Fall 2021
REM CLEANING SERVICES Building absolute trust with our customers
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Pumpkins: the spice of autumn life
Welcome to Connecting Kaufman
By Elaine Frosch
Amy Fowler
Happy Fall Y’all!
Publisher The Kaufman Herald
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m sure happy to put 2020 – and parts of 2021 – in my family’s rearview mirror as we drive down this road of life! One of the good things I will celebrate this season is the return of some of the activities we missed last year, such as the annual Pumpkin Patch at First United Methodist Church. My boys are growing older, but a visit there was always one of their favorite activities, and it’s something we all can revisit to feel like a kid again! Let’s bring on those gourds! Another interesting aspect of the past year has been the growing importance of cooking and feeding our families. Where does that produce come from? What about that meat? What’s in it? Well, we have some local growers and producers who are excited to share their stories with you! And who doesn’t want to complete a dinner of local beef with some fresh vegetables and accompaniments from the Kaufman Fresh Market? As we look forward to cooler weather, autumn football games and visits to local farms, it’s time to think of fall cleaning! I know, spring cleaning is popular, but the family that owns REM Cleaning Services explains that we will spend more of our time indoors as colder weather brings us inside. Getting our floors and furniture clean before we shut our windows for the season is excellent preparation for winter. All of us here at the Kaufman Herald wish you a joyous fall.
Amy Fowler
With fall’s arrival, many of the season’s lovers are stirring to pull out their flannels and buying everything pumpkin spice. The season brings a warm and cozy feeling as we ease into the colder weather months. A favorite fall festivity that many people partake in is going to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for decoration or to carve and display. Helping customers find the perfect pumpkin for decor or project is no problem for members of the First United Methodist Church in Kaufman. Every year, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the church hosts the area’s favorite pumpkin patch. The pumpkin patch will be open seven days a week, starting Oct. 9 and going through Oct. 31. The patch will open at noon on Oct. 9. Times will vary per day. Pumpkins will be available for sale, as well as a photo opportunity in front of a mural backdrop painted by local artist Greg Doster. For the groups of students coming for field trips, there will be activities and a book reading, along with allowing students to browse and purchase pumpkins to take home with them. The church will host their Pumpkin Patch Market and Craft Fair in the church parking lot from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Oct. 16.
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8 10 Interested in Advertising in the Next Edition of Connecting Kaufman? Winter Edition 10,000 Circulation Advertising Deadline: December 2, 2021
Story Ideas are Welcome! Call the Kaufman Herald at (972) 932-2171
is a publication of The Kaufman Herald. All rights reserved. Staff Melanie Mazur • Publisher Andrew Burnes • Managing Editor Amy Fowler • Ad Director Annette Wallace • Graphic Artist Wendy Perkins • Office is a publication of Manager The Kaufman Herald. All rights reserved.
Contributing Writers Staff Gay Fowler Amy Fowler • Publisher Bailey Daniels Melanie Mazur • Editor Elaine Frosch • News Reporter Hannah Loghry
Michael Morrill • Sports Reporter Wendy Perkins • Office Manager
PO Box 460 300Contributing N. Washington Writers Mollie Kasper TX Melanie Mazur Kaufman, 75142 Frosch (972)Elaine 932-2171
PO Box 460 • 300 N. Washington Kaufman, TX 75142 (972) 932-2171
A division of Hartman Newspapers, LP. A division of Hartman Newspapers, LP
Publication dates for Connecting Kaufman are in January, April, July and October. Connecting Kaufman is published four times a year.
The Kaufman Herald
Witch one will You choose?
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Is it clean?OR IS IT
CLEAN
REM Cleaning Services works for the betterment of public health. Herald Staff Report REM Cleaning Services (REM) is a family-owned cleaning company headquartered in Terrell that offers residential services in Kaufman, Rockwall, and Dallas counties, and commercial services all over the southern United States. The story begins when Robert Quinn decided that enough was enough. The cleaning industry is unregulated. There are no licenses, standards, or mandates. As a result, there are a lot of bad actors taking advantage of good customers. Robert sought to change everything by building a business focused on God, family, traditional American values like hard work and great quality, and support for our community and local heroes in uniform. In 2017, REM Cleaning Services was born, and it was named after Robert and his immediate family (Robert, Emma, Morgan). The company’s mission is to build absolute trust with employees, partners, vendors, and customers. “I don’t believe in doing things halfway,” says Robert. “When I started the company, I bought the best equipment and the best cleaning solutions. I went to school and got certified even though I didn’t have to. I got bonded and insured so customers would be protected. I spent more than ten thousand hours working in the field, getting dirty,
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making floors clean.” “And I did it all because I believe trust is formed when things are done right. I never want my customers to feel like I’m cutting corners or that they’re not getting the very best service possible. It takes faith to invite somebody into your home or business, and I know that faith has to be justified.” This attention to detail and commitment to establishing trust is the foundation of the REM brand. And it’s been the driving force behind the company’s growth from a humble local sole proprietorship to a multi-truck, multi-state, company in less than five years. Today, the REM Cleaning Services employs a full team of cleaning professionals and holds multiple certifications from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), Basic Coatings University, Costa Group, and the Restoration Industry Association (RIA). All staff members go through rigorous training, both by the various certification bodies and by Robert himself. “But at the end of the day,” Robert explains, “it’s not about making floors shine. It’s about making environments healthy. The biggest filter – that your kids are playing on, that your customers are walking on, kicking up dirt, allergens, and germs – is carpeting. Sometimes that stuff collects over years.
Imagine what breathing it every day does to a person.” The average American takes 7.7 sick days every year, according to a study done by the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), and costs businesses more than $225 billion dollars every year. The study goes on to note that clean environments reduce the chances of catching a cold or flu by 80% and reduces absenteeism by half. The ISSA study focused on commercial spaces, but the health benefit for residential spaces can’t be denied. “I insist that my team get thoroughly trained. I want them to be experts and I want them to understand the stakes,” Robert adds. “We may not be police officers or firefighters or EMTs, but if we don’t do a good job, people can get sick. Our work is important, and we should take it seriously.” In addition to providing core services like carpet and tile cleaning, REM’s people can help with water damage restoration, pet odor removal, upholstery and furniture cleaning, hardwood floor care, 3M Scotchgard Protection, and more. REM Cleaning Services boasts more than 50 five-star reviews from happy residential and commercial customers. The company is insured and bonded and uses safe ecofriendly solutions. “At our house and in our business, clean doesn’t only mean there aren’t any spots, stains, or residue; it also means there aren’t any contaminants, irritants, or allergens,” says Robert states. “If it’s not clean enough for ours, then it’s not clean enough for yours. That’s REM Clean.” REM Cleaning Services is open 24 hours, Monday through Saturday. To reach out with questions or to schedule a service call, please call (469) 980-8335 or visit www.remclean.com.
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Fall 2021 // Connecting K a u f m a n / 7
TEXAS BELLES BEEF
provides premium quality for local tables By Elaine Frosch
Texas Belles Beef is a family owned and operated registered Akaushi-Angus cattle ranch located along FM 1836 (Rand Road) in Kaufman. Owners Sandy and R.K. Stahlman moved to Kaufman in 1996 looking to settle down in a small town in a house with enough land to raise cattle. Since 2014, the Stahlmans have fallen in love with raising their Akaushi-Angus cattle and started to draw up larger plans for their cattle business. “It’s doing the cattle business in a different way for us,” Sandy Stahlman explained. “It makes us think outside of the box.” All cattle are humanely raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Currently, they are raising about 200 head of Akaushi and Red Angus cattle. The Akaushi breed is part of the Wagyu family of cattle that was introduced from Japan to Texas back in 1994. Wagyu are cultivated to produce faster marbling inside the muscle, not on the outside. This produces a well-marbled, tender beef with a higher level of oleic acid (the good fat found in olive oil). This expensive breed is then crossbred with hardy Angus stock to create premium cattle that can be raised in the harsh Texas climate. The Stahlmans decided to get into the retail market to sell beef and be truly farm-to-table by selling everything from pounds of ground beef, to steaks, up to the entire animal. Texas Belles Beef services not only Kaufman county farmers markets, but Houston area farmers markets as well. “It has been a lot of hard work but it has been successful,” said Sandy Stahlman. The company is also looking into being a beef provider for some restaurants outside of Kaufman County as they continue to expand their services. Since launching into the cattle business as a direct seller to customers, social media became a necessity for the ranchers to get their product out to consumers, as well as informing future consumers. Daughter Jessica Hudson, who lives in the Houston area, runs the social media platforms for the business, as well as managing the marketing aspects. Hudson keeps TBB customers up-to-date with the latest deals, day-to-day life on the ranch, and important notifications.
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Fall 2021 // Connecting K a u f m a n / 9
Local aquaponic gardening creates luscious greens, By Mollie Kasper
“lettuce snobs”
Humble Beginnings As a biology teacher, Jennifer knew that aquaponic gardening, using fish waste to fertilize plants, would work. She and Chris started out small, with just a fish tank of goldfish in their house and a tub from a farm store for a grow bed. They successfully grew lettuce for their own personal consumption, and soon began dreaming of a larger operation. Through the website aquaponics.com, they learned of industry leaders Nelson + Pade. In the spring of 2018, the Bakers attended a week-long master certification course at the company facility in Wisconsin. They were convinced this was the path for them, and once they returned home, they began building a 900 square-foot greenhouse for their operation.
up to 54 plants each. They purchased the entire system from Nelson + Pade and assembled it themselves. They remain in close contact with their mentors and pay a consulting fee for support. The Bakers chose Nile Tilapia for their aquaponic system. Since these fish are an invasive species, nets must be kept over all tanks to keep them from escaping. Nile Tilapia can survive in temperatures from 50 to 95 degrees, so the Bakers must monitor the temperature carefully in both summer and winter. They are investigating the possibility of harvesting and selling the fish, but have not yet navigated the maze of paperwork involved in that endeavor. As Jennifer remarks about the fish, “Their job is to poop.” In this closed system, the fish water runs into a second tank, where the solid waste is filtered out. Jennifer cleans this filter weekly, and uses the fish emulsion in her garden. The water continues through two more all-natural biofilters so that only the nutrients remain in it once it gets to the grow beds. The six grow beds each consist of a large blue tank with a Styrofoam mat floating in about a foot of water. The mats have 54 holes, which each hold a basket stuffed with rock wool. Each basket will hold one plant, giving the Bakers capacity to grow 324 plants at one time. Since the greenhouse is essentially a closed environment, the carbon dioxide and air balance must be maintained, so the Bakers run a de-gasser continually. The water runs at ground level and the air through overhead lines.
The Greenhouse Built almost entirely by the Bakers themselves and completed in January 2019, the greenhouse contains four, 100-gallon fish tanks which hold 35 fish each. In addition, six grow beds hold
Sustainability The vision that started with the ride at Epcot includes sustainability. Jennifer and Chris’ goal is to provide sustainably grown fish and lettuce to their local market. They avoid using chemi-
It all started with a trip to Disney World. Jennifer and Chris Baker, co-owners of local aquaponic farm H2O Grow, rode the “Living with the Land” attraction and wound up hooked on aquaponic gardening. “We rode that stupid ride at Epcot, where you go on the boat and they show you all this stuff,” Jennifer says wryly. “And then they take you to the restaurant and give you food…” and before they knew it, they had signed up for the $15, private, behind-the-scenes tour and were talking to scientists about growing lettuce aquaponically.
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cals; in fact, chemicals would very likely harm the fish. Spiders are meticulously vacuumed out of the greenhouse. Instead of pesticides, Jennifer places sticky yellow cards in the grow beds. Any pests which get stuck are examined and identified. If pest control is needed, she orders and releases ladybugs. Frozen! The freeze in February of 2020 brought challenges for H2O Grow. Jennifer and Chris both had Covid-19, and they lost power for several days. Since they were unable to keep the fish warm, all of them perished, a loss of about $600 in fish alone, not to mention the fertilizer they now did not have for their plants. They were able to salvage them for their own consumption. “We’ve had a lot of fish tacos,” Jennifer comments. The entire system froze, but luckily, nothing burst. Lettuces Jennifer plants seeds every two weeks and harvests the mature plants six weeks later. She is continually experimenting with different varieties of lettuce, including Butterhead, several varieties of Romaine, Muir, and others. Her challenge is finding varieties that will tolerate the Texas heat. According to Jennifer, locally grown produce tastes better and lasts longer. In fact, she jokingly claims to be responsible for creating “lettuce snobs,” who won’t eat anything but their produce. “Once they eat my lettuce, they won’t go to the grocery store,” she claims. The Bakers also grow several types of microgreens, including kale and radish, on compostable bamboo mats. H2O Grow has several regular customers, and the Bakers have worked in the past with a local restaurant and chef, although those opportunities have evaporated due to the ongoing pandemic. Jennifer is a regular presence at The Fresh Market on Grove, which is starting its fall season. To find out more about purchasing lettuce, follow H2O Grow on Facebook and Instagram, or contact Jennifer directly at (460) 474-1119. Aquaculture, Hydroponics, Aquaponics: What’s the Difference? Aquaculture is growing aquatic plants or animals for food consumption. Hydroponics is growing food in water. Hydroponic systems usually require added minerals, such as magnesium sulfate and calcium nitrate, for fertilizer. Aquaponics combines aquaculture and hydroponics. Plants are grown in water that has circulated through fish tanks. Nutrients from the fish waste fertilize the plants.
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Autumn Fresh Market welcomes all to enjoy the season’s treats, gifts and more Touch Leatherworks; Pimlico Ranch featuring pasta sauces, chicken and duck eggs, gourmet sauces, crafts and freshcut herbs; Akaushi beef from Texas Belles Beef; Texas Roots Flowers and Fruits; and local raw honey by Bee Kings Co. To entertain and feed the kids, a market favorite is Charles Omlor, a talented local balloon artist, along with shaved ice from Video Vision and WTFrankfurter? Gourmet Red-Neck Hotdogs. A fun aspect of the Fresh Market is the homey, low-key atmosphere. Folks are welcome to come purchase foods and crafts, or they can just enjoy a walk through downtown Kaufman. There is always something new to see!
V
Herald Staff Report Fall is here and the Fresh Market on Grove Street, just off the square in Kaufman, is now open! Hours are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., except for special events. It operates every second and fourth Saturday each month, Sept. 25 through Dec. 11. A special event, Market Under the Stars, with activities for children and a special visit from Santa, will take place on Dec. 21 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The autumn Fresh Market is full of vendors, all local to the Kaufman area, each providing a wide variety of merchandise to customers. Big Oaks, Little Farm sells sourdough bread, home-grown herb mixes, and goat milk soap. Vrzalik Farms offers fresh produce, pecans and jellies. Vanderslice Treasures and Treats produces a variety of handcrafted items, baked goods such as fried pies, cookies, spicy saltines, and miniature bundt cakes. In addition to grass-fed Angus beef, Lonestar Farm produces tantalizing flavors of baked and canned goods, from whiskey peach to blackberry jalapeño. H2O Grow offers aquaponically grown lettuces and microgreens, the freshest you will ever taste. Other vendors include Brush + Berry Skincare, Thread of Grace Apothecary & Farmacy, Farm Stoehr offering fresh goat cheese, crafts produced by Check Your Vibe, cake balls and eggs by from Circle Moore Ranch, CountryMouse & Earlie Mae Pickles, Debbie’s Stained Glass, and Effie’s Cottage with delicious baked goods. Other offerings include rustic frames and furniture from Frames by James, H&H Crafts, koozies and crafts by Just Peachy, Joyful Pouring featuring custom pour art, Kate & Clyde Tree Farm, Mary’s House of Cards, Mom of Four Shirts & More, Papa Billy’s metal art, fun painting kits provided by Ryleigh Roosters Painting Parties, Sassy Wreaths, T-shirts and crafts from S Turner Creations, and canned goods and HE Honey from Willis Touch. There’s also leather earrings, items and crafts from Willis
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