Missouri Life September 2023

121 FARMHOUSE KITCHEN North of Warrensburg, in a scenic, out-of-the-way spot, is the Missouri Century Farm where 121 Farmhouse Kitchen has evolved from a sweet side hustle to a boom ing roadside business in less than a decade. Here, a sign featuring a stacked cow, pig, and chicken logo marks an enterprise started in 2013 after owner Ashland Bell lost her job. She began baking at home and selling at farm ers markets to pay the bills while she looked for another career opportunity. Ashland returned to the workforce but began selling shippable bakery items from an online Etsy store. When the pandemic struck, Ashland’s Etsy store exploded with orders from all 50 states for homemade fresh bread and cookies. Ashland placed a deck box outside her home for local customers to pick up special orders, check for extra bakery goods, and pay electroni cally or by placing cash in the drop box. By the time sum mer was in full swing, Ashland realized the box system

The challenges of the 2020 pandemic created a boon for Ashland Bell and her home bakery near Warrensburg. Since then, she has devoted herself full-time to the business that now includes more than 20 regional vendors offering their wares at the self-service 121 Farmhouse Kitchen Market.

most weekends in 2020, cars lined the driveway waiting to get in, since only one family could shop at a time. Customers would shop, fill out an envelope with the items they purchased, pay with cash, Venmo, or PayPal, and leave the envelope in the drop box. The customer base came from miles around to shop the little market. Ashland depended on social media to keep customers up-to-date on what was available in the store daily, some times hourly. When she would announce the market drop of Farmhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies, there was a race to see who could get to the market first. By January 2021, baking had taken over Ashland’s entire house with supplies, cooling racks, and packag ing stations. Success was taking a toll on the family who were by now basically living in a working bakery. It was time to expand. The Bells ordered a new 16-by-40-foot building to provide retail space and a commercial kitchen and placed it on the south side of the family home. While still running the bustling market, Ashland again relied on friends and family to fashion the inside of the new mar ket space. Long days of love, sweat, and tears, the rising cost of building materials, and pandemic-related supply chain issues presented challenges for the undertaking but resulted in a dream-come-true for Ashland. By that fall, the Bells were in their new facility and expanded their product line to include local milk, fresh meats, ice cream, gifts items, and household wares from more than 20 local consignors. The fully inspected com mercial kitchen, opened in October 2021, permitted Ashland’s family to have their farmhouse back. “I felt as though I could escape to home each night instead of living at work,” she says. Featuring an array of ever-changing, locally sourced offerings based on the seasons, 121 Farmhouse is known for its ice cream and fresh salsa made in-house. Missouri produce, plants, meats, cheeses, candies, snacks, soap, candles, pet items, unique wares, and locally crafted items line the shelves. The full-service bakery offers custom-order cakes, rolls, cupcakes, pies, breads, muf fins, and frozen, ready-to-bake cookies and confections. Since its inception as a little side gig to make ends meet, this widely known Johnson County treasure remains a self-service honor market open seven days a week, 365 days a year, Monday to Saturday from 8 AM to 8 PM , and on Sunday from 9 AM to 7 PM .

was inadequate for Missouri’s hot summer days. The concept of no-contact delivery was working well, so she purchased a used 10-by-12-foot garden shed and pulled in favors from family and friends to retrofit it as a tiny, temperature-controlled, self-service station called the 121 Farmhouse Kitchen Market. In July 2020, the self-serve honor market opened its doors with a vendor event grand opening and blew every one away with a new twist on an old concept. Open seven days a week, 121 Kitchen Farmhouse began offering baked goods, fresh-grown produce, eggs, cheese, honey, and a few local gift items. Ashland had planned to keep her full-time job for two years until the store could grow and sustain itself. After only two weeks, Ashland left her job to bake full time and keep pace with demand. During

1047 NE 121st Road, Warrensburg, 121FarmhouseKitchen.com

121 FARMHOUSE KITCHEN MARKET

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