"that now I worked for my bread"

"I foresaw that, in time, it would please God to supply me with bread. And yet here I was perplexed again, for I neither knew how to grind or make meal of my corn, or indeed how to clean it and part it; nor, if made into meal, how to make bread of it; and if how to make it, yet I knew not how to bake it. These things being added to my desire of having a good quantity for store, and to secure a constant supply, I resolved not to taste any of this crop but to preserve it all for seed against the next season; and in the meantime to employ all my study and hours of working to accomplish this great work of providing myself with corn and bread. It might be truly said, that now I worked for my bread. I believe few people have thought much upon the strange multitude of little things necessary in the providing, producing, curing, dressing, making, and finishing this one article of bread." - Daniel Defoe (1661–1731), Robinson Crusoe

Eight Reasons to Eat Our Food

1.   Eat More Healthily. Having fresh produce delivered conveniently to your neighborhood on a regular schedule is essential to obtaining the recommended 7-9 daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

2.   Local Farmers. Unlike many produce delivery services who buy out of state produce from a warehouse and repack it, we grow our food and have been the first CSA farm serving Houston since 2005.

3.   Nutrition. Grocery store produce is often over a week old, losing more nutritional value each day after harvest. Our produce is picked daily and delivered fresh from our fields to your family.

4.   Community Supported. Your seasonal support makes our farming possible.  Rather than going to a bank to finance the season, our customers are personally committed to seeing our local food supply restored.

5.   Convenience. Our produce is delivered to local dropsites around Houston and outlaying communities.  You can choose which location is most convenient for your family.

6. Variety and Selection. In addition to our fresh produce, members can purchase other items from local family farms to be delivered weekly, including grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs, artisan cheese, eggs and much more.

7.  Sustainable. We grow non-GMO vegetables, utilize organic growing methods and work with draft horses on our farm to minimize fossil fuels and outside inputs.  We are committed to our land and the health of our community.

8. Transparency. We maintain our website, our Blog, Twitter, Facebook, a weekly email update for our members and we open our farm every third Sunday of the month to our members and the general public.  We want to help connect you to where your food comes from... a REAL small family farm, NOT from a grocery store and wrapped in fancy packaging.  This is the real deal, from real people growing righteous food.

If you live in Houston, join our CSA and enjoy righteous food... www.homesweetfarm.com

High Tunnels

On our website we are documenting the construction of our new high tunnels that we are building this summer.  Stop by to see the progress... http://www.homesweetfarm.com/hightunnels.htm

Barr Mansion A blaze! Community unite!

Our hearts and prayers go out to the McAfee family and their staff at Barr Mansion who experienced a lightening related fire early this morning, June 9th, in Austin,TX.  The unique timber frame artisan ball room was largely destroyed in the morning fire totaling over $500,000 worth of damage.  Mark & Melanie McAfee, along with their staff, are true heroes for the local/organic movement who host numerous events and fundraisers to benefit the advancement of green living and local food also becoming the nation's first (and only) certified organic events facility.  Their unique facility and the way they manage their business have been an inspiration for what we all believe in and achieve for.  As Barr Mansion rebuilds in the days ahead, our community stands behind them and our future looks even brighter as we are all strengthened and inspired by their dedication and spirit.

Farmer Brad & Jenny Stufflebeam
www.homesweetfarm.com

Related News:
http://www.kvue.com/home/Fire-damages-historic-Barr-Mansion-95963769.html
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/barr-mansion-fire-fought-amidst-rain
http://www.barrmansion.com/

Born May 31, 2010

Halflinger colt: "Wesley" of Home Sweet Farm, named after our town that no longer exists.

Born on May 31, 2010

FDA Produce Food Safety Listening Session, McGeary

FDA Produce Food Safety Listening Session, Stufflebeam

Hug Farm Video

When you are running a CSA farm, it's always good to have a sense of humor.

The Rude Food Police

Jenny got an interesting phone call today.  A gentleman calls up without introducing himself (of course we have caller I.D.) asking if we buy any seed from Monsanto (of course not, does this guy know anything about us?).  He continues to challenge Jenny saying that anyone can easily lie.  Jenny invites him to come out during the next Market Day to see the farm and to ask any questions that he has during our free farm tour.  He continues to threaten Jenny saying that he intends to buy some produce and to have it tested for GMOs, which if it tests positive he would be happy to put us out of business.  Well thanks a lot!  Everyone who knows us appreciates the fact that we operate with great transparency, besides our website, blog, facebook, workshops, volunteers, monthly farm tours, radio, newspaper and book interviews not to mention the the time we spend building relationships with our members and volunteer time working to develop sustainable agriculture across the state, its good to know that someone is out their working so diligently to ruin small family farms.

Hey, we encourage folks to ask questions and to get to know their farmer and to visit the farm, but this is the wrong attitude to have.  It's not enough to worry about the government regulations out to get small farmers, but now we have aggressive and rude public inspectors  looking to snuff us out.  So why is our family working so hard to provide righteous food to our community?  Good question.

Rather than have an aggressive attitude that the farmer is the bad guy out to deceive people, maybe you should take the time to get to know your farmer before you make that threatening phone call and accusations.  However, to make it easier for you, here is a link to a lab that tests for GMOs... http://www.genetic-id.com/
Of course you need to realize that GMO crops on the market include corn, soy, cotton, canola, papaya, zucchini, squash, alfalfa, rice, sugar beet and tobacco.  Out of these, we only grow zucchini and squash, but of course the varieties we grow are NOT GMO.  Just hope to save you some money testing our vegetables as the test runs about $500 each and our zucchini and squash will not be available for another month.

I'm glad that our members are generally exceptionally good people looking for REAL food and that we have the right to refuse to do business with such individuals as this over aggressive food policeman.  Maybe he was bored and just trying to be funny, but it is not appreciated.  One word of advise, as a local food inspector you should invest in a brixometer rather than waste money sending vegetables to a lab for GMO testing, but feel free to do both if you see local farmers as untrustworthy individuals and you got the money to waste, just please don't threaten our family farm in the future, we would prefer to do business with people who trust us and believe in the work we are doing.  Life is too short to have to deal with such rude people.

Austin Farm to Table: Living Local: What Does Eating Local Mean?

Austin Farm to Table: Living Local: What Does Eating Local Mean?

This is an excellent article and voices many of our small farmers concerns about holding restaurants and distributors accountable who advertise "local food". We need to all work together in assuring the integrity of our local food supply.

Market Growers Symposium - March 11 & 12, 2010

Join us for this two-day event designed to help new and experienced growers get the job done. Network and meet with experts in the field for technical discussions and then experience a hands-on farm tour to deepen your understanding. Lunch includes seasonal surprises prepared by some of the leading Texas chefs promoting local food…

Network and get connected! Market Managers and Distributors can recruit new farmers, expand your local food market and buy direct from family farms in the community. 

Classroom sessions with technical discussions on diversified vegetable farming, disease and pest controls, propagation techniques, marketing, variety selection and more from experienced experts in the field.

Technical Farm Tour at HOMEsweetFARM, a 22 acre diversified CSA vegetable farm serving the Austin and Houston area. Hands-on applications covering horse power on the farm, greenhouse production, bed preparation, soil amendments, cover crops, rotational grazing, irrigation, equipment, planting techniques, distribution, customer care and much more.

Steve Divers      Leslie McKinnon     Dr. Joe Novak      Larry Butler     Judith McGeary

Hans Hansen    Brad Stufflebeam     Ben Godfrey   Chef Joe Apa   Chef Jesse Griffiths

When: March 11 & 12, 2010

Where: Brenham, Texas

Info: visit www.homesweetfarm.com or call 979.251.9922

Will Harris

CUD from Joe York on Vimeo.

2010 Seed Potatoes and Fingerlings

Over 12 different flavors!  We can ship 10 lbs. quantities.  Details online here >>

All Blue, Caribe, Yukon Gold, Purple Viking, Red LaSoda, Purple Majesty, Russian Banana, French Banana, Kennebec, Mountain Rose, and many more...

Planting season in Texas: mid Jan - Feb.