Howdy Friends and Farm-Fresh Junkies -
This is Farmer Brooke and I am literally on my last leg! Farmer Dan and I have spent the last 2 months (and in particular) the last 72 hours madly stretching fence, hanging gates, and securing our new property for the arrival of our livestock. We got way behind schedule and were forced to bring our goats and our guardian dogs onto the new property before the fencing was actually finished! We have been on 24 hour watch, working into the night, and sleeping like icicles in our car without access to water, toilets, or anything half-way sophisticated. But don't worry!!! The goats and the dogs are well-watered and well-fed. It is only the farmers who suffer. Dan and I have a running joke that everyone eats on BADSEED Farm accept the Farmers! I gotta say, this is an all-time "high" for Dan and I. In the four years that I have been farming, I have officially reached the most exhaustive and stressed-out point in my career........(and this is coming from a girl who spent most of her first season crying & screaming in the field over failed crops!). But, rest assured, I will make it through the week somehow and still manage to harvest a plethora of mouth-watering morsels for this Friday at the BADSEED Farmers Market from 4-9 PM. For now I will do my best to make the remainder of this market e-mail half-way coherent!!! Here we go:
Are you super bummed out that the Farmers Market season is coming to a close?? Back to the soul-sucking supermarket, right?? WRONG!!! The BADSEED *Winter* Farmers Market will be chock-full of locally and sustainably produced foods all winter long. We will have gourmet mushrooms, all natural meats, free-range eggs, artisan sheep's milk cheese, cool-weather crops, mean greens, canned goods, organic/micro-roasted coffee, rustic breads, and wholesome sweet treats every Friday through February!!! The summer market will officially continue until our Pre-Thanksgiving Day Market on November 19th. This is our biggest market of the year and cannot be missed!! After that we switch over to the Winter Market at which point we close at 8 PM instead of 9. Take note! As the weeks march on, more and more Winter Vendors will be present with new and yummy home-grown products. You will probably remember some of them from last year. I will introduce them as they come along!! Be sure to support these farmers! It takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to NOT take the winter off and instead produce and market your goods year round. Without this kind of dedication, local/organic goods would not be available in the winter months. We at the BADSEED are very proud to be offering them. Kansas City has some lucky eaters!!
This week's New Vendors:
We have a couple "winter die-hards" starting this week whom you had the pleasure of meeting last year.
First off we have Alice and Marvin Huenefeld from Western Hills Produce in Wellington, MO. They will have wonderful free-range eggs and a variety of produce. Their real specialty is Alice's incredible baked goods made from wheat she grows and grinds herself!!!....as well as homemade jams and jellies from her homegrown fruit. And that's not al!! Marvin is a heck of a wood carver. He will have wood turned items from trees raised on the farm. His work is incredible. Truly unique!
Secondly, the wild woman Kim Wells of Wells Family Farm in King City, MO will be rippin' it up with her certified organic grass-finished beef cuts. Kim is a hell of a lady and she knows her beef!! She'll be sure to keep things lively all winter long. You cannot miss her. She'll be the one in the cowgirl hat and neon turquoise eyeliner. (....you gotta love Kimmy and her cows)
Also - the fresh FIGS will be present again this week!! Curtis and Brenda Langewisch and Aaron Riekhof raise these luscious fruits on the family farm near Higginsville, MO. They are to die for and go excellent with goats cheese and honey....mmmmm....
***Sexy Veggie of the Week***
This week's runner-up is Oasis Gourmet Turnip!
Ooooh baby.....and you thought you didn't like turnips! These devastatingly delicious gals can be eaten' raw like an apple!! Oasis is a gourmet variety that has a fine white flesh that is crisp and sweet with a faint spice and refreshing bite. They aren't at all tough and woody like cooking turnips which is why they lend themselves so well to fresh-eating and slicing on salads. That being said, they do well in the ole' sauce pan or roaster. My favorite turnip dish is a classic: Creamed Turnips. I use local butter, farm-fresh milk & cream, and organic unrefined sugar. It is to die for.
This week's grand-prize-winner (drum roll please) is the totally bangin' Japanese Sweet Potato!!
Damn these gals are good! The Japanese sweet potato has hot pink skin and stark white flesh. The texture is dense and rather gourmet in comparison to your typical orange-fleshed variety. I compare the flavor to roasted marshmallows when cooked!! I personally use the orange-fleshed Beauregard's for pies and the white-fleshed Japanese for practically everything else. I adore them. Lately (before the 72 hour marathon that is) Dan and I have been eating Japanese Sweet Potato Hash for breakfast with blue cornmeal pancakes and sunny-side-up eggs straight from our gorgeous hens. A "big farmer breakfast" like that gives us the strength to endure long days in the dirt digging the many taters' still in the ground!! We will have plenty available this week and more to be dug for the future. **Japanese sweet potatoes don't store as well as the Beauregard so eat em' up before too long!!
Pictures are attached. You know the drill - print them out, blow them up, & plaster them all over the men's room!!
This week's organic offerings:
BADSEED Farm, Brooke Salvaggio & Daniel Heryer (South KC) www.badseedfarm.com
*Japanese Sweet Potatoes!!! (white-fleshed, taste like roasted marshmallow!!)
*Beauregard Sweet Potatoes (orange-fleshed, very sweet)
*SEX IN A BOWL Signature Salad Mix!! (limited quantities, come early for this one)
*Sexy Saute Mix!!!! (a gourmet mix of sexy cooking greens with hints of garlic chives and aromatic herbs)
*BABY MUSTARD GREENS (spicy, tender, and oooh sooo good)
*Arugula!! (peppery and perfect)
*King Kale
*Gourmet Oasis TURNIPS!! (eat em' raw like an apple)
*ORGANIC APPLES!! (in "Red Delicious")
*Assorted sweet and medium spiced PEPPERS (could be the last of the season...stock up!!)
*Purple Ruffles BASIL
*Red Velvet OKRA (long, velvety, burgundy pods that rock your frying pan like no other)
Herb"N"Gardener, Lew Edmister (Westside, KCMO)
From the Lips of Lew:
"i'll still have a big ole bunch of filets beans this week folks. right now i'm surprised everday i look out there and something is still growing. i'll have a good bunch of arugula, some arugula mix and a nice bunch of asian mustard greens. those funky looking okra stalks i drag down to market are for decor, not for eats. tough eats, huh? i'll also have more smoked peppers, but no smoker.
don't forget to sign up for the rustic bread csa. this will be the last week i'll pursue signups. i haven't gotten as many as i thought i would, but enough to proceed, which is what i'm doing. i'll just have to go down a different path."
Bigg Blue Farm, Stan & Carmen Biggs (Mosby, MO)