COUSHATTA – Nestled under the shade of a sheltering, sprawling majestic grand oak tree amidst meandering sidewalks lined with flower-filled pots and bursts of caladiums, there is Ed Lester’s Farms, an outdoor farmer’smarket. And, lest we forget, rocking chairs share a place in the shade banked by green-and-white caladiums for customers who want to sit a spell just like they might do in their home garden.
This farmer’s market at the foot of the Red River Bridge on the north bank Red River’s north bank.
It is a farmer’s market like no other in this area and only 50 miles away. So famous, it was once a Southern Living feature story.
Artist Trudy Daniel drives the “scenic route” of U.S. Highway 80 to the farm. (But if you choose to drive I-49, turn at Exit 162 North and drive northeast on U.S. 371. it is just west of Coushatta.)
“The produce arrives from fields around 8 a.m. supplied until 5 p.m. closing,” said the farm Web site.
One never knows who he or she will run into for customers make their way here from all over the Ark-La-Tex. A couple of summers ago, I heard a voice calling, “Maggie! Maggie!” He was “Steel Magnolias” author BobHarling, who drove from Natchitoches, to buy a mess of greens.