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    The Farmer Diaries

    Texas farmer closes out summer garden with an ode to the butterfly

    Marshall Hinsley
    Aug 31, 2014 | 6:00 am

    In the final few weeks of summer, little remains growing on the farm. Melons peaked at the end of July. Tomatoes have stopped setting fruit; eggplants and peppers look haggard. Everything has died or gone dormant in the relentless heat and severe drought.

     

    Yet among this wasteland are droves of beautiful, lively swallowtail butterflies, more than I've ever seen in the past. Their black-and-yellow wings catch my eye as I prepare the garden for cool season crops or water a few tomato plants I try to keep alive until the autumn rain arrives.

     

    There's no missing them, nearby or off in the distance; their wingspan is almost as large as the palm of my hand. They're skittish on first encounter, quickly fluttering away over dried stalks of corn out on the periphery. After a while, they circle back to the garden, attracted to the thriving zinnias my wife planted last spring. These flowers have continued to grow and bloom, attracting several species of butterflies, native bees and a group of hummingbirds, giving them an oasis in the parched countryside.

     

     

      The beds of zinnias and dill provide everything a swallowtail butterfly needs throughout its life cycle: nectar for the adults and a nursery with nourishment for the caterpillars.

     
     

    In the four decades I've lived on this land, I see the evidence of a changing climate in the way the land isn't budding out with the abundance of fall wildflowers it had in the past. The zinnias, cosmos, scented tobacco and other flowers I tend along with my vegetable crops are more than just ornamentals; they're sustenance for insects and hummingbirds.

     

    Keen on meeting the needs of the swallowtail butterflies, my wife also planted dill. Dill serves as a good home or "host plant" for swallowtail butterflies. Butterflies rely on host plants to survive. The best known example of a host plant is milkweed and monarch butterflies; no other plant will nourish them or fill them with the toxic substances that deter birds from eating them.

     

    For swallowtails, host plants can be dill, parsley or fennel, all in the same plant family with carrots and related to native Texas prairie parsley that grows wild. The beds of zinnias and dill provide everything a swallowtail butterfly needs throughout its life cycle: nectar for the adults and a nursery with nourishment for the caterpillars.

     

    After waiting from April to June with no sign of swallowtail butterflies, I finally spotted the first arrivals in mid-summer. First, swallowtail butterflies arrived at the beds of zinnias and fluttered from plant to plant for about a week. Soon afterward, small caterpillars with black, yellow and white stripes appeared on the stalks of dill.

     

    Every day the worms grew longer and fatter until they they were the size of short marker pen. Then, over the course of several more days, they moved on to form a chrysalis, to transform into their butterfly stage. By August, the population of adult butterflies doubled, maybe tripled. This newer generation is now mating and laying little green solitary eggs, about the size of a cake sprinkle, on the leaves and stalks of my dill.

     

    These swallowtails are efficient pollinators, but there's more to it than that. If not for the chores of watering and weeding, I'd while away my afternoons sitting for hours and watching them visit each flower. They fix my attention as they fly overhead and flitter around erratically, eventually taking roost somewhere just before sunset. They simply deserve to be beheld, and it makes me happy to be their admirer.

    Tiny green balls laid on dill are the swallowtail eggs.

      
    Photo by Marshall Hinsley
    Tiny green balls laid on dill are the swallowtail eggs.
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    Vila Brazil to bring affordable Brazilian steakhouse to Cedar Hill

    Raven Jordan
    Jul 11, 2025 | 6:10 pm
    Side of meat
    Photo courtesy of Vila Brazil
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    A Brazilian steakhouse known for its low-for-steak prices is coming to Garland: Called Vila Brazil, it's part of a small local chain and will open in Cedar Hill, at 305 W. RM Rd. 1382 #316, in the former Crab & Bar space, in late 2025.

    Vila Brazil was founded by restaurateur Roberto de Sa, who opened the first location in Irving in 2011, as a home-grown rendition of churrascaria-type restaurants such as Fogo de Chao. A second location opened in Garland in 2024.

    According to co-owner Gabriel de Sa, the Cedar Hill location will feature the same menu, including rotating chef specials at the buffet.

    Vila Brazil features a lower-cost version of churrascaria, a Brazilian style of serving cuts of grilled meat from giant skewers onto diners’ plates. They offer eight cuts of meat including picanha steak, sirloin, chicken, lamb, and pork.

    There’s also a salad bar buffet featuring rice, salads, vegetables, and Brazilian-inspired dishes such as cheese bread rolls and cinnamon-grilled pineapple.

    Weekday lunch is $25 and dinner is $40 daily. For the buffet only, it’s $18-$21.

    They own other restaurants including VB's steakhouse in Arlington and Casa Pollastro, a Brazilian-Italian concept in North Dallas. But Gabriel says they take a different approach with Vila Brazil than some of the other more expensive churrascaria restaurants in town.

    "Instead we offer homemade food at an affordable price with great quality and flavor,” he says. "Our guests on average visit our store three times a month — much more frequently than your typical churrascaria."

    The Cedar Hill location will be fairly large, in a 6,528 square-foot space, with an approachable casual dining atmosphere.

    “We choose the Cedar Hill community for the same reason we opened in Garland, to serve an underserved community,” Gabriel says. “A fusion between a fast casual buffet and a Brazilian Churrascaria Vila Brazil is accessible to all members of the community with high value.”

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