Edible Dallas & Fort Worth Spring 2022

edible No. 52 Spring 2022 Member of Edible Communities DALLAS & FORTWORTH CELEBRATING FOOD & COMMUNITY IN NORTH TEXAS, SEASON BY SEASON

GIN & JEN Spirits i n t he G arden

Contents Spring 2022

31

1o In the Kitchen Recipes from Alex Snodgrass’ New Cookbook

4 Publisher’s Letter 6 Notable Edibles Cassie Green Health 9 What’s i n S eason This Season’s Best 20 Seasonal C ocktails Gin & Jen Recipes in the Garden 31 Deep i n t he H eart 39 Advertising Guide

15 Edible Community Restorative Farms

Urban Dirt Company’s Chef Gardens

25 Farmers Market Guide Discover Local Markets in North Texas

On t he c over: Jennifer Spring at Waterboy Farms channeling Annie with “bathtub gin” (page 20). Photo by Azure Photography

EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022 | 3

Publisher’s Letter We always look forward to the start of spring! But this year es- pecially. Did you know this is our 13th year publishing edible Dal- las & Fort Worth? We have much respect and appreciation for all our advertising partners who’ve remained loyal to our publication, especially considering the lean times of the past two years. With their support, we have managed to continue printing interesting local stories for you to devour and enjoy. We hope that you will strongly support all of these won- derful businesses who have kept us grounded. Thank You!! book. Paleo, gluten-free, and diary-free dishes are clearly marked. Rick Baraff tells the story of amazing people doing some groundbreaking work in South Dallas at Restorative Farms. They are taking on the challenge of, and having success at, transforming a food desert into a sustainable food system. Both the story and photos are heartwarming and give us hope. In “Gin & Jen,” Toby Thomason weaves a delightful tale of two spirits – Gin, and Jennifer Spring, manager of Waterboy Farms. Not only do the recipes inspire cre- ativity themselves, we can’t say enough about the fantastic art of Azure Photogra- phy and Mattie Lewis Photography. The cover shot tells it all! Many thanks to the GOTEXAN Program, in partnership with the Texas Depart- ment of Agriculture, for once again sponsoring our North Texas Farmers Market Guide for 2022. We love having to add more markets to our list as demand increas- es for local, sustainable food sources. Hopefully you will find one near you. We had so much fun at Urban Dirt’s chef gardens, capturing vibrant images with photographer Teresa Rafidi, even though it was winter and not the height of grow- ing season. Daniel Cunningham tells the history of how Piper Klee-Waddle and her Urban Dirt Company have set a standard in the growing restaurant garden scene. And yes, we got our hands dirty in this photo shoot! Here’s to our favorite season, and to all the farmers in North Texas whose crops and livelihood depend on the good graces of Texas weather. Maria Whitworth & Nanci Taylor, part of the edible DFW team. Photo by: Nikky Phinyawatana “Home is Where the Heart Is” includes del icious recipes by local DFW author Alex Sno- dgrass, from her new cookbook The Comfortable Kitchen , which is an expression of celebrating life’s great events. We highly en- courage everyone to pick up her

Dallas & Fort Worth edible

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Nanci Taylor

ART DIRECTOR Michael Nott

MANAGING EDITOR Eve Hill-Agnus

WEB DESIGNER Mary Ogle

CONTRIBUTORS Azure Photography, Rick Baraff, Julie Beall, Daniel Cunningham, Lauren Gillan, Kristen Kilpatrick, Piper Klee-Waddle, Trevor Landry, Mattie Lewis Photography, Teresa Rafidi, Krystal Read, Vijay Sadhu, Alex Snodgrass, Marie Tedei, TobyThomason, MariaWhitworth

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING MariaWhitworth

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Julie Beall CONTACT US Edible Dallas &FortWorth

POBox 180127 Dallas, TX 75218 214.552.1040 info@edibledfw.com www.edibledfw.com

Edible Dallas & Fort Worth is published quarterly by Edible Dallas & Fort Worth LLC. Distribution is throughout Dallas, Fort Worth and 34 counties in North Texas and nationally by subscription. Subscription rate is $28 annually. Subscribe online at edibledfw.com or email: info@edibledfw.com. No part of this publication may be used without written permission of the publisher. ©2010 Every effort is made to avoid error, misspellings and omis- sions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us.Thank you. We reserve the right to edit or reject advertisements at our sole discretion without notice.

Nanci Taylor, Publisher

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EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022 | 5

edibles Notable Cassie Green Health Elderberry Syrup

The j ourney f rom g rocers t o e lderberry syrup g urus/What’s i n a be rry?

story eve hill - agnus

They came to it by accident. The tiny fruit inks up: European black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is the richest and most concentrated in antioxidants among elderberry species and sought for its general im- mune-support properties. Cassie Green and her husband Gary Stephens were not expecting to become elderberry syrup gurus when they opened their business Green Grocer in Dallas in 2013, with a holistic health coaching practice on the side. (The shop was open for five years.) “We sold it at our store. And we were just obsessed with it. Our whole staff loved it; my husband loved it. I didn’t get that cold I would previously get. My allergies went away,” Green says. The couple was getting the elixir made by a local family who moved to Maine, offering to let the Green Grocer duo take the reins. “We made about 60 different items in-house, and the one thing peo- ple asked about [obsessively] was the elderberry syrup,” Green says. So starting in 2016, when they cut back on the shop, they concentrat- ed on using the commercial kitchen to bottle the purple potion. “We just started calling our friends who owned juice bars, little [business- es], and it grew from there. I never ever thought that we could have the simplicity of dealing with just one product,” Green says. The inky dark berry is used as a supplement. Like turmeric or mat- cha, it’s part of a longstanding tradition to which people are latching on, in this case for its antiviral and antioxidant properties; it’s touted for shortening the length of colds and flu. Green appreciates the way it allows her to be “a hippie who likes science,” in her own words. “I love a good, traditional remedy for things, but I also love things that have clinical research behind it. The balance of something that has been used for centuries by so many cultures, but then it also has double-blind studies.” She mar- vels at “all these different benefits that people are still figuring out from this tiny little berry.” Her syrup is made with dried organic berries, harvested in the fall in Eastern Europe, which the team simmers and then cold presses, add- ing organic ginger and cinnamon, Texas lemon juice, and raw honey from a beekeeper in Burleson. The speck of a fruit was famously called out by the Greek Hippo- crates as a medicine chest of sorts. But it offers Green a way to be connected to local producers. During the early days of the pandemic,

Gary Stephens and Cassie Green

Find Cassie Green Health Elder- berry Syrup from $19.99 for 8 oz. at Burgundy’s Local in Dallas and Fort Worth, at Market Provisions at the Dallas Farmers Market, or online at cassiegreenhealth.com

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Glow Detox Salad RECIPE AND PHOTO BY LAUREN GILLAN, CERTIFIED NUTRITIONIST AT INDULGENCE REDEFINED This salad dressing is so simple but oh, so good. Immune boosting and delicious, it’s a great balance of savory meets sweet with a bright finish from fresh lime juice. Not only is it good for you, it’s light and refreshing and makes me rejoice 2 tablespoons Cassie Green Health elderberry syrup 2 tablespoons olive oil (w e like Texas Olive Ranch – Picual variety) 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic Sea salt to taste Blend or whisk all ingredients together. Add more lime juice for more acidity, to taste. I like to pour it over a bed of crisp organic romaine with pan- seared hearts of palm, red onion, freshly shaved fennel, fen- nel fronds and avocado. that spring is here. Makes 2 servings

sales skyrocketed. Now they’ve evened, but elderberry has seeped into the collective consciousness in a way it hadn’t before. You can douse pancakes with a mixture of one part elderberry syrup to two parts maple syrup and top with blueberries, Green will say with a smile. Or make a chia pudding. Mix a swirl into Greek yogurt. “I always like to take a natural route to healing myself,” she says. Hers is a success story built on a tiny, potent, dark-purple berry.

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what’s in season

Parsley Parsnips Peas (English, Snap, Snow) Radishes

Asian Greens Asparagus Arugula Beets Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Carrots Celery

Chard Cilantro Collard Greens Dill Fava Beans Garlic Green Onions Fennell Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Mint New Potatoes Oregano

Rosemary Rutabaga Sage Sorrell Spinach Spring Onions Strawberries Turnips Thyme Watercress

For a List of local FARMERS MARKETS, go to edibledfw.com. Compiled with the help of Marie Tedei, Edens Garden Center CSA Farm, and other local farmers. Illustration by Krystal Read

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IN THE KITCHEN

RECIPIES ALEX SNODGRASS PHOTOGRAPHY KRISTEN KILPATRICK

allas author Alex Snodgrass rose to the New York Times bestseller list with her cook- book The Defined Dish from her blog of the same name. Now, her second title, The Comfortable Kitchen , promises “105 laid-back, healthy, and wholesome recipes” for unfussy communing. Her love language is expressive. Meals, she says, are canvases for joy and gratitude. “They’re where we celebrate life’s great events. They’re where we gather and count our blessings.” So, she invites you to dig in. With vibrant photos and her usual, nonchalant flair, she empowers you to conjure shared dinners. (Paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free dishes are clearly marked.) Start with a cocktail and end with something fun and sweet. She mixes in the seasons and ingredients from other culinary cultures: the flavors of a Mexican taco with chiles, herbs, and quick-pickled red onions in the Salmon al Pastor or white sesame seeds and ginger on Honey-Sesame Sheet Pan Cauliflower. Balsamic-Thyme Roasted Mushrooms nail what she does best—super quick, zippy, and flavorful. She’s a leader for the modern Dallas kitchen. Alex Snodgrass is the author of The Comfortable Kitchen (William Morrow Cookbooks). Read her blog (thedefineddish.com). Follow her on Twitter (@alxsnod) and Instagram (@thedefineddish). D Home isWhere the Heart Is

A new cookbook makes us happy

to enter the comfortable kitchen.

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IN THE KITCHEN

Salmon al Pastor Makes 4 servings 2 garlic cloves, peeled

¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth ¾ teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons avocado oil 4 center-cut salmon fillets (6 to 8 ounces each) ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Quick-Pickled Red Onions (You can find this recipe at edi- bledfw.com or on page 248 of Alex’s Cookbook) ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional for serving 1 tablespoon thinly sliced serrano pepper, optional for serving

¾ cup small-diced fresh pineapple 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder or chipotle chile powder 1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime) 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (about ½ orange)

IN a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, ¼ cup of the diced pineapple, the vinegar, ancho powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, lime juice, orange juice, broth, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Blend the pastor sauce until smooth. IN a nonstick skillet, heat the avocado oil over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and the pep- per. Place the salmon in the hot skillet and cook until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium and pour the pastor sauce around the salmon in the skillet, along with the remaining ½ cup diced pineapple.

CONTINUE to cook the salmon, uncovered and simmering, until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. TRANSFER the salmon to a large serving platter and pour the sauce over the fillets. Top with the pickled red onions. If desired, garnish with cilantro and a few slices of serrano pepper if you’re feeling extra spicy!

From The Comfortable Kitchen by Alex Snodgrass. Copyright © 2021 by Alex Snodgrass. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers .

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IN THE KITCHEN

Makes 4 servings Roasted mushrooms make for a juicy and delectable side dish for practically any meal! They’re beautiful and super easy to make. The mushrooms practically create their own pan sauce while roasting in the oven; at the end of the cook time, I simply thicken the liquid with a slurry to create an almost gravy-like sauce for the mushrooms to soak in. It’s an impressive side dish with minimum effort—ideal! 2 pounds whole baby bella mushrooms ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon arrowroot flou Flaky salt, for serving Balsamic-Thyme Roasted Mushrooms

PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Arrange the mushrooms in a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. IN a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, vinegar, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until well combined. POUR the balsamic mixture over the mushrooms and toss until well combined. Spread the mushrooms in an even layer and roast until golden brown and tender, about 18 minutes. REMOVE the pan from the oven and set the oven to a high broil. IN a small bowl, whisk the arrowroot flour and 1 tablespoon wa- ter. Pour the arrowroot mixture over the mushrooms and toss to combine. BROIL until the sauce has thickened and the mushrooms are slightly charred, watching carefully, 2 to 3 minutes. SPRINKLE with flaky salt. If desired, garnish with fresh thyme leaves. From The Comfortable Kitchen by Alex Snodgrass. Copyright © 2021 by Alex Snodgrass. Reprinted by permission of William Mor- row, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

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IN THE KITCHEN

Honey-Sesame Sheet Pan Caulif lower Makes 2 servings

¼ cup coconut aminos 1 teaspoon fis sauce (optional; non-vegetarian) 1 teaspoon rice vinegar ¼ cup honey ¼ cup low-sodium vegetable broth 2 garlic cloves, minced 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 1 teaspoon arrowroot flou ¼ cup seeded and roughly chopped Fresno chiles (about 2 small chiles) Steamed rice, optional for serving 2 tablespoons finel chopped fresh cilantro or Thai basil, for serving

In this meatless meal, cauliflower gets promoted from a side dish to the main dish! I love how easy and flavorful this sheet pan cauliflow- er “stir-fry” is. It’s sweet, savory, and a little spicy from the Fresno chile. Served over a bowl of steamed rice, this is a veggie dish that any hungry foodie can get behind! 1 large head caulifl wer, cut into bite-size flo ets (about 6 cups) ¼ cup avocado oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds, plus more for garnish 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

PREHEAT the oven to 450°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. SPREAD the cauliflower on the lined pan. Drizzle with the avocado oil and sprinkle with the salt. Toss until the cauliflower is well coated in the oil. Spread into an even layer and roast for 10 minutes. MEANWHILE, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the ses- ame seeds and cook, stirring often, until the seeds are fragrant and lightly toasted, 1 to 2minutes. Add the sesame oil, coconut aminos, fish sauce (if using), rice vinegar, honey, vegetable broth, garlic, and ginger and stir to combine. IN a small bowl, make a slurry by combining the arrowroot flour and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk until well combined. While stirring the sauce, slowly add the slurry to the saucepan and cook, stirring often, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

ADD the Fresno chiles to the sheet pan with the roasted cauliflower and toss. Roast until the chiles are softened and the cauliflower is golden brown, 6 to 10 minutes. POUR the sauce over the cauliflower mixture and gently toss until the cauliflower is well coated. Spread into an even layer and roast for 2 to 3 minutes to allow the sauce to caramelize over the cauliflower. SERVE over rice (if using) and garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro or Thai basil. Serve immediately!

FromThe Comfortable Kitchen by Alex Snodgrass. Copyright © 2021 by Alex Snodgrass. Reprinted by permission of WilliamMorrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers .

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EDIBLE COMMUNITY

Restorative Farms Tackling t he C hallenge o f L asting F ood S ystem C hange

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY RICK BARAFF

Left to right: Rick Bar- aff ( YES, me!), Kelly Joy Freeman, Rihard Lee, Brad Boa, Owen Lynch, Doric Earle, Ty- rone Day, Criss Lee at The Hatcher Station Training & Community Farm

S outh Dallas used to be full of vegetable gardens. For generations, the elders in the community made sure that people ate and shared quality foods grown right in their own backyards. People also bought fresh greens or canned vegetables from local farmers mar- kets. “My granny would tell me it was fields, dirt pastures, and homes along the boulevards,” says Charles Bryant, a Farm Asso- ciate with Restorative Farms, a nonprofit dedicated to building a self-sustaining urban farm system in South Dallas. South Dallas still has a lot of fields: empty ones where many of these homes used to sit. “A big reason was the crack epidemic,” says Tyrone Day, Restor- ative Farms’ co-founder, referring to the cheap street drug version of cocaine that turned many cities upside down in the 1980s. “The generation that still grew food in their home gardens was

dying out as crack hit South Dallas. The houses, the parks, the community got run down. Instead of vegetables on the ground, it was crack bags and needles. And that knowledge and sense of community was mostly lost.” Simultaneously, fast food got a stranglehold on less affluent neigh- borhoods, providing calorie-dense but unhealthy meals for cheap. Today, the North Texas Food Bank and other national organiza- tions recognize South Dallas as one of the largest food deserts in the country, a USDA designation for a place where a vast percent- age of the population has to travel long distances to procure fresh foods and often lacks transportation to do so. “A food desert is also a job desert. South Dallas needed job

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EDIBLE COMMUNITY

Lef t to r ight : Owen Lynch, Morris Moye and Tyrone Day at The Seed- ling Farm at the MLK Community Center

opportunities and training, access to food, and the means to become more resi lient. Our goal was to design a system ap- proach to do these things,” says Dr. Owen Lynch, a professor at SMU and co-founder of Restorative Farms. Dr. Lynch wanted to study the issues surrounding food deserts in order to figure out if there was a viable solution that could include the notion of restorative justice, which emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime by having the victims, offenders, and com- munity members get together to help decide the best plan forward. As per RestorativeJustice.org “it emphasizes accountability and making amends.” This led Dr. Lynch to put together a coalition of farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, government officials—and, most importantly, local citizens—dedicated to developing an urban agrisystem in South Dallas. In short, they imagined an integrated, farm-based, hub- and-spoke food system that went from seed to table to seed again, all while employing and empowering the people of the community to transcend the current barriers they face with regards to resource and job scarcity. Some people see urban farm projects like this as building bridges to the community, but Dr. Lynch sees it more systemically: he wants to “smash the f*cking walls down,” referring to these barriers. And that’s the underlying attitude of this project which has gathered some notable partners for doing things differently by applying a systematic, accounting-like methodology to growth on all fronts. “We’re not Facebook Farmers,” notes Brad Boa, another co-found- er, referring to efforts that might have lofty intentions and mis- sion statements but without the infrastructure to remain viable.

“While we applaud everyone who’s started an urban farm, most unfortunately fail within three years. We’re here to calculate and measure every bit of real-world data and turn that into actionable things we can do every day to build and scale something that will last. It’s very hard work to maintain energy, interest, and especially the financial aspect of running one.” The first component was The Seedling Farm at the MLK Com- munity Center a few blocks from Fair Park. The Seedling Farm fo- cuses on germinating the seedlings (young plants). These are then “ I’m f rom r ight h ere a nd I want t o s tay h ere u ntil i t’s done. I w ant t o c reate t he ambition t o g et o ur c om- munity b ack t o t he h ome remedy o f g rowing y our own food.” –Tyrone Day

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EDIBLE COMMUNITY

Left to right: Frank Care- res, Morris Moye, Tyrone Day, Charles Spencer, Charles Bryant, Christan Camacho at The Hatcher Station Training & Com- munity Farm

moved to the Hatcher Station Training & Community Farm, a parcel gifted by another partner, DART, adjacent to the Hatch- er Station light rail. At Hatcher, Day helps train an ever-growing contingent of aspiring Apprentice Farmers. With the help of partners at Texas A&M Agrilife, the team planned every detail of how to maximize every inch of the space and calculate what would grow best in each season as well as the cost of soil, seeds, tools, and more. Handmade GroBoxes—easy- to-use raised bed planters for home, schools, or businesses—are another component that helps raise funds through direct sales. Next came GroZilla, a high-tech hydroponic container farm at Fair Park. It’s a one-of-a-kind unit for research, food production,

healthy, affordable, locally grown produce for the community; 2) create income for community growers with profits from produc- tion and sales; and 3) provide viable training and entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities. There’s a huge financial incentive beyond just selling food to the South Dallas community. It’s estimated that there’s roughly a bil- lion-dollar gap across the whole DFW area between what con- sumers want in healthy fresh food options and what’s currently available. So the agrisystem model can hopefully involve more people starting their own farms or food-related ventures to be- come viable “spokes” in the hub. But the other side of the master plan is to make this model open- source and replicable in any other urban environment. Meaning, yes, they’re giving away the blueprints. “Making this system truly viable, making sure the community itself is involved, and disseminating the proper knowledge and empowerment is the only way we’re going to create long-lasting change to our entire food system. And ultimately our collective future,” adds Dr. Lynch. As for notable partners, this includes Tito’s Vodka, whose Love

and teaching. Between all these components, Restorative Farms now employs six people and im- pacts many more. Restorative Farms is ultimately striving to achieve what might be called the holy trinity of profes- sional urban farming: 1) Provide

How You Can Help Please visit Restorative- Farms.org to sign up to volunteer, to buy a Gro- Box or seedlings, to do- nate, and to fi nd more information.

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EDIBLE COMMUNITY

“ It’s a great expe- rience to watch the vegetables you see in the store come out of the ground from our hard work and know that we’re helping rebuild our community closer to how my granny saw it.” — Charles Bryant

GroZilla at Fair P ark

Tito’s philanthropic arm not only embraced them with financial support but sponsored a fundraising brunch with Netafim, a lead- er in farm irrigation technology; Whole Foods Market; SMU; GreenMountain Energy; Toyota USA; and Kosmos Energy, which helped fund a pilot CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program for its own employees. The CSA, where farmers from the area aggregate their goods to provide weekly boxes of food directly to the public for a fee, is the first example of how all the components of the agrisystem can func- tion together. “What a wonderful asset to our city to help increase the access to fresh food and to create new job opportunities,” said Dallas cookbook au- thor Alex Snodgrass after hosting the bruncheon inNovember. Restorative Farms has also built a buzz with like-minded, can-do nonprofit organizations including 4DWN Project, who run a safe,

inclusive skatepark and help build GroBoxes, and Harvest Project and Oak Cliff Veggie Project, both of which redistribute food des- tined for the landfill in addition to educating people about nutrition. Day’s vision is to create a local food hub like the one that used to exist. “It’s not going to happen overnight. Probably closer to 10 years until people really latch on and understand they’re living in a food desert and can gain the knowledge and infrastructure to eat healthier again. “I’m from right here and I want to stay here until it’s done. I want to create the ambition to get our community back to the home remedy of growing your own food,” Day says as he prepares to pull the cover crops that were sown for the overwinter months. “It’s a great experience to watch the vegetables you see in the store come out of the ground from our hard work and know that we’re helping rebuild our community closer to how my granny saw it,” adds Bryant.

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DOWNTOWNMCKINNEY.COM

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SEASONAL COCKTAILS GIN & JEN STORY & RECIPES BY TOBY THOMASON PHOTOGRAPHY BY AZURE PHOTOGRAPHY AND MATTIE LEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Sloe Gin Tonic and Jen/Gin Mule

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SEASONAL COCKTAILS

Jen/Gin Mule Makes one cocktail 2 ounces Leopold Summer Gin, or gin of your choice ½ ounce lemon juice ½ ounce lime juice 2 ounces ginger beer Pour all ingredients over ice in a rocks glass rimmed with salt and pepper. (Note: Leopold Summer Gin is made from Colorado wild- flowers and released only once a year.) Sloe Gin Tonic Makes one cocktail 2 ounces sloe gin liqueur 1 ounce Waterboy Farms Tonic Syrup* Garnish with grapefruit peel, seasonal herbs and edible fl wers Mix gin and syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Pour into a tall glass, garnish and serve.

Jennifer Spring is HospitalityManager at Harvest Seasonal Kitchen and FarmManager for Waterboy Farms

N

othing says spring to me more than walking throughWaterboy Farms garden with a cocktail, conjuring up recipes that include herbs, flowers, and honey from one of our 24 beehives. Farm- er Jennifer Spring (Jen, not Gin) just complet- ed her first full year managing our Waterboy Farms in Lucas. Her gardens and greenhouse have become the visual manifestation of a com- plex, botanically and herbaceously well-made gin cocktail, and Jen’s own vibrant, layered, and timeless spirit is much like her spirit counter- part. But don’t let this picture fool you—much of the time she is covered in dirt, with blisters and several bug bites that she cannot identify. Except today she is opting for a cocktail glass over a shovel.

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SEASONAL COCKTAILS

Spanish Gintonica Makes one cocktail

Not many people do the Gin and Tonic quite like Spain. Gar- nished more than any other, it’s fragrant, beautiful, refreshing and quite possibly the best way to enjoy a beautiful spring day.

2 ounces Dripping Springs artisanal gin 1 ounce of Waterboy Farms Tonic Syrup* 3 ounces of soda water Dried juniper berries Grapefruit and lemon peel Garnish of sage leaves and edible fl wers from Profound Microfarms

Combine all ingredients, then pour into a stemmed fishbowl glass to enjoy all the colors and savor the aromatics. Stir, gar- nish, serve and sip!

*Tonic Syrup 2 tablespoons cinchona bark Peels from 3 whole grapefruit 5 sage leaves and 2 bee balm fl wers

One might say the first “gin” recipe was discovered chiseled in stone in ancient Mesopotamia and was a crudely made juniper wine concoction. Gin was distilled by the Dutch by the 16th century and the British went crazy for it in the 18th century. Gin has undergone several stylistic transformations since then, but has remained one of the world’s most popular spirits. Prior to World War II when no one drank vodka (and for that matter, not many people drank bourbon), the spirit of choice for Ameri- cans was GIN! We will never forget the image of Carol Burnett bathing in a tub of illegal gin in the movie Annie . During Prohi- bition, horrible neutral grain spirits were made illegally in people’s homes. These “bathtub” gins, as they became known, were poorly made spirits easily masked with added botanical ingredients. With the combined factors of soldiers returning home with vod- ka (their new favorite spirit introduced by Russian allies) and those terribly-made-at-home Gins (not Jen), the spirit decreased in popularity to near extinction in the ’50s-’90s. Thankfully we have evolved beyond the simple and dangerous methods of distilling. A lovely Gin Renaissance has blossomed over the past few decades—from London’s massive gin bars to Spanish G & Ts—and gin has once again secured a prestige position.

6 allspice berries 1 ounce lime juice

1 cup sugar 1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan; cover and let simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and chill. Strain with cheese cloth and add one teaspoon of cit- ric acid. Cover and refrigerate until needed. (Note: you can substitute sage and bee balm with other herbs and edible flowers growing in your garden!) *Strawberry-infused Gin Cut off tops and halve strawberries. Put in mason jar and fill with gin; infuse for 12-24 hours.

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SEASONAL COCKTAILS

Gala in the Garden Last October, The Seed Project Foundation hosted its annual Gala in the Garden at Waterboy Farms. Trevor Landry, Brand Ambassador for Zephyr Gin, set up a gin bar in the garden and served his take on the classic Bee’s Knees cocktail. We’ve served it as our standard Bee’s Knees at Harvest ever since! Zephyr Bee’s Knees Makes one cocktail 1 ½ ounces Zephyr Gin or gin of your choice, in- fused with a pint or more of fresh strawberries* ½ ounce fresh lemon juice ½ ounce Honey Syrup (1:1 honey to water) Seasonal herbs added to honey syrup and/or as garnish (thyme & tarragon give a nice fl vor) Garnish with sprinkle of salt and black pepper Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a glass and garnish with sea- sonal herbs. Adjust to taste as desired.

Trevor Landry is Director of Brand Develop- ment and Award-winning Mixologist for Zephyr Gin

TobyThomason is General Manager of Harvest Seasonal Kitchen and Board Member ofThe Seed Project Foundation.

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2 0 2 2

North Texas

In Partnership with the Texas Department of Agriculture

GUIDE

Demand for locally grown produce, pasturedmeats and eggs, and artisan foods has never been stronger inNorthTexas, andwe havemany excellent farmersmarkets to show for it. This guide is a snapshot of what’s available in our area; there are seasonal changes, so be sure to double-check hours and days of operation online (website or Facebook). We’ve included as many places as we can, but if we missed one you love, let us know at info@edibledfw.com.

Look for these icons throughout the guide!

The Certified FarmersMarket Program is a voluntary program. Certified Farmers Markets may participate in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program which o er vouchers to WIC clients, and have access to marketing promotions and grants o ered by Texas Department of Agriculture. For more information, visit TexasAgriculture.gov The GO TEXAN program is dedicated to showcasing the diversity and quality of Texas-based businesses. Whether we are developing new sales and business opportunities for GO TEXAN Partners or encouraging consumers to look for the iconic GO TEXANmark when making buying decisions, we will always strive to find new and meaningful ways to promote products and services that are Texas made and Texas proud.

Certified Farmers Market

GO TEXAN PARTNER

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Good Local Markets Lakewood Village FarmersMarket Sunday, February-August. 6434 EMockingbird at Abrams Rd., Dallas. White Rock FarmersMarket Saturday, March-December. 9150 Garland Rd., Dallas.

C O L L I N

DA L L A S

County

County

Frisco FreshMarket Saturday and Sunday, year-round. 9215 JohnWElliott Drive, Frisco. FriscoFreshMarket.com Frisco FreshMarket Frisco Rotary FarmersMarket Saturday, Mid April-October. 6048 Frisco Square Blvd., Frisco. FriscoRotaryFarmersMarket.com Frisco Rotary Farmers Market HistoricMcKinney FarmersMarket Saturday, April-November 1st & 3rd. Saturday, December-March. Chestnut Square Historic Village, 315 S Chestnut St., McKinney. ChestnutSquare.org/ farmers-market-mckinney/ McKinney Farmers Market at Chestnut Square Lucas FarmersMarket 2nd and 4th Saturday, late April-October, plus December Holiday Market. 665 Country Club Rd., Lucas. LucasFarmersMarket.com Lucas Farmers Market TheMarket at Luscombe Farm 2nd and 4th Sunday from May-September, plus seasonal pop-up markets. 8649 Luscombe FarmDr., Anna. LuscombeFarm.com The Market at Luscombe Farm

Carrollton FarmersMarket – Four SeasonsMarket

Saturday, year-round. 72722 N. Josey Ln., Carrollton. FourSeasonsMarkets.com Carrollton Farmers Market Coppell Saturday, April-December. 768W. Main St., Coppell. CoppellFarmersMarket.org Coppell Farmers Market Dallas

GoodLocalMarket.org Good Local Markets Grand Prairie FarmersMarket

FarmersMarket

Saturday, April-mid-December. Market Square, 120WMain St., Grand Prairie.

GrandFunGP.com/FarmersMarket Grand Prairie Farmers Market Las Colinas FarmersMarket – Four SeasonsMarket Saturday, year-round. 7701 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving. FourSeasonsMarkets.com Las Colinas Farmers Market Richardson FarmersMarket – Four SeasonsMarket Saturday, year-round.

FarmersMarket The Shed (farmers, artisans) open Saturday and Sunday year-round. 1010 S. Pearl Expressway, Dallas. TheMarket (restaurants, food markets and artisans) daily year-round. 920 S Harwood, Dallas.

DallasFarmersMarket.org Dallas Farmers Market

101 S. Coit Rd., Richardson. FourSeasonsMarkets.com Richardson Farmers Market St. Michael’s FarmersMarket

Fresh Stop FarmStand

Owenwood Farm&Neighbor Space. Friday 8a-12noon, see website for opening date. 1451 JohnWest Rd., Dallas. Fresh Stop FarmStand – Ledbetter Tuesday 12noon-3pm fromApril 4-Oct. 11. 1111WLedbetter, Dallas. Fresh Stop FarmStand – Spring Valley Thursday 12noon-3pm fromApril 6-Oct 13. 8202 Spring Valley Rd., Dallas.

Saturday, April-September. Pop-up market in December. St.Michael andAll Angels Episcopal Church 4344 Colgate, Dallas, TX. SaintMichaelsMarket.com Saint Michael’s Farmers Market

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D E N T O N Denton

E L L I S

G R E G G

County

County

County

Downtown Ennis Bluebonnet Market

Historic Longview FarmersMarket Saturday, May-week before Thanksgiving. 105WCotton, Longview. HistoricLongviewFarmersMarket.com Historic Longview Farmers Market

CommunityMarket

Saturday, April-October. 100 NDallas St., Ennis. EnnisTX.com/choose-ennis/farmers-market Downtown Ennis Bluebonnet Market FarmersMarket on the Plaza at Glade Parks Saturday, year-round. 1310 ChisholmTrail, Euless. GladeParks.com. GladeParks DowntownWaxahachie

Saturday, April-November. Denton County Historical Park, 317WMulberry, Denton. DentonMarket.org Denton CommunityMarket

Denton County FarmersMarket Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, April-November. Carroll Blvd. &Mulberry St., Denton. DentonFarmersMarket.com FlowerMound FarmersMarket – Four SeasonsMarket Sunday, year-round. 1500 Cross Timbers Rd., Flower Mound. FourSeasonsMarkets.com Flower Mound Farmers Market Roanoke FarmersMarket Saturday, April-September.

JOHNSON

County

DowntownCleburne FarmersMarket Sunday, May-December. 302 SMain St., Cleburne.

FarmersMarket Saturday, May-October. 701 Howard Rd., Waxahachie. waxahachie.com/departments/ downtown_development/ downtown_farmers_market.php DowntownWaxahachie Farmer's Market GRAYSON Downtown Denison FarmersMarket Saturday, late April-October. 701WMain St., Denison.

DowntownCleburneFarmersMarket.com Downtown Cleburne Farmer's Market

Know Your Choices

County

500 S. Oak St., Roanoke. Roanoketexas.com/256/ Roanoke-Farmers-Market Roanoke Farmers Market

Looking for organic? Sustainable? All local? Check the websites (and vendor applications) to find out what’s required of vendors. Some markets

DowntownDenisonFarmersMarket.com Downtown Denison Farmers Market Gunter CommunityMarket Sunday, late April-midNovember; Christ- masMarket December 4. Closed on Sundays the Cowboys play at noon. Gunter City Park, 200W. ElmSt., Gunter. SWellMarkets.com Gunter CommunityMarket Railcar FarmersMarket of Van Alstyne Tuesday, May-early November; Christmas Market November 29. Central Social District Park, Main&Cooper, Van Alstyne. SWellMarkets.com Railcar Farmers Market of Van Alstyne

vet every farm, while others allow a mix of local and non-local produce.

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Bring your own shopping bags to cut down on plastic-bag use. 1

Bring small bills and change as a courtesy; some vendors take credit cards. 2

Farmers Market Shopping Tips

PA R K E R

KAUFMAN

County

County

Aledo FarmersMarket Monday, year-round. Aledo Community Center, 104 Robinson Court, Aledo. https://www.aledotx.g v/aledo-community- events/pages/ ledo-farmers-market Aledo Farmers Market

Aledo FarmersMarket Monday, year-round. Aledo Community Center, 104 Robinson Court, Aledo. https://www.aledotx.gov/aledo-community- events/pages/aledo-farmers-market Aledo Farmers Market

Artisan &FarmersMarket Saturday, See website for dates.

Artisan &FarmersMarket Saturday, See website for dates.

210 E. Broad St e t, Forney. Downtownforn ymarket.com Downtown ForneyMarket

210 E. Broad Street, Forney. Downtownforneymarket.com Downtown ForneyMarket

L AMA R

County

ROCKWALL

County

Paris Farmers andArtis nMarket

Paris Farmers andArtisanMarket

Rockw ll FarmersMarket Saturday, May-S ptember. 101WRusk St., Rockwall. RockwallFarmersMarket.org Rockwall Farmers Market

Rockwall FarmersMarket Saturday, May-September. 101WRusk St., Rockwall. RockwallFarmersMarket.org Rockwall Farmers Market

Saturday, May-October. 400 W1st St eet, Paris. p ristexas.gov/319/ Market-Squar -Farmers-Market.com Market Squar Farmers Market - Paris

Saturday, May-October. 400 SW1st Street, Paris. paristexas.gov/319/ Market-Square-Farmers-Market.com Market Square Farmers Market - Paris

East Texas Fair FarmersMarket S M I T H

McLENNAN

County

County

WacoDowntown FarmersMarket Saturday, year-round. 500Washington Ave., Waco. WacoDowntownFarmersMarket.org Waco Downtown Farmers Market WacoD town FarmersMarket Saturday, year-round. 500Washington Ave , Waco.

East Texas Fair FarmersMarket

Saturday, May-Mid August. 2112 Front Str et, Tyler. https://www.aledotx.g v/aledo-community- events/pages/aledo-farmers-market E t Texas Farmers Market Rose City FarmersMarket

Saturday, May-Mid August. 2112 Front Street, Tyler. https://www.aledotx.gov/aledo-community- events/pages/aledo-farmers-market East Texas Farmers Market Rose City FarmersMarket

WacoDowntownFarmersMarket.org Waco Downtown Farmers Market

Saturday, April-November. 302 S Broadway Ave., Tyler. FoodCoalition.org Rose City FarmersMarket

Saturday, April-November. 302 S Broadway Ave., Tyler. FoodCoalition.org Rose City FarmersMarket

28 | EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022

Don’t haggle. The prices given are the prices you pay. 3

Bring a cooler to keep your purchases fresh, if you aren’t going straight home. 4

Shop early for the best selection. 5

Share your farmers market experience on social media, tagging the farms you supported! 6

TARRANT

WICHITA

County

County

Burleson FarmersMarket Saturday, May-November. 141WRenfro St., Burleson. BurlesonFarmersMarket.com Burleson Farmer’s Market Clearfork FarmersMarket Saturday, year-round. 4801 Edwards Ranch Rd., Fort Worth. FarmersMarket1848.com The Clearfork Farmers Market Cowtown FarmersMarket Wednesday, May-September 1. Saturday, year-round. 3821 Southwest Blvd., Fort Worth. CowtownMarket.com Cowtown Farmers Market Grapevine Farmers &ArtisanMarket Saturday, April-September. 325 SMain St., Grapevine. GrapevineTexasUSA.com/shop-wine-dine/ grapevine-farmers-market/ Farmers Market of Grapevine Keller FarmersMarket Saturday, May-October. 400 Bear Creek Parkway, Keller. KellerFarmersMarket.com Keller Farmers Market Lola’s Local FarmersMarket 2nd Sunday, March-December. 2735W. 5th St., Fort Worth. Lola’s Local Farmer’s Market Mansfield FarmersMarket Saturday, April-October. Corner of E. Broad &Walnut Creek Dr., Mansfield. MansfieldTXFarmersMarket.com Mansfield TX Farmers Market

Wichita Falls FarmersMarket Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, year-round. 713 Ohio Ave., Wichita Falls. FarmersMarketWichitaFalls.com DowntownWichita Falls FarmersMarket

WILBARGER

County

Vernon FarmersMarket

Saturday during summer. 1725Wilbarger, Vernon. Tuesday afternoon during summer, Wilbarger General Hospital, East Lawn, Vernon. VernonFarmersMarket.com Vernon FarmersMarket

WO O D

County

Winnsboro FarmersMarket Saturday, April-October. 111 E Carnegie St., Winnsboro. WinnsboroFarmersMarket.com Winnsboro Farmers Market

YO U N G

County

Graham FarmersMarket Saturday, May-September. 150 US Highway 67, Graham. GrahamFarmersMarket.com GrahamFarmers Market

Thanks to the GOTEXANProgram for sponsoring this guide, and thank you for supporting all of our Texas FarmersMarkets!

EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022 | 29

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DEEP IN THE HEART

Chef-centric Gardens: A Growing Trend Sprouting a Business Model story daniel cunningham photography teresa rafidi and piper klee - waddle W

hen Piper Klee-Waddle moved to Texas from Colorado, she want- ed to connect with as many people in the urban food movement as possible. As a long-time avid gardener, she prioritized meeting and learning from local farmers and producers. Her next step was to build a series of raised beds in the front yard of her home in historic downtown McKinney, taking advantage of the optimal sunlight on her property. There she planted edible vegetation, which germi- nated from the soil with unbridled purpose, but offered a different kind of allure. “Living in a nice, well-manicured Texas town, I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to be received, but the neighbors loved it and I started meeting people because I was out front!” Piper says. The impact those raised beds had as conversation starters in her neighborhood inspired her to cultivate something greater. Piper’s business, Urban Dirt Company, quite literally grew from that front-yard garden. First she helped neighbors start raised kitchen gardens of their own and eventually branched out into commercial gardening designs in nearby downtownMcKinney. Five years later, Urban Dirt has sprouted into one of North Texas’s premier edible garden consulting businesses, serving restaurants, community developments and individual homeowner landscapes in addition to offering educational gardening classes both online and in person. After Piper was hired to develop a series of raised-bed plots at the restaurant Hook, Line and Sinker in Plano, her budding business took off. Season after season, she’s now blossomed into a “gardener to the chefs.” “That was my first commercial garden. From there, I grew, one chef at a time, totally fromword of mouth,” Piper says.

Piper Klee-Waddle at LC Kitchen

Piper’s Original Front Yard Garden

EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022 | 31

DEEP IN THE HEART

like Piper’s first front-yard raised beds, serve to inspire—planting a seed of opportunity. Chefs love the gardens for their potential to supply some of the freshest ingredients possible, foster creativity, aid in discovering different flavor profiles by season, and utilize all edible parts of a plant. “Everyone should understand, even just a little bit, what happens from when a seed goes into the ground to what ends up on a plate,” Piper says. The Culinary Cocktail Bar tenders and bar managers might be the most experimental and ef- ficient stewards of their on-site gardens, picking both herbs and edible flowers for their unusual colors and the intense flavor profiles they add to cocktail garnishes and infusions. While edible flowers are certainly both beautiful and functional, they are not without their own set of challenges. Urban Dirt takes the extra step to ensure that the plants enhance taste but are also the highest qual- ity for the consumer. “It’s hard to find organic flowers, [but it’s] important because they are for a culinary use.We have to babysit those plants, cutting all the flowers off, growing them out and [always eliminating] any synthetic chemicals,” Piper says. Sweet and spicey dianthus, citrusy Tiny Gem marigolds, and peppery nasturtiums are just a few of the many edible flowers you can find elevat- ing both food and drink at Urban Dirt-supported gardens. “We let everything bolt: the arugula, the basil, cilantro. We usually can’t grow enough for daily use on a full menu, production-wise, so we grow them for the flowers,” Piper explains. Building Community Real estate developers and property managers love the gardens, too. “Something that we don’t really always talk about is these gardens are PR pieces. Some of these gardens are here because they make property managers appear forward-thinking and interesting,” Piper says. And she’s perfectly fine with the opportunity to inspire other would-be gardeners. “Tours always include a walk past the gardens, which is beneficial for the property owners, their prospective tenants, as well as the restau- rant,” she says.

Chef Junior Borges, Executive Chef at the Meridian Restaurant in Dallas

Growing Into the Restaurant Scene You can find Urban Dirt-sprouted food gardens (some exceeding 20 raised beds!) at the restaurants Rye and Patina Green inMcKin- ney, LC Kitchen in Plano, and Homewood and Meridian in Dal- las, as well as at theThompson and Virgin hotels. “Our company’s mission is to build culinary gardens to connect chefs with gardening,” Piper says. She and her team of gardening gurus build four-season-harvest gardens that connect communities with hyper-locally grown ingre- dients. These gardens help local chefs and their restaurants tell a story with the vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers they produce. While typically not big enough to supply all of a restaurant’s need for produce, the gardens’ innate ability to draw people in, much

Piper’s Garden

32 | EDIBLE DALLAS & FORT WORTH SPRING 2022

DEEP IN THE HEART

While she’s fingernail-deep in her craft she gladly pauses to offer horti- cultural insight. “I do take every opportunity, if somebody walks past the garden, I’ll spend 15 to 20 minutes explaining what we’re doing. They might not re- alize that this is a turnip and that you can eat both the tops and the bot- toms, or that this chef is using the mint here for his lemonade. They’re connecting the dots as they walk in to get their lunch. It’s super cool!” she explains. And she doesn’t tidy it up. “This is a real-life working garden. It’s like being on a mini-farm. Sometimes the plants don’t look good, food crops expire quickly, flowers are short-lived, and there’s pests and bees. These are the facts of life. Deal with it!” she jokes. Chefs Dig Gardens Vijay Sadhu, executive chef at LC Kitchen, is ecstatic about how their campus’s nine-bed garden adds to his fresh, ever-changing seasonal menu and enhances dishes for diners. “Basil for example, we used to buy from our supplier, and I compared that with what we are growing on-site and the difference is night and day,” Sadhu says. “The fragrance is incredible as well. If I go to a su- permarket, I just can’t get the same smell as what I get from the herbs here,” he adds.

But the value that the garden brings is rooted in more than just what it adds to the plate. “What I see here, it’s different. It even motivates my staff. There’s so much passion, so much love involved with the garden” says Sadhu. He loves that “when people come to our garden, they look, they touch, they feel, they smell.”

LC Kitchen Basil Pesto Makes one batch Ingredients 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts 2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

2 garlic clove Salt to taste 3 cups fresh basil leaves 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Method Pulse the nuts, lemon juice, and garlic in the food processor until they’re finely chopped. Add the basil and pulse again. Next, drizzle in the olive oil with the food processor blade still run- ning. Finally, add grated Parmesan cheese and process briefly until com- bined.

Chef Vijay Sadhu at LC Kitchen

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