Vegetable tour to be held on Aug. 28

University of Missouri Extension and Iowa State University Extension will be conducting a vegetable tour on Friday, Aug. 28. This tour will take place in northern Harrison County, Mo., and southern Decatur County, Iowa.

There is no charge for the tour. Lunch will be provided, but you will need to register by Friday, Aug, 21, by calling the Buchanan County Extension Center at 816-279-1691 if you would like lunch.

We will be visiting several vegetable producers on the tour. These farms are marketing through the new produce auction in Lamoni, Iowa.

For Missouri participants who wish to travel as a group, we will meet at the Clearance Isle in Bethany. Directions may be obtained from the Harrison County Extension Center at 660-425-6434. Meet on the north side of the building at 8. We will be leaving at 8:30.

The tour will officially start at the farm of Enos Schwartzentruber at 9:30 a.m. The Swartzentruber family grows a variety of vegetables. They have tomatoes on plastic mulch, squash, corn, green beans, a variety of produce needed for direct market. They have a greenhouse and grow their own transplants for their farm and others. Produce is marketed wholesale through Farmsong Produce Auction and from a retail stand that they have established at the farm. Directions to the Schwartzentruber farm may be obtained from Decatur County Extension Center at 641-446-4723.

After visiting the farm of Mr. Schwartzentruber, we will travel to the produce auction at Lamoni. This is the first year of operation for the auction, but there are a number of enthusiastic growers who are selling there. The auction managers are Darryl and Karin Parkes. The auction started in June as a wholesale outlet for locally grown fresh produce. Lunch will also be served there.

After lunch, we will visit the farm of Jonas Gingerich, in Northern Harrison County, Mo. Jonas and his family have been growing vegetables for around four years selling some retail and wholesale. With the opening of the produce auction the Gingerich family increased their produce operation. The main crops are sweet corn, melons, tomatoes and peppers. They use plastic mulch and drip irrigation for some of the production.

Our last stop will be at the farm of Randy and Barbara Polley, north of Ridgeway. They have been growing vegetables for a number of years. Randy and Barbara are members of the Bethany and Liberty Farmers Markets where they retail their produce. Their farm has a greenhouse to grow bedding plants. They are currently in the process of applying for organic certification for land that was in the conservation reserve program. This is their first season for growing some of the vegetables organically. Along with the vegetables they have some blueberries. On the off season they operate a hunting preserve.

If you would like further information on this tour, please call one of the above numbers, or you may reach me at 660-663-3232.