Tag: #CowtownFarmersMarket

Communication, Community, Down On the Farm, Environment, Farmers Markets, Gratitude, Neighbors, Opal's Farm, Seasons, Service to Others, Summer, Tarrant Regional Water District, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers

The Beat Goes On…

gregoryjoel

The real dog days of summer have arrived in North Texas. Heat warnings and triple digit temperatures are expected for the next ten days. The tomatoes have gone dormant until Fall, the other crops are growing ever so slowly, and everything struggles (including me) to survive the baking sun. Fortunately, peppers and okra love summertime in Texas so we should have plenty soon!

Please take it easy this week if you work in this heat. Hydration, both water and plenty of electrolytes, and shade breaks are absolute necessities. Heat illnesses can sneak up on you and hit suddenly – I learned a lesson last week during a farm tour! – and heat injuries are serious.

We’ll be closing the farm for the month of August. We won’t have as many varieties of produce at Opal’s Farm Stand. I’m delaying some planting as I’ll be in at Texas State University in San Marcos next weekend for the Southern Family Farms and Food Systems Conference. Then I’ll be back home on Tuesday, but Margaret and I will be leaving on vacation Wednesday. We could have chosen a better time to go with rising gas prices (as well as for everything else!) but it’s the first real vacation we’ve had since the farm started in 2019. A huge shout-out goes to Amir for irrigating while I’m gone and to our friends at the TRWD police and the Fort Worth police for additional patrols at the farm.

We’re going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to see my stepson. To be honest, Iowa was never on my bucket list as I’ve always assumed that Iowa was just a lot of cornfields. Stereotyping anything is poor practice. You’ll miss out on the real beauty of a place. I’ve flown over Iowa many times, but I’ve never been there so this will be a new experience for me. It’s also going to be a bit challenging – it’s the first time we’ve ever been away from our pups for a whole week. I pray that their (and our) abandonment issues are minimal. Many thanks go out to our friend who’s housesitting in our absence.

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

Aside from the brutal August heat. I won’t be at Cowtown Farmers Market until the end of August. I always miss Cowtown when I can’t be there. I’ve had the privilege of gaining so many new relationships with our “regulars”. There’s one couple I want to acknowledge in a special way. Larry and Virginia (I don’t have permission to use their last name) have been incredible friends of Opal’s Farm. I didn’t see them this summer and just found out that they weren’t going to be able to come to Cowtown due to some health issues. I want you to know that you’ve been our my prayers. I’ll be sending some farm-fresh tomatoes when they come back in season. I miss you guys and love you so much. Thank for everything you do.

I hope to see you all in September. We love all you folks that volunteer and support Opal’s Farm. You have become part of the Opal’s family!

Community, Down On the Farm, Events, Farmers Markets, Neighbors, Opal's Farm, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Summer, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming

Market Days!

gregoryjoel

Happy Sunday morning my friends! We had a fantastic Cowtown Farmers Market and Opal’s Farm Stand yesterday. The predicted rainy Saturday turned out to be a beautiful summer day. It waited until the evening to start pouring down so Opal’s Farm received a huge blessing with God’s irrigation!

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Opal’s Farm Stand you need to come by and visit. We’re at the corner of Rosedale and Evans (1109 Evans) every Saturday from 1 PM until 4 PM. We’ve been blessed to have other vendors asking to come down. Stephen from Tabor Farms is there frequently with an abundance of produce grown right here in Fort Worth as well as Demetria’s incredible herbal teas and salves to meet your wellness needs. We’ll be adding two new vendors in the coming weeks so please come out and join the fun.

Tomato season is well under way. First time market goers may want to come early as tomatoes tend to sell out quickly. There’s nothing better than a real tomato – locally grown 100% organically! A warning though, you may never want to eat grocery store tomatoes again…

Please remember that next Saturday, June 13th, from 8 AM to Noon, is Cowtown Farmers Market’s 40th Anniversary Festival. It will be a special day for all of us. We hope to see you there.

Business, Communication, Community, Down On the Farm, Events, Fall, Farmers Markets, Food Equality, Food Justice, Gratitude, Neighbors, Non-Profits, Nutrition, Opal's Farm, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers

Finally Fall

gregoryjoel

It’s officially Fall and I hope you’re enjoying the somewhat cooler weather. We’re busy at Opal’s planting for Fall and our Winter crops. We’ve also had some changes to our Opal’s Farm Stand schedule in order to serve more of our neighborhood customers.

I’d love to say we’re on schedule for Fall/Winter planting, but I’ve fallen behind this year. The first frost date according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac will be on November 13th this year. Even though the lack of staffing and the knee injury have slowed me down, we should be on track to have a great Fall.

I don’t want to cop to the fact that I’m another year older this year, but age probably has something to do with it. The average age of a farmer/rancher in Texas is sixty-two. I’m finally above average at something! I’m so grateful for our regular volunteers that come each week to help with harvest and general maintenance of the farm. They’re a blessing to me.

Our farm stand business is growing, but we want to reach more of our neighbors. We’ve always offered SNAP/EBT benefits, but thanks to Texas Health Community Hope we now offer Double-Up Bucks as well. That’s half-price to SNAP recipients who visit the farm stand, and we’re so pleased to be a part of the Double-Up Bucks network.

Opal’s Farm Stand will continue to be at 201 N. Sylvania (“Doc” Sessions Community Center, 76111) from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM each Saturday except for the first Saturday of the month. On the first Saturday of the month Opal’s Farm Stand will be at the Funkytown Mindful Market (1201 Wesleyan, 76105) so we can serve our Polytechnic and eastside neighbors better. Come out and see us there.

I’d also like to remind you that the Cowtown Farmers Market will be having their Fall Festival on October 11th from 8:00 AM until Noon. They’ll have extra vendors, music, and food trucks to celebrate the Fall. We’ll be there and hope to see you all then.

Choices, Community, Connection, Down On the Farm, Emotional Health, Events, Family, Farmers Markets, Food Equality, Food Justice, Gratitude, Health, Neighbors, Opal's Farm, Regeneration, Service to Others, Simplicity, Spirituality, Summer, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming

Shop Local!

gregoryjoel

Greetings from Opal’s Farm. We will not be at Cowtown Farmers Market this week. The busy Spring planting season came to a bit of a halt this morning. The rain that came in overnight has been great for the farm and not so great for “being under the weather” physically. We will be there next Saturday morning and hate missing the Spring Festival this weekend. Bring your umbrellas and join the fun at Cowtown Farmers Market today!

I can’t stand to miss our family and friends at the market. Over the last five years, Cowtown Farmers Market has truly become family. It’s the highlight of my week. There’s something special about our market and the farmers and vendors who come each week to bring fresh local produce, meats, honey, and all kinds of other local products. I’ve learned so much from the knowledge freely shared by the farmers and friends there.

I grew up in Fort Worth but spent many days at my Uncle Carl’s ranch in South Texas or my Uncle Roof’s dairy farm up towards Boyd. I tend to be more of a carnivore when it comes to diet. That remained the case until I came to Cowtown. You see, Cowtown is unlike the way most folks shop for groceries. People actually stop and talk to one another. No avoiding hurried and harried people with shopping carts and frustration with checkout lines. You won’t find one self-checkout stand at the market; although people may line up because one of our farmers has something special that week (especially when peaches, tomatoes, and blueberries come in).

Photo by Nuzul Arifa on Pexels.com

I’m no vegetarian, nor am I knocking those who are. I still love meat, but Cowtown helped me broaden my food experience. Customers have shared their many ways to cook the fresh produce we bring to market each week and I’ve tried them all (well, most of them anyway). I’ve incorporated many of their recipes into my diet. I even like greens now (except for kale – you all like it so we’ll keep growing it for you – I’m not there yet…).

I hope you will all head out to Cowtown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Get to know our local farmers and vendors. Cowtown is a producer-only market. All the farms are within a 150-mile radius of Fort Worth. Everything is truly local. No one is a reseller – getting their produce from a distributor or wholesaler. In other words, we don’t have field tomatoes in January or Brussell Sprouts in August. Learning to eat what’s in season is not only respecting the Earth’s rhythms but benefits overall health as well.

Food is one thing we all have in common. It is to be savored and enjoyed by family and friends and so should shopping for it!

Community, Connection, Creation, Down On the Farm, Environment, Farmers Markets, Food Deserts, Food Equality, Food Insecurity, Food Justice, Gratitude, Neighbors, Opal's Farm, Preparation, Regeneration, Seasons, Service to Others, Simplicity, Spirituality, Spring, Thoughts From the Porch, Urban Farming, Volunteers

Spring Has Sprung – Maybe…

gregoryjoel

A huge thank you needs to go out to all the folks that came out to Cowtown Farmers Market yesterday. The weather was outstanding and it was so good to see so many of our old friends who stayed home over the winter. We had new vendors and some returning old ones. The Black Rooster Bakery sat up right next to us after their winter leave. I’m not sure it was such a great thing on my budget though. Joey and I certainly didn’t go hungry yesterday…

Speaking of not going hungry – Brushy Creek Farms has returned to Cowtown after a winter break and more of our produce vendors will be coming back as Spring moves forward. If we don’t have what you’re looking for then one of our other farms should be able to help you out.

We’ve had an exciting week at Opal’s Farm. Our BCS tractor is back from its Spring servicing at Homestead Equipment down by Waco. They are the only BCS dealership in Texas but well worth any drive you may have if you’re purchasing new equipment or servicing old ones. We’d love to say a heartfelt thank you as we were able to finish our tomato beds and start on the rest of the Spring crop beds.

We also had a special visitor this week. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a Bald Eagle at the farm. When he first flew by, I thought it was one of the Turkey Vultures we see daily. When he got closer, I realized what I was seeing. He was a majestic sight as he flew to perch on the giant utility pole at the south end of the farm.  I tried to get a good picture but honestly, I’m not much of a photographer and I couldn’t get the light right. What you see is what you get unfortunately. I tried later when he was by the river, but he took off before I could capture a good image. I hope he finds us a good space to hunt at Opal’s Farm. We’d love to have him back.

We’d also love to give a shout out to all our volunteers returning after a long winter! The warm days we’ve experienced have brought some our old friends out and more are coming. We hope you can come enjoy Spring planting with us.

I get to see the gorgeous weather outside my office window, but I’m reminded that it’s only March 3rd. North Texas weather has a way of fooling everyone into a false sense of “Spring Fever”. The last frost date is supposed to be March 18th so maybe, just maybe, Spring is setting in…