Rollings: Diary of a market farm visit

One of the reasons I love the Sedalia Area Farmers’ Market (SAFM) is that it is a “grower-only” market. This means that all of the vendors must have grown or made (as in the case of baked goods or crafts) the items they are selling, with very limited exceptions.
This translates into several good things for the market customers. Because the produce comes straight from the farms (and not through middlemen), it’s fresher, retaining more of its nutrients (and flavor) than trucked or auctioned produce. One can also shop with confidence knowing that every dollar spent goes directly to the producer, who is likely working hard to make ends meet in the gamble (and love affair) that is farming. Perhaps my favorite thing is that one can ask the producer exactly how her item was grown or made, and will likely hear an interesting story about things like fish fertilizer, beetle battles, heirloom seeds, and maybe a great recipe.
Each vendor at a grower-only market, in order to foster understanding and friendship; and to maintain the integrity of the entire market, agrees to open his/her farm for a visit from market staff. The following is an account of the recent visit to Bristle Ridge Farm, nestled between Leeton and Knob Noster:
Four adults. One toddler. Ninety beautiful rolling acres. One four-wheeler. Eighty-thousand onion sets.
Dugan and Janette Neal, along with their son, Isaac, and his wife, Chantel, are four of the nicest and hardest working people you might ever come across. With 2-year old Ella in tow, they manage to keep at least 15 acres and one greenhouse in production. Add about 80 free-range fryer hens, over a 100 free-range layers, and one turkey, and you’ve got a busy market farm.
Formerly in the dog breeding business, the Neals have been market farming for about three years. The Neals’ oldest son, Jeremiah and his wife, Galilee, helped to get it started (many Sedalians will remember them from the SAFM’s first two years). Along with their two young sons (and now a new baby), they moved to Saipan, where Galilee is a teacher. Jeremiah and Galilee still own 40 of the 90 acres, but Isaac and Chantel have stepped up to tend the farm in their absence.
Bristle Ridge Farm offers a tremendous variety of produce, including varieties that no one else offers, such as many Asian vegetables. This fact alone makes it a popular stop at the markets they serve. In addition to SAFM, they serve the Warrensburg farmers’ market and Kansas City’s fabled City Market. You’ll most often see Chantel and Ella in Sedalia.
Among my Bristle Ridge favorites are their bok choy (a mild green leafy veggie and one of my children’s frequent requests) and kale. Other mouthwatering options they offer are Chinese/Napa cabbage (great for wraps), Swiss Chard, broccoli, zucchini, spaghetti squash, green beans (including a “yard long” variety sure to turn heads), head cabbage, peppers (sweet and very hot varieties), cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, cherry tomatoes, and collards. They also grow a tantalizing variety of herbs that make me want to expand my cooking lineup: African blue basil (slightly stronger than Italian varieties), Thai basil, pineapple sage, golden sage, golden oregano, lavender, and sweet leaf stevia (a low-cal sweetener).
Oh, and let’s not forget those 80,000 onion sets. I had to ask twice to be certain I had heard her correctly, but Chantel confirmed that with the assistance of a special planting machine on which two people sit very low to the ground while being towed, they did indeed put out that many onion sets (small onion bulbs) this year. So, yes, Bristle Ridge offers onions.
On top of the produce, Bristle Ridge grows flowers for cutting and arranging. A blend of their sunflowers, cockscomb (which I think looks like a fuzzy purple brain), and cosmos is the perfect accent to a farmers’ market meal.
Last year was hard on the Neal family. Jeremiah had a burst appendix and numerous complications. Janette and Dugan’s home burned to the ground. They are slowly rebuilding it, while sharing a home with Isaac, Chantel and Ella. That which would have kept others from farming at all barely comes up in this year’s conversation. The Neals are forward thinkers with a strong faith and love for the land.