We brought the tractor to Hergotz to finish planting this week. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Another week at the farm gone by, without any signs of fall weather, or things slowing down. We are still super busy, and it feels like our transplanter hasn't been out of use for a minute these last few months. Hergotz is now all planted in broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower with the rest of the property in cover crop, while at Garfield we've been seeding beets and carrots and transplanting kale, collards, parsley, and more broccoli. With this persistent heat, I can tell that our crews are starting to feel a little burnt out (literally, it's hot out there!), but I know that the end of the planting frenzy is in sight, and with the promise of a cool front this weekend I think we all see respite on its way. I really value everyone's never ending drive and the hard work the team has been putting in this fall. It is really paying off and the fields look better than I have ever seen them!

Things are really growing fast out there (although we would love it if this cool and wet fall we were promised would arrive already) and the farm is looking absolutely beautiful right now. This season is one of the absolutely BEST times to plan a visit to your local farm! While we don't have the hat and scarf weather you see in cooler parts of the country, we do have two events in the next two weeks to share our beautiful fall fields with you.

A recent glimpse of JBG Denton!

This Sunday, October 18th, I'm excited to be going up to the JBG Denton farm to have dinner with our good friends from Outstanding in the Field! You may remember back in 2011 and 2012, we hosted this traveling supper club here at our Hergotz Farm. Our Denton farm manager Ryan now has the opportunity to share his plot and our JBG bounty as Outstanding hosts a dinner with Dallas chef extraordinaire Matt McAllister from FT33! This year's dinner is sold out, and I really hope to meet some of our CSA customers at the event.

Our second event is one you've no doubt heard about - we are only ONE WEEK away from JBG's annual Fall Potluck and 5k Harvest Hustle! If you haven't bought your tickets yet for the event next Saturday, October 24th, now is the time to do so! This week has been a busy one, finalizing our plans for the big celebration, and I wanted to share a few of the projects we've been working on.

Come tour our fields at the Harvest Hustle next weekend! Photo by Scott David Gordon

This year's Harvest Hustle course is absolutely gorgeous. Tour our 200 acre organic farm on the Colorado River, stopping to see your Artichokes, Basil, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Eggplants, Flowers, Garlic, Green Beans, Onions, Okra, Squash, Tomatoes, Turnips and more! (trust me, this isn't even close to the full list) growing along the way! This 5k Fun Run is great for folks of all ages and athletic levels. While we have a very active community and expect to see some speed demons racing the course, we also have plenty of individuals and families who take their time, and maybe even walk the 5k just to get a rounded tour of JBG. Your Harvest Hustle ticket includes access to the race course, admission to our Potluck, and a vintage inspired racing t-shirt to remember the event! Bring your kids on the 5k, or sign them up for our 1-mile Kid's Fun Run for an abbreviated tour of the fields!

I have a really great feeling about this year's Potluck. Attendance at the biannual JBG celebrations has grown tremendously since we started hosting them nearly a decade ago, and we're excited to taste what our community has been cooking with our veggies at this Texas-sized potluck. We even posted some cookbook recommendations last week, if you need inspiration. Does anyone know the record for potluck size in Texas? Let us know, if you find out! By bringing a dish to share (with serving utensils, please!), you receive a discount on your admission to the celebration - only $5 for adults! Kids are admitted free to the event either way.

We're bringing back the sand pile for our Fall Potluck. Photo by Scott David Gordon

In addition to wide open spaces to run, there will be plenty to do for the kids. We're getting another full dump truck load of sand for our famous (infamous?) sand pile! This was definitely a favorite feature in the Spring and we're excited to let the kiddos play on the sand pile again this fall. JBG's own Kate Murray has been working hard on our much-loved kid's activity corner for the event. She'll will be disguised as a pollinator, and lead your little ones through an educational game to learn about the process of pollination. Of course, given the Halloween-spirit, there will be light costuming involved for each role (that the kids make themselves!) followed by a tag-like game of pollinators and plants! Teach your kids about the science behind farming, and enjoy your food and drink while watching your little one run some of that energy out!

Finally, we've had to change our band schedule around just a little bit, but the musical lineup is still completely local and completely awesome. We're featuring our potluck bands in a second blog post this week if you are looking for a preview of the fun.

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