Springdale Farm

Love My Life

paula — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:13:30 +0000

Today was such a great day. We woke up after a nice rain to find an old fire pit full of water. The ducks had a marvelous time in their impromptu spa. And it was market day. I love market days where friends old and new stop by the farm stand. Truth be told, we’ve met some really amazing friends through our little farm stand. Often times we linger after hours to visit and catch up with the week’s news. Time flies by and then we realize suddenly that we are ravenously hungry. Somedays, we need to make quick restaurant deliveries, always we need to check the babies in the greenhouse, and usually, we need a nap.

Easy Tiger

Peche Restaurant

Today, as it turned out, no nap was in the plan, but after we made a couple of quick downtown deliveries, Glenn decided we deserved some refreshments at a new little place we’ve been wanting to try – Easy Tiger. They had a crazy beer selection. I needed professional help for my selection – which they aptly provided. It was just such a nice spontaneous drive-by. We didn’t stay long but couldn’t pass up the highly recommended corned beef that we brought home and are trying to save for breakfast in the morning with a farm fresh egg (or two). It smells heavenly! Of course Glenn has had a big draw to Easy Tiger because of Chef Andrew Curren. Top Chef aside, you know he’s a Fightin’ Texas Aggie. Whoop.

Upon our return to the farm, we discovered half the flock of chickens were out and about. I had visions of new swiss chard chewed to the ground, but apparently there was plenty of distraction just right outside the gate to ward off any grand wandering/destruction. Additionally , the farm cat was on top of the coop. We “rescued” her, to her horror. (Glenn has the scratch marks to prove just how horrified she was.) See what happens when you leave the farm, even for a minute?! Ha! Truth be told, while we love the occasional outing, nothing makes us happier than to surround ourselves with friends and family right here on the farm. Here’s a big thank you to all that make this wonderful life possible. I LOVE this life…

High Tech Farm secrets

paula — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:57:41 +0000

It’s a busy time on the farm. We are filling the greenhouse with seeds for spring transplants. We are cutting down old crops to prep the beds in anticipation of all that will be planted soon. We are planning crop rotations as best we can, composting – the chickens love helping with this – and taking care of general maintenance as we get pockets of time. In our extremely high-tech greenhouse set-up, (not), we are starting tomato plants on heat mats – they like it nice and warm, but we are opening up all the windows by 9:00am because the sunshine and warm days get things really cranking hot in there before you know it. We don’t have a real source of heat, so we shut it up tight by 3:30 or so to retain the day time heat for the night time temperatures. Tricks we use for heat – simple heat lamps hung from above, vanity light strips set below the tables, 55 gallon drums full of water that take in the sun’s heat of the day to keep things warm at night… We’ve also created a mini-greenhouse within the greenhouse to reduce the area that we need to heat. We did this by draping used greenhouse plastic and tarps around a much smaller, confined area. (It’s all about frugal farming, after all!) For water we need to water some seeds 3 times a day, because the tiny soil blocks setting on warm heat mats can dry out before you know it. Lots of tender loving care is going on at the farm right now. Come see us; we’ll spread the love… Psst…We take requests for what you’d like to see grown for the farm stand!

baby tomatoes!water jugs for solarized heatwater jugs for solarized heat

vanity lights to heat from below

Kerbey Lane Urban Farm Open House

paula — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:16:00 +0000

This is Kerbey Lane’s second annual Urban Farm Open House. It was such a success last year, we are thrilled they are back for another outstanding Meal in the Field! Actually, this chic dinner is a wonderful showcase of the season’s best harvests with Kerbey Lane’s signature touch. Join us for a delightful dinner under the pecans on the farm. See you there!

Urban Farm October menu

A Torrid Affair

paula — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:12:54 +0000

We’re pretty excited to share with you Austin’s newest non-profit supper club benefitting the Dell’s Children Hospital and the Sustainable Food Center. The Chef’s Table dinner is the brain child of Executive Chef Jason Dodge of Peche and mixologist Michael Menley. This uniquely intimate affair includes thoughtfully prepared and locally sourced food and cocktail pairings, as well as the opportunity to converse with the chefs about their creations – all in a Farm to Table setting. You don’t want to miss this evening. More information at http://atorridaffair.org

So How’s the Weather?

paula — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:08:14 +0000

Is it cliche to talk about the weather? I mean we’re all really tired of dealing with this weather, that’s for sure. I don’t remember anything like it in my lifetime, and I certainly don’t have any experience to draw from for how to farm in it. This picture is of our squash – on drip irrigation. It’s sad state is not because it’s dry. It’s just flat hot. And I can’t fix that. Everything in the field is very high maintenance right now.

Things that we are direct seeding outside are barely germinating. Here you see we are harvesting some very happy okra, along side of a new planting of swiss chard that I’m trying to get started under some shade cloth. Silly me.

I’m having a little better luck in the greenhouse – broccoli and cauliflower – but they’ll be ready for transplant before too long and I can’t put winter crops in the field with 107 degree temperatures! It’s certainly interesting and definitely unchartered territory for us.

We are learning about native lambs quarter (wild spinach), a great summer green for sauteing or in fresh salads, and purslane, another summer green for salads or soups. These crops seem to thrive in our Texas heat. And in the mean time, thank goodness for okra!