FROM THE FARM TO THE DINNER TABLE

With many people too busy to garden or unequipped with a "green thumb," farmers markets are popular spots for obtaining summer-fresh vegetables.

Cape Girardeau's Farmers Market is no exception.

As many as 200 shoppers were going from stand to stand minutes before the farmers market opened Thursday.

Displayed on tables of more than 15 vendors were mounds of vegetables and fruits, including green beans, beets, cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes, peaches, turnips, tomatoes, raspberries and rhubarb.

There was much more -- blueberries, onions, squash, lettuce and organically-grown salad greens. Flowers and plants were also available.

The market is held each Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. on the Plaza Galleria parking lot in the 2000 block of Independence. No money can be exchanged until the 3 p.m. starting time.

The market in Cape Girardeau is just one of more than 65 officially recognized in Missouri. Unofficially, there are many more when all the roadside stands and truck tailgates are counted.

The market here was designed for vendors who have produced fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers. Producers who sell jelly, jams and baked goods must have produced the principal ingredient included in the product, say Marilyn Peters, president of the local farmers market, and John Knaup, treasurer of the market.

Other large farmers markets can be found nearby: Carbondale, Ill., each Saturday; Anna, Ill., each Tuesday; downtown Paducah, Ky., each Saturday and at the old train depot in Sikeston each Saturday.

Each year, the Missouri Department of Agriculture issues an "AgriMissouri Buyer's Guide," for home-grown products and a directory of farmers markets. They are available by calling toll-free 888-662-7263, or by writing the Missouri Department of Agriculture Development Division, P. O. Box 630, Jefferson City, Mo. 65102.

Thursday's crowd at the Cape Girardeau market was a large one.

"This is the largest crowd we've had this year," said Lorene Lingle of Cobden.

A crowd of about 50 people flocked around the tables in front of the Lingle pickup. The tables were heaped with fresh-picked peaches, blueberries and a variety of vegetables.

"Betty Ross of Cape Girardeau was one of the customers. She picked up two baskets of peaches, handing them to her husband for one of his many trips to the car.

"I'm the go-fer," said Tom Ross.

"I buy enough for all week," said his wife, whose purchases included green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and other vegetables.

Green beans were a hot item at Thursday's market.

The Lingles ran out of the beans within 10 minutes of opening.

"Everybody likes fresh green beans," said Levi Lingle, son of Lorene Lingle.

The Lingles, from Cobden, Ill., have been in the vegetable farming industry for more than two decades.

The Lingles have about 20 acres in orchards and raise all types of vegetables, displaying them each week at farmers markets here and at Carbondale, Ill.

Bonnie Newcomb, also of Cobden, displayed her rhubarb, broccoli and cabbage.

Newcomb, who tills two acres of vegetables, also goes to the Saturday Carbondale market, where she serves as market manager.

"This is the last week for my rhubarb." she said. "Rhubarb is a cool-weather crop. But Thursday marked the first time Newcomb brought broccoli and cabbages.

Nearby, Marilyn Peters, president of the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market, and her mother Dorothy Miller were busy sacking up vegetables.

The Peterses have been involved in truck farming a number of years. A teacher, Peters farms about 20 acres near Bertrand.

She started selling produce as a way of giving her children an opportunity to make money without working in a fast-food restaurant. Now her children are grown, but she looks forward to her once-a-week excursion standing behind a folding table under an umbrella to sell vegetables and chat with the regulars.

Also on hand at Thursday Market was Noel Chase of Jackson, who provides an organically-grown salad mix she calls Urban Eden Salads.

"I have a backyard garden," said Chase. "I hope to continue at the market here the rest of this year."

Chase raises a number of different greens -- parsley, three varieties of lettuce, spinach and other salad greens.

"More and more vegetables are appearing here each week,' said Lingle. "And starting next month, we'll be seeing a lot of tomatoes."

Some tomatoes were available last week.

"Most of them were home-grown in greenhouses," said Knaup. "By early next month, we'll be seeing a lot of outdoor-grown tomatoes."

This is the market's 12th year. Peters and Lingle say a lot of regulars attend the weekly market.

"We see a lot of the same faces week after week," said Lingle.

Jerry R. Chumbler of Paducah, Ky., made his first stop at the Cape Girardeau market Thursday.

Chumbler, a mortgage loan specialist for UC Lending of Paducah, was working in the Southeast Missouri area when he noticed the market and stopped to pick up some fresh vegetables, including onions from Bonnie Newcomb.

Newcomb dispenses some cooking advice with her rhubarb.

"I put a little water in my pan, then a little bit of sugar and stand there and stir it...it's that simple," she said.

Most people raise and sell vegetables because they like it, said one vendor. "There are other things you can do to make more money with less work."