Sappington Farmers’ Market Featured Farmers
Everywhere you shop these days, the word “Local” is showing up. The difference at Sappington Farmers Market is that we ARE the farmers, we KNOW the farmers, we VISIT the farms.
Our farmers are our friends. We get to know their families and listen to their plans and dreams. Then we do what we can to help them achieve their goals. Working together, we hope to save family farms and provide safe, healthy, truly local food for our customers.
Windcrest Dairy
Steve Eickmeyer and Kurt Bizenberger | Trenton, IL
Windcrest Dairy is an offshoot of a fifth-generation dairy farm in Trenton, IL. For more than 100 years, the two families have been producing quality milk from healthy cows.
Recently, Steve Eickmeyer and Kurt Bizenberger have joined forces to add value to their milk by producing really awesome yogurt. Their yogurt is produced on the same day the cows are milked. Both regular and Greek-style yogurt are available, in 24-oz plain and vanilla and individual sized fruit-on-the-bottom cartons. The yogurt is made from pasteurized, non-homogenized milk and organic cane sugar for the sweetened types. Live and active yogurt cultures are used.
The cows at Windcrest Dairy are humanely treated, with complete access to the out-of-doors. They are never given hormones, and if a cow becomes really sick and requires antibiotics, that cow is removed from the herd until tests show no trace of antibiotic in their milk. Sappington Farmers Market is proud to carry local, healthy, and incredibly tasty Windcrest Dairy yogurt.
Suncrest Farms
Tammy and Jeff Johnston | Mountain Grove, MO
Tammy and Jeff Johnston grow a diversity of crops on their small Ozarks farm. The soil is enriched with cover crops and natural mineral fertilizers, and much attention is given to detail. The excellent care that Tammy and Jeff give to all their crops really pays off in high-quality plants and produce. During the winter of 2010-11, the couple stayed busy building a greenhouse. Their first crop of microgreens was produced in the new greenhouse in March 2011. Careful planning has allowed them to have a steady crop of these nutritious greens, which will be available at Sappington Farmers Market in early April.
Whether in the greenhouse or outside, Tammy and Jeff never use any chemicals on their plants. Seedling plants and microgreens are fertilized with a kelp solution and the plants are so healthy that they have no bugs or disease. If problems appear, Tammy will use a solution of soap and essential oils to control them.
Jeff has already planted many acres of potatoes, and the couple have a wonderful stand of cultivated blackberries. They plan to grow sweet potatoes, squash and tomatoes as well. All their produce will be grown using only organic methods, and promises to be healthy and tasty.
Learn More About Microgreens >
Route 66 Compost & Topsoil
Mike Bacon | Pacific, MO
Every year, over 90 tons of vegetable waste from SFM are picked up from SFM by Route 66 compost and made into a special blend of compost that is sold as Route 66 compost, and Route 66 topsoil. The vegetable waste is mixed with horse bedding and manure and windrow composted in an active system. The temperature is monitored scientifically to ensure that weed seeds and pathogens are killed, and the compost is sifted and re-sifted before being bagged and sold as a soil amendment that outperforms every soil product it has been tested against. The compost is high in nutrients and micro-nutrients and will help improve the texture of garden soil. It’s great mixed with potting soil in containers, too.
Mike Bacon and his five employees work hard to make this great compost at their Pacific, MO operation. Located on old Route 66 in Pacific, the huge windrows of aging compost promise fruitful gardens for those who purchase this great product. Mike’s dedication to sustainability is evident in the nature of his business and in the details as well. He even manufactures his own biofuel for use in his trucks. For a greener garden in every way, use Route 66 compost.
Gringo Salsa
George Hubbard | O'Fallon, IL
Gringo Salsa is a line of homemade salsas with delicious taste and texture. Owner and salsa-maker, George Hubbard, grows his own peppers and tomatoes in his O’Fallon, IL garden and makes them into a variety of spicy salsas. From mild to medium, with lots of variations like Vidalia Onion, there is bound to be a salsa to suit everyone’s taste. Look for Gringo’s special recipe cards on the Gringo Salsa display rack. The chicken tortilla soup, party meatballs and guacamole-all using Gringo Salsa are particular favorites.
Andrea's Gluten Free
Andrea Kosinski | St. Louis, MO
Andrea Kosinski and her staff begin every weekday early as they bake gluten-free products with great taste and texture. Andrea first learned of the public’s need for gluten-free products when she hired an employee with celiac disease. Andrea knows the importance of good taste in gluten-free products and her customers can tell the difference.
If there are Andrea’s products you don’t see in our store, you may order them from Andrea’s website for pickup at SFM.
Purley's Cookies
Pat Purley | St. Louis, MO
Pat Purley spent over a year developing the recipes for her Wholesome Health Cookies. She believes she was inspired to create a cookie that would provide good taste, energy and plenty of fiber for good digestion. Pat worked very hard to develop a recipe that she could bake in the certified kitchen of her church.
Purley’s Wholesome Health Cookies come in both an organic and organic gluten-free version. Both are moist and delicous, and brimming over with delicious natural ingredients. Enjoy a quality, good tasting cookie that provides high-quality protein and fiber for your family.
Vance Vineyard and Winery
Fredericktown, MO
Vance Vineyard and Winery is a small, but growing family-owned business. With eight acres now under cultivation, Vance vineyards are a visual delight. The beautiful clusters of Norton, Catawba, Chardonnay, Chardonel, Vignoles, Traminette, Chambourcin and Riesling grapes hint of the delightful wines to come.
Vance Vineyards has a new state-of-the-art wine processing building with its own testing laboratory. Their winemaker, Roy Paris, has been producing fine wines for more than 30 years.
Traveling Tea
Kateri Meyer | St. Louis, MO
Kateri Meyer enjoys a really good cup of tea. She had trouble finding good tea in the St. Louis area, and decided to start her own tea business. Kateri develops lovely blends of black, green and herbal teas. Sappington Farmers Market carries eight of her special blends. They are available in one ounce bags of loose tea.
Kateri enjoys the dynamic of traveling to local farmers’ markets and interacting with customers as she pours samples of her delicious teas. They appreciate her custom blends made with high quality teas and local ingredients.
Del Carmen Foods
Estie Cruz-Curoe – "The Bean Queen" | Town and Country, MO
Estrella (Estie) Cruz-Curoe is the Queen Bean and owner of del Carmen Foods. She shares her tasty Cuban heritage with customers in the form of del Carmen Black Bean Soup and Black Beans and Rice. Estie has developed her own recipe, which gives a delightful spicy flavor to her beans. The addition of Schlafly beer adds richness to the soup while supporting a great local microbrewery. Del Carmen products are available in the frozen food section of Sappington Farmers Market.
Estie came to this country from Cuba when she was 10 years old. Her family came to America seeking freedom. They settled in Miami, and Estie later went to college in Chicago, getting her Master’s in business at Northwestern University. The combination of good business sense, great original recipes and lots of love make del Carmen bean products a delight.
Martin Rice
The Martin Family | Bernie, MO
Martin Rice Company has dedicated thousands of acres to growing rice using sustainable methods and operates its own processing facility at the same location.
This family operation began more than 50 years ago when the Martins settled on 160 acres in the Missouri Bootheel, and cleared the land with mules.
Now, three generations later, the same family farms over 4,000 acres of prime rice-growing land. In January 2000, the family constructed a rice processing facility to add value to a crop grown on the farm for over 25 years.
Sam Crowe Honey
Sam & Bunny Crowe | Caruthersville, MO
Sam and Bunny Crowe have been raising bees and collecting their honey since 1973, which makes them expert beekeepers.
Sam became interested in adding honey to his diet because he believed it would be much better for his health than refined sugars.
He also says that it is “fun to see God’s creative hand at work,” and that it is easy to get hooked on beekeeping once a person sees the inside of a hive.
Sam’s bees gather nectar from the farm crops in the Bootheel area, as well as from yellow sweet clover and Dutch white clover and vetch. His personal favorite is sunflower honey. The mix of nectars produces a fine, light honey which is sold in several sizes of jars, both strained and comb-in, at Sappington Farmers Market.
La Cosecha Coffee
Jamie Jeschke & Gio Sparks | St. Louis, MO
La Cosecha is Spanish for “The Harvest”. The name was chosen to symbolize families working together to reap the rewards of a season of hard work. The coffee harvest is a time of celebration, joy, thankfulness and sharing.
La Cosecha roasts all of its coffee beans in small batches on an 8-pound fluid-bed roaster, after manually inspecting the beans. The result is an even roast across the entire batch of beans, producing a cleaner, smoother taste. All of the company’s offerings have been grown in a sustainable manner, and all farmers have been given a fair price for the beans.
Marcoot Jersey Creamery
Marcoot Family | Greenville, IL
Marcoot Jersey Creamery, located south of Greenville, IL, produces local, high-quality cheese and dairy products. They use only milk from the sixty grass fed Jersey cows owned and milked by the Marcoot family to produce their specialty cheeses. The cheeses are aged in their aging cave on the farm.
The Marcoot family is proud of their high quality Jersey milk and believe strongly that grass fed Jersey milk offers many health benefits to the consumer. Most of the Marcoot Jersey Creamery cheeses are raw milk cheeses. Marcoot Gouda is pasteurized.
Green Meadows Family Farms
Laban Graber & Family | Bloomfield, MO
Laban Graber, his wife and five children run Green Meadows Family Farms in Bloomfield, MO. Their farm is nestled in rolling countryside on Crowley’s Ridge.
The Grabers believe in raising everything sustainably: their crops, their chickens and their children. The family’s goal is to use the farm to teach their children good solid values. Their children greatly enjoy participating in the lighter work on the farm. Because of the completely natural and sustainable methods used to raise their pasture-grazed chickens, Green Meadow Family Farms’ eggs are tops in freshness and nutrition for your family.
Shepherd’s Ridge Farms
Melva and Jimmy Wiggins | Ripley County, MO
Shepherd’s Ridge Farms is located on 225 rolling acres in Ripley County, MO. Owners Melva and Jimmy Wiggins respect the farm and the cattle they raise. The excellent chemical-free pastures and hayfields combined with a generous supply of live water ensure healthy cows that provide grass-fed meat with no hormones or antibiotics. Seventy-seven head of cattle roam the grasslands freely, breed naturally, and produce healthy and beautiful calves.
Hearltland Creamery
Northeast Missouri
Heartland Creamery is located in northeast Missouri amid fields of corn and soy beans. The farm is home to over 6000 holstein cows and 750 goats. They produce naturally fresh, creamy milk, which is made into delicious prize-winning cheeses.
Any profits from Heartland Creamery are used to support their faith-based work with troubled adolescents and adults, many of whom live and work on the farm.
Stegeman Farm Turkey
John and Mary Lee Stegeman | Osage County, MO
Stegeman Farm has been in the family since the late 1800s. This year, John Stegeman raised 150 turkeys exclusively for Sappington Farmers Market. “Everything about these turkeys is local”, states John. “The birds are local, the feed is grown and mixed locally, and we process them locally.”
The turkeys are raised cage-free with no hormones or antibiotics. This flock has five times the amount of room that a conventional flock would have. And that translates to a better tasting, more healthy feast for your family.
Blue Heron Orchard
DAN KELLY & CHERIE SAMPSON | CANTON, MISSOURI
Blue Heron Orchard has practiced organic farming since 1990 when the trees went into the ground. Blue Heron became the first certified organic apple orchard in the state of Missouri in 1990.
Owners Dan and Cherie’s efforts to practice good stewardship and understand the orchard and the land that nourishes it means their products are unusually pure and decidedly tasty. None of their products contain any added sugars. Blue Heron’s own pure organic apple cider is used as a sweetener in all three of their value-added products: applesauce, apple butter and Pomona’s Ambrosia.
Westphalia Vineyards
TERRY NEUNER & FAMILY | Westphalia, MISSOURI
The town of Westphalia is nestled in the rolling hills of central Missouri. It was settled in the 1830s by German immigrants who were reminded of the forested hillsides of their home.
Westphalia Vineyards uses time-honored, natural processes to create sustainably-produced, handcrafted wines which are aged in Missouri oak barrels.
The Neuner family wishes you cheers and hopes you enjoy their wines.
Kakao Chocolates
BRIAN PELLETIER | St. Louis, MISSOURI
Kakao is a unique St. Louis business that is renowned for making incredibly good artisan chocolates and other confections.
Brian Pelletier of Kakao strives for nothing short of the finest chocolate experience. He uses only the finest all-natural ingredients—no artificial flavors or additives—to create exceptional artisan chocolates and confections.
Pappy’s Gourmet
Washington, MISSOURI
Pappy’s Gourmet is a family owned and operated all-natural specialty foods company. Using family recipes, their mission is to produce unique, delicious gourmet food that will excite even the most avid food enthusiast. Enjoy Pappy’s Gourmet products with family and friends and entertain in style!
100% All Natural Ingredients—Guaranteed. Pappy’s Gourmet will never add artificial preservatives or colorings. Their products are made with only the freshest fruits and vegetables. That’s Pappy’s guarantee, from their family to yours.
Black Bear Bakery
St. Louis, Missouri
Environmental sustainability and quality local ingredients are at the center of Black Bear Bakery’s mission. All Black Bear Bakery baked goods are made from scratch using local, organic ingredients whenever possible.
Sappington Farmers Market carries a full line of Black Bear products. Try Black Bear’s specialty breads like Cranberry-Date-Pecan Pestalozzi, Olive Rosemary Loaf or Brioche for a truly healthy and delicious special treat.
Dogtown Pizza
Rick and Meredith Schaper | St. Louis, MISSOURI
Rick and Meredith Schaper’s friends and neighbors in Dogtown just couldn’t get enough of the Schaper’s homemade pizza. That’s how Dogtown Pizza was born.
Dogtown Pizza starts with the freshest, natural ingredients and the dough is rolled by hand to a thin St. Louis-style crust. The fresh, natural toppings and sauce go right up to the edge. The secret ingredient is Provel cheese, another popular St. Louis food. Rick and Meredith make every single pizza by hand, using the finest quality ingredients. Rick says “Pizza is in my blood. I’ve been in the pizza business since I was twelve”. We think you’ve learned the lesson well, Rick.
Missouri’s Best Beef Cooperative
Ron McNear | Central Ozarks Region, MISSOURI
Members of Missouri’s Best Beef Cooperative raise cattle according to a strict protocol of pasture-grazing, no hormones or antibiotics, organic grain supplementation and lots of love!
Two families in Missouri’s Best Beef Cooperative are involved in the ownership of Sappington Farmers’ Market. This ownership means that all the Rancher’s All Natural brand of beef sold in the store has two quality guarantees—from Missouri’s Best Beef Cooperative and from Farm to Family Naturally.
Buy with confidence and eat beef that “tastes like beef is supposed to taste.”
Todd Geisert Farms
Todd Geisert | Washington, MISSOURI
Todd Geisert’s fifth-generation family farm near Washington, MO is everybody’s dream farm. It’s beautiful, natural, productive and fun. Todd’s pigs live in little A-frame houses, some of which were built by Todd’s great grandfather.
Pigs are free to romp and play in spacious fields, cool off in the creek or wallow in a large mud puddle. The pigs can visit back and forth or just lay around with their mothers. Enabling the pigs to live a healthy life means healthy pork for you, the consumer.
Try Todd’s delicious fresh pork, found in our fresh meat case or freezer. Or you might want to taste his delicious smoked offerings, smoked locally right in Washington, MO.
Good Earth Eggs
Johnny and Susan David | Bonne Terre, Missouri
Johnny and Susan David love chickens, but they knew they couldn’t make a living raising a few chickens. So, after much study, they devised a way they could raise all-natural eggs in the large-scale setting of their 3rd generation family farm. Their attention to detail ensures that these production eggs are the closest thing to free-range.
Good Earth Egg Co. offers grade A large white eggs and cage free jumbo brown eggs. Chickens are fed a carefully balanced diet of grains from local farmers. They assure us that their eggs are not involved in any recall, and that they have a comprehensive food safety quality assurance program in place to prevent any type of disease outbreak. Safe eggs raised on a family farm… available at Sappington Farmers Market. Thanks, Johnny and Susan!
