You know it's spring when the Clayton Farmers Market returns. This weekend marks the opening market of the 2013 season. The Farmers Market will be open with a "Call to the Market" on bagpipes at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot next to Straubs. Bluegrass music by the Ramblers will be the entertainment from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more on opening day events, check out Deb Henderson's Farmers Market blog. All items for sale at the Clayton Farmers Market are Missouri/Illinois-made and food-themed products with emphasis on the home-grown, home-made or hand crafted, according to the market's web …

Nate Larson said his dad has a passion for coffee. “He’s the kind of man who gets into something, gets all the gear and takes it to a whole other level,” said Nate Larson. He said Barry Larson started tinkering with a home roaster a friend gave him, making his own fresh roasted coffee in small batches. “There’s no substitute for fresh roasted coffee beans,” Barry Larson told Patch. He was soon hooked he decided he had to find an excuse to buy a commercial roaster. Thus, Art House Coffee was born. Barry decided to start  his roasting business as a way to generate funds for another passion of …

Laura Bozzay, Debbie Siebert and Linda Yonce are the three woman team behind Adventures in Spice, a St. Louis spice company that wants to “enhance” your life and your cooking. The company sells spices, herbs and gourmet blends at farmers markets, festivals, craft fairs and online. You can find them at the Clayton Farmer's Market on Saturday. Bozzay said they started their company three years ago and don’t have immediate plans for a brick and mortar shop. She said they wanted to try out their business plan first. “You want to know several things before you pour money into a business,” she said…

Visitors to the Clayton Farmer's Market this Saturday will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of treats from Beth Prindable, owner of Little Dipper Chocolate. She talked about what makes the company special in a recent email interview. The market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Brown Shoe parking lot. Who created Little Dipper Chocolate? Where does the name come from, and in which St. Louis city is the company based? Little Dipper Chocolate was created by Beth Prindable and is based in Wildwood, Missouri What makes Little Dipper different from other chocolate companies? Who …

Peter Cohen left banking to become a full-time coffee professional. In an interview this week, he spoke about the history of Stringbean Coffee Co., his booth at the Clayton Farmer's Market and his plans for the future. You'll find his booth at the market from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the Brown Shoe parking lot on Maryland Avenue. Can you remind Patch readers briefly about the history behind your company, Stringbean? I was a banker for 15 years. I was roasting coffee as a hobby to satisfy my desire for bold, non-bitter coffee. My first roast was Pete's Redeye, my espresso blend, it'…

St. Louis native Adrienne Chambers grew up with a love for baking and turned that passion into a successful waffle-making enterprise called Waffle-licious. She's among the vendors you'll find at the Clayton Farmer's Market, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. In an email interview, Chambers spoke about her early experiences with baking and her company's many offerings. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your transition to starting and operating Waffle-licious. How does someone with a marketing and retail merchandising degree get into the restaurant business? My name is …

Black Bear Bakery traces its roots to the Lickhalter family, which opened its company for business in 1915 in St. Louis. The Lickhalters ran their bakery until the 1970s, and the rye starter dough they used was saved and passed along to the Black Bear folks, who opened for business more than 15 years ago."We are working to maintain a worker-owned collective bakery," said Bryan Dennert, a cooperative member at the business. Bakery staff help run a booth weekly at the Clayton Farmer's Market, which is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays in the Brown Shoe parking lot. (Get the free …

In just a year's time, Anne and Vinnie Valenza have expanded distribution for their soap business from one farmer's market to between six and eight per week. The Valenzas are among the weekly vendors at the Clayton Farmer's Market. "Our product is made of natural ingredients," said Anne Valenza, who along with her husband operates Hanley Fold Farm. The title follows an English naming tradition in which the family's last name (Valenza's maiden name is Hanley) is followed by the words "Fold Farm". Valenza grew up in Michigan. "Hanley Fold Farm originated in Dorr, Michigan in 2005 when Anne …

Visitors to the Clayton Farmer's Market this Saturday will find a variety of raw-milk cheeses crafted by hand in small batches at Fithian, IL-based Ludwig Farmstead Creamery."We make them from our own milk," said Fons Smits, who manages the creamery. The business opened 1 1/2 years ago and expanded distribution into the St. Louis area. This marks the creamery's first season at the Clayton market. The creamery sits on 150 acres of fifth-generation farmland, the creamery's website states.Milk from the creamery's Holstein cows is processed into cheese within 12 hours, Smits said. Products that …

For Crestwood resident Annette Hopkins, the business of tea has been a journey. It began when her family started drinking instant tea and progressed to June 2011, when she attended a tea convention and decided to start a company.Now, Trail Lodge Tea can be found weekly at the Clayton Farmer's Market and at markets in Webster Groves and Ellisville. The name reflects Hopkins' interest in nature and the environment. She also chose it with the goal of opening a cafe; she thinks the title appeals to both men and women, as opposed to the traditional Victorian tea room. "You get to sit, relax and …

Debby and Larry Ross left their home in Wildwood to begin raising poultry naturally  in De Soto, MO. Now in its second year, Windy Lake Farm is expected to care for 3,000 broiler chickens, 250 turkeys and about 500 laying hens this year. "We actually raise them out on pasture where the boys move them every day or two to fresh grass," Debby Ross said during an interview Friday.Poultry and eggs from the couple's farm will be on sale Saturday at the Clayton Farmer's Market in Clayton. They also set up at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market on Saturdays and at the Schlafly Farmers Market on …

After eight years in the business, Clayton Farmers’ Market vendor and del Carmen owner Estie Cruz-Curoe knows her beans. “They produce home-style Cuban black beans and other tasty treats,” wrote Patch Local Voices blogger Angela Foley in a recent post. Cruz-Curoe is one of the market’s newest artisan vendors, and she’s known for her authentic Cuban-style beans, which are slow-cooked and ready to heat-and-eat. Meet Estie Cruz-Curoe Cruz-Curoe holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, according to a report from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. She previously worked …

Kamp’s Orchards owners and Clayton Farmers’ Market vendors Greg and Agnes Kamp have been married for 52 years. After inheriting their farm from Agnes’ parents, the couple decided to turn it into an orchard, Mrs. Kamp said. “We planted it over 30 years ago,” she said. “Of course they aren’t all the same trees, we’ve taken them out and replaced them over the years.” The first thing you’ll see when you drive up to the orchard on Auer Road in Golden Eagle, IL is what Kamp calls the “pole building.” “That’s where we start the peaches, and it’s where people can come see them on display,” she said…

Clayton Farmers’ Market vendor Kim Vogel grew up around the farm. She said her father bought the orchard that would later become Eilerman Brothers Orchards back in 1967, and he joined forces with his four brothers to make it all happen. “It was my dad, Paul, Fred, Kenny and Phil (Eilerman),” Vogel said. “Phil left the business in the 80s, and then it was just my dad and the rest of his brothers. My dad was the head.” She said that at that time, they were farming peaches, hogs and grain, but they got out of hogs about 20 years ago. “We went with produce, peaches, apples and grain farming,” she…

About 45 minutes south of St. Louis, Steven and Veronica Baetje can be found doing the work that allows them to supply area markets with eggs and dairy products. That includes a well-loved artisan goat cheese the Baetjes say reminds them of the hills surrounding their farm in Bloomsdale, the Southeast Missourian reported (Visit Baetje Farms on Facebook.) The couple have been married for 20 years and joke they’ve got 120 kids—baby goats born annually at their farm, according to the Missourian. Award-winning cheeses The Baetjes' artisan goat cheese has been named among the top cheeses in the …

A larder is a holding-place for food that used to be more common in homes than refrigerators, according to The Farmers' Larder website. And like its namesake, Farmers' Larder has become an institution—in this case, at the Clayton Farmer's Market. On Saturdays, 27-year-old Lucian Matoushek sells meats from livestock that are raised in humane conditions and without antibiotics or growth hormones. He and his wife, Theresa, run the Clayton stand, market manager Deborah Henderson stated in an email. “It was his idea to come to our market—(and we’re) very glad he did," she stated. A family business…

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the last name of Beth Lavy. This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling. Beth Lavy* grew up in a rural area showing cattle in 4-H. These days, as one of the owners of Sugar Creek Piedmontese Farm and as a Clayton Farmer's Market vendor, she eats, breathes and sleeps cattle. “My parents themselves didn’t own cattle at that time, but I’ve always loved working with large animals,” Lavy said. “I just enjoyed the challenge.” A farm is born Lavy said her husband came from a farming background but had stepped …

Biver Farms is an organic farm owned and run by Keith Biver. It's one of several farms that has sold produce at the Clayton Farmer's Market. “They are the oldest farm vendor at our market,” market manager Deb Henderson said. “Brett (Palmier) used to be the ‘face’ of Biver Farms at Clayton, and Keith handled their Edwardsville stand.” But when Biver’s colleague, Brett Palmier, left the farm partnership at the end of the season last year, many long-time customers wondered: Would the farm’s produce and services be available to them any longer? Biver Farms is Still Going Strong The answer is yes…

First-generation farmers Kris and Stacey Larson have two great love stories to tell their future grandchildren—one about how they met, the other about how they found their shared passion. Each spouse loves farming, and each intentionally chose to make farming a career. But the couple didn’t follow a traditional path: Unlike many farmers, neither grew up on a farm. Instead, each discovered farming in college. The best part: This all happened before they ever met. “We both independently discovered it,” Kris Larson said. “I was volunteering on a local farm a few hours a week, and Stacey had …

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the name of Double Star Farms. This article has been updated to reflect the correct name. Living in the city would be totally foreign to Silent Oaks Farm owner Tim Hess. Hess, who grew up on a farm, said he can't imagine following any other path. “I never thought of doing anything different,” he said. “I enjoy the freedom of farming.” Farming dreams Hess grew up on a farm. He spent a period of time driving trucks before starting his own operation. “It’s hard work and takes a lot of management, but there’s a joy in …