Don Baugh is an exception to the old saying of “quality over quantity” as his farm has both quality and quantity. Every individual watermelon, potato, tomato, squash, zucchini, onion, pea, peach, or plum in his 30 or so acres is picked and grown by hand with only quality and consumer enjoyment in mind. As he says: “we’re one of a kind. It’s just good food and good produce. It’s homegrown, you know where it comes from. It doesn’t come from cold storage, it doesn’t come from California or Florida, it comes from Van Zandt County, Texas, and it ends up all over Dallas.” For this reason, Julian Barsotti, the acclaimed executive chef and owner of Sprezza’s, Nona’s, and Carbone’s, directly told Don “you’ve got the best tasting tomatoes anywhere, even in Italy.” Also, Matthew Ford, the executive chef of Americano in the Joule Hotel, frequently buys Baugh’s tomatoes for his dishes. In fact, Don Baugh even indirectly sold a watermelon to hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg: “I sold him [Matthew Ford] a watermelon one time, a big, huge watermelon. He came back the next day and said that Snoop Dogg and his crew were in that hotel [Joule Hotel] that night, and they ordered a fruit plate, so Matthew sent them up some of my watermelon. He [Snoop Dogg] called and ordered six more fruit plates and ended up eating the whole watermelon. He ate my watermelon and he loved it.”
Besides providing his produce to exceptional chefs and restaurants over the years, Baugh Farms has also provided consumers with freshly picked, delicious produce at the Dallas Farmers Market for a century. Don Baugh, the current owner of Baugh Farms, is not only a third-generation farmer but also a second-generation grower at the Dallas Farmers Market; a testament to both the quality of the Baugh family’s produce and their loyalty to the market. Since birth, Don Baugh has been immersed in the Dallas Farmers Market. As a baby, Don’s father would take him to the market with him in a stroller while he sold his produce. In later years, as a boy, Don Baugh loved running around the family “tomato patch” helping his father harvest succulent tomatoes during the summer to sell together at the Dallas Farmers Market. For many years, as father and son, they continued this tradition and sold at the market together until the father eventually retired and passed down the tradition and farm to his son. Now, many years later, he still has that same passion for picking fresh produce and continues to tirelessly provide consumers at the Dallas Farmers Market with his trademark heirloom tomatoes. For generations, the Baugh Family has farmed under a model of quality with a mission to supply the freshest and best produce possible to the people of the North Texas area, and Don Baugh has continued that crucial tradition with his son, Charlie and grandson, Brian.
~ Guest Blog Post
