Ratatouille – Dallas Fresh Veggie Style

 Ratatouille – Dallas Fresh Veggie Style

If my memory serves me correctly, the first time I was served ratatouille, it had been prepared by chef Graham Dodds who has presided over several wonderful Dallas restaurants since I started farming, and becoming more aware of my taste buds. You can, and definitely should, go check his art out at Wayward Sons in Dallas, where he is now currently cooking up a storm of wonderfulness!

It was such a colorful dish; full of reds, greens and yellows. And it tasted so good! I looked it up to see what all was involved in making this dish, that’s how much I liked it! There was no way I could just figure it out from eating it, because remember last post I told you, I'm not a chef! 

So today I’m sharing with you a version of ratatouille that begins with the recipe I found on line under Martha Stewart's web site. Of all the paper, real life handed down and gifted, food stained cookbooks I have at my house, I can't believe that I had to find it on line. But you can find the list of ingredients and more detailed instructions here.

The above photo shows the base ingredients from my farm and a few from the farm of my friend and colleague, Beverly Thomas who owns and operates, Cold Springs Farm near Weatherford. 

She grew the banana peppers, those cool little green eggplant, and the red onion. The rest is from my place. Tomatoes, yellow squash (in lieu of zucchini), bell peppers, garlic and not pictured, fresh oregano and a secret ingredient I’ll tell you about later. 

I started out with very ripe, fresh tomatoes. The recipe calls for cans, but – nah – if you have fresh ones, that’s what I’d opt for, every time. As you can see, I mix and match varieties. Here are Hillbilly, Costoluto Genevese, and Burbank Slicers – I think. 

I chopped off the stem/core and then chopped them up into chunks. I tossed them into a baking dish and drizzled them with some olive oil, gave them a stir and into the oven they went. As per directions, I stirred them every 10 or so minutes; keeps them from sticking and blends the flavors as it thickens. 

Meantime, in between stirs, I cut up the eggplant into chuncks and salted them with the Real Salt that I sell here at Eden's, using the larger crystal or “kosher” version, and set them on top of a paper towel. This “sweats” the eggplant of its excess moisture. 

Next up is to sauté the chopped up onion, just till it was a little translucent, and then add the garlic. Now Martha’s recipe calls for an entire head of that stuff, and that may be why, in part, I needed the secret ingredient at the end, but since I’d only made this once before, I went ahead and followed the recipe as it was written for the most part. 

The variety of garlic I used was Burgundy, I believe.  A Creole Hardneck garlic with a well deserved reputation for its combination of rich taste and striking beauty. I had 3 kinds this year but I am pretty sure this was the variety I grabbed. 

Next into the hot olive oil goes the peppers. I had a couple of small, bell style that were starting to get wrinkly I thought I'd better use up, and I thought I’d add 1 or 2 of the pretty lime green banana peppers from Beverly’s place, too. I had tasted one last Sunday at the VeggieVan and thought it was a little warm, but didn’t think it would spice up this dish too much with all of the other ingredients that are included. Ha! 

After stirring and getting the peppers all nice and crispy, and after stirring the tomatoes several times and letting it get kind of syrupy, I combined them into the cast iron skillet, along with fresh, chopped up oregano.  

Side note – be sure to wash your hands really well after picking your oregano, and before fishing out of your eye whatever flew in it on the way back from the garden – or be prepared to cry. ouchie. My friend Trish says that a drop of coconut oil on the corner of the eye will put the fire out. Next time, if there happens to be one....

Now the kitchen is really smelling yummy! Chopped squash and the eggplant are last to go in. Simmer a bit more, turn it down a little, then cover; leaving just a little of the lid open for escaping steam. 

A few minutes later, I just had to have a taste to see how it was coming together. Added a bit more salt, I never seem to use enough at first, and then a couple of tablespoons of the red wine vinegar and it should be done. 

Well, I wasn’t expecting quite the kick out of those banana peppers that I got, or maybe it turned out to be the full head of garlic. But at any rate, the day before at Market Day when talking about making this dish with my friend and bee keeper, she mentioned using what sounded like an odd ingredient to add to this otherwise savory dish. But, alas, I decided it was what I needed!  Honey. Susan had just brought a case of our “spring” harvest Zip Code Honey®, too.

I needed to cool the dish down because I am not a fan of chasing every bite of my food with milk or something else to cool off my tongue or throat.

Now, it was going to be perfect! And it is!! I like to eat mine with some fresh baked, crunchy crusted bread and fresh butter, the real kind.  The bread was still rising and I was hungry though, so that will have to wait for next time. But boy was this a great lunch! And you don't have to be a chef to make it - but it's good to have it made for you, too!

Now, since today happens to be National Ice Cream Day, I will follow it up in a little while with a big ol’ banana split! Sorry, not pictured – I have to get some of those goodies at the store, yet. Nothing better than a homemade banana split to cool down a slightly spicier than planned lunch!

I think a pint of Ben and Jerry's non-GMO ice cream and some organic bananas are in my immediate grocery list future!

Marie


Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Super Tuesday and What You Eat

I don’t publish political writings very often on my business page or here in my blog. It can get messy, one can offend others’ beliefs, or cause people to perhaps misunderstand the width and breadth of one’s values or principals based on a few endorsements or suggestions. 

However, (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?), with all of the hoopla about our food system – you have been watching, right? – and how it has the potential to affect each and every one of us who eats – which, is me and you, - I thought I’d say a few words about today’s primary. 

There is big potential for changes to our current system; the one that seems to follow suit with what the big ag, big food and big corp want, the same system that doesn't seem to listen, or even hear, my voice, your voice. 

A long time ago, I watched a docu-drama called Casino Jack. If you ever watched even one episode of the Netflix series, House of Cards, this film’s feel will be very familiar to you – and you’ll probably feel like you need a long, hot and very soapy shower after you watch either one. 

But it, like HOC, highlighted some of our country’s political system’s serious weaknesses in a drama/dark humor sort of way. But make no mistake about it; this is indeed art reflecting life. Here is the 60 Minutes segment on it. A bit less snazzy, but more factual details. Sad, sad details. Crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff explains how he asserted his influence in Congress for years, and how such corruption continues today despite ethics reform. Lesley Stahl reports. (seriously, you’re going to want to watch this, if you missed it.) 

As far as I can tell, there are only a handful of people currently sitting in office, who do not accept a bulk of campaign contributions, via lobbyists or a PAC, a popular legal way to influence politics, from those who need favors and legislative influence. And we have a unique opportunity to vote out of office, many of those who do not fall into this handful of members. 

There are apparently about 535 Members of Congress. 100 serve in the U.S. Senate and 435 serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. And about 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection during any election. In fact, 34 Senate seats & 435 House seats are up for election in 2016. If those seats change – a lot can happen that could help us regain control of our own system. You know, the ol’ “by the people for the people” process….

So, I’m not here to necessarily influence your vote. Although if you happen to know me personally, or have been to the farm since last fall when I put my first-ever political sign in the yard, or have seen my truck’s tailgate, you know who I am supporting. And the reason why isn’t because I agree with everything he is suggesting, or that I support all of his ideals, or that I know him personally. I don’t. Although, I have "met" him. Briefly. And while I am not always the very best judge of character – there’s always one or two who can fool us all – but in addition to what my gut told me, looking at his record, (his long, clean record), convinced me that this man was not, and hasn’t ever been, “for sale” so to speak. He appears to come from that same generation of people who believed that your word meant something special – and you didn’t speak words lightly, and you followed through on what you said. He said he was working to represent the people who elected him, and he meant, and means it, today. 

Now we all remember that After-School-Special cartoon about how a bill becomes a law. Well, I’m afraid it’s grown more and more complicated since that simple cartoon. People know how to word things, and hide words, within the bills in order to get pet ideas passed. And a lot of times, those pet ideas are things influenced by those who influence Congress.

Kind of like things that exempt various big industries from laws, such as the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which contained a provision that provided an exemption for gas drilling and extraction from requirements in the underground injection control (UIC) program of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).  Other exemptions are also present in the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. I mean, who needs clean or safe drinking water? Or air? Or irrigation water?  

Or, they work against a small businesses (and farms) by applying large fees, industrial sized safety measures, and unrealistic scenarios outside of a large, conveyor belt-type, commercialized, huge production situation; such as what has been outlined in the new Food Safety Modernization Act. Small, local farms aren't really modern! 

Then there’s the more blatant things such as the current controversial TPP trade deal which will likely destroy the efforts of some states to mandate labelling of foods with GMO ingredients, while a bill moving through Congress called the “Dark Act” has a similar goal. Again, heavily influenced by those other than “we the people”, and often strapped to various other “must pass” legislation. I never understood or liked this process, but unless we scream and shout, it’s not going to change. Those we put into office are always going to be forced, from time to time, to vote for something that we’d rather not pass, that came wrapped in a packet of must-have things such as aid to single moms or veterans, funding for law enforcement or the like. And then this of course is brought out to smack them upside the head during campaigns. It’s a no-win situation sometimes.

So, can you see how this heavily influenced system has become a problem for you and me? Our money is being spent trying to pay the note on the farm, pay the electric bill, send the kids to soccer or college, and support our small, local farmers. ;) While large corporate money is often used to influence things that will make their jobs easier, and more profitable. 

Now while many of you may have some money tied up in a 401K or other packages that are influenced by the shenanigans at Wall Street, and wish to protect those investments by letting corporate USA continue to keep making gross profits so you can make a paltry 4% return; may I remind you that those investments are about as secure as putting your money on the table of a black jack game in Vegas. Did you see Wolf on Wall Street or the more recent film, The Big Short? (See here how I’ve lined up movie watching for you for the next several nights?)

Together, we will not ever have as much money as is influencing many people who pass our legislation. And I’m not saying that there are not any honest people in office. But follow the money. This stuff is public knowledge at the stroke of a key on your computer these days. Go ahead, follow that link. Follow the money.  

So, I’ve said all of that to say this. PLEASE VOTE! Today, on Super Tuesday, and in every single solitary election you are eligible to vote in. (I guess I thought I’d throw that last part in, having come from a city where the joke was “vote early and vote often”. ) It is not only a precious right only recently being given to many in some countries. It's a right many have given their lives over. And many pains were taken around the world, so women could vote, too. See there, yet another film for you!

VOTE. 

How we vote can influence how things change – or don’t. It’s not every election cycle that we have even 1 candidate to choose from that’s not financed heavily by secret money or those in very influential positions.  And it’s not surprising that there are NOT a lot of peers who want to endorse someone who is hell-bent on taking away their campaign money and lobbyist meal tickets. I'd look at those folks who do endorse them. I didn’t become a farmer for the fame, glory and riches. Public servants shouldn’t either. 

Thanks for listening. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go vote, and then get my hands back in the dirt so I can grow some awesome, nutrient dense food for you! (edit; I meant to include that we should never consider our votes as wasted. If everyone who voted, voted for who they best trusted, believed in, wanted to represent them - and not just who they "think will have a chance to win", more good people would get elected. I vote my conscience. )

Farmer Marie

Where to Vote In TEXAS

Back to the Ground

Before I started farming, I used to write a weekly column about home gardening sprinkled with some tips about healthy eating. With more and more of you looking to grow home gardens and eat locally, I thought I'd revive some of those tips. Plus, I can now add new information that I've gleaned from colleagues or learned as I've been growing food full time for the past 7 years. Granted, I grow on a much larger scale than most of you will likely want to tackle. But many of the tips and some of the techniques, can be replicated in any size garden.

And with all of the talk these days about the importance of eating organic, fresh foods, well, it doesn’t get any more fresh than picked from your own back yard where you know for a fact what you used, and what you didn't use, in the garden. So if you want to eat healthy, fresh and organically this year, you should know that it doesn’t have to be expensive or cumbersome. 

Awhile back I shared a link to a blog by a mother who planned out how to budget for her family on a food stamp allowance and still eat an organic, healthy diet all week long.  Here is that link again. http://www.rebeccablood.net/thriftyo/2007/04/the_organic_thrifty_food_plan_1.html   I think a lot of it is still relevant. It all comes down to a little bit of planning and a little tweaking of our attitude regarding the way we think about eating and lifestyle priorities.  

I have had many conversations with folks about how hard they think it is to eat a healthy, home-cooked diet rich in vitamins and fresh foods.  I’ve been told I’m nuts or unrealistic. Well, I'm not perfect at it either, but I know it can be done. I keep reading about people who have done, or are doing it.

Plus, I hear all of the time people say that they are just too busy to cook. Too busy to shop. Well, you know what? I'm busy, too. I have 14 acres and lots of animals to take care of every day. Honestly, I don't always feel like cooking when I come in after a 12-14 hour day in the field - any more than a single parent does after pulling a double shift and dragging kids to several different soccer fields or home from day care centers. 

So, in order for all of us to do this better, we need to plan. I'll invite folks that I know to share cooking tips, including pre-making dishes for later in the week, and using leftovers so there's less waste, too. These can help keep the output of both money and time spent, more efficient.

I think part of the problem, too, is some folks today have lost touch with their roots when it comes to eating healthy diets of real food. And believing too much of the marketing they see in ads. Trust me, just because it's sold on the supermarket shelf, of any grocery store, doesn't mean it's all that great for you.

Most of us who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, ate much healthier, real foods when we were younger than many of today's kids do. And, I daresay, almost all of our grandparents ate mostly meals made from scratch, because most of the aisles filled with ready made meals found in today’s stores, didn’t exist 50 years ago. Come to think of it, as a kid, I could make it through our neighborhood grocery store in about 10 minutes walking up and down every single aisle. All 8 of them!

So what did they eat in the “old days”?  Simple – they ate real food.  And most, in the summer anyway, they grew a lot of it themselves. I remember my mom growing in our tiny little postage stamp, mostly concrete back yard. Corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, and who knows what else she grew back there.She planted a garden every summer in my mid-west home town next door to Chicago. 

It seems we have gotten used to popping “pseudo foods” into a microwave or driving through the fast food lane, or skipping meals altogether, because we keep our (or our kids'), schedules so full we don't have time to prepare and eat food at home the way it used to be done. 

Eating is not simply about stopping your stomach from growling or quenching a craving for fat or salt. It is meant to fuel your organs with vital nutrients so they can have a better chance at working properly. It's to really satisfy your hunger so you don’t over-eat. And, it can help restore any potential damage done, (you know, from when you had that streak of eating an entire box of sticky buns for breakfast and some kind of mystery food in a box for dinner), so you don’t become sickly. What’s the saying about food being our medicine? Or an ounce of prevention…. You get the idea.

One great cost-cutting way to get your daily dose of healthy, real food, is still by growing some of it like people used to do – right outside your back door - or front door, or both!  Even if you just start with container gardens for lack of space, there are many things you can grow at home that are pretty easy. 

What if we all learned to grow some of our own food like our parents and grandparents used to do, and passed that skill on to someone else?

There really isn’t that much to it on a small, home garden scale and it is very, very inexpensive, especially if you start from seeds and use your own soil and make a bit of compost at home. Even if you're on a super tight budget and receive assistance; did you know that you can use those funds to purchase plant starts and seeds for vegetables, fruits and edible herbs at places that accept SNAP? And what you traded one or two of those extra-curricular activities you hurry off to 3 or 4 times every week, usually at dinner time, became community gardening or joining a garden or cooking club?  Just food for thought.... Think of the gas money you could save, too!

Once the initial prep work is done on a new garden plot, there’s just a little bit of upkeep a few times a week, and you’ll be on your way to fresh salads, fresh steamed or raw veggies and other delicious foods.  As a side benefit, you’ll get some good exercise and fresh air, too.  It’s also a great hobby for kids to do with you, so they can see what vegetables look like as they're growing, and learn where they really come from – before they show up in cellophane wrapped containers in the store.  And hey, if you don't have any around, see about including a neighbor's kids. You can usually rent a kid pretty cheap for an hour or two.

 

Teach them that yes, we actually plant and dig French fries, out of the ground first. No, those nubby little packaged school lunch carrots don’t grow on trees - or usually that small. Peas can actually be eaten raw, they’re not hard to start with - those are frozen. I often hear many parents say they have never seen their kids eat so many vegetables before they started to help grow a family plot.  Kids can be a lot of fun in the garden. Plus, they don't usually mind picking bugs off of plants and that's one of the ways we control pests. I keep a few containers around for our CSA members' kids to catch grasshoppers and caterpillars to feed to the chickens. Most of them love it!

So, let’s get started this year! Next time I’ll visit with you about how to select a site for your garden, what you can do right now to start preparing the soil – and guess what, it doesn’t involve digging – and the fun part; seed and plant shopping! 

Until then, start thinking about 4 or 5 things you really like to eat and could possibly grow yourself! And....

Eat Your Food - Naturally!
Marie 

Frost Watch

Smoke, our Icelandic ewe, is glad someone finally turned off the heat.

A few weeks ago we were in the first frost “watch” mode of the season. That is, the local prognosticators were calling for an earlier than usual first killing frost that sent many folks scrambling. But it never came. At least, it never frosted here at the farm.

But with this new, much more severe sounding “polar vortex” forecasted recently, frost seemed more likely to happen and it seems everyone is calling it quits on summer crops. (Whatever happened to the much friendly phrase – “blue norther”?)

At first, they were calling for a light frost, something that would give us a temperature range of about 32°F down to 28°F. This temperature range affects the most tender of your summer garden such as beans, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, New Zealand spinach, okra, peppers, pumpkins, summer squash, corn, tomatoes, amaranth, and winter squash plants, although if the skins are hardened on the latter, a light frost won’t affect the fruit itself.

Other conditions must be present for a frost to set up on the plants when temps are hovering at 32°F, such as calm air and a clear night sky. This is also known as a “radiation frost”, and is generally what happens when we wake to “Jack Frost” on the pumpkins for the first time in the fall. Although, with the way the winds blew in with much colder temperatures, this event may well qualify as an advective frost, as occurs with a strong cold front.

A hard freeze occurs when temps are colder than 32°F for four or more hours, and temps get below 25°F. Not too many veggies appreciate these temps, although winter crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, onions, parsley, peas , (but you may lose the blooms), radishes, spinach, turnips, leeks, and sorrel, are often “sweetened” instead of damaged by them, and don’t usually require protection. Although I’ve been known to cover seedlings if they’ve not had a chance to harden off.

"Deep swings in the weather can take out plants that would ordinarily be hardy.  But then we never experience 40 degree temperature swings in North Texas, do we?"

Somewhere in-between these two lists are the crops that can usually take a light frost, but not the hard freeze and include artichokes/cardoon, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, endive, lettuce, parsnips, peas, Swiss chard, escarole, arugula, bok choy, maché, and radicchio.

While the above lists are a good rule of thumb, and should be taken into consideration when planning your garden layout, I’ve seen exceptions to all of these rules at various points, on various plants. The more mature a plant, the higher off the ground it generally is, and the more susceptible to frost it will be due to losing contact with the ground heat. Deep swings in the weather can also take out plants that would ordinarily be hardy.  But then, we never experience 40 degree temperature swings in North Texas, do we?

Many factors can affect frost.

Sometimes, an area will escape a forecasted frost if it is somewhat protected by its micro-climate such as often exists in close knit, highly cemented, urban areas. The heat of the day is held in by the buildings, parking lots, and side walks.

That’s why many times a small backyard garden isn’t affected by a light, brief drop in temps, like one in a wide open space. Like this urban farm.

Although, if you have an inner urban property that exists at the bottom of a slope, or the top of one, you may experience a frost, while a neighbor on the side of the same slope, may not.

Experience over the years on a property is the best teacher for whether or not you’re likely to see damage based on a forecast – IF that forecast ends up correct. One extra push from a strong weather system, could mean an unprotected plant may not make it if temps end up dipping just 1 or 2 extra degrees.

It’s probably not too hard to cover most small back yard gardens, so if you want to try to preserve yours, you may as well be safe, rather than sorry, and cover it up. (More tips on how to do this, below.)

Time to Prepare

As seems par for the course, we had a few very nice days ahead of the predicted cold. I like to take advantage of those days to prepare. And we did just that here at the farm. Tugging on a 100’ x 15’ piece of frost cloth with 25 mph north winds can probably be equated to trying to struggle with the parachute of, say, the Jolly Green Giant during a Minnesota winter. Not fun.

And while it was still a bit windy while I was giving the farm intern his first experience with this winter weather drill, we were pinning frost cloth down in a brisk, easterly wind with the temps near 75°F, not 35°F. The wind chill is much more pleasant at the former.

Additionally, you’ll increase your soil’s heat holding capacity by about four times, if it’s well irrigated beforehand. That’s why you’ll hear me saying to be sure to “water in” your garden, before a frost. Cornell University says it can affect the air above the soil by 5 full degrees, which is a big deal when temps are hovering near freezing over your heavy laden, late fall tomato, basil or eggplant crop!

Some folks decide it’s just not worth the trouble to try to save summer crops and let them go by way of a natural season ending frost. But often, as had been the case the first few winters I was farming, the first predicted frost comes in early to mid November, the low temps last briefly, and there is little to no damage, followed by several weeks of mild weather.

We enjoyed summer squash well after Thanksgiving, tomatoes and summer squash at Christmas and didn’t have to cut all of our basil until around New Year’s. Lately, though, winter has been hitting earlier, and harder. Time will tell if the few hours of prep time will pay off.

To Cover or Not to Cover

By now, you’ve either decided to bother or not, and I’ve covered this topic a few times in the past, but it bears repeating. Frost cloth is designed to trap heat from the ground, under the blanket, not keep cold air from touching the plant.

It’s for this reason that unless you’re stringing lights inside the cloth to keep that palm tree warm, simply tying a sheet over the top of a tall plant is not likely to do much good. And I’m not entirely sure how well doing that works, I’ve never tried it.

Unless you’re able to keep soil heat radiating up inside that blanket to protect the plant, there’s a good chance you’re wasting your time making lollipops out of trees.   

You should never use plastic directly on a plant, without first protecting it with at least a cloth sheet. Plastic conducts the cold. A hoop over low growing plants is also helpful in protecting as a heavy frost can form on the surface of your frost cloth and burn the tips of leaves it’s touching.

So, in review;

1-Decide if the temps are going to dip below freezing long enough to damage, or just to chill the air enough for a hot cocoa. If you’re not sure, plan to protect plants based on predicted temps and above lists.

            Hard freeze range – 25°F or lower; 4+ hours below 32°F

            Light frost range – 32°F - 28°F, a bit warmer if dew points are right with calm winds and clear skies

2-Irrigate the garden soil, thoroughly. Moist soil holds in more heat than dry soil. (but don't forget to disconnect that hose when you're done!)

3-Foliar feed with a liquid seaweed, compost tea, regularly, but for sure before a frost. The higher the plant’s brix reading, (the more sugars present), the less likely plant cells will experience damage from the frost. Healthier gardens tend to fare better than stressed ones.

4-Harvest any tender fruits, such as ripening tomatoes, peppers, summer squash (and blossoms), even if you cover to try protecting the plant. Often the fruits themselves will not make it through if ripe or nearly ripe.

5-Cover the garden while the sun is still warming the soil in order to trap as much ground heat as possible. Use bricks, boards, sand bags or special frost cloth fabric pins to secure edges of cloth against the ground, closing gaps where air can leak in/out.

For the really adventurous, you can try to extend your growing season by a technique used by Eliot Coleman up in Maine where he gardens all year long. After you’ve covered with frost cloth, pull a layer of greenhouse plastic over top and secure the edges. This creates a deeper layer of protection, sometimes up to 3 zones worth of coverage, from a short blast of cold.

I tried it one year, almost by accident, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked.  

As I type, the temps are still in the mid 30’s, and the dew point was at 24°. I still don’t quite understand all of the meteorological factors involved in predicting frost, but it felt like frost was imminent earlier when I did my final walk for the evening.

And sometimes, a farmer’s intuition is all you need.

Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Marie

PS- We hit our goal, even exceeding it by a bit, for our on-line fund raiser last weekend. Thank you to everyone who contributed, pitched in by sharing, tweeting, etc. Watch for future blog posts on lessons with the new loader. 

Market Day Then and Now

First Market Day August 2007

Has it already been 7 years since I opened my property as home of the first farmer’s market in southeast Dallas County? Yes, I guess it has been. You can read about our humble beginnings here. And here. 

Back in August of 2007, I invited some of the farmers from the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assoc. to set up a food co-op at my place. I’d advertise for pre-orders and customers could come pick up here, at my house.

See, I’d fallen on some tough times and found myself without transportation out of Balch Springs. Being somewhat particular about the food I chose to consume, I found it frustrating that I couldn’t buy any thing I considered suitable at the only grocery store within walking distance. The other store, over 2 miles away, didn’t carry anything organic either – much less, locally grown from N. Texas. Maybe, not even from anywhere in Texas.

The Early Years Market Day

So started my journey on what has now become a passion of mine; To make available for me & my community, real food that was grown without the use of synthetic poisonous pesticides, by people who like to meet them – face to face. I call it Market Day. And everyone is welcome here - no membership required.

It’s not flashy. It’s not loud. It’s not crowded. It’s not a “stuff” market.

It’s Real Food, Grown with Integrity. I used to say that it was Real. Clean. Fresh. Local. Food. But a lot of people didn’t know what that meant. Clean food? You mean, you wash it for us? Not exactly.

If it’s really full of soil, yes, we’ll rinse it off. But ever since the USDA restricted the use of the word organic by anyone who doesn’t pay them to do so, farmers have had to find alternative ways to describe farming practices older than the USDA. Whatever.

Simply put, we don’t use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Nature has enough in her arsenal for controlling outbreaks of insects, diseases and soil building. And soil building is the key to “organic” growing.

I tried to find “organic” farmers that wouldn’t have to drive hours on end to get here to sell their products. And I didn’t want to go to some big warehouse to buy imported organic produce and re-sell it. There were already enough brokers from whom you could get that kind of product. No, not nearby.  But why not give customers the chance to meet the people who grew their food and be the first place like it in our area. Why not give people the option of eating in a way they didn’t previously have. I saw a blossoming, local “real” food hub! We had enough fast “food” joints.

Unfortunately, it was not an easy task to find sufficient numbers of organic growers.

Some early days volunteers help farmer Marie

Farming is not easy, as I have discovered. I broke ground and into a new career in 2008. Keeping farmers coming back year after year of grasshoppers, hail, drought crop losses – is not easy either. But it is something I feel compelled to keep doing. You could say that I've become a small farm & local food justice activist. Hey, if you don't stand for something....

When a customer will drive her motorized wheelchair down the street, oxygen tank in tow, over 2 miles, to be a part of Market Day, and encourage us to keep up the good work, spending what little money she has on fresh, real food – I can get up every morning and hoe a row of weeds down and fight the county not to spray toxic pesticides in the area that will kill our honey bees - who pollinate our crops.

Community Garden Ground Breaking

Brenda was one of our first cheerleaders. She still calls my shop every time she sees a story about us in the paper and came to markets as often she could find the energy to do so. She was even part of our community garden ground breaking. She doesn’t come to visit as much anymore, her health has limited her outings. But a new neighbor from 2 miles the other direction, Charles, has started to cruise down on his chair. He is sometimes late and misses a lot, but we’ve usually got something leftover that he likes. Yesterday, he took home a watermelon and some home made Italian rolls. And a smile.

 

A small community of folks living just to the community south in Seagoville, became another reason I am so diligent about organic methods being followed by our growers. The folks who live together in a special “camp” for chemically sensitive people taught me the importance of not allowing any of our farmers to use “conventional” methods.

Even if it meant, no fresh strawberries.

One spring when I had to retract our excited press announcement about featured organic strawberries coming to our market, instead of complaints, I got thank you notes for “thinking of our health”.

(By the way, growing strawberries organically is no easy feat. We look each spring for someone who can grow them and bring them to market. Our soil here just hasn’t been rich enough to support that crop – yet.)

Families are encouraged to visit

It's really important to me that children know how real food is supposed to taste and where the heck it comes from.

Eggs don’t grow on trees and tomatoes don’t come from plastic covered foam cartons. 

Texas Honey Bee Guild Advocates for Education

And you know what? Most kids don’t even flinch when they learn that honeybees and earthworms make their food grow – and taste - better. 

Where's my "hat-cam"?

And they get some of the most awesome looks on their faces when they pet and feed one of my friendly roosters or hens; learning not to be afraid of them, while respecting them as a living creature who provides them with food. This happens a lot at Market Day, too.

This spring we were approved to accept SNAP at the market. To me, this was monumental because I know there are a lot of good people in the area who have fallen on the same hard times I fell on back in 2007. Good folks live all around me who might need a helping hand in order to keep their families well fed and use the Lone Star Card. They can even use it to buy vegetable plants and seeds here so they can grow some of their own food. We're always offering gardening tips and hold low cost classes periodically.

Picked by hand - with care

NOT found at Market Day

We can’t beat bulk supermarket prices. Everyone here grows, harvests and handles everything by hand on a very small scale and that costs more to do than mass production. 

But we sure can give you awesome taste, unmatched freshness, and the peace of mind people get knowing that their food was grown in a safe way by someone they can meet – face to face. And once you try real grass fed beef – that “closeout” meat won’t ever look, or taste, the same to you.

Eat More (grass fed) Beef!

As our newly appointed volunteer market manager Iris says, we are not the biggest, but we are....

Farmer Mel - Farmer Jones Eco Friendly Produce

“The Cleanest Little Farmer’s Market in Town”. We’re also still, the only one.

Real Food, Grown with Integrity. All farmers, ranchers and producers – only – No brokers - ever. 

GMO free – always. 

Happy anniversary to us all! Hope to see you next time, down on the farm!

Marie Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Market Day is every 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th Saturdays April – December (weather permitting) at 4710 Pioneer Road, Balch Springs in back of the the old gray farmhouse next to the Zumba House, across the street from the new Dallas County Cowboy Church.