Small urban farm in the Big Bend area of West Texas. Fresh & local. From our farm to your table. Let us serve you
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Check that tower of plants. We have a surprise for you in the making. They need about 4-6 weeks to grow, but we will let you know soon enough.
Psst... and today we quietly celebrate Dan's birthday. I say quietly because the lettuce needs to be transplanted into the field, and that's about all the fun he will get. And maybe some ice cream a little later.
See you tomorrow at 4 to 6 pm, right here in the heart of Big Bend.
Mama. I miss her. So, I try to replicate her magic food in my kitchen.
Not much else going on other than fall planting is seriously under way, we got also some of the winter carrots in the ground. More greens, greens, greens are coming. And the temperatures are cooler at night, which should help the spinach. Can't wait!.
See y'all tomorrow at . What a fine day it will be.
We are still in the process of planting for the fall/winter. Which is the second busiest time of year for us. It's the time when we re-fill the beds with nutrients, still have some big harvests and I do a lot of preserving.
I didn't take many pictures lately as I don't remember to do that with everything needing to be done on a daily basis. But I did remember to ask my Mom to take pictures of the preserving she and my Dad are doing.
She didn't get any pictures of the 90 lbs of eggplant they roasted, but she did take pictures of the buckets of tomatoes that will be made into juice, and the sheep cheese prepping. I have to say, moments like that make me miss my home country. The group work processing foods is so much more enjoyable. And the smells, the colors, the tastes.
BTW, order form is out for this on Friday afternoon. See you between 4 and 6 pm to pick up your order.
Sweet peppers. Simply that. Had to post this, because they are as sweet as they are beautiful.
See you tomorrow at the .
Dan is harvesting the green beans for y'all. This Friday will have the beans on the menu. Look out for the order form going out later today!
First of the green beans are here! I am so ready to change up the recipes from squash everything to beans everything.
Also, this is an occasion to brag about Dan. He built this farm from a vision he had just 5 years ago. He is hard-working yes, but he is a visionary and a steadfast partner. I am so glad we get to do this together every day.
Some years ago he and I married and we agree it was the best decision we could have made. None of us was into marriage then, but we had to do it to be able to stay together. It's been quite the ride. And an extraordinary one for sure. Can't wait for many more seasons together of .
While some parts of the field look like high summer, some other parts look like we are juat starting the farm year. It's because we are now shifting from summer to fall plantings.
Remember two weeks ago we took some time to plan? Well, here we are ready to implement that plan. Much of the summer plantings will be pulled and brassicas, spinach and more radishes and carrots will replace them.
1) carrots, chard, marigolds and basils.
2) green beans starting to produce
3) beets and sweet peppers
4) more sweet peppers ready to pop their colors and dahlias growing wild
5) green butter will be harvested for tomorrow's farmstand and the flowers: borage, nasturtiums, calendula
6) more pollinating plants like calendula and bee balm, herbs and whatever is hiding in that forest by now
7) and here it looks barren: beets and carrots are being harvested. Meaning Dan is harvesting.
8) new radishes are planted: watermelon and mini daikons and some kale mix
9) my first tomatoes of the season. While we grew lots of plants, my plants were neglected and root bound by the time they got into the ground. 4 months later they are finally producing, even if just a few.
10) pollinator and medicine garden.
Can't stop. Won't stop. Flowers are everywhere and they make me so happy.
This was part of today's bouquets. It was lovely as always to see your faces, to talk to you, to show you what's growing. We love having you here. Thank you for supporting your .
Low hanging clouds full of rain dropping their load on our plants is a sight to see and revel on here in far west Texas. It is such a different summer than last year where I couldn't bear to see the sun anymore by October. When we took our break in the winter, all we did was stay indoors, eat, sleep and watch movies.
To have the rain break our routines on occasion is such a welcome moment. You know if you live here that rain doesn't last long, and like Dan says "we hardly ever get gentle rain here." But yesterday we did, and while I continued my preserving adventure, I was looking out the kitchen window how the drops were falling and the plants literally rejoicing in each one of them. It makes my heart tender to see all that and know what it does to all the living beings.
Hope you enjoy the rain in this little video.
I AM my mother's daughter. With cucumbers and other veggies in abundance, here I am the new . If you love ferments, you know what a joy this is.
Squash and cucumbers with garlic and basil, with dill and thyme, with curry, garlic and onion. Just about any possible way to do pickles, I will try it.
The cucumber got out of hand. Or more like as big as my forearm. 12.5 inches long. Still fresh. Still delicious. It was hiding, so it was overlooked during harvest.
Thankfully we love everything cucumbery.
The was a good one as usual. Fridays from 4 to 6 pm in Alpine, Texas. We are here to serve you. Every time. It was lovely to see your faces and share our produce with you. And our flowers and herbs. See you next Friday again.
So much is blooming and growing in my pollinator garden. This was a dream a year ago, and look what it has become! It was hard to choose the photos.
Never too much green. All the beautiful plants. Love them ALL.
Everything looks brighter, richer, and fuller with the rains coming down.
I feel such a joy to have all this to enjoy and to take care of.
Beans!!! As in green beans. Can't wait for a handful steamed. Loving our weather, so I can enjoy this summer.
That rain on Sunday! So sweet ro hear its sound. I am ready for more.
More goodies coming! Seedlings are ready for transplant. Green, green, green.
It's y'all. Looking forward to seeing you here in Alpine. Love my job.
BROCCOLI, mini Chinese. How we eat it. Last time I put it whole on the comal with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper. This time, I chopped it in chunks and stir fried them in the hot oil until the color changed with salt and pepper. You can melt a little bit of cheese on it once off the heat.
I served it with a mushroom sauce, squash and squash blossoms with egg, rice and some cucumber. Voilá!
We have lots of squash at the this week! Cucumbers are on the menu, carrots are back, lots of greens and herbs and cut flowers, too. Order online. If you need the link to the order form, send me a DM.
We are on staycation for a few more days, but we are starting to harvest cucumbers. They will be on the order form soon!! I love cucumbers!
Perched on top of the cucumber trellis! Wegot done at 7:30 pm yesterday, and today Dan is still out there trying to get it all together. We are not proud of our exhaustion, but some projects just require that extra bit of last energy we got. It will get done.
But then, we will stop and rest. Rest our body, rest our minds. This weekend we have family visiting and we will be out in the great outdoors. This break is so needed, even if the time ro visit is not ideal with temperatufes in the Chisos basin over 100F.
Order form is out! is on THURSDAY this week. Check your emails or txt messages. Order by 9 pm tomorrow.
We have lots of
- 🥒squash this week
- plus the usual lettuce, pea shoots, microgreens, mini Daikon radishes, white and red turnips, bok choy, komatsuna, etc
It's happening! More of the overhead irrigation is being installed. With days in the upper 90s and almost 100F (39C) degrees all week I would love a shower under it. You can bet the plants will love it too.
Sadly, we were only sent a partial order, so we need ro wait for the rest of the parts to arrive and then get it done. But Mike and Dan are on it.
We DO love our peas. 😂
Black Magic Kale was transplanted today. Plus peppers and eggplants are starting to set fruit.
This is the "don't give up" moment.
I had planted these strawberries from seed. I sold most of them as bedding plants. Yet, I kept about 9 of them for me.
For the longest time they were in little pots because my beds were not ready. So, I decided to plant them in crates. I messed up their soil, I didn't water properly, I had a back injury and through overwhelm and neglect lost most of them. But for 2 and one crummy little one.
I decided to make a better soil mix and repit them with deeper soil in a large pot. I nursed them caredully. Three plants are alive, well AND fruiting. Unexpectedly I am getting some super flavorful, small and beautiful strawberries . What a sweet surprise.
Order form is out! We have squash AND squash blossoms! A rarity. Place your orders before 9 am, but sooner for some items. See you 4 to 6 on Friday right here in .
PS. Swipe to see Dan's cute message.
Overhead irrigation. Trying everything. Maybe this will work?
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Romania pt 3
Food food food ... Everything smoked, cooked, fermented, distilled...
Low hanging clouds full of rain dropping their load on our plants is a sight to see and revel on here in far west Texas. It is such a different summer than last year where I couldn't bear to see the sun anymore by October. When we took our break in the winter, all we did was stay indoors, eat, sleep and watch movies. . To have the rain break our routines on occasion is such a welcome moment. You know if you live here that rain doesn't last long, and like Dan says "we hardly ever get gentle rain here." But yesterday we did, and while I continued my preserving adventure, I was looking out the kitchen window how the drops were falling and the plants literally rejoicing in each one of them. It makes my heart tender to see all that and know what it does to all the living beings. . Hope you enjoy the rain in this little video. . #floweringlifefarms #farwesttxfarm #whenitrainsinthedesert
Never too much green. All the beautiful plants. Love them ALL. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farwesttxfarm #farmingbigbend
Beans!!! As in green beans. Can't wait for a handful steamed. Loving our weather, so I can enjoy this summer. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farmingbigbend #eatlocal #twofarmersinapod #farwesttxfarm
That rain on Sunday! So sweet ro hear its sound. I am ready for more. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farmingbigbend #monsoonseason
More goodies coming! Seedlings are ready for transplant. Green, green, green. #eatyourgreens . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farmingbigbend #farwesttxfarm
We are on staycation for a few more days, but we are starting to harvest cucumbers. They will be on the order form soon!! I love cucumbers! . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farmingbigbend
Black Magic Kale was transplanted today. Plus peppers and eggplants are starting to set fruit. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #eatyourveggies #farmingbigbend #eatlocal
Overhead irrigation. Trying everything. Maybe this will work? . #newinfrastructure #floweringlifefarms #thanktheheavensforcoolingrain #workingoutthekinks #whenwehaveamillionotherthingstodo
Looking pretty dark and ominous out there. But after last week's #hailstorm #marfatx, we are not taking chances. I guess we are prepared?! We will see. . #floweringlifefarms #farwesttxfarm #ifithailsicryfortheplants
The big mess has been tackled. The flowers, herbs and medicinals are in. After dealing with walk-in cooler issues and having everything delayed for a day or two, today's rain enouraged me to take on this area of the farm that's been calling me for weeks. Only a few plants will need to be added, then the mulch and it should be ready for the summer to give us blooms. I am excited. . #farmstandday is this Friday. See you then. . #floweringlifefarms #herbsandmedicine #flowersatourfarm #pollinatorgarden
Let's talk about the crops that don't make it. Or that don't do so well, or that need help to germinate. While lettuce looks great, carrots have barely come up and are struggling to germinate. We've had a hard time getting them going for now. More need to be planted and probably some by hand. Ugh. Then there are the cucumbers (where you see the pink saw horses) that never made. Again we planted too early, and they suffered, so new ones are in flats. Hours of tending to the last batch are now composted. Lastly, I am looking at the dahlias I planted from seed and hope they will make it. I am not taking any special precautions, so am hoping they will be ok. They seem to grow very slow, which makes me nervous. So, I am waiting. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend #farwesttxfarm #alpinetx #marfatx #marathontx
Going through the walk-in refrigerator showing some of what we are offering at the #farmstand Carrots, beets, radishes and many types of greens, plus not pictured are the shoots and microgreens and the bedding plants. It was good to see everyone today. Looking forward to next week. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend
An update from the field and the nursery all at once because social media break made the days kind of melt into each other. . Far West Texas is getting warmer by the day. Most of thw field has been planted and when you see this video that was shot only a few days ago, you can't see how much everything has grown in this short time. Greens love this weather, and we will soon be over this period of "when are you having greens again?". . Most of the nursery has been moved outside. The latest we have re-potted are the cherry tomatoes which are now hardening for Friday's #farmstandday plus all the rest of the summer vegetables. Eggplants and sweet peppers will be on our menu, also cucumbers will be back, along with our regulars the summer squash. Which, by the way it is blooming. I am holding a little contest to see whether we will have summer squash before we have lettuce. A weird year for sure. . That's about it. Hope you enjoy the short spring if you live in West Texas. If somewhere else, enjoy spring for all of us here. It is almost summer time. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend #farwesttxfarm #alpinetx
Tomato re-potting. Take your plant out of the original pot, add a handful of soil at the bottom, put your tomato plant into the larger pot, cover with soil about 2 inches above the original soil level, tamp it down well, and water generously. . As you can see, the plant fits into a pot about 4x the size of the original pot. When you add that much more space for growth and you bury about 2 inches of the stem, your tomato plant will develop strong roots, and a strong stem. This size pot can hold your tomato plant for about 2 more weeks, if you don't yet have your beds ready to plant them. . tomatoes >> like to have space to grow their roots in >> need regular watering, but no soggy soil for extended time >> do better if you water them at the soil level, instead from above; this prevents disease development >> need support either in form of trellis (indeterminate varieties) or cages/stakes (determinate varieties) >> if indeterminate, they need to be pruned regularly to maintain 1 stem and no offshoots, this way you will have a tomato plant producing until frost time >> if determinate, they will produce a LOT of fruit all at once, and then take a break, bloom again and set new fruit again in a 2 week span >> are heavy feeders, so investigate at your local nursery or garden center where you can get your hands on some non-toxic, made for organic agriculture fertilizers. . Check our post on how we transplant larger plants in the field to follow those instructions, if you are ready to plant this weekend. . Here in West Texas, we are having a week of warm temperatures, so you could plant your tomatoes in the ground. Do it earlier in the day, and see that in the first two days they don't get too hot. Always check for temperatures below 40 F, and cover your tomatoes with agricultural fabric during the night. They will appreciate that. That's it for now. #floweringlifefarms #howtorepottomatoes #zone8bfarm #lovetomatoes
Let's talk transplanting bigger plants: here in the video you can see Dan transplanting summer squash. 1. You dig a large enough hole 2. Water the empty hole generously 3. Take plant out of the pot gently (Intermediate step dip in liquid fertilizer made to formula. We use fish emulsion for organic farming. If you bought plants from us, yoir plants have been fertilized the week you bought them, so if you plant them right away, no need to fertilize again.) 4. Drop plant in and cover it with dirt. (Tomato stems can be buried about 2 inches deeper below the soil level - they will send out new roots and will be stronger.) 5. Make a wide enough berm around the plant so that when you water, the moisture is retained around the plant. 6. Keep an eye on your recent transplants, and make sure they are watered appropriately, but not overwatered and protected during the cold nights like we are having here, now. . We keep our squash uncovered during the day, but we cover with agricultural fabric during the night to protect against freeze. Some nights might be warm enough not to cover, but until May 1st there are no guarantees. So we protect our plants. . We transplant like this all kinds of vegetables: zucchini and other squashes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, flowers like marigold, cabbages and cauliflower. . Happy planting! #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend #plantsale #howtotransplantsquash
Update from the field: it's starting to look like a spring farm. Lots of lettuce is in, Asian greens, and radishes as well. We have more greens that are ready to be transplanted. We might even get carrots and beet seeds in the ground this week since we have such warm weather this week. . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend #eatyourgreens
Earlier in the week this happened: transplanted baby butter lettuce. I am already dreaming of crunchy, buttery lettuce heads that look like flowers. With Helen's help, the transplanting job was accomplished that day. So exciting! . #floweringlifefarms #farmtotable #farminginwesttx #farmingbigbend #paperpottransplanter
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