Entertainment
Jamey Hooper will be joining us this Saturday, April 24th, from 9 AM - NOON.
Jamey Hooper is a local Broken Arrow artist. This will be his first performance at the Rose District Farmers Market! Come out and show your support!
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Vendor Spotlight
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Kirt & Jeanna Thacker are the proud owners of Circle T. Cattle Co.; a family owned and operated farm in Inola, OK for the last 35 years. Jokingly, Kirt mentioned that they are great at raising mud and rocks but in all seriousness they put a great deal of effort into growing the best premium beef possible with their intensive pasture, hay and cattle management. Not to mention that they age their meat for 21 days for ultimate tenderness. With over a 100 heads of cattle on 400 acres, the Thacker family is up before the sun and puts in a full day’s worth of work throughout the seasons. During the spring, they are working cattle, planting forages, fertilizing the rotating pastures and farm ground. Summer is spent putting up hay. Fall is all about pasture drilling wheat for winter grazing. During winter, mornings consists of feeding and putting out hay, breaking ice about four times a day while their afternoons is spent repairing stuff, getting equipment ready to go, building gates, and anything else that may need to get done.
With a total of seven ponds and two creeks, water is not normally an issue for the cattle company except during extreme droughts. On the other hand, weather and markets are not always their friend. Kirt quoted John F. Kennedy when asked what the struggles of a cattleman were; “The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” He mentioned that sometimes a part as small as my hand could cost him just shy of a thousand dollars but without it, he wouldn’t be able to do the work he needed to operate and that’s just one part, it doesn’t include feed or other equipment and so on. Then there is the grind of finding someone able to butcher their cattle. When Covid-19 caused the big meat packers to shut down, the supply line shortage of beef seen in grocery stores lead everyone to overwhelm the local family butchers. These small town butchers became quickly booked; some even booked out for two years. Other butchers struggle with not having enough locker space but expanding and trying to find the staff to handle a bigger operation is far too expensive.
Though they have been selling ½ and whole beef for years, they made the decision in 2019 to start selling retail with an old fashioned country store located right on the farm. The Thacker’s started with an old grainery but quickly needed a more dedicated place to conduct business. By the spring of 2020, Kirt began the construction on a small building with the help of his two sons and dear ol’ dad. Unexpectedly, in June of 2020, dear ol’ dad passed away without getting to see the completion of the store later to be named the “Meat Shack.” Kirt and his sons are positive that he would have been proud of what they accomplished. Dear ol’ dad’s picture now hangs in the Meat Shack overlooking his family’s success.
Recipe Corner
There is nothing like hand-picking your fresh locally grown produce to create vibrant home cooked meals.
Here in the Recipe Corner, we would like to make it a little easier to cook through the seasons!
New to this year, we will be highlighting recipes straight from our very own vendors!
ONIE Project - Asian Beef & Broccoli Wraps
Time: 20 min. Servings: 6
Ingredients:
- 1lb lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups coleslaw veggie mix
- 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 6 (10 inch) whole-wheat tortillas, warmed
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add beef, onions & pepper. Cook 8-10 minutes, crumbling meat, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir is coleslaw mix, broccoli & hoisin sauce. Cook 3 minutes, or until heated through.
3. Remove from heat & evenly spread over 6 tortillas over filling, then roll up tightly. Place seam down on a plate, cut in half & serve!
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Weekend Forecast
The forecast for this Saturday is Partly Cloudy & 69F though during market hours will be between 55F - 61F.
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