Saturday Morning At the Dallas Farmers Market
Organic Pesto, Sourdough Bread, Fig Trees and Cowboy hats
I love going to the farmers market. It’s almost like going to a rave. There are vendors, music, good food, and even people on drugs.
Every Saturday, I wake up and enjoy doing a little yoga, some writing, and sipping a cup of kaizen coffee before sprinting to the farmers market.
And yes, sprinting because my favorite vendor sells out before you can say the word sourdough bread.
The first stop: D's Sourdough Breads.
Is that a word or a phrase? ahh forget about it. This bread is insane.
D has the best organic sourdough bread I've ever tried. She is an absolute grinder working overnight to make sure the bread is ready for the weekend.
You better get there right when it opens at 10:00 am, because by 10:30, there's a line melting into the other stands. I always imagine that once I have a ton of money, I'll lease out a retail spot for her, create a state-of-the-art kitchen and run every bread store out of DTX.
Some might ask, "Bread? Aren't you into health Jack?"
Yes. Bread can be a superfood. Let me explain.
The bread you find at D’s is very different from a regular bakery.
Firstly, the bread is 100% organic. Most bread is made with grains that are sprayed with toxic chemicals like glyphosate and atrazine which cause serious health issues.
Second, D employs a traditional fermentation process that takes roughly 60-84 hours to complete.
This lengthy process helps unlock the essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids found in the grains, while also reducing the blood sugar spike, phytic acid, and gluten content. Sourdough also contains key bacteria like Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus lactis which help with boosting immune health and digestion.
I also learned that our bodies take around 18 hours to digest whole wheat, but when the bread is fermented, the grains are essentially pre digested. That means less digestive issues, more nutrients and less defense chemicals.
Most bakeries? Not organic, no long fermentations, and lots of additives like emulsifiers, preservatives, enzymes, and artificial sweeteners.
D’s breads contain only flour, water, salt, and wild yeast. Her decadent sourdough brioche features locally pastured eggs and organic pastured butter. Boom. Mic drop.
I feel amazing when I eat D's sourdough. Societies in Europe have been eating this style of bread for centuries and are considered some of the healthiest people in the world. And they eat bread every day!
Bread use to be the devil for me. Now I look at it in a different light. Vegan, carnivore, paleo, whatever - just eat the highest quality you can.
Eat a plant, eat some beef, eat a nut. Eat some sourdough bread.
Highly recommend checking her out at the Dallas Farmers Market.
Next on the list. Infused By Zen
Zeni, the owner, and I were discussing how great D's bread is when she told me, "Jack, you gotta try these new products I just made."
Next thing I knew, I was at her booth, surrounded by the aroma of a yogi pharmacy, getting doused with beautiful essential oils like bergamot, peppermint, and kolsi, an East African herb known for its detoxifying properties.
I love Zeni's craft and her focus on sourcing the highest quality organic essential oils. She curates her own herbs and sources some cool ingredients all the way from East Africa!
I loved her new hair serum and bought some. I'm currently loving it for the shine and its stimulating effects. Amazing vibes.
This place is like a candy land. Food here. Skin care over there. Good vibes everywhere.
This connection is impossible to find at a grocery store. You'll never know who cultivated that tomato or who created that skin care product, but at a farmers market, you can experience that tangible connection we all crave.
Last stop: Braga Farms
When I first met Braga, I was blown away. Here's this cool dude, rocking trippy scarves and a cowboy hat, who's into sports and loves talking about biodynamic radishes. Sick.
Braga's been running Braga Farms in Irving, Texas, for the past 9 years. It's a specialty biodynamic farm that grows the highest-vibe plants and products in all of DFW. You won't find this stuff anywhere else - like sorrel that tastes like a lemon bomb, spicy aromatic arugula, and microgreen pesto that's out of this world. And his son Ferris is a standout.
He's 10 years old, with enough charisma and the heart of a wild cowboy. You'll catch him handing out organic sorrel for everyone to try, negotiating prices, and talking about his jiu-jitsu competitions.
Yesterday, he gave me cuttings from a fig tree so I could plant my own. The relationship I'm building with this family just gets better every day.
My go-to farmers market lunch looks like this:
Take D’s bread and grill it.
In a separate pan, sauté some organic veggies like sweet potatoes, onions, and cauliflower rice in grass-fed raw butter.
Then, in that same pan, add in some bison sausage.
Once everything is thoroughly cooked, add on top some pasture-raised duck eggs.
Once they are poached and have bright orange yolks, add raw cheese all over it with some herbs, black pepper, oregano, thyme, etc. Add some of Braga’s pesto on top.
Once the bread is ready, spread some goat chèvre on it with some raw honey.
Voila!!!
Cooking is an art form. It's the connection between nature and you - a high-vibe act of gratitude. Amazingness! Thank you creator for providing us with these amazing people, amazing vibes, and an amazing life.
I have a task for you
This weekend, stop by your local farmers market.
Go to any stand you like and learn. (learn about the product, the farm, the ingredients, etc.)
Buy one cool thing.
Take a photo and tag me in it! We will get a farmers market community rolling!
I’m grateful to my partners who create amazing health & wellness products.
Disclaimer. I am not a doctor. This is just some random stuff I learned on the internet. Pretend it’s a story. Ok bye.
Love farmers markets and supporting local businesses and producers. The first thing I did when we moved to Fort Worth from Canada was scope out markets. Now we have our regular vendors and have created great relationships with them.
I love the idea of a farmers market thread. I’ll see if I can find one that’s running at this time of year up here. Brutal cold today, 30 degrees below freezing. Most of the markets are warm weather only since they’re outside.