Greetings Market Friends,
I hope you all had a great 4th of July. I wish the weather would have been better, but at least it was not so hot that we could have cooked our steaks on the driveway!
This week the vendors will have a grand supply of all the farmers’ market “heavy hitters” (as I like to call them)—squash, tomatoes, peppers and the like. I hate to admit it (as I like to say I am an equal opportunity vegetable lover), but the summer crops are my favorites. Check out the vendors’ letters below for more details on which of these you can buy and from whom.
As always we look forward to seeing you every Saturday from April through October from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the heart of
Brookside at the corner of 63
rd and Wornall. Also, check us out at
www.farmerscommunitymarket.com.
See you Saturday!
Franki
Now from our vendors:
From Blue Door Farm:
Three cheers for the cooler temps and rain during the past week and a bit. The Italian broccoli has bounced back and I'll be bringing more to market this week. I know, I know, I said last week was probably the last week for it. Think of me a sort of market Scotty - the Star Trek Scotty - always swearing problems could never be fixed then somehow pulling it off in no time. Oh yeah... that's me. :)
In addition to the Italian broccoli, I'll be bringing a nice batch of tomatoes, both mixed salad tomatoes and a nice selection of tasty full sizers. Tomato sandwich, anyone?
The yellow summer squash is super tasty right now (I had a big plate of kale, tomatoes and yellow squash for dinner tonight). I'll bring both the squash and kale; plus German Butterball and Purple Majesty potatoes, garlic, sweet yellow and red onions, the first few sweet Italian peppers of the season, carrots and a few bags of lettuce mix.
Whew! Friday is going to by busy for me!
From Green Dirt Farm:
Summer is upon us and our milking and cheese making are settling down into a
regular routine. The "girls," (our ewes) are completely trained to the milking
parlor now and look forward to coming in for their twice daily milking. Our new
grazing system is beginning to show its benefits: we have lots of new native
prairie grasses and clover popping up all over (the plentiful rain we've been
having helps too!) This Saturday we will have a variety of cheeses including some
young Dirt Lover and Woolly Rind and some well aged ones too. We also expect to
have more of our Blue Bossa. And, of course, all of our flavors of Fresh
(including Rosemary- for all those of you who have been waiting for this flavor
to make a reappearance)
See you Saturday!
From the KC Center for Urban Agriculture:
Hope you all had a nice Fourth of July. We look forward to seeing many of you return to the market this Saturday to share some of the very best, tastiest and freshest organic fare around. And speaking of organic: this week we had our annual farm inspection to maintain our organic certification. This is required by law of most organic producers (only the very smallest are exempt) and it involves an inspection of our fields, crops, facilities and production records. The latter takes the most time. The inspector looks at everything from receipts for seed purchases and organic input purchases to field logs, maps, planting schedules, harvest and sales records, etc. As expected, the inspection went well and we're happy.
For those of you who aren't sure what "organic" actually means, remember that it is a legally binding term that can only be applied to produce grown in accordance with the National Organic Program (NOP). Basically that means we don't use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, GMO crops, etc. and work to keep our soils healthy and alive. If you want more information, ask the farmers this weekend.
On our tables this Saturday you'll find an abundant summer harvest. We're so happy to have TOMATOES for you! We'll bring some of the best-tasting slicers, romas, cherries, large and small, spicy and fruity and all different colors... so get ready! Also TOMATILLOS, BELL PEPPERS, SUMMER SQUASH and CUCUMBERS as well as delicious root veggies like BEETS, TURNIPS, RADISHES and CARROTS. We'll have more FENNEL, and POTATOES as well as ONIONS, SCALLIONS, GARLIC and LEEKS. There'll be FILET BEANS and TRI-COLOR BEANS and tasty GREENS like SALAD MIX, MICROMIX and bunched KALE and CHARD. And, as always, FRESH-CUT HERBS including BASIL! YUM!
See you Saturday,
Daniel.
From Bread of Life Bakery:
Hello Market Friends,
We have enjoyed the extra help this week with Bryce and Lili helping at the bakery and at Brookside market with their cousin Luke. They love to come out in the summer and help at the farm, bakery and the markets. Bryce has been "picking eggs" for his breakfast everyday with Luke or Josiah, following the girls around and playing in the water with Gabriel. Brookside has been such a nice experience for them since the people are so friendly and supportive. It truly is refreshing for their family to meet such a nice community.
Our breakfast burritos will have our hens’ tasty eggs with some of the market vegetables, potatoes from Josiah's Garden, squash from Blue Door farms, Benedict Builders sausage for our meat burritos, Kale from KCCUA and onions. Our baked goods made with FRESHLY GROUND LOCALLY GROWN ORGANIC WHEAT will be available. The goodies we will have will be raspberry bars, old fashioned molasses cookies (made with 100% spelt), brownies, blueberry scones, honey pecan rolls etc. We also will have Rosemary bread this week along with Asiago Spinach bread, Black Olive and Jalapeno breads to have with your Saturday dinner.
Come by and say "Hi" to Bryce and Lili since they are working hard learning the importance of local whole foods and baking.
Kathy, Luke and Chris
From Bear Creek Farm:
This week has been so incredibly busy - but oh what we've accomplished! There is no longer a weed, a long piece of grass, or a tomato without a string. Well, maybe the beets are still weedie, but there is a light at the end of the row! We, on the other hand, are looking a little seedie, but things do look good!
This week at market we'll have the most amazingly sweet red, yellow and red onions, piles of colorful potatoes, crisp nutritious swiss chard and kale, zucchini by the ton, cucumbers, sweet crisp cabbage, and finally - some tomatoes. There will be lots of other things too - stop by to see what we've found.
Laine and his wife Lena will be manning the fort again. (Jim and I will be sleeping in and enjoying a slower day here on the farm). Stop by and speak a little Danish to them - and buy a bunch of veggies!
Hope Saturday is a great day!
Robbins and Jim
Lena and Laine - the best little Danish farm hands in Missouri!
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Farmers' Community Market at BrooksideSaturdays, 8am to 1pm
under the white tents at theBorder Star Montessori School
63rd & Wornall, Kansas City, MO 64113 << Map it!
The Farmers' Community Market at Brookside is Dedicated toCreating a Unique Partnership between the Community andFarmers who provide High Quality, Local and Organic Productsin an atmosphere that is mutually beneficial, wholesome and fun.The Market also helps to support the Border Star PTA.
