The temperatures are only getting HOTTER and (dear lord) my fields need some WATER!! The forces of nature have failed us and we must resort to freakishly fanatical and esoteric measures. Stop what you are doing right now, rip off all your clothes, run outside into the boiling elements, and DANCE YOUR ASSES OFF!! That's right KC - it's time for a city-wide RAIN DANCE!!! Get down-right crazy and coax those precious clouds. Beg the gods above to shed their tears upon us. Scream & squirm with every fiber in your body and bring this flailing farmer some RAIN!!! "Local foodies" must act fast. Without a good earth-soaking, the farmers' crops will suffer and so will your grumbling bellies!!
Midwest summers are killer. This one is no exception. But, rest assured, your gregarious gang of growers will prevail. Somehow, rain or shine, we will bring you a mouth-watering assortment of "earthly delights" this Friday (and every Friday!!) at the BADSEED Farmers' Market from 4-9 PM. On the veggie front, this week's highlights include rich & righteous Cherokee Purple Heirloom Tomatoes from JJ Farms, Organic Sweet Corn from both Bigg Blue and JJ, and freshly-dug GOURMET POTATOES from URBAVORE. Farmer Dan & the URBAVORE crew have been digging these tasty taters all day long under the boiling sun. They will continue to do so for the rest of the week. It's hard work, but their sun-scorched skin & aching bones will surely enhance the flavor! Once the intensity of the sun subsides, me and lil' Percival James will head out to the field to dig some ourselves. At 2 months old, strapped to mama's back, this little "farmer" will experience his first potato harvest. There's nothing like it!! We'll stick that fork into the rich black earth and steadily uncover a nest of dirt-ridden jewels!!! Farming is a hard & thankless life most of the time, but it's these kinds of moments that make it all worth while....
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RECIPE ROUND-UP
Our Beet & Cucumber crop are (still) out of control!! Cool off and celebrate the season with some chilled summer soups:
Chilled Beet & Ginger Soup
(2 versions)
Chilled Cucumber Soup with Yogurt & Fresh Mint
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Preserving the Harvest
Descriptions on-line, Course Registration Attached!!!
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Sexy Veggie of the Week
This week's Runner-Up is the uniquely beautiful and dangerously delicious PURPLE VIKING POTATO.
This gorgeous tuber has deep purple skin marbled with bright pink splashes. Her flesh is stark white, slightly sweet, and utterly creamy......(she gets even sweeter with age!!). Her large size caters to baking, but any preparation will suit her just fine. (Purple-skinned potato salad sounds good to me!). Eat em' up while supplies last.
This week's Grand-Prize-Winner is the golden-delicious Austrian Crescent Fingerling Potato.
This buttery heritage potato is about as gourmet as it gets. These small, crescent-shaped beauties have pale golden skin and rich yellow flesh. They are excellent for braising with butter or roasting with olive oil, sea-salt, aromatic garlic, and fresh rosemary. This cultivar descends from Europe and is a celebrated favorite amongst "foodies" and chefs alike.
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 Viking, Austrian Crescent, & Purple Majesty
*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)
*RAINBOW CHARD !!!!
*CABBAGE!!
* Gold Ball Buttery Cooking TURNIPS
*Fresh PARSLEY
* THAI BASIL
* SWEET ITALIAN BASIL
* LEMON BASIL
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:
Lew is taking a break this week....catch him next Friday!!!
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!
OFFERINGS:
*Fresh Onions
*ORGANIC SWEET CORN
*ZUCCHINI
*Yellow Summer Squash
*POTATOES!!!
*Japanese Eggplant
*Sweet Bell Peppers
*Kale
*STUNNING HEIRLOOM TOMATOES!!!
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:
*SWEET CORN !!! "Bodacious" ( a bicolored double sweet)
*Heirloom TOMATOES (Cherokee Purples, Ida Gold, Green Zebras, Lemon Boys and more)
*Red Slicing Tomatoes
*Bell Peppers
*Potatoes - Red Norland and Yukon Golds
*Cabbage
*Zucchini
*Yellow squash
*Patty Pan Squash - Yellow and White
*Cucumbers - slicers and picklers
*Sweet onions
*Carrots
*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:
*Ground Beef & Patties
*Pork Products: Chops, Brats, Breakfast Sausage, Italian Sausage, & Spare Ribs
*Lamb Cuts: Ground Lamb, Shoulder Steaks, Rib Chop (butterfly cut, loin chops), Leg (bone in whole, shanks, lamb liver)
**Pastured Chickens (just a few available....come early!!)
*Tea Towels, Hand-made Teas, Candles, and Gourd Bird Houses from the lovely Parker Girls!!
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) Country Loaves
2) Sicilian Loaves
3) Bagels
4) Struan
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!!
Puddin Head Coffee
Harry Lee Murrell
Kansas City, KS
Harry is proud to offer both roasted and green sustainable whole bean coffees from different regions around the world. All coffee beans sold are certified organic, Fair-Trade and/or Rainforest Alliance, available in 1# packages. Coffee is drum roasted in small batches to ensure its freshness for KC customers. ”Coffee with a conscience” is available by the mug for only $1 and samples are free!!
OFFERINGS:
*Rain Forest Blend
*Ethiopian
*Peruvian
*Decaf
Other goodies include:
I HAVE JUST PUT IN A NEW ORDER!! It should be here soon....
Remember:
LIVE NUDE VEGETABLES!! and other organic delights...
EVERY FRIDAY AT BADSEED
-Yours Truly, Brooke
farmer and MILK mistress of the BADSEED
BADSEED* REGULAR HOURS thru November 18
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