Visitors to the Bartlesville Farmers Market see the tables heaped with fresh vegetables and the coolers stocked with grass-fed beef, but what they don’t see is the time, energy and sweat it takes to produce the healthy, delicious food.
Kim and Steve Weyhrich of Jubilee Farms in Coffeyville, Kan., and their four daughters start each day early. The goal on a picking day is to have all the produce in before 9 a.m., when it begins to get hot. They do not want any chance of it wilting. Other days, their daughters start the day with chores, including milking the cows and taking care of sheep, horses and chickens. The daughters love having horses, while Kim Weyhrich enjoys gardening.
“One of the greatest benefits is teaching our girls the value of hard work,” Weyhrich said. “They know how to feed themselves.”
Both Kim and her daughters enjoy the weekly trek to the Bartlesville Farmers Market, where they sell their wares and visit with customers. Kim Weyhrich’s loyal customers seek out her grass-fed beef, fresh vegetables and wheat flour.
Weyhrich’s favorite product is Turkey Red Heritage Wheat, brought to Kansas in the 1870’s by Mennonite immigrants from Ukraine. Her first seeds were given to her by a farmer in Kansas whose family has been growing it since the beginning. The Weyhrichs combined their 10 acres of wheat in June, and the flour is now available from Jubilee Farms booth at the Bartlesville Farmers Market.
“I like this because it’s something people can’t normally grow in a home garden,” Kim Weyhrich said.
Despite growing up in suburban Maryland, Kim Weyhrich always wanted to live on a farm. Her husband, Steve Weyhrich, grew up on a farm, and when Kim Weyhrich joined him on his farm in Arkansas, they lived off-the-grid for twelve years, which wasn’t a big transition for her, she said. They used solar panels for electricity, and she enjoyed the peace and quiet.
“I’ve never been the kind of person who cared if I had appliances on my counter,” Kim Weyhrich said. “I always assumed I’d grow a garden. It probably came more naturally to me than living in suburbia.”
They eventually moved to Coffeyville, Kan., to a farm that has rich river-bed soil, allowing them to grow an abundance of produce.
“It’s hard work, but the benefits are worth it,” Kim Weyhrich said. “One of the things I love about summer is when I can look around and see that almost everything on the table is from our farm. We have our own beef, so we have a lot of hamburger dishes . . . Fried squash and fried okra . . . and bread from our own wheat.”
The Weyhrich family works in the fields until dusk, so Kim Weyhrich takes advantage of the fresh produce to feed the family without much prep.
“Anything we can eat raw, we do, like tomatoes and cucumbers,” she said.
Weyhrich cannot imagine living any other life, and she hopes her daughters will continue it someday.
“I see so many farmers getting old, and the children aren’t following along, and everything is turning into big corporate farms. I’d really like to see family farming continue. The rewards are there. When you look at your table, and see that everything on the table is from your farm, it’s amazing.”
"I see so many farmers getting old, and the children aren’t following along, and everything is turning into big corporate farms. I’d really like to see family farming continue. The rewards are there. When you look at your table and see that everything is from your farm, it’s amazing."
Eating as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible has major health benefits. Josh Wright, a local nutritionist, has become an advocate for fresh food. His journey to a healthier lifestyle began when he was 25-years-old, weighed 220 pounds and was anxious and depressed. He began working out and eventually became a personal trainer. But he noticed his clients struggled to see the results they wanted, and he found that the answer was in the kitchen.
“Food is 70 percent of the battle,” Wright said.
He began teaching his clients what to cook and how to prepare it, and they began to see the extra pounds melt off, he said. Instead of restricting calories – which messes up the metabolism, Wright said – he encourages clients to eat more of the right food, aiming for eating every three hours. Then people began to have more energy and their thought processes are sharper, Wright said.
“Most people don’t eat for performance, they eat for aesthetic,” Wright said. He encourages his clients to eat a lot of protein and vegetables, both of which can be found in abundance in the Bartlesville Farmers Market.
Scientists who study epigenetics, which focuses on the way genes express themselves in the body, have found that different triggers can “turn on” certain genetics. External and environmental factors – such as the food people eat and the chemicals and pollution they are exposed to – can switch genes on and off, even in adults.
“You can affect your genetics,” Wright said. “They aren’t locked in…Your genetics are determined by your environment and what you eat, and your genetics are the biggest indicator of disease and things like that that are coming down the road.”
Wehyrich sees the benefit of this in her own family, who she says never gets sick, except for the occasional winter cold. They have never eaten much processed food, a diet Wright would approve of.
“Eating locally sourced, fresher, more nutritious food is going to be better for your genes,” Wright said. “. . . Eat real food. If it comes with a major food label, you probably shouldn’t touch it.”
Eating real food doesn’t always mean that a person needs to spend hours in the kitchen, though. For those times when life is too busy to cook at home, local restaurant Samantha’s strives to create healthy, unique dishes. Patrons have the option of sitting on the back patio by a soothing fountain with a prime view of the gardens. Owners Ron and Samantha Nikkel started the gardens for themselves, but they soon began incorporating the abundance of fresh food into the menu.
“It’s fun to walk through a busy restaurant, go to the garden, and pick some peppers or tomatoes or basil and take it into the kitchen fresh from the garden,” Ron Nikkel said.
Samantha’s produce is all organic, and they use organic compost in place of fertilizers. This year they have a great crop of herbs, including oregano, cilantro and rosemary, so customers may notice that the cilantro pesto tastes very fresh. They also are growing blackberries, strawberries, grapes and cherries, which may be making appearances in Samantha’s from-scratch desserts soon. Cucumbers and peppers from the garden also make appearances in dishes.
Wright encourages his clients to take advantage of the opportunities to eat fresh produce.
“The locally sourced foods are going to be more nutritious, period,” Wright said.
This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of Bartlesville Monthly Magazine.