By Minnie Payne     

Tilling the soil, planting and caring for poultry or rabbits just got easier for Dallas area urban farmers with the opening of Trinity Haymarket in the Design District in October. 

Dallasites Bill Dougherty and Fred Owen, co-owners and home farmers, had difficulty finding high quality whole-grain feeds, hard-to-find tools and specialty supplies, so they decided that for their benefit and the benefit of other local home farmers, they would open a store that stocked such items.

“Having raised poultry for decades and being beekeepers ourselves, we knew from experience what a challenge it was to obtain the provisions necessary to maintain a happy cottage farm in the city,” says Dougherty. (Photo: Fred Owner measuring feed for a customer.)

Trinity Haymarket specializes in non-GMO, non-soy and organic feeds, as well as supplies and tools for the small-scale farmer.  Dougherty says that more and more people want to know how and where their food is raised. Thus, urban/backyard farming.

“By searching far and wide, we’re able to provide fresh, palatable and nutritious feeds,” says Dougherty. “All grains going into our feeds are grown by small farmers adhering to organic principles and methods, resulting in an eco-friendly, nutrient rich product.”

A comprehensive selection of non-GMO and organic whole grains, from dent corn to field peas to millet, is offered to customers who prefer to mill and mix their own feeds. Only grass, grain and legume products that have been grown and harvested without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are available. Essential natural and wholesome mineral products, along with clean, fresh feed, are designed to bring optimal health to your poultry and small stock.
 
Supplies such as drinkers, feeders, grain bins, grit crocks, dusting powders, nest bowls/ boxes, portable backyard coops and hutches will make taking care of your chickens, ducks, pigeons or rabbits easier.

Owen says that since he and Dougherty had been small farmers for many years, they had a vision that they could help others do the same.

“What has been unique since we opened is that we’re finding that people hear about our store because we’re selling good feed and chickens and when they get here, they realize that we stock a great many other things for sustainable living,” Owen says. “We offer heirloom open pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds and non-GMO products from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, a source from which our customers formerly bought online.

“We also sell good breed/good egg-laying pullets which we raise at home and for which we take orders.”

Look for various events that Trinity Hay Market will be sponsoring throughout the year where you can personally talk with Dougherty and Owen. Whether you tend a backyard flock of poultry to cultivate a few acres of grain, keep a hutch full of rabbits or maintain a couple of beehives, Trinity Haymarket says it can help you and your small farm thrive.

Trinity Haymarket 
1715 Market Center Blvd.
Dallas, Texas 75207
214-202-2163

Photos: Phillip Shinoda

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Minnie Payne is reporter for Green Source DFW.  She’s open to all story suggestions from readers. She was a writer for Pegasus News and presently freelances for Living Magazine and Frisco Style Magazine,  contact her at  972-416-2823, jdpmap@verizon.net