Totally Texas -- A fresh season for farmers markets

Do your children know where food comes from? Hint -- it didn’t grow in those plastic packages from the big-box stores. You can help them explore by visiting a farmers market (or two or three) now that spring has ushered in fresh crops at North Texas markets. Some markets mentioned here are open year-round, others are seasonal. But everything in this post should have some products to offer at least through fall.

In Balch Springs, Eden’s Organic Garden Center holds markets every first, third and fifth Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon, at 4710 Pioneer Road, with emphasis on organic products. Buys include organic produce, organic dairy products, organic baked goods, and pastured beef. See www.edensorganicsfarm.com/.

The Coppell Farmers Market is open every Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, at 455 W. Bethel Road, between Denton Tap Road and Freeport Parkway, in Old Town. See www.coppellfarmersmarket.org/.

In Dallas, the Farmers Market at 1010 Pearl Expressway is open almost daily (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day), year round. Although many of the stalls were empty of locally-grown produce during the winter, local farmers are here now. Most of the locally-produced products are available on Saturdays. Local farmers are mainly in Shed No. 1; artisanal producers and a food court are in Shed No. 2. Open 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. for retail sales.

In Fort Worth, Cowtown Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8 a.m. - noon, at 3821 Southwest Blvd. (on the traffic circle). This is a “producer-only” market, with everything grown, raised or produced within 150 miles of Fort Worth. See www.cowtownfarmersmarket.com/.

In addition, its associated North Central Texas Farmers Market Association holds markets at Richland Hills Elementary School, 6980 Baker Blvd. (also known as Highway 10), Saturdays from 2-6 p.m.; and a Pantego Farmers Market at Bicentennial Park, 3600 Smith Barry Road, Saturdays from 8 a.m. to sell-out.

The Grand Prairie Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Market Square, 120 W. Main St. See www.gptx.org/farmersmarket/


The McKinney Farmers Market runs weekly, 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays at Chestnut Square Historic Village, McDonald and Anthony (parking in lot on McDonald’s); and 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Adriatica, 6851 Virginia Parkway. For information, see www.chestnutsquare/programs/farmers_market.asp./

White Rock Local Market is open from 8 a.m. - noon every second and fourth Saturday, at 720 N. Buckner Blvd. at Northcliff Drive in Dallas. This year, White Rock has a growers-only policy, meaning farmers will only bring what they’ve grown or whose farm of origin they can identify. Also new this year is the opportunity to buy from backyard gardeners at the Gardener Table. For additional information, see www.whiterocklocalmarket.com/.

In addition to returning vendors, newcomers include Latte Da Dairy with artisanal goat cheeses, Three Happy Cows with its cajeta (a pourable caramel) and award-winning drinkable yogurts, Citas Salsa and East Dallas’ Noble Coyote Coffee Roaster.

On my last visit, I saw organic produce (including edible flowers), organic eggs, and preserved items, including the fig preserves like I haven’t seen since my nonagenarian neighbor died. Email JuHa Ranch for Saturday delivery of its grass-fed beef and pastured lamb, pork, and chicken at www.juhacattlecompany.com/.

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Announcing a schedule change -- Next week, the schedule of this blog’s three sections will change to better fit your needs. Beginning April 30, Wordcraft moves to Mondays to bring you faster news from weekend writing conferences and readings. Adventure classics moves to Wednesdays May 2, for a quick, fun read to get you over the work week hump. Totally Texas moves to Fridays May 4, to help you plan your weekend.)

Totally Texas -- An Asian oasis in the heart of Dallas

The Crow Collection of Asian Art

2010 Flora St., Dallas

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I got hooked on the Crow Collection several years ago when the federal agency I worked for held training sessions on the east end of downtown Dallas. I’d pack a brown bag and spend the too-short lunch breaks exploring the riches at the Crow. It was close. It was cool. And the price was right for a government employee -- free.

My grandsons got hooked by the glassed-in sky bridge joining galleries when they spied a dragon puppet there one Chinese New Year. Chinese dragons, they decided, were especially cool because they had beards.

The sky bridge currently houses an exhibition of origami cranes -- the fruits of the Crow Collection’s “1000 Cranes, 1000 Years of Happiness” competition. The competition’s winner was Rebekah Rutledge, with a truly amazing contribution of 7,000 birds folded from paper. The site www.crowcollection.org/1000cranechallenge.aspx/ includes a romantic picture with the glittering birds, but I like the one with little boys that illustrates this post. (Please note that the Crow, like any museum, places limits on photography.)

With summer temperatures in much of Texas hovering around what meteorologists optimistically call “the low one hundreds,” strolling the galleries is a good way to get your daily quota of exercise for body, mind and spirit. The Crow Collection responds with several special exhibitions. Its first floor showcases “Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond” through September 11 and “Motion Pictures: A Handful of Drawings by Katsushika Hokusai” through August 28.

From Friday, August 19 through Friday, August 26, Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery construct a Tantric Buddhist mandala sand painting using millions of grains of crushed marble to generate energies for global healing.

When my family last visited, “Dream Chamber: Chinese Bedroom Furniture from the 17^th through 19^th Century” and “Fabled Journeys in Asian Art: East Asia” were being installed. For more information on upcoming exhibits, see www.crowcollection.org/current_exhibitions.aspx/

Like any good art museum, the Crow has a luscious selection of gifts in its aptly named Lotus Shop. The boys had to be dragged away. Obviously, they inherited my daughter’s shopping gene. The Crow is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s closed on Mondays. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

(Next month: Totally Texas goes watery, beginning with Austin’s perpetually-cool Barton Springs Pool)