Greetings Market Friends,
Notes from our vendors:
KC Center for Urban Agriculture
This time of year, my appetite just grows. When the temperatures begin to drop and days get shorter, I get hungry! I think, as farmers, that we are a little more keyed into the seasonal changes than most because we are outside a lot. Our bodies are more attuned to the dropping of the sun lower to the horizon, the cooler temperatures in the early hours, the inevitable senescence of the plants out in the field, but I suspect nearly all humans feel that atavistic urge to eat more and get ready for the winter. Our bodies are hard wired to expect seasonal deprivation- in most parts of the world there is a season where food choices are limited and where a healthy body store of calories is a good thing! So this fall appetite is a good and historical expression of generations and generations surviving the spring into summer into fall into winter cycle.
We often have people asking us about what it will mean if they preserve the summer’s bounty and in that process they lose some nutritional benefits – what will it mean for their winter health? Should they worry about eating canned tomatoes that have less vitamin c and somewhat lower amounts of other good nutrients and vitamins than the tomatoes just picked yesterday? I think that, over generations and generations, our bodies have learned how to cope- perhaps even thrive- with the seasonal variations in calorie and nutrient sources. We should eat from the summer’s abundance and can, freeze, pickle, and dry what we can, and know that our human bodies can cope with those changes, and are, in fact, better adapted to seasonal ups and downs than the unchanging diet offered by global agriculture. In the summer, eat fresh veggies, eat fruit, graze on the amazing produce! In the fall, eat everything, eat more fats, gain a little weight. In the winter, eat canned food, eat frozen, eat pickled and dried. And in early spring, eat less, we’re getting to the end of the season’s stores. When spring truly hits, eat all those great greens, the early cool season crops, get your body moving again. And then the cycle starts all over, like it did for your grandparents, and their grandparents, and their grandparents.
So, in September, we are starting to hit the end of the summer’s bounty. We’ll have, at market, the great summer veggies- tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, beans. The fall crops are just starting- microgreens, sweet potatoes, winter squash. Herbs start tasting really good right now- I don’t really understand why- but I find I cook more in the fall with herbs, and I see others doing the same thing. Peppers and eggplant are abundant, and beautiful, and will push production as late as they possibly can. Root vegetables- carrots, beets, turnips- offer good sweetness and dense calories. Enjoy this transition time!
See you at market, the KCCUA crew
Bread of Life
Hello Brookside Market,
Around our bakery we have a lot of pizza lunches since we make crusts and they are easy to put together. Here is a recipe that uses some of the farmers market vegetables like those wonderful peppers, onions,herbs and Green Dirt's feta cheese.
* 1 large head garlic, unpeeled
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large red onion, cut in 1/2−inch−thick rings
* 1/3 cup oil−packed sun−dried tomatoes, drained, oil reserved
* 1 − 12 inch pizza crust
* 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
* 1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers from jar, cut into 1/2 inch strips
* 2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Step by Step Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.
2. Slice top off garlic head; place in small baking dish.
3. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
4. Brush baking sheet with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil.
5. Place onion slices on sheet and brush onion with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil.
6. Bake garlic and onion until garlic cloves are light brown and soft and onion is tender, about 45 minutes.
7. Remove from oven; let cool.
8. Using fingers, squeeze out roasted garlic cloves into food processor; add sun−dried tomatoes.
9. Using on/off turns, process until almost smooth, adding enough reserved oil form sun−dried tomatoes to form paste. (Onions and garlic mixture can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)
10. Pizza crust and have it ready to be topped.
11. Spread garlic paste evenly over crust.
12. Top with mozzarella cheese, onion, pepper strips and feta cheese.
13. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons basil and 1 tablespoon parsley.
14. Bake pizza until crust is golden brown and cheese bubbles.
15. Transfer to cutting board. Cool for 5 minutes.
16. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons basil and 1 tablespoon parsley.
17. Cut into wedges and serve.
Our favorite pizza crust is the Ezekiel Crust made with beans,lentils,spelt and wheat. This has more protein and is a crunchier crust. If you want to stalk up on Pizza crusts you can order ahead and freeze them for up to 2 months. We make both Wheat and Spelt crusts also.
Luke and Chris will have our usual Egg and Sausage Burritos, Potato and Vegetable Burritos, Quiches, puddin head coffee,scones, pumpkin rolls,cookies etc.
See you at market,
Luke,Chris and Kathy
Wells Family Farms
Hello market friends:
We are going to be there with all sorts of cuts of meat. We do have most things that are listed on our website. www.wellsfamilyfarms.com We are happy to take pre orders, then you can be sure you get what you need. We also bring, Diatomaceous Earth, our very own Bug Repellant, (it truly does work on mosquitoes, chiggers, flies and most other creatures of the insect world. We bring Red Clover/Burdock Seeds for sprouting and growing, Dired Soybeans, and if I can get my self motivated, I will get some roasted! This time of the year is also good to add a little fertilizer to the growing plant life you have, wheather it is the yard, flowers or fall produce. There is also no smell other than rich dirt so it is very exceptable to use on you house plants. Soon, we hope to be harvesting various nuts, we have black walnut, hickory and we will be selling acorns for wildlife you feed around your home. Squirrels love them! I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday, so stay safe,
Kim
Bear Creek Farms
Sorry - Jim and I are off to Indiana again so we'll not be at market this Saturday. Hope it's a glorious day!
Robbins and Jim
