Best Place to Get Organic Veggies

At a farmer's market, shoppers get to know local growers and even interrogate them about how they raise their vegetables: "Of course you skipped the organophosphates, but how do you know you didn't plant GM seed?" At the Barstow Market, you won't find wilted and bruised pomes and hesperidia that have ridden 2,000 diesel-fumed miles. Barstow's tables overflow with fresh pesticide- and chemical-free fruits and vegetables grown nearby. "We try to get as basic a food as possible," says Tim Maier, of Maier's Organic Acres in Rantoul, Kansas, as he surveys his table of perfect purple eggplant (sure, it's stilla tasteless veggie with no nutritional value, but it's natural) and tiny, orange cherry tomatoes. On Barstow's many tables are squash, cucumbers, leeks and lettuce, and fruits of many an exotic vine. Wood Mood Gardens, of Higginsville, Kansas, offers what Jim Wood calls "fooled ya jalapenos" -- they look just like the lethal variety but they won't scorch the tongue, the throat or the hemorrhoid. "You can eat these things just like bell peppers," the tall, gray-bearded Wood says. He also pushes Concord grapes, salsa, pickled beets and jelly. Wild Goose Gardens of Osceola, Missouri, boasts fresh horseradish, jars of basil pesto and "mix-and-match" greens (amaranth, Swiss chard, arugula, pea shoots). Don't miss the lemon cucumber -- a sweet, mild, lemon-shaped cucurbit. "That's just delicious," says grower Susan Jones.