the heat in the tunnel. Usually from about 6ish am to around 10, then another hour to 90 minutes in the evening and rarely do we get all the way done, sometimes we either start on Sunday evening or spill over into Tuesday am. Thankfully, every plant does not require attention every week, but the cherry tomato row almost requires it twice a week, it just doesn't get it. Later, when they are ripe, I do, while picking, break off any larger suckers that may have been missed.
I get plenty of exercise this time of year. We have been lamenting that we wish we had a wife to cook for us and do laundry. That could get awkward.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
'Tis the Season
No, not Christmas, not yet, even though we are experiencing near enough record breaking heat to make us wish for that.
It's approaching the season where produce is Queen. Meat a close second. Our beets are coming into their own an sold almost completely out today. Tomatoes are still in very short supply and, therefore, quite costly still. When ours get ripe, still a few weeks away, they will get less expensive by at least $1.00 lb
Right now, we are thankful to Jonas Wagler and his family for being committed to growing high quality produce. Mr Wagler is an Amish acquaintance of ours who lives out south of Windsor with his wife and children and he always manages to grow things about 3 weeks to a month ahead of everyone else. Yes, we do know "how" he does it. No, we don't have the manpower to bring it about on our farm. But since we do drive 90 miles round trip to get it and pay what it takes to be the ones to go home with a few boxes a week of his precious tomatoes, we have to charge enough to make that profitable.
You can see a picture of the Wagler farm at the bottom of this page.
We have cucumbers, zucchini, small eggplant, cantaloupe, peppers and tomatoes out in the field, along with a few varieties of flowers for bouquets, all coming along nicely. Can't wait till they are ready for market
This week, we transplanted to larger cells winter squash of several varieties and started seed for the larger pumpkins. Tomorrow evening or Monday we will be starting the seeds for our signature sugar pie pumpkins which we use in our classroom program. First come, first serve, we let classroom teachers have them for $1 each, about 1/3 of retail price.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Busy Farm Dayz
As it is getting warmer weather the interest in baked goods is waning. We will bring a select small offering this week and will soon go to by order only on the yeast breads. Glad to make them for those that want them, but can't keep baking and bringing 90% of it home. Thank you to those who appreciate having baked goods made from quality ingredients, flour that is nothing but pure ground grain, no bleaching, unbromated, no additives or preservatives, olive oil, sea salt, etc.
Every week Annie comes up with some new kind of goodie to try. I think she has in mind some elderberry gummy treats this week or next and, we usually have either granola or cookies by one of the boys.
Michael is making some astounding crafts now that are great gifts. He has only one left at the moment so he needs to get busy. He can take special orders as well.
I still have about a dozen Dwarf Sunnies left and they are getting close . You can see a time lapse video on the "This week's market page"
We have green beans about 3" high and sweet corn peeking through the ground. Purple Hull cowpeas planted but not up, and a lot of cucumber, zucchini, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe and Asian style eggplant in the toddler stages.
An assortment of flowers growing, several varieties of sunflowers, zinnias, black knight scabiosa, celosia in 3 varieties, statica, dahlia's, and eventually, 4 to 5 colors of lisianthus.
Today I cut up late potatoes to cure, so we are now getting rain that was not in the morning forecast. Such is the life of a farmer. We needed rain badly, hoping to get the 1" this front is promising, even though it will mean a couple of days of delay in planting out.
Perhaps it will also bring a it of relief from the unseasonable heat.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The Unintended Effect:
You will see in our "about" section, on our Facebook page, and in everything we do what our mission is - to provide people with healthy, locally grown food. However, it is easy to lose sight that we are part of a community and as such, our interaction goes beyond just the food. I was reminded tonight, as I was planting out flower transplants into the cedar raised beds in the front yard, by the road, what we DO at Burr Oak Farm is not the run of the mill every day stuff that folks are used to seeing. We draw attention from those passing by. We have noticed an increase in road traffic, especially in the evenings. Folks like driving by, up and down the roads and seeing our calves, hair sheep and goats, all out on pasture, and our Muscovy ducks, Free range laying hens and guineas all wandering around as they please (they will soon be doing a tad less of that when we get the gardens planted and fenced) We pen up the gardens, not the poultry.
You are welcome to drive by and gawk anytime you wish. If we are outside feel free to pull in the drive and let us know who you are. Knowing you helps us differentiate between the neighbors, near and far, and those casing the neighborhood. Unfortunately, in the last few years, there has also been more of the latter. We encourage you to look. The other group are wasting their time, but may not know it. Anything you'd take here would cause you more work. We live very, very simple lives. GPS won't get you here exactly, but close and you will know you have found us when, yes, that's right, you see the goats and sheep and calves in the pasture.
ducks happy to be out!
Ducks happy to run right back IN
Grammie’s Hot Cocoa Mix
