Boggy Creek Farm
We began our "back-to-the-farm movement" in 1981, when we acquired our Milam county farm, outside of Gause, which is located one and one-half hours northeast of Austin. At that time we were in other careers ( real estate and art), so the farming was a week-end adventure. We were also raising our three children and none of them wanted to be seen with a hoe in their hands!
By 1991, towards the end of the Texas "depression," we decided we might as well follow our dream full-time. The children were just about grown, and besides, what did we have to lose? Art prices had bottomed out and the real estate bust had turned Larry into a house remodeler. Thus we began farming the Milam county farm, growing cool weather crops (carrots, lettuce, broccoli, etc.) and hot weather crops (tomatoes -- lots of tomatoes! -- squash, cucumbers, etc) which we sold at a small farm stand on a street corner near our home. The reception from passersby was exciting. Although we had to explain the word "organic," all the customers understood "fresh"!
In 1992 we were able to buy, after much creative financing, the five acres and historic old house in East Austin, which, with the Gause farm, became Boggy Creek Farm, named after the creek/ditch across the street. (Many farms are named after creeks, it seems.) Surrounded by housing subdivisions, schools, and commercial enterprises, which had been built on land once part of the farm, our Austin farm became one of the few truly urban farms in the nation.
Today we intensively cultivate the urban farm and also our country farm. At the Gause farm, we grow our Early Girl tomato crop, potatoes, onions, hard squash, summer squash, and other items we need in abundance. Specialty and salad crops, okra, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, plus flowers, are grown in Austin.
While the majority of our produce is sold from our farm stand at the Austin farm, a good amount of summer produce is available at our neighborhood Whole Foods Market, which is located about three miles from the farm.
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