Teresa Dirks (right) buys eggs from Cindi (left) and Emma Allen. Their stand is called "Emma's Eggs" and Emma has regular customers who come every week.

WARRENSBURG,MO.-- As various fruits and vegetables start to ripen, the popularity grows at Warrensburg’s Farmer’s Market.

The market is located downtown at Holden and North streets, and is open Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon.
It typically operates April to October, depending on the growing season.

The Warrensburg Farmer’s Market is a place where locally grown fruits and vegetables are sold. It supplements the incomes of farmers and gives farmers now retired something to do.

Jeremiah Neal from Bristle Ridge Farm puts out green beans for the Farmer's Market

“It offers the Warrensburg community fresh fruits and vegetables grown with the least amount of chemicals possible,” Jim Welhoff, of Scott’s Produce, said. The money stays local as well, since the Farmer’s Market is for the farmers of Johnson County only.

There is a wide range of produce available at the market and it all depends on what’s in season. Gooseberries, strawberries, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and honey are just a few of the products available this week.

Later in the summer, things such as squash, asparagus, green beans, potatoes, beets, turnips, and more berries will be ready. Welhoff thinks the sweet corn will be ready around the Fourth of July.

Lettuce is grown at Buckeye Acres, located north of Warrensburg on Highway 13.

“Everything that comes into this market is supposed to be fresh and homegrown,” Welhoff said, “not like the big chains, where everything can take weeks or even months to get from where it’s harvested to where it’s sold.”

Customers appreciate the fresh taste and the service while buying goods at the market, as well.

“Every few weeks, when I come down to buy fruits or vegetables, everyone is friendly and remembers what I like,” UCM student Danielle McDaniel said. She prefers buying her produce fresh-picked and without chemical growth agents or insect repellants, and she knows that’s what she gets at the market.

Anyone interested in selling goods at the Farmer’s Market can contact Warrensburg Main Street at (660)429-3988 or talk to market master Jan Evans, who is usually at the market during its open hours.