Edible Dallas & Fort Worth Spring 2022

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

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