Edible Dallas & Fort Worth Spring 2022

DEEP IN THE HEART

“All gardens have a placard with a QR code (that goes directly to our website, UrbanDirtCompany.com) were folks can learn more about the gardens themselves, Urban Dirt Co. and sign up for gardening classes or hire us for a garden installation.” The next step for Piper and her husband Darrin Waddle is a pop-up retail nursery in downtown Sherman where they will offer most of the plants that they grow in their commercial food-scapes in addition to holding affordable hands-on gardening classes where you can learn the skills to cultivate your own edible landscape.

Culinary Director Jeramie Robeson at the Thompson Hotel in Dallas

Piper and her team’s largest project is the 23-bed culinary garden at the new Village’s restaurant Meridian, run by acclaimed chef Junior Borges. ‘One of the most important things for me is the ability to go to the gar- den every day,’ says Borges, who is very involved in what goes into the soil and is inspired by the potential to create flavors that stand out. “We decide with Piper everything that’s planted, and so, naturally, we get excited about everything that grows.That said, I particularly love the coriander plants, since we use a lot of coriander on the moqueca — the Brazilian seafood stew that’s one of our signature dishes. I also get really excited about the various basils, mustard, shisos, mint, peppers and nas- turtiums,” Borges says. “Guests often tell me how that herb tastes “so fresh” or that “the gar- nish really elevated the dish’ because of how bright and fresh something might be,” he adds. Growing New Gardeners Piper’s gardens also serve to reinforce that visitors can incorporate some of the same principals into their home landscapes and that edible and highly ornamental potager gardens are becoming more in vogue for a reason. “There’s a wow factor,” Piper says. She’s seen epiphanies as people realize, “If they can put these gardens in front of million-dollar buildings, then I can do this at my house as well!” she says.

What Piper’s Planting for Spring “We will be planting a lot of kitchen herbs like dill, Italian oregano and lemon thyme, and bronze fennel in the chef gardens. The bar programs will get Mexican Mint mari- golds, Lemon Drop Spilanthes (toothache plant), nasturtiums and Thai basil all for the edible fl owers. Many of the chef gardens will get Sungold toma- toes and English cucumbers in April and May.” “Homeowners in March can plant lots of leafy greens like lettuce, kale, arugula, radishes for a quick-growing salad garden. Make sure they get quality soil fi rst and try to put everything on a drip system with a timer. This makes home gardening much more pleasant and successful.”

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