The Frisco Fresh Market has opened the first phase of a 19,000-square-foot outdoor farmers’ market. With more than 100 vendors, it offers a curated selection from the best farmers, ranchers, bakers, artisans and chefs in North Texas. Participating vendors include International House of Grilling, Taste of Mardi Gras, Nomadic Noodle, Texas Pit Stops, and Funnel Cake Paradise.

The Frisco Fresh Market vendors will be open for business on Independence Day. At 9 a.m., July 4.  Jambox Fitness, of Frisco and Addison, will start off the day with obstacle courses, dance battles, boot camp stations, and live DJ until 11 a.m. At 1 p.m., musical guests will take to the stage and a range of activities will run throughout the day until the firework celebration.

Raffle prizes ranging from Frisco Fresh Market apparel to gift cards will be awarded every hour. With shaded tent seating, large fans and cooling mist machines visitors will be comfortable as they soak in the sights, sounds, and lively atmosphere of the market.

 “Our team has looked far and wide to find the best vendors for our market. We have met and visited every farm and ranch to bring the freshest fruits, vegetables and meats in Texas, to Frisco” said Preston Cheng, of USAI Investments, the development company. “The grand opening of our outdoor market is just the first step in a series of exciting plans for Frisco Fresh Market.”

Frisco Fresh Market regular hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thu. and Fri. and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat. and Sun. Location: 9215 John W. Elliott, Frisco. there are two convenient parking lots adjacent to the area. For more information, call 844-776-2753 or visit FriscoFreshMarket.com or call 844-776-275 

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For over a decade, the City of Plano has lived up to its “City of Excellence” motto by being consistently ranked among the most livable cities, not just in Texas, but also throughout the entire country. Recent accolades include Plano named as one of North Texas’ Top-Ranking Healthiest U.S. Cities, by the Dallas Business Journal; and SmartAsset ranked Plano as one of Best Places for Green jobs.

A commitment to green initiatives has played a role in Plano becoming one of America’s most livable communities. Heather Merchant, Sustainability and Environmental Education Manger for the City of Plano, has been with the city’s sustainability program since its inception in 2006. She says that through Live Green in Plano, the city’s education and outreach program that supports Plano’s sustainability efforts, they have been successful in getting citizens to take active roles in all aspects of sustainability.

“We have five full-time environmental educators that focus on different topics within the sustainability realm,” Merchant says. “Those include recycling, composting, water quality and conversation, energy conservation and air quality initiatives. We also focus on litter reduction efforts and volunteer coordination.”

The Live Green in Plano programs provide education and information for people so they can make realistic, daily behavior changes to help them live greener, environmentally friendly lifestyles in the community, thus helping the city meet its goals in the area of sustainability.

The gardening programs exemplify the program’s successes. Through the Plano Community Garden project, residents learn about gardening techniques and water-wise landscaping, using native plants that are heat and drought tolerant for the area, which increases biodiversity and conserves water. The water-wise landscape tour held every autumn features several local homes with exemplary native landscapes, serving as models that people can learn from and gain ideas to implement into their own landscapes.

Fifty percent of the community garden harvest is donated to local food pantries, and garden volunteers get to keep the other half. Along with gardening classes, lessons in composting are also offered. “The secret to gardening is having healthy soil, so we teach people how to divert their organic waste into a compost pile, and then use that finished compost,” Merchant says. “It’s a closed loop that involves soil, health of plants and conserving landfill space, all at the same time.”

Because water scarcity has quickly emerged as one of today’s most pressing environmental issues, the city’s water conservation classes through Live Green in Plano include a sprinkler spruce-up workshop, where people learn to make simple repairs to their irrigation systems, and even learn how to tackle basic plumbing leaks in the home. Participants also learn how to install environmentally sound drip irrigation. Merchant says those programs have been very successful in the city’s water conservation efforts. They’ve also developed a series of online learning modules that are frequently used by the public and the Plano Independent School District. The online learning modules are related to sprinkler control, home energy efficiency, green building and waste diversion.

Merchant emphasizes the sustainability program is propelled by the Live Green in Plano Champions, the volunteer program where community residents can take a five-week course to train in basic sustainability concepts and topics, become familiar with city programs in those areas, and provide 24 hours of community service through the sustainability outreach programs. “They help us extend our arm into the community—they are our ambassadors,” she says.

Other sustainability events held by the city include a compost fair, and the Texas Recycles Day, a one-day collection event that encourages people to bring in specific items to be reused, like textiles and clothing, athletic equipment, medical supplies or pet items, to be donated to organizations that redistribute those goods to people in need.

A document shredding service is also on hand to securely destroy personal documents to help prevent identity theft. There’s also the Great American Cleanup, in which residents help clean up litter throughout the community, which builds pride.

“Our residents have really gotten on board,” Merchant remarks, “we’re really fortunate to live where people are interested in green lifestyle practices and environmental stewardship, and they want to be engaged. They like the quality of life in Plano, and they continue to maintain that.”

Plano mayor Harry LaRosiliere adds, “The City of Plano's commitment to healthy, sustainable lifestyles are validated by our prestigious 4-STAR Community national rating. These sustainability efforts are another reason why individuals and businesses are proud to call Plano home.”

STAR Communities is a nonprofit organization that works to evaluate, improve, and certify sustainable communities. 

For more information about the City of Plano’s sustainability program or to volunteer for Live Green in Plano, visit Plano.gov/212/Sustainability-Environmental-Education.

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Summer Nature Center Discover Camps For kids from 10 to 14 years old at Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve. All camps are from 1 to 4 p.m., and there are camps available for younger kids. Four, half-day outdoor Discover Workshops each focus on a different theme.

Week one is June 6 and is Eco-Citizens, where campers learn about edible plants and make jam from mustang grapes growing on the preserve. Week two is the writers’ workshop, where campers do journaling and experience the world of nature writing out on 70 acres of trails.

Week three, June 20 and 21, is Great Nature Games, where campers are taken through scenario-based games that will help them see life though the eye of some of Texas’ most impressive species. Week four, June 27 and 28, No Impact, will help campers learn to harness nature’s resources in a non-impactful way, such as harnessing the sun to cook and using recycled/reused materials to make eco-art.

The park is surrounded by 758 acres natural habitat with 20 miles of hiking trails on the preserve and the Walnut Grove National Recreation Trail. There is also a great pool to enjoy.

Location: 355 E. Bob Jones Rd., Southlake. For more information, call 817-491-6333 or visit bjnc.org.

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Urban agricultural start-up Turn has launched a food waste pickup service for restaurants, businesses, special events and residents of Dallas, in zip codes 75204, 75206, 75214, 75218, 75228 and 75238. They can choose from three different subscription options or elect a one-time pickup of seasonal organic items.

At least 30 percent of what goes into the landfill is compostable kitchen and yard waste. Turn picks it up puts it to good use with local farms and gardens to feed their animals and their compost piles. So far, partners includes Bonton Farms, Texas Worm Ranch, Urban Chicken Inc., the Green Restaurant Association and the Lakewood Elementary School Garden.

Co-founder Lauren Clarke says, “We’re passionate about connecting different pieces of the local food cycle and providing a comprehensive service that makes it easy for residents and businesses to do the right thing. DFW is one of the fastest growing metroplexes in the United States, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be doing this, as other cities across the U.S. are.”

Residential subscriptions start at $28; commercial clients can fill out a request form. For more information, visit TurnCompost.com.

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A spot of hidden City land along a stretch of the Trinity River’s Elm Fork, in-between I-35E and Storey Lane, in northwest Dallas comprises acres of heavily wooded, boggy bottomlands located where Bachman Branch joins the river. A section of the Trinity’s original riparian meanders remains, framed by the undulating terrain of a floodplain.

White egrets explore the shallows as a red slider turtle breaks the water just offshore. An avian ruckus arises in nearby Fishing Hole Lake, most likely songbirds mobbing a bird of prey marauding their nests. The tapping of an unseen woodpecker resounds through the woods. A bobcat print is visible in the mud. The area is notable not only for its wild surroundings, but also because it is free of trash.

GroundWork Dallas makes sure of that. On the third Saturday of the month, their Green Team youth groups, along with volunteers from Meetup and Master Naturalist groups, descend upon this slice of urban wilderness for cleanups.

“It was amazingly filthy two years ago," says Executive Director Richard Buckley, standing along the original Trinity in what he hopes will become known as the Frasier Dam Recreation Area. “You could not look anywhere along the shoreline and not see trash.“

Buckley involves everyone he can in the trash-reduction effort: upstream landowners and businesses, the committed kayakers, canoeists and even fishermen that ply the Elm Fork. He advises, “If it weren’t for volunteers, we wouldn’t be here.” They have extricated everything from refrigerators to Styrofoam cups, all of it deposited by the Trinity and its tributaries. And every month, the river brings more. “The amount of trash that flows in is crazy,” says Buckley.

Once the Frasier Dam area is made safe, beautiful and ecologically healthy, GroundWork is committed to opening the public land up for fishers, boaters, mountain bikers, hikers, runners, bird watchers and nature enthusiasts. Green Team members and volunteers brave poison ivy and slithery creatures to reclaim the old trail system from rampant undergrowth and invasive privet. In the process, they learn design and construction techniques perfected in Buckley’s Lone Star Trail Building School.

Groundwork Dallas specializes in soft-surface trails. “Everything we do is as friendly to nature and the animals associated with it as possible, so we don't disturb them,” says Buckley. Once completed, the trails will last for years without dirt maintenance, even in floodplains. “I am huge on proper drainage,” insists Buckley. “When building natural surface trails, you must pay great attention to water flow, more so than with a road or concrete trail.”

Green Team members also assist with the construction and installation of trail and water-side benches, along with picnic tables, observation decks and blinds. Regular testing of Trinity and tributaries is a big part of their efforts. Occasionally, naturalists are brought in for ecological lessons.

Camaraderie abounds, but there's a practical side, too. Green Team members are coached in vocational recreation opportunities, preparing them for the jobs expected to open up in federal land bureaus like the National Park Service as the last of baby boomers retire.

With GroundWork Dallas’ big plans, the need for volunteers is unquenchable. On first Saturdays, the group tackles Hines Park, a small wetlands-focused area off Harry Hines at the Webb Chapel Extension. On second Saturdays, it’s the Buckeye Trail, in the Great Trinity Forest.

Garrett Boone, co-founder of  Texas Business for Clean Air, an avid birder, and Groundwork Board member is a tireless advocate for the Elm Fork corridor and wants to make the 4,000 acres stretching along the I-35E corridor from Frasier north to the L.B. Houston Nature Area off California Crossing into a national-park-quality attraction.. “His vision for the Elm Fork is to build connecting natural-surface trail systems through the forest, linking scenic points of interest, “ says Buckley. “  He wants to get the public out into the great nature Dallas has to offer, because they won’t care about what they can’t see,”

For more information, visit GroundWorkDallas.org and Meetup.com/Groundwork-Dallas-Changing-Places-Changing-Lives.

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