more on SARAH PERRY AND MARY NORVELL Texas Tough Bulbs for beautiful color year-round

You’ll be amazed at our huge selection of Texas grown perennial bulbs. Choose from an array of Grape Hyacinth, Daffodils, Spanish Bluebells, Alliums, Spider lilies and so much more. Pick your favorites now before they’re all gone!

Shop Organic & Local

Did you know that NHG grows many garden plants and veggies organically right at the garden center? Blue Label Herbs, grown by our local sister company, are also grown organically. Don’t forget to pick up some NHG Organic Herb Food!

 Select your fresh wreaths, swags, garland & fresh cut trees the day after Thanksgiving, November 26th.

 Choose from the best fresh-cut Christmas trees in town!

 Check out the new Poinsettia ‘Orange Spice’ and exotic Amaryllis varieties.

Miss Mawkers Coffee & Tea at the Dallas Farmer’s Market? They’re here at NHG each weekend in winter. Check online at www.nhg.com for their schedule.

It’s probably been a lot of work. Has It been tougH?

MN: It is not really tough. It is time consuming, and we have a lot of vendors who want to be a part of the market and in some areas, we have to pick and choose. the market is held the second and fouth saturday of every month. the first one of the month is crafts and food, and the second is just food.

wHy mIgHt a vendor be turned away?

SP: we have to strike a balance. there are a lot of bakers and jewelry makers, for example; we can’t have too much of one thing. one thing we are always looking out for, though, is good produce. sometimes the produce is sold out by 10 a.m. eggs, too. so those types of things are a priority when it comes to striking that balance. the farmers need to be local, generally that means within 150 miles of dallas. and all the crafts are handmade.

wHat types of tHIngs do you Have planned for tHe fall season?

MN: we have a pie-baking contest planned for nov. 13, and a big holiday market planned for december (visit whiterocklocalmarket.com for dates).

wHat types of tHIngs can we expect to see at one of tHese bIg markets?

SP: Handmade natural body products, ceramics, knitters, clothing, furniture — tom Q. kelly is a very popular furniture vendor. there’s a guy who sells rain barrels, and a guy who refurbishes and sells old bicycles, to name a few. then of course there is food — dairy, meat, produce, tamales, pasta, preserves and local honey.

Have you learned anytHIng outstandIng so far from your experIence wItH tHe wHIte rock local market?

MN: we have been to visit some of the farmers; we do some visiting during the off-season in January and february. we went out to windy Hill farm, for example, and the animals, the pigs, they live on this beautiful land. those pigs have it made. It is just so cool to see.

SP: I love the feeling of bringing food home to my own family from the market. you get the organic, all-natural food, and it’s a good feeling to bring it all home and to know that your money went directly to the farmers. I also love watching the vendors — a diverse group of people — interact with one another. they give one another products, barter, and help each other out — it’s this great sense of community. that’s my favorite thing.

—chriStiNa hugheS BaBB

get a (clean) grip

Dawn Miefert describes herself as a germ-aphobic/germ-aholic. In other words, she doesn’t like germs, but she also obsesses on them. Her interest in germs gave her the idea for an invention she hopes could be a moneymaker. The invention is PhitGrip, an anti-microbial grip that fits onto free weights. Here’s how she got the idea.“My gym partner and I were working out next to this guy who was noticeably sick,” she says. The guy sneezed into his hands and then went to pick up weights.“The hair on the back of my neck stood up,” says Miefert, who lives in Forest Hills. Workout gloves don’t protect from germs, and besides, they can make your hands sweat, which causes calluses. And gym rats can’t stop between every station to wash their hands. There had to be a solution. It took three years and many prototypes to get right. But Miefert finally came up with a formula that works.PhitGrip is made from liquefied rubber injected with oxygen, so it’s full of tiny bubbles, is thin, and has a suede-

BENJAMIN HAGER

like feel. The paint in the logo contains anti-microbial material to keep germs at bay, so users are supposed to rub their hands together periodically to spread the germ-fighting stuff around. Miefert has been using the product for two years, and she swears she hasn’t had a cold since. Users have found the grips are beneficial for more than just weights. People use them on grocery carts, treadmill rails and public transportation handrails. One client bought a pair for his mother’s walker, Miefert says. Miefert owns an advertising agency called Merge Media Group, and she’s using a viral marketing approach for PhitGrip. She employs social media and brand ambassadors to spread the word. PhitGrips retail for $9.99, and so far, Meifert is selling about 20 pairs a day on her website, phitgrip.com. For every pair of PhitGrips sold until the end of the year, the company is donating $1 to the Trevor Project, which focuses on crisis and suicide prevention among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

—RACHEL STONE

“I’d never want to consider a life without activity,” says avid runner and biker Gary Derheim. But a hip fracture nearly brought his sport to a screeching halt. At Baylor, Gary was treated with an advanced, new procedure called hip resurfacing. “Before the procedure,” he says, “they spent a lot of time talking to me about options, what was important to me. You need a good hip to ride like I do. The procedure was incredible. I was walking within days. Ultimately, I was able to do a 109-mile bike race, and I didn’t think about my hip once.”

For a physician referral or for more information about orthopaedic services at Baylor Dallas, call 1.800.4BAYLOR or visit us online at BaylorHealth.com/DallasOrtho

3500 Gaston Avenue., Dallas, Texas 75246

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