At yesterday's farmers market set-up in Mockingbird Station, turnout was relatively small but nonetheless familiar. Brandon Pollard, a favorite at the downtown Dallas Farmers Market, wore his trademark honeybee costume, complete with wings and antennae. (See for yourself in our brief slideshow.) His wife Susan wore earrings shaped like bees and a veiled beekeeping hat. Paul Wackym, who calls himself (and his cookie company) "The Baker Man," sported a jaunty straw hat with a sunflower attached to it. A tanned, wiry Marie Tedei spoke with enthusiasm about organic farming. Margie Haley, a beloved member of the White Rock Neighborhood Association, cut a pastoral figure with a red dress and a basket of home-grown eggs.
Mockingbird Station plans to host a farmers market every Thursday, from 5 to 8 p.m., throughout May. And folks behind the city-run market downtown consider the small newcomer a welcome addition: Sol Calinao, a marketing rep for the Dallas Farmers Market, tells Unfair Park, "Our biggest day here is the weekends. If [farmers] are there on a Thursday, they can bring people here on a Saturday. It's a win-win for both."
She may be right: The crowd that wanders through Mockingbird Station on a weeknight might not think to go to the downtown market -- until they get addicted to Tedei's radishes or the Pollards' local honey. Pam Baker, the general manager of Mockingbird Station, said a farmers market is a means of tapping into "the green theme."
The Pollards, as readers of the paper version of Unfair Park will
recall, have dubbed themselves "urban bee wranglers"; their goal is to
rescue hiveless bees and help rebuild their hives until they can find
qualified or aspiring beekeepers who can look after the hive -- sort of
like honeybee foster care. They brought their buzzing hive with them,
and a steady stream of young children dragged their parents toward it,
pointing out the working bees with fascination.
Wackym has a less agricultural story. He used to be in product
development at Neiman Marcus, where he got a feel for the best cakes
and candies on the market. Last fall, he took that knowledge and
applied it to a cookie business called The Baker Man, which produces
all-natural (real butter, cane sugar) cookies in creative flavors such as
margarita (key lime and sea salt) and chocolate snickerdoodle. The Baker
Man's motto: "Life is Sweet; Eat Great Treats."
Tedei, a longtime organic farmer, usually sells her produce at her own
garden shop in Balch Springs and to local restaurants, but yesterday
she brought Mockingbird Station radishes, lettuce, several varieties of
starter plants and a winning smile. But while Tedei's the one whose
produce you want to buy, Haley's the one from whom every
aspiring urban farmer can learn.
Taking advantage of Dallas' ordinance
allowing chickens (but not roosters), Haley got herself nine hens last
August. Every night, they go up to roost together; every morning they
come down and lay eggs all day -- three or four eggs each in the winter,
and up to eight a day in the summer, Haley says. In all, since she
started, Haley's gotten 870 free eggs for her family and friends. City
ordinance aside, Haley says jokingly, she may have to sneak in a rooster to make sure she gets another generation of good layers.
