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Gail and Sue Johnson, Johnson Farms Country Market

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

“Bring your best.” Perhaps you received that advice from a schoolteacher or coach. Today we’ll meet a rural Kansas farmer who has built a business by bringing the best of his family’s products to farmers markets.

Gail and Sue Johnson are owners of Johnson Farms Country Market, which specializes in producing and selling produce, canned items, and baked goods at local farmers markets. Gail grew up on a farm near Bennington. Sue’s family lived at Burdick and Enterprise before she and Gail were married.

Poster of a farmers market where Johnsons sell their products
Poster of a farmers market where Johnsons sell their products

Sue became a nurse, and Gail worked as a lab technician at a plant in Salina. In 1999, they bought a farm near Hope. “Our families both had big gardens growing up,” Gail said. They put in a garden at their new place. One day they stopped at the farmers market in Abilene. “We thought that would be fun to do,” Gail said.

They set up a stand to sell their garden vegetables at the weekly farmers market in Abilene, and it went well. Then they added some jams and jellies. When they wanted to make and sell pickles from their cucumbers, they needed a license and an approved kitchen. “Our first commercial kitchen was in 2015,” Gail said.

Sue’s mom and grandma had an old German family recipe for bierocks, and people said they were good enough to sell. The bierocks are now their No. 1 seller. Continue reading “Gail and Sue Johnson, Johnson Farms Country Market”

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Adam & Maggie Pounds, Simple Abundance Farm

“How big is your farm?” “It’s about 4-by-8.”  “Oh, 4-by-8 acres? “No, 4-by-8 feet.” That imaginary conversation sounds like an unlikely discussion between Kansas farmers, but it illustrates how one young couple got their start in urban farming. They started raising microgreens on a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood. Now this innovative young couple is expanding their operation to provide local food while serving their community.

Adam and Maggie Pounds, owners of Simple Abundance Farm in South Hutchinson, Kansas.

Adam and Maggie Pounds are the founders of Simple Abundance Farm in South Hutchinson, Kansas. Adam grew up at Hutchinson and went to Wichita State. Maggie went to high school at the nearby rural community of Buhler, population 1,289 people.  Now, that’s rural. She went on to Bethel College.

Adam and Maggie met through friends and ultimately married. “We caught the travel bug,” Adam said. They worked a summer at Estes Park and then in Key West, Florida doing eco-tourism. Adam and Maggie are also talented musicians, playing guitar and multiple folk instruments. “Maggie sings like an angel,” Adam said.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Adam & Maggie Pounds, Simple Abundance Farm”

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kathy Youngquist – Farmers Markets

“Shop. Eat. Repeat.” That is a nice, simple set of instructions, and so easy that even I could follow them. Those words have become the slogan of a new coalition of farmers markets which is marketing local goods in northeast Kansas.

FarmersMarket_162

Kathy Youngquist is a volunteer with the Perry-Lecompton Farmers Market, part of a new coalition called Farmers Markets of Kaw Valley. Kathy is from Prairie Village originally. She went to the University of Kansas, did graduate work and met and married Eric Youngquist. They moved to Perry, where she took a position with First State Bank & Trust and became interested in farmers markets.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kathy Youngquist – Farmers Markets”