We Make Baby Food

Editorial lesson #1: Be clear.

We thought the name "babygreens" was so clever. Apparently, it's so clever that everyone at the market expects us to have microgreens available, and sprouts. After a round or two of that, we broke down and made a sign that says BABY FOOD. That helped, but I'm thinking that isn't loud enough, clear enough.

babygreens are baby food. Pureed sprouts, pureed greens. Probably not what you want on your salad.

I promise—we'll try to be clearer next time.

How babygreens Are Made

babygreens partners with local farms in the Hudson Valley who use organic or Certified Naturally Grown methods. This means that the fruits and and veggies do not contain pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. (Our primary farm, Huguenot Street Farm, takes it all one step further, using only vegetable matter as fertilizer, to avoid the antibiotics that come in animal manure.)
This gorgeous, seasonal produce is rushed to our Beacon kitchen, steamed, run through the finest screen in a food mill, spooned into single serving containers, and flash frozen. That's all.

What this means:

1. There are no additives. This food is pure. We don't put in any fillers, or thickeners, or anything at all. A few low-water veggies require just a drop of filtered water be added, and we use the water they were steamed with.
2. Our food is super fresh. We make haste from the farm to the kitchen, knowing every minute counts. Produce shipped across the country or bottled has lost precious nutrients that your baby needs.
3. It is convenient. We sell flats of eight two-ounce containers. You can grab a container or two and stick them in your bag when you're on the run.
4. We participate in a food security program. We all have to support our local farmers in order for them to be able to keep their land. Without local farmers, chain supermarket food would be our only choice.
5. Every batch is made lovingly by hand. This food is grown with love, and it is prepared for baby in small batches with love. We hand pick, hand wash, and chop your veggies with our own (clean!) hands, so we know exactly what's in it.

babygreens is a tiny business with a kitchen in Beacon, NY, and currently selling at the Farmer's Market in Cold Spring, NY. We're happy to answer questions and hear your feedback.

'Designer' Baby Food?

I don't know about designer, but our babyfood is colorful! At our first week of the Cold Spring Farmer's Market, many people were interested in the more "unusual" flavors of babygreens such as beet greens, bok choy, and pea sprouts. It turns out that babygreens are a help even to parents who make their own food. We can fill out the rainbow, so to speak.

We chatted with many parents who are dedicated to feeding their kids local, pesticide free produce, including one woman who is convinced it's the reason her eight-year-old son is so healthy and smart. She thinks that pure, fresh food without contaminants are key for infants, since their systems are developing so quickly.

babygreens presence at the market saved the day for three young 'uns, whose parents hadn't packed enough supplies. It was thrilling not only to meet so many dedicated parents and well-fed children, but to see our food hit the spot, on the grass and before our very eyes.

Market Season

babygreens are available at the Cold Spring Farmer's Market beginning Saturday, May 23rd, and every Saturday until Thanksgiving, 8:30 to 1:30.The freshest local fruits and veggies are now ready for your pint-sized family members.Come say hello and taste for yourself.

Our Containers

babygreens are made from produce just picked from the farm, cooked, run through a food mill, and flash frozen in single serving containers. I know you want to know all about the containers....

They are called Baby Cubes. Ten 1-ounce or eight 2-ounce containers sit in a flat. They have hinged lids, for convenience, and each serving container is separate: they just sit in the tray for freezer stacking.

The containers are freezer safe, microwave safe, and dishwasher safe.

But they are still plastic. So the most important part is that they are non toxic, with no traces of bisphenol A (otherwise known as BPA) or Phthalates.

babygreens requires a deposit on the containers, and will sterilize and re-use them. Alternatively, you can keep a set and make food yourself! If you haven't got the time, though, we're here to help.

How was babygreens born?

It's just like Baby Boom and I accidently found my calling making gourmet applesauce. Except that I don't dress as well as Diane Keaton, and I haven't inherited my cousin's child. Or fallen in love with a veterinarian, or made lots of money, or, or.

OK, so it's nothing like Baby Boom.Instead, I moved to Beacon, NY six years ago. The most amazing thing about living here, for me, has been belonging to a C.S.A. (Well, and my beautiful porch. And the Hudson River.) My summers have been filled with so many gorgeous veggies, a weekly visit to the fields, picking flowers, and the smell of warm tomatoes and basil on my hands. But each year there comes a time when the days get shorter, the air gets a chill, and C.S.A. distributions end. It's a tragic time. I look at all the pathetic produce at the supermarket and want to cry. Then I look at the prices, and really want to cry. So I've been fabulously healthy during the summers, and weird and anemic in the winters.

That has recently led to my involvement in developing a winter C.S.A. in Beacon, wintergreens. wintergreens is just starting up, and its first season is the winter of 2009-2010. There are winter C.S.A.s all over the country feeding hungry locavores, and Beacon is finally getting its own.

Where do babies come in, you're asking? Have you inherited a toddler yet? No, no baby. If I had a baby, I wouldn't have time to make baby food!wintergreens is based on the belief that everybody should have access to local food. That's what a community food program is all about: rich, poor, fat, skinny, vegetarian or no, everybody should be eating food that's grown in their backyards. And that, my friends, includes our smallest citizens.

We all have a lot to gain to by supporting local farmers. Flavor and nutrition are both maximized when we eat food that came from the vine that very day. Imagine what visions of health we'd all be if we'd grown up eating that way.

Therefore, I introduce to you babygreens. It is food made from the same beautiful (organic and certified naturally grown) fruits and veggies we're getting in our farm shares. No pesticides, no wilting while traveling. Just beautiful, healthful food (run through a fine mill, for safety's sake).