Fall Garden Update

It has been an extremely busy August on the farm. Our helper, Chris, moved back to Maine, and we have yet to even try to replace him. As a result, Bev and I are both very busy with our second jobs on the farm.

As to our summer crops, we still have abundant okra and peppers, the sweet potatoes are very close to being ready to harvest, and we still have some eggplant. It has been extremely hot and dry here, with temperatures in the mid to high nineties every evening. Watering has been a chore just to keep up. We are starting to have some form of blight with the okra, but we have been so busy that we have not even taken time out to figute out what it is. For any of you who grow okra, you know that losing a few plants is not all bad. There is still an enormous amount (gallons) to pick each day. But I would like to know what it is, if you know. The plants get all scraggly and bare in just a couple of days. Is it disease or is it a pest? I wonder.

As to the fall garden, our first beans broke through the ground today. Our peppers and tomatoes have mostly all been transplanted and are greening up after brief transplant shock.
We planted kholrabi seeds today, and started our broccoli and cauliflower seeds. Beans are planted, as are summer and winter squash -- for the second go-round. The rest of this month and next will bring much more planting, all the way into October. So far, so good.

That is about it from the farm. We are hoping for a break in the heat soon, as well as some rain. The four inches or so in the past two weeks greened everything up -- especially the second hay crop -- but there is no more rain in sight for awhile. Fall cannot get here soon enough.

We would love to see you out here this fall. And you probably would not be reading this if you did not want to come. Labor Day and Oktoberfest are right around the corner, as is better weather.

As always, thanks to those of you who follow what we are doing out here. Your emails to me keep me going.

Tom

Summer Specials at Agarita Creek Farms

Enjoy week day rates on weekends all summer -- rates go back to regular rates on Labor day weekend. That means you can come out to Fredericskburg and the Hill Country for the 4th and enjoy week day rates. And you can see the fireworks from the front porch, while enjoying the beverage of your choice. Who else can offer you that?

And, if you stay two nights, a third week day night is free. If you stay three nights, a fourth weekend night is free. This special can be combined with the week day rate special, and also ends just before Labor Day weekend.

Our reservation system reflects the lower rates, and we will handle the free nights during your stay.

Hey, we know times are tough all over, and it is hot -- even here. But, our low summer rates make it easier. And chances are, wherever you are in Texas it is cooler here in the Hill Country. Our mornings and evenings are still cooling off considerably.

And if you are coming out, Agarita Creek beats any other cabins, hotels, motels, or bed and breakfasts in town. We are sure that if you come once, you will come back again and again-- for Oktoberfest, for the spring wildflowers, or just for that weekend away.

So come on out soon. You know you want to come.

Farm-Stay Log Cabin Accommodations in Fredericksburg, Texas -- Agarita Creek Farms

At Agarita Creek Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas, we offer farm-stay accommodations in two new traditional German-style "chink" log cabins on a beautiful ridge overlooking our farm, neighboring farms, and beyond -- into the historic town of Fredericksburg. We offer an alternative to hotels, motels, and the usual bed and breakfast accomodations, offering two two-story, two-bedroom 1200 sq. ft. houses with living and dining rooms, full kitchens, and full front porches with the aforementioned views of our part of the Texas Hill Country. Each of our cabins feature stained concrete floors downstairs, with wooden ceilings throughout, with the first floor ceiling forming the second story floor. Our kitchens and baths feature genuine Talavera tile, and our kitchens feature modern appliances, dishes, flatware, and virtually every kitchen gadget a guest could want. Each cabin features leather sofas and weathered, rustic mexican and pioneer furnishing, as well as work from local artists. Whether you decide on the Behrends Cabin or the Braeutigum Cabin, we are confident that you will find that your accomodations exceed your expectations, and provide the best place for a Texas Hill Country get-away.





We invite you to check out our website, http://www.agaritacreek.com/ our Facebook page, or to call us at 830.896.9140 at our business office, which is open 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. We also invite you to visit with us at the Fredericksburg Farmer's Market, each Thursday evening from late May through October. We think if you compare us to Fredericksburg and Hill Country hotels, motels, guest houses, cabins, and bed and breakfast accomodations, you will agree that we offer something different, and that, in this case, different is better.

On Wal-Mart and Organics

So what is wrong with Wal-Mart (or Whole Foods for that matter) selling organic foods? Doesn't that make organics available to everyone, everywhere? Isn't that a good thing? Well, it is not a bad thing, generally, except that it takes the focus off of a critical element in a more earth friendly food cycle; one that is more healthy for the consumer and farmer alike. And it forever divorces two concepts that have traditionally (to the extent one can use that word in this context) and historically (ditto) been one -- it takes the local element out of the organic food movement.

Make no mistake, I am not saying that organic food is not good, it is just not enough in and of itself. You see, local food is every bit as important, or should be, as that food is produced by organic methods. Local food is fresher and healthier. Varieties can be grown because they taste good, not because they ship well. Food can be harvested at the peak of ripeness, not weeks ahead of that schedule. And massive amounts of fossil fuel are not spent for the sake of delivering food around the country and even the world.

Everyone has local food. Every region of the country. True, some seasons are shorter than others, but here in Texas we can grow something ten months of the year.

So why don't more people eat locally? At why don't Wal-Mart (and even Whole Foods) carry more than say five percent local food? The answer is simple. People have become divorced from natural cycles. They have grown accustomed to eating the same things year round. To get grapes in mid-winter one has to look to Chile, with its seasons opposite our own. The same is true of almost everything we eat.

So, what must, or should, we do instead, at least in the minds of the contrary farmer? We should eat in a way that our grandparents ate. We should try a parsnip or (God forbid) even a turnip every once in a while, in Winter, when they are in season locally. We should gorge on strawberries in late Spring and early Summer; by the time they come around again we will really, really enjoy them. We should eat the abundance of squash, tomatoes, peppers, and yes, even okra and eggplant, during summer, when a huge variety is available and they taste like something (does anyone remember what a real tomato is supposed to taste like. And when it is cool, we should enjoy spinach, lettuces, cauliflower, and broccoli. Again, what grows out here on the farm (or any good farm or garden) looks and tastes nothing like what is at the store -- even at Whole Foods.

At some point, we will have no choice. Fuel prices will, at least for a time, make the current supply chain untenable. Shipping grapes across the world will no longer be feasible. Folks will be forced to eat locally. Had $4 a gallon gasoline persisted (and it ultimately will) we would have had to face this fact sooner rather than later.

Local, in short, is just as important as organic -- both are integral to a healthier food supply. And no one is bringing you local to any large extent except your friendly neighborhood farmer or gardener. For example, in Texas, that bastion of the tofu-heads (I mean that in a good way), Whole Foods, has one regional buyer who buys a grand total of five percent of the food the stores sell locally. So don't be deceived. Is an organic onion at Whole Foods or Wal-Mart better than that same store's non-organic onion? Maybe. I like to think so. Is it a substitute for an orangically grown onion grown here at home? Not by a long shot. And in the end, even if you don't care about the shipping, use of fuel, and freshness (which is hard to imagine, if you are reading this) what would you rather do? Who would you rather spend your money with? Would you rather buy your tomatoes (in endless, heirloom variety) from the contrary farmer in your county, and help him keep farming or, alternatively, would you rather pay Wal-Mart your dollar from some organic produce it ships country-wide, if not world wide, so that Wal-Mart can keep doing what it does? Do we want more farm entrepreneurs, or do we want even more corporate farmers and Wal-Marts? That is the ultimate question.

So visit your local farmer's market. You all have one. Visit ours on Thursday afternoon/evening in Fredericksburg, at the historic Marketplatz. Go early and go often. Do something good for you, and that farmer down the road trying to send his kid to college.

Daisy, Our New Rescue Border Collie

This is Daisy, our new 2 year old female border collie. She was abandoned in Cleburne, made her way through kind strangers to a vet in Hunt, who then put out the word and we adopted her. She seems to have herding instincts, and longs to work, but we are introducing her to our sheep a little at a time, and developing a relationship with her in the mean time. We, and she, will hopefully learn how to work together soon. There is much to be learned for the novice, but well intentioned, farmer and rancher.

Tom

Agarita Creek Farms' Employee of the Month - Barnabus

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This is Barnabus, our employee of the Month for April. He is a Great Pyrenees, and is the livestock guardian of our sheep. He was purchased for a mere pittance, due to his non-social character, but his job is to guard sheep and not to make human friends. He is docile and indifferent to us, but fierce to the enemies of our sheep. He eats a lot, but when he is done he stays out of the bars, and has not even demanded health insurance, a retirement plan, or a company vehicle. The voting this month was not even close. Barnabus is our employee of the month. Come see him, from a distance at least, on your next trip to see us at Agarita Creek Farms.

Our Fabulous Jacob Ewes and Lambs

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Jacob sheep were the first breed that we decided to raise at Agarita Creek Farms, and our herd of Jacob Sheep is not only our largest herd, but the largest Jacob Sheep herd, we believe in Texas. We have many fine lambs, ewes, and rams, registered and unregistered, for sale this Spring. We invite you to come to the Farm and see these remarkable animals for yourself.