Photography by Whitney Curtis
Long before farm-to-table was a culinary catchphrase, John and Connie McPheeters planted seeds of the idea an hour north of St. Louis. Bowood Farms began on a family plot near Clarksville in 1989 and quickly grew into one of the area’s most popular wholesale growers, selling more than a thousand types of perennials. In 2006, the couple transformed a one-time auto-body repair shop and junkyard into a gardening center, complete with a rooftop garden, gifts, and myriad plants, with shipments arriving from the farm every Thursday. Finally, in 2008, the family added a restaurant inside the gardening center, an idea that’s novel for the region, but that’s common in parts of Europe. Today, Café Osage’s menu takes full advantage of Bowood’s organic offerings, embodying the concept of farm-to-table.
