We can give you a lot of details, or we can summarize it in 4 words: KIDS, DOGS, PLANTS, and ANIMALS. Yep, that sums it up. But don't worry, we'll tell you more. First of all, the KIDS are growing up fast. Some would argue that they aren't really kids anymore. With 2 in college and 2 in high school, they are teenagers and young adults. Lucky for us, they help us just as much as we help them these days.
The DOGS keep us busy, but they actually help out a lot too. Our 4 Great Pyrenees guard our livestock and the property, keeping us all safe from coyotes and other predators. Our 2 Australian Shepherds herd the chickens and pigs when they decide to wander a little too far away from their flock or group. Our German Shepherd is your standard pet, house dog, farm dog and family member. We are a great team when it comes to taking care of our family, kids and dogs. Most of you can relate to wrangling kids and dogs along with work, taking care of your home, and participating in community activities. When it comes to plants and farm animals, that's where our story takes a divergent path.
When we talk about PLANTS, we're talking about THOUSANDS of plants at any given time. When we started farming, Michael embraced the philosophy of "go big or go home". This happens to be his MO and has served him well throughout his life. As he likes to say, farmers have to have vision, tenacity, problem solving skills, and just the right amount of crazy. Most of the time, you can find Michael out on the farm prepping the garden beds, starting seeds for germination, planting, and watering the gardens. We operate what is often called a "market garden." This means that we plant a variety of plants that will ideally all be ready to harvest at the same time to take to "market", or in our case, to deliver directly to your doorstep. The amount of planning that goes on behind the scenes to make this all happen would make a sane person's head spin. Thus, the need for just the right amount of crazy. Michael somehow pulls it off and makes it look easy. The last part of taking care of plants is worrying about and planning for everything that can, and sometimes does, go wrong. We're talking about extreme heat (daily for 4+ months of the year), extreme cold (sporadic and can sneak up on you when you least expect it), snow and ice (hello, Texas snowpocalypse of February 2021), flooding (ugh, painful memories of the 2016 Tax Day flood, 2016 Memorial Day flood, and the 2017 floods from Hurricane Harvey).
Last, but not least, ANIMALS. This is where it started for us. We were sitting at dinner one night with the whole family. Michael had grilled some chicken that we bought at the local grocery store. Michael realized that it just didn't taste good. One thing led to another, and the next thing you know, we had 200 chicks in a brooder in our garage with a plan to raise them on pasture, process them ourselves, and have meat for our family that we raised ourselves, tastes good, and has higher nutritional content. And just like that, Michael became a FARMER. Just about everything in our lives has changed since that fateful day sitting at the dinner table. It's been a wild roller coaster with lots of ups and down, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We'll continue to share more about our story in future posts. We hope you'll stick around to hear more. In the meantime, we hope that you'll shop in our online store and taste the fruits of Michael's labor. We make it as easy as possible for you by offering home delivery and/or pick up locations in Brenham, Bellville, Houston, Cypress, Tomball, Spring, and The Woodlands.