Maplewood Farmers Market Features a Variety of New Vendors

This year's  features a a variety of new St. Louis-area vendors selling everything from quail eggs and purple asparagus to preservative-free baked goods.

Brian DeSmet, the market's manager, said several of last year's vendors left the market because they retired or decided to sell only wholesale or to restaurants. Others he said, like Prairie Grass Farms, left because the sales didn't meet their expectations.

"I think they (Prairie Grass Farms) didn't do as well as they wanted to last year, so they were weighing whether they would do markets in the area anymore," DeSmet said.

Several new vendors are replacing the unoccupied booths. A Patch reporter stopped by the market on Wednesday to meet the new vendors and to ask the owners about their specific offerings. Here are their responses, as well as a peek at some of their unique products. 

Yellowtree Farms: This company offers quail eggs and an abundance of fresh greens, including red-veined sorrel and herbs.  

"We're an urban farm in Affton, and then we farm 1 acre outside of Festus as well. We grow all kinds of unique stuff - the list is long. We predominantly grow a lot of things for chefs, and this year we're just starting to come to the market. We want people to taste and touch something that they've never seen before, like our quail eggs."

Builaland Buila Farm:  This is a biodynamic farm, which uses an organic method of farming.  It offers mixed greens, Dino Kale and fat cilantro. It also grows 80 different varieties of tomatoes.

"We're located in Carbondale, IL, about two hours south of here. Five years ago, we went to a local farmers market in the middle of May and nobody had purple asparagus. Purple has a higher brix (sugar) content. If you grill it, you can tell the difference. People can expect to see other items like this, and basically, whatever lunacy our brains can come up with. This is our first time being at this market regularly."

The Farmers Larder: This farm offers processed meats, including kielbasa, frankfurters and dry-cured bacon, as well as other meats and all-organic spices, herbs and sea salts.

"There are no MSGs, binders or fillers in our products. Instead of sodium nitrate as a preservative, we use celery juice powder, which is a naturally occurring nitrate. It's basically as pure a processed meat product as you're going to come across. Right now what we do is raise some meat ourselves, and buy local, sustainable grass-fed beef, naturally raised pork and all-organic herbs, spices, sea salts. We use mostly local honey, but when we have to, we use organic brown sugar." 

Live Springs Farm: This business also uses biodynamic agriculture and offers a variety of meats and poultry.

"We have 610 acres in Carrollton, IL, and we currently raise Berkshire and large black pigs, mixed breeds of cattle, broiler chickens and hens. Rotation is a big thing. We try to keep the animals moving to let the areas they were on keep growing. It creates a continuous, sustainable system. We really try to build a healthy soil structure, because we think that's what makes a better product. We have certified organic seed for the animals. We are a biodynamic farm, which is a movement that's growing but not very popular in the Midwest yet."

Companion Bakery: This company offers preservative-free baked goods including crusty bread and sweet cookies.

"We are an independent, local company owned by Josh Allen. He is adament about using ingredients with no preservatives, and we use as much organic as we can. The product is true artisan, European-style bread. We have two cafes currently in Clayton and Ladue that do soups, sandwiches and coffee. We distribute to a huge restaurant market, customizing to best suit each menu. We sell to major supermarkets like Straub's and Shop n' Save, and on another level, we also sell to co-ops."