Each and every Saturday farmers from across North Texas make the trek to the Coppell Farmers Market to sell the fruits of their labor. Week after week they thoughtfully set up their display, then smile and visit with their customers until the close of the day. Their weekly presence is as dependable as the setting sun.
To learn more about these farmers, their practices, and their dedication to local food we set out to visit their operations. The Farmers Market Committee has been conducting site visits since the markets conception in 2003. These visits have helped us build community with our farmers, and just as importantly, they’ve allowed us teach farmers market shoppers about the source of their food.
Weathertop Farm Forrestburg, TX
Farmers: Chris Buckalew and family
Tomatoes in the greenhouse are pruned to encourage the main stalk to grow upward.
Two greenhouses behind the house.
There are about 100 laying hens living in harmony at Weathertop.
Chris shows us a hit-and-miss engine that he’s restored. This horse drawn crop sprayer dates circa 1920.
Newly planted field. Chris Buckalew uses plastic mulch as an effective weed barrier, a method used by many farms.
Dry Valley Dairy
Forrestburg, TX
Dairy Farmer: Charles Steadham
Farmer Charles leans over the cheese vat while he explains the cheese making process.
The milking parlor. Charles milks just six cows at a time. This helps him ensure the cleanliness of the process and the health of the cows as the end product is unpasteurized.
Charles tells us his story. He bought the dairy in 1989, and operated as a commercial dairy with 200 Holstein cows. Today he milks 40 Jersey cows and sells milk to families who pickup from the farm.
Cheese aging in the cheese cellar, which stays at a temp of 43 degrees.
A variety of sliced and packed cheeses for sale inside the farm store fridge.
Livestock First Ranch
Sherman, TX
Rancher: Taylor Cooper
Rancher Taylor Cooper leases 80 acres from family. Upon entering the farm these small chicken houses are seen perched in a distant pasture to the left.
Taylor walks the chicken houses explaining that broilers, chickens raised spefically for meat production, are housed in the structures at night and have access to pasture in the day. He fences sections of the pasture surrounding the house
This is a friendly young barrow, a castrated male pig, who will soon go to the butcher. Taylor explained that all male pigs, like cows and sheep, are castrated in order to prevent meat from having a strong gamey flavor. If a male has been selected for breeding he will remain in tact.
Snort snort!
These Long Horns grazed near the chicken processing building. Taylor and staff processed 200 chickens the day of the visit.
