Sustainable Living: Out the Door and Down the Street
The workers at Boggy Creek Farm know one thing to be true: seasonal, local produce shopping is the key to a healthy and sustainable life. Walking into Boggy Creek Farm on a crisp morning, visitors are greeted by Buddy, the resident farm dog. His booming bark may seem intimidating, but he is the first of many workers to welcome shoppers to this quaint, versatile farmers market.
The Farm
Boggy Creek Farm is a 10-minute drive from UT-Austin’s campus, yet in such a short distance, the landscape transforms from the hectic hustle of urban life into a slow-paced feeling of serenity. Here, fairy lights and benches nestled in flowers help visitors enjoy the 5-acre farm and explore what seasonal shopping can offer.
The home on Boggy Creek’s property operates proudly as the oldest standing home in Austin, according to the farm’s official website. This farm, ingrained in Texas history through its longevity, once hosted Sam Houston, president of the former Republic of Texas, when he attended a wedding at the home in 1841. Boggy Creek has an impressive past, serving as one of the first local produce sellers to Whole Foods Market.
Now, the farm grows all of its produce, raises all of its laying hens, and sources honey, bread, meat, and other goods from various Central Texas businesses to further support the local economy
The Produce
Through different experiments, the farmers of Boggy Creek found that regenerative farming, the act of harvesting produce from the top of the soil instead of cutting it from the roots, cut out tilling and plowing of the soil. Tilling and plowing stirs up soil, releasing carbon into the atmosphere and depleting the soil’s nutrients. When roots are instead left in the ground during harvest, the roots decompose and add fertility and nutrients. This is the key to the freshest and most productive crop yield.
Weeds, which choke out the produce and steal nutrients from the soil, make a constant enemy of farmers, and the Bermuda grass at Boggy Creek is no different. Boggy Creek farmers control and eradicate the growth of weeds without harmful pesticides using agriculture tarping. The tarp allows water to permeate the soil but does not allow the weeds to get the sunlight they need to survive.
Using fabric tarp ensures longevity of rows of produce and reduces costs of labor, as tarps can be used for many years. Once the tarp is in place, it need not be disturbed, lessening the need for labor intensive weeding. This way, the farm is able to grow fresh, healthy produce more ethically.
The farm also uses natural insecticides, such as pepper juices, ensuring that shoppers eat food in its most natural state. Additionally, Boggy Creek farm uses fertilizer made from its own chickens and water from its onsight well to help ensure that even the water used to irrigate its fields is not treated with chemicals normally used to treat water in a public water system. Eating from this urban farm ensures shoppers truly are getting only the most natural and whole food.
Sustainable Farming Leads to Sustainable Living
Never closing for COVID-19, Boggy Creek Farm adapted to the pandemic in a way grocery stores could not. The outdoor market practiced social distancing and sanitizing measures to ensure the business stayed active, and it provided customers with certain types of food when they were difficult to find in commercial stores late this past spring.
The farm had its regulars prior to the pandemic, but during COVID-19, Boggy Creek is seeing an increase of shoppers who want to change their eating habits.
“Everyone was terrified of big-name grocery stores,” Tracy Geyer, steward of the Boggy Creek Farm said. This fear led to distrust in the produce customers were receiving from typical grocery stores.
Geyer said she knows the process of converting everyone to farmers market shoppers will be a long process, but it is a dream she believes will come true. After all, seasonal eating from local farms is healthier than eating produced that mass-farmed for grocery stores because it truly is farm-to-table.
“People are caring more and more about what they put in their body,” Geyer said. “COVID made people realize the importance of urban farming, and the industry has been booming since.”
We as a people must change our consumption methods to more sustainable ones. In doing so, not only will our health improve, but the way we affect the earth will improve as well. Once you start shopping sustainably, your mind and body will beg you to never stop.
Photos by Chandler Maloney
This article was revised on Nov. 12, 2020.