Fresh From the Farm Blog

Living in the Texas Hill Country we are eagerly watching every storm system tracking across the county. Will it bring rain? We have been experiencing drought conditions for the last two years so rain is a pleasant option to ponder. Having lived previously in areas where rain was rather a constant weather pattern, I remember dreading approaching gray clouds and the subsequent sounds of a hard driving rainstorm with its accompanying thunder and lightning. Then I consider the rainy days that have the soft patter of raindrops and the earth gets a gentle soaking; those days make one want to...

May 12 is Mother’s Day. Our moms support us every day so taking one day to say, “Thanks, Mom for always being there for me,” is just a little thing but it has a big impact. My own mom is gone but I remember always trying to find just the right card or gift to let her know how much she meant. I also had a mother-in-law and a dear step-mom to shop for. Now I am the mom and grandmother, that time passes by fast. I recently came across some things made by my kids for me on past...

For me, May 1st always signaled the countdown to the last day of school. I remember having a “Maypole Celebration” at school (possibly kindergarten) when I was small. The school used a tetherball pole and attached colored ribbons to the top of the metal pole. Certain students were chosen to “go ‘round the Maypole” weaving the ribbons by going in and out and they had to sing a song about May Day. I remember being very irritated that I was not selected to participate.  May 1 today makes me think that summer is on the way and I had better...

Arbor Day is April 26 this year.  Arbor Day sprouted from the mind of a zealous tree lover named Julius Sterling Morton, who had a passion for planting all kinds of trees. The first Arbor Day occurred on April 10, 1872, in Nebraska City, Nebraska. It’s estimated that nearly one million trees were planted on this day. Like Earth Day, Arbor Day celebrates nature and is usually celebrated on the last Friday of April in most states. Our Fredericksburg Farms Co-founder, Steve McAnally, loved to plant trees and often quoted a phrase,” “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose...

Cultivating…we have talked about making New Year’s resolutions, starting flowers and veggies from seeds, and planting gardens in the last few months. If you have done those things like we have here at Fredericksburg Farms, you are now looking at cultivating those life changes you made in your resolutions, and watering and weeding your recently planted gardens. My grandmother (Mamaw) had a little hand pushed plow/cultivator that she faithfully ran up and down the rows of her garden to get rid of weeds and to keep the soil from getting hard packed in the Texas panhandle sun. I look at...