Dearest Connoisseurs of Conscious Cuisine -
Well, I don't know about you, but I have the "back to school blues"! In fact, my entire posse of dirt-ridden farming fools are suffering at the hands of institutionalized education. Why you ask??....are we all going back to college in hopes of achieving a better job, a better life, higher social status, and more money?? HELL NO! As I've told you before, small-scale organic farmers are a bunch of masochistic, dirt-drugged psychopaths who thrive on low to no pay, endless hours of exhausting labor, and seemingly "fruitless" results. We spill our blood and guts over our fields every single day and watch the rain wash them away. Okay, Okay.....I'm getting a bit graphic. I better stop before you squirm. The point is, NO, we are not going back to school. Our "blues" derive from the fact that every year in late August during the back to school boom, Farmers' Markets across the nation suffer their worst attendance of the season. It is a strange phenomenon really. The way I see it is this: once the freedom of summer is over and the kiddies get back to the "books", Mom no longer has time to prepare meals from fresh & wholesome ingredients. It's back to "lunchables" and Chef Boyardee. Furthermore, extracurricular activities abound on Friday nights and Saturday mornings (the same time as the good ole' farmers market). Instead of supporting local farmers and acquiring a bounty of "real food" for the family, Mom is toting around sugar-high kiddos in a minivan between soccer games and Pizza Hut. Then there are the "childless" folks. Those are the ones who take their last vacation of the summer in late August....you know, to escape the heat and muck. Notice how I said "last" vacation of the summer (which implies that there were others). Alright, I'M SORRY, I am starting to sound like a bitter old hen. All "farmer grievances" aside, I GET IT. As a new mother, I can relate. I understand that LIFE just takes a hold of us sometimes and (frankly) we cannot make it to the f%$&ing Farmers Market every week!!! So, my friends, you are off the hook! Farmer Brooke LOVES you and will continue to feed you whenever you (and your little ones) walk through my door. Speaking of "little ones" - don't underestimate their taste buds. It is up to us as parents to shape healthy habits from the get go: A child's palate can be curbed to crave fresh veggies and fruits.
You heard it here first - "cherry tomatoes are the new Jolly Rancher". Be healthy and feed your children right this Friday and EVERY Friday at the BADSEED Farmers Market!
(By the way, I am willing to start a BADSEED little league team if I have to. Games can take place right in the middle of the market! You can shop AND watch your kiddies bang balls around at the very same time. Any customer who gets hit in the face gets a free watermelon. It'll be sort of a promotional thing.....hahaha) *********************************************************
Enough sobbing about "tortured farmers" who resent the schooling of our youth. It's really not that bad. We love what we do. Actually, we more than love what we do. We suffer from a severe PERVERSION for vegetables that is beyond all comprehension. On that note:
Sexy Veggie of the Week
This week's Runner-Up is the sultry and sassy White Scallop Squash. This ruffled goddess is a bona fide member of the "summer squash sisters". She is by far one of the prettiest causing a lot of "cat fights" in the squash patch. (The other squash are jealous!!). Her stark white skin envelopes a flower-shaped body with a firm, mild flesh that is far superior to the common zucchini. Scallop or Patty Pan squash are quite popular in both California and the south, but for whatever reason you'll be hard-pressed to find them at a Midwestern supermarket despite their "ancient roots". This heirloom was grown by Native Americans for hundreds of years. 
Europeans have been cultivating it since the 1500's. It is celebrated as one of the best tasting and yielding varieties on today's market. Prepare these flowery, flat fruits in a variety of ways - raw, stuffed, baked, grilled or fried....and even thrown into soups and savory sauces. Their crazy shape (like a flying saucer with scalloped edges) makes them irresistible to kids. If prepared with love, they'll gobble em' right up!
This week's Grand-Prize-Winner (drum roll please) is the almighty Purple Peruvian Potato. This gourmet "fingerling" variety hails from the South American Andes' highlands and (amazingly enough) was one of the very first potatoes to be harvested in the history of time!!! During the Inca Empire, this heirloom gem was carefully dug and saved for Kings. It's no wonder considering their stunning appearance and divine flavor. These tasty tubers are small and oblong with midnight blue skin and glowing purple flesh with hints of white marbling. They have a decadent, rich texture and earthy essence that melts in your mouth. Furthermore, they are a super star "super food" containing high amounts of antioxidants like blueberries. Check out this recipe link for Purple Peruvian Potato Hash. Farmer Dan and I commonly prepare them this way with a sunny-side-up farm fresh egg right on top.....(compliments of our feathered friends).
Pictures are attached. You know the drill - print them out, blow them up, and plaster them all over the men's room!!
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THIS WEEK'S ORGANIC OFFERINGS -
URBAVORE Urban Farm
A project of BADSEED - Brooke Salvaggio & Daniel Heryer
5500 Bennington Ave., Kansas City, MO 64129
Welcome to URBAVORE - an off-grid, diversified, urban farmstead in the heart of KCMO. Born in 2011, URBAVORE is working towards the creation of an “edible oasis” that brings organic growth, sustainable life, and creative solutions to a city neighborhood. We grow an extensive variety of heirloom vegetables noted for their unique appearance and extraordinary flavor, as well as an array of culinary/medicinal herbs and edible flowers. URBAVORE is a non-certified, beyond organic operation dedicated to respecting both the health of the individual and the environment. It is our aim to build community and collective consciousness through the universal pleasure that comes from eating good food.
OFFERINGS:
*Freshly Dug POTATOES in Purple Peruvian, French Fingerling, Purple Majesty, Purple Viking, Austrian Crescent, & Colorado Rose
*GARLIC!!! (in assorted gourmet varieties)
*Freshly Pulled Sweet Red Italian ONIONS!!!
*ORGASMIC EGGPLANT (in Black Beauty, Rosa Bianca, Thai Purple, Swallow, & Ping Tung)
*Cool CUCUMBERS!! (picklers, Persians, & slicers)
*SEXY SUMMER SQUASH!! (in yellow crookneck, eight ball, raven zucchini, & french scallop)
*BODACIOUS BEETS (in Cylindra, Chioggia, Detroit Dark Red, & Three Root Grex)
* THAI BASIL
* SWEET ITALIAN BASIL
* LEMON BASIL
*Purple Ruffles Basil
*HEIRLOOM TOMATOES (just a few that we snatched away from the deer!!)
Herb'n Gardener
Lew Edmister
17th and Belleview, Kansas City, MO 64108
For the “meanest greens” in town, check out Lew's gourmet selection of urban-grown goodies. He grows a mouthwatering array of lettuces, spicy mustards, arugula, and gourmet salad mixes on KC’s west side. Other tasty morsels include heirloom tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra, and filet beans. New For 2011 -RUSTIC BREAD straight from Lew’s hand-built wood-fired oven. YUM!
OFFERINGS
From the Lips of Lew:
" i'm no longer capable of trying to calculate the amount of anything i may be bringing to market. i think i need a lobotomy and just get thinking over with.
i do know that i'll have curly kale, russian kale and some toscano. there's plenty of smoked anaheims. with any luck arugula and swiss chard will survive the hand of my hungry csa sharholders who have patiently awaited the regrowth of goods from the giant blowtorch of july. cheers. "
JJ Farms
John & Judy Kaiahua
8531 E. 81st Terrace, Raytown, MO 64138
816-356-3938
John has been growing organically since 1984!! He plants, weeds, and harvests all his own crops on urban land that has been chemical free for over 20 years. Produce includes a wide array of vegetable offerings as well as apples, peaches, and pears in season. John is originally from the far off lands of Hawaii where he comes from a long line of pearl divers!! Now he spends his days out of the ocean and in the dirt, growing righteous foods for the Kansas City community. Lucky us!
*John and Micki will be absent this week and maybe for the next few Fridays. Summer crops pooped out in the excess heat and Fall crops are on the way. Stay tuned for their AWESOME offerings. (John grows one hell of an autumn cabbage!!!)
Bigg Blue Farm
Stan & Carmen Biggs
19801 NE U.S. Highway 69, Liberty, MO 64068
Despite full-time jobs, Stan and Carmen Biggs still find time to organically grow an impressive array of colorful vegetables, greens, and storage crops on 7 fertile acres in Mosby, MO. Stan started out growing nutritious foods for his family as a 4-H project as a small boy. Stan’s passion for gardening was renewed when he met his wife Carmen, who grew up on her family’s 1,500-hectare farmstead in Romania that had passed through many generations. Today they cultivate the earth together, bringing well-fed customers delicious homegrown foods every Friday night at the BADSEED Farmers Market and through their Community Supported Agriculture program.
OFFERINGS:
* Sangria WATERMELON!!
*Red Slicing Tomatoes
Cantaloupe (mix of Hales, Athena, Arava and Edens Gem)
WINTER SQUASH in Butternut, Buttercup, and Spaghetti
Bell Peppers
Candy onions
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Black Beauty Eggplant
*FREE-RANGE BROWN EGGS from Barham Cattle Ranch in Kearney, MO
Parker Farms All-Natural Meats
Tom & Paula Parker
Richmond, MO
"We produce all-natural gourmet beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and eggs. All of our beef and lamb is 100% grassfed. They are never fed any grain, animal by products, antibiotics, or injected with growth hormones. We have been practicing Management Intensive Grazing since 1997. It is our goal to care for all of the livestock that we have been blessed with, in as natural and humane a manner as we can. Our chickens for meat and eggs are also raised on pasture with green grass under their feet as much as the weather in this part of the world allows. Our hogs are fed grain, but do live outdoors with dirt under their feet. We do not use any petroleum based pesticides or fertilizers on our pastures. We believe that healthy people, and healthy animals start with healthy plants and a healthy, biologically active, soil community. Our meats are available at the BADSEED Market or through our Community Supported Agriculture shares."
OFFERINGS:
**The Parker Girls are on a much needed vacation this week. Catch their meaty goodness next Friday. Have fun ladies!!!
Green Dirt Farm
Jacqueline Smith & Sarah Hoffman
Weston, MO
"Life is too short to eat grocery store cheeses! Green Dirt Farm, LLC invites you to try our HANDCRAFTED ARTISANAL SHEEP CHEESES created with milk from our very own PASTURED ewes. You can be assured of a richness and depth of flavor unique to the rolling bluffs of Weston, MO. Also on the menu is 100% GRASS-FED LAMB which is of unsurpassed quality, tenderness, and flavor."
OFFERINGS:
*Grass-Fed Lamb
*Artisan Sheep's Milk Cheese in aged and fresh varieties
New Traditionalist - Artisan Bread
Chris Glenn
Kansas City, MO
Chris produces old-world, rustic loaves from the finest locally-grown and milled flour on the market. His breads are made from a sour-dough "starter", lovingly kneaded, and baked to perfection in a wood-fired oven. Flour and water never tasted so good!
OFFERINGS:
1) Whole Wheat Loaves
2) Whole Rye Loaves
3) Anadama Loaves
4) Bagels
Miller's Honey
Les MIller
Independence, MO
Les Miller only produces the best damn RAW HONEY on the market. No joke!! He is an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to sustainable bee keeping and uses 100% natural and holistic methods for managing his hives which range from 60 to 100 at any given time. His honey is sold in various quantities, and 1 gallon jugs are available on request! Bees wax candles and other by-products are also available for purchase.
OFFERINGS:
*Raw Honey
*Bees Wax Candles
Get Real Food Co.
Sean Henry
Kansas City
"At GetReal Food Company, we’re committed to creating incredible beverages made with real foods that are naturally brewed. Hand-crafted by real people who truly care about the details, from what they make to how they make it, from what they put in their bodies to what you put in yours. The result is a series of beverages that create a new expression of soft drinks and mixers."
OFFERINGS:
*Kombucha
*Micro-Brewed, All-Natural SODA!!
THIS IS THE BEST STUFF ON EARTH!!!!
Other goodies include:
The new shipment has arrived and we have a full assortment of artisan flours locally grown and milled. A bakers dream....
Remember:
LIVE NUDE VEGETABLES!! and other organic delights...
EVERY FRIDAY AT BADSEED
Yours Truly,
Brooke
-farmer and MILK mistress of the BADSEED
