Farmers market season is back, and with it the question every Dallas cook eventually asks: which one is actually worth the Saturday morning. There are dozens of markets in the metroplex, and they are not all the same thing. Some are real producer-only markets where everything sold has to be grown, raised, or made by the person selling it. Others are flea-market hybrids where the produce is mostly resold from a wholesaler and the real action is the soaps and candles. Both have their place. They are not the same place.
Late April in North Texas is one of the best windows of the year. Strawberries are at peak. Asparagus is still going. English peas, sugar snap peas, spring onions, radishes, fresh herbs in every direction, the last good cauliflower and broccoli before the heat wins, and the first squash blossoms are starting to show up at the better stalls. The window is short. Here is an honest guide to five DFW markets, what each one actually is, the producers worth seeking out at each one, and what to put in the basket this week.
The first stop, and the one most people start with, is the Dallas Farmers Market at 920 South Harwood downtown. The Shed, which is the open-air pavilion where the actual farmers set up, runs Saturdays from 9 to 5 and Sundays from 10 to 5. The Market and adjacent shops are open seven days a week from 10 to 7. The Shed is the part to plan around. Get there before 11 if you want the best of what is in season.
Look for Bonton Farms, the South Dallas urban farm that brings rainbow eggs from heritage breeds — New Hampshire Reds, Copper Marans, French Blacks, Whiting True Blues — and seasonal greens grown on their working farm in the Bonton neighborhood. Beyond the Butcher is worth a stop for grass-fed Texas beef, fresh sausages, and pulled pork.
Jane’s Sourdough Bread sells out by 10:30 most Saturdays, so move on it early. Eden Hill Vineyard’s tasting room is in the adjacent shops if you want to add a bottle to the basket. For canned goods and shelf staples, Fox and Raven Mead sells small-batch honey wines out of Decatur. Right now, in late April, the move is strawberries, the first English peas, asparagus, and a head of butter lettuce. Bring a reusable bag and a cooler.
For the strictest, most produce-focused experience in Dallas proper, drive ten minutes north to the Saint Michael’s Farmers Market at 4344 Colgate Avenue, near Preston Center. Open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, April 18 through September 5 only — this is a seasonal market, not a year-round one. The rule at Saint Michael’s is absolute. Every vendor must grow, raise, or make 100 percent of what they sell. Distributors are not allowed. The 150-mile-radius requirement means everything came from somewhere within a day’s drive.
The market is run as a non-profit ministry of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, and the whole operation has the feel of a church potluck where the produce is exceptional. More than 50 vendors rotate through across the season, including Cartermere Farms out of Celina with their pastured eggs that have the deep orange yolks chefs build whole dishes around, and the Mozzarella Company, Paula Lambert’s 40-year-old Dallas cheese operation, which brings fresh mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone, and a smoked scamorza worth waiting in line for.
We first met Paula Lambert many years ago, before the awards, before the store in Deep Ellum. It was just Paula selling her fresh cheeses in a corner at a card table and a series of portable coolers. It was here she would discuss with anyone who would listen about her journey with mozzarella. So interesting, and that journey has come a very long way since those days.
Several jam, pickle, and cookie producers rotate through with the seasons — check the chalkboard at the Welcome Booth as you walk in for the day’s lineup. Show up at 8 sharp for first pick. Right now, the strawberries from the local growers are spectacular. Get a flat. Roast half, eat half raw with the Mozzarella Company ricotta and a piece of toast.
For the Saturday morning that doubles as a family outing, the Coppell Farmers Market at 768 West Main Street in Old Town Coppell is the move. Open Saturdays 8 to noon, year-round (with a reduced schedule in January through March, second and fourth Saturdays only). Established in 2003, around 40 vendors on a typical week, and a thousand customers walking through.
What sets Coppell apart is the strict producer-only rule combined with one of the better physical settings in the metroplex — a covered pavilion, a playground, a splash pad, plenty of free parking, and several walkable restaurants for breakfast or lunch after the shop. Summer Sweetness Texas Honey keeps 70 hives across five North Texas apiaries and has the local raw honey worth taking home — the spring honey is lighter and floral, the summer honey darker and richer. Jersey Girls Milk Co. brings yogurt, milk, and cheese from their dairy operation.
The Mozzarella Company also sells here. Several rotating vendors handle pickles, hot sauces, jams, and small-batch cookies — the Saturday lineup is on the market’s Instagram (@coppellfarmersmarket) the night before. Coppell takes SNAP and doubles SNAP dollars on fruits and vegetables, which matters. In late April, the produce to look for is asparagus, the first peas, butter lettuce, spring onions, and radishes that still taste like radishes. Bring kids. Bring an empty cooler.
The other producer-only market worth knowing is White Rock Local Market, run by Good Local Markets in Lakewood, Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. White Rock has a similar 150-mile radius rule and a similar grow-or-make-it-yourself requirement. The vibe is more East Dallas than Park Cities — younger crowd, more dogs, more conversations about home brewing, more vendors selling small-batch hot sauce and fermented things. Fruth Farms out of Caddo Mills brings chicken, duck, goose, guinea, turkey, and quail eggs, which is an inventory you will not find anywhere else in DFW. The grass-fed beef vendors are the draw.
The local tamale vendor moves first. The bakery options are particularly strong — sourdough loaves, kolaches when somebody is making them, the occasional pretzel that justifies the trip on its own. White Rock is the market where you are most likely to bump into a chef shopping for the weekend’s specials, which tells you everything about the quality of the produce. Right now, in late April, look for rainbow chard, the last good spinach, English peas in their pods, herbs, and strawberries from whichever local grower made the trip that morning.
And for Fort Worth, the answer is the Cowtown Farmers Market at 8901 Clifford Street in White Settlement, hosted at the Veterans Park Grand Pavilion. Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon, year-round, rain or shine. Established in 1986, which makes it the oldest market in Fort Worth, and producer-only with the standard 150-mile-radius rule. Wednesday markets resume during peak season from mid-June through mid-August, which doubles the chances of catching a vendor whose Saturday booth sold out.
The producers worth knowing here are Armaugh Creamery for raw milk, yogurt, and small-batch cheese, First Earth Farm for produce grown the way you want produce grown, and Skye Farms for sustainably raised meat and eggs. The market has a regular bread baker, a local salsa producer, a tamale vendor, and a small but reliable rotation of jam and pickle makers. Free parking, an unfussy room, friendly vendors, none of the polish of the bigger Dallas markets and all the better for it. In late April, the produce to grab is asparagus, strawberries, rainbow chard, and the first really good spring onions. If you live in Fort Worth or anywhere west of Arlington, this is the one.
A few practical notes for any of them. Get there early. The serious shoppers are at the gates when they open, the best produce moves before nine, and the eggs and bread are gone by ten on a busy Saturday. Bring cash even if vendors take cards — small bills speed up every transaction and most vendors prefer them. Bring a cooler if you are buying meat, dairy, or eggs and not heading straight home. Talk to the farmers. They will tell you how to cook what they sold you, when their next harvest is coming in, and what is going to be at peak the following week.
The window for spring produce is short in Texas. Six weeks if you are lucky. By late May the asparagus is done, the peas are gone, and the strawberries are a memory. Go this Saturday. Pick one of these markets, get there at eight, fill the basket, and cook something you actually want to eat on Sunday.
