This year is coming to a close, and we relish in the opportunity to reflect on the 2019 bounty. It's been 365 days of tractor repairs, all-day harvests, and literal tons of fresh, organic vegetables. We've driven thousands of miles around Austin delivering our vegetables to homes and neighborhood pickup sites, and have troubleshooted flat tires, stuck tractors, and broken forklifts. We have partnered with AISD for their Farm Fresh Fridays and at least one of our crops has been featured on an Austin cafeteria menu each week for the entire school year. We've added some additional opportunities to grab a CSA share in Houston and DFW, and have continued our partnerships with some of the best restaurants this town has to offer. Acreages of the farm have been planted in cover crop, insuring healthy soil for seasons to come, we just completed our annual organic certification. Each Saturday morning, rain or shine, we've packed up our trucks and headed to a myriad of Farmers' Markets around town - opening tents, unfolding tables, and stacking the week's harvest in mountains of herbs and pyramids of turnips - bring the freshest crop straight to you. We've also provided a safe and reliable workplace for around 100 employees this year, without whom we could not have done any of this. We look forward to this next decade and the opportunity do what we love - farm and deliver vegetables to you, our wonderful community.
Without further ado, 2019 in photos:
January
![]()
Barn Manager, Tracy, and Packing & Processing Manger, Tim, are two of the individuals who make sure that the right crop is harvested, on the right day. Thank you to these men for helping to make 2019 such a smooth, bountiful year! Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
January is the coldest month on average at our Garfield Farm. Here, rows of leafy greens are bouncing back after a chilly night. On nights that we know will be extra frigid, we turn on the irrigation and cross our fingers. This photo, along with most int his series, was taken by our farm photographer Scott David Gordon. He makes his way to the farm just about every other week, usually in the very early hours, to capture the weekly beet.
![]()
Last January we had fun with our rainbow carrots which really give new meaning to the idea of eating the rainbow. We snapped this picture, posted it to Instagram, and were shocked to break the JBG record for "most liked" photo on social media. This beautiful carrot gradient collected over 1,707 likes on Instagram! Who know if we will be able to top that internet love this year... Photo by Scott David Gordon.
February
![]()
Kale fields! Our hearty kale crop can usually stand up to the occasional frosts that sometimes hit in winter months, making it a reliable crop for January and February. Kale's popularity affects our crop plan, and we plant a lot of this crop! Specifically, for about 36 weeks out of the year (October through May) we harvest around 100 cases of kale a week. That's around 3,600 cases of kale a year, and with 24 bunches per case, that's around 86,400 bunches of kale harvests from our fields annually, and THAT'S A LOT OF KALE. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
In addition to crop planning for our own fields, we put a lot of effort into crop planning for our annual transplant sale, which usually happens sometime around the last weeks of February/the first weeks of March. The 2019 transplant sale was a huge success and was certainly worth the effort of transforming our commercial greenhouses into a customer nursery. Checkout this colorful group of future farmers that visited the sale. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
March
![]()
With the danger of killing frosts diminishing and the ground warming, March can be a beautiful time at the farm. Crops like bunched beets make their return, and we are busy busy. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Did you happen to catch those kale statistics listed above? March is a busy harvest month at the farm, and cases of kale almost always make the pick list. Our favorite March days are the ones where we still need a sweatshirt. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
April
![]()
The first glimpse of summer squash is always such a welcome sight. If you're a customer reading this, we're sorry to say, but the first case of harvested squash is usually taken home by JBG staff - we're just so excited to see this juicy fruit after endless months of leafy greens and root crops It's hard to even imagine the late summer-squash fatigue in early April. Photo of this early squash crop by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Our tomato transplants have been dutifully growing in the greenhouse since February, and by mid-April we're are racing to finish planting the tomatoes and getting the tomato stakes in the ground. Despite the mud on this particular day, stakes were going in. One by one by one. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Green beans are a finicky crop, with a very short planting window in Texas. Some years, we miss the window and there are sadly, no beans. This past spring, we had a small crop of green beans that were ready for harvest in April. Enter: The green bean picker - this machine’s sole purpose is to pick green beans. The reason for that is that it’s super labor intensive to pick all those little green beans that are hiding in leaves. With three people we can harvest large swaths of green bean crops that would otherwise take us all day plus a lot more people."
![]()
Some of the most stunning pictures of the farm happen as the sun is rising over a bountiful field, but our Garfield farm is only of the equation. Almost every day, anywhere from one to three harvests make their way from our Garfield farm to our Hergotz Packing Shed. Here, Cooler Manager Ricky is unloading the harvest from our (half painted) refrigerated truck. Produce gets loaded into the coolers where it's sorted, organized, and delegated to various departments. We're happy to report that later this April, the remainder of this truck was painted with the generous help of some awesome volunteers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
May
![]()
![]()
When a pipe breaks, you've gotta fix it. Even if it means an all-day, muddy excavation. This past May Brenton took the lead on fixing some damaged pipes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
June
![]()
If you're reading this as a part of our year in photos post, then June may seem like a long way away. And it always does, yet before we know it, we'll be covering our greenhouse with shade cloth, trying to eek out even a 1-5 degree temperature drop for the transplants growing inside. Shadow puppet show by the farm crew, photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
If you've been following our farm for a number of years, you know that every June we get really excited about one thing: tomatoes. We love this shot Scott captured of Brenton with a mixed tomato harvest, enjoying the warm June sunrise.
![]()
More tomatoes, of the Sungold variety. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
July
![]()
In the warm summer days, leafy greens like this arugula are harvested first thing in the morning when the day is at its coolest. Photo by Scott Gordon.
![]()
This past summer we aimed to do a bit of education regarding the varieties greens we can grow in this Texas heat - because there are a lot! From left to right, we've got: (top row) purple amaranth, baby bok choy, arugula, sweet potato greens, (next row) basil, mizuna, and purple and green amaranth. We hope that some of you learned how to easily incorporate these greens into your cooking! Photo by Scott Gordon
![]()
Fishing for black beauty eggplant among waste high plants. July and August are the peak season for eggplant at JBG. Pictured here is an early morning eggplant picking with our harvest trailer. "Arms" are swung out and float over crops, eliminating the need to carry heavy bins of produce down our long rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
It always amazes us how delicate and tiny our crops start out. Come late July, we're already thinking about the beginning of our cool weather crops. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Photographer Tamir Kalifa made his way out to the farm one hot August. Tamir paired an off-camera flash with his digital camera to add a surreal, vivid element to everyday scenes on the farm. Here, Luis uses his machete to make a path among flourishing cover crops and sunflowery forbs.
August
![]()
Brenton and Krishna go over seeding and planting schedules in the greenhouse. August is one of the busiest seeding months of the year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Luis and Jack laying the drip tape. Here at JBG, we burry our drip tape under a prepped bed. This way, drops of precious water are targeted to plants roots and hidden from the sun's bring blaze, which would cause quicker evaporation. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
The summer heat compelled us towards some creative solutions. This year marked the first time we draped shade cloth over our transplanter for a shaded transplanting experience. This cool innovation will certainly be carried into the next decade. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Okra is a member of the Mallow family, and is related to the cotton and hibiscus plant. It's actually a tropical plant, and can therefore stand up to the unrelenting Texas summers. The same plants are picked on all summer and can grow to be over 6 feet tall. These okra seed pods were harvested by the farm crew and photographed by Scott.
September
![]()
Don't the flowers resemble hibiscus? Up and up our okra grows, all the way until the first first. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
The very first of the fall crops start to make their appearance in September, making for a wide variety of farmers market offerings. If you look closely at this photo from the Sunday Mueller Farmers' Market, you can see the first signs of fall - big heads of bok choy and bunched radishes among summer staples like watermelons and peppers.
October
![]()
![]()
This past October we finally got in the kitchen with our beloved Operations Manager, Krishna, where he shared some of his family recipes including banana pepper fritters and aloo mutter. Thanks again, Krishna, for all you do and for also sharing these gems! (To find the recipes, just search "Cooking with Krishna" in the search bar on our home page. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Just like that, CSA boxes are filled with greens like collards and kale, and savory warming recipes like this seem right. This past October recipe developer Mackenzie Smith made a dish we can't stop thinking about that included collard greens, miso, coconut milk, kidney peans, and pecans. Photo (and recipe) by Mackenzie Smith. Search "Kidney Beans Coconut" in the search bar to find this recipe.
![]()
November
![]()
We may not have much of a fall leaf change in Texas, but rows of colorful lettuce will certainly suffice. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Early morning bed prep. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Purple Daikon harvest, from above. To get the shots he wants, our photographer Scott Gordon has been known to climb on top of trucks and tractors, as is the case here.
December
![]()
Delicate December moments caught by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
And just like that, we're suddenly in December with endless fields of verdant rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
By mid December, our brassicas like broccoli and cauliflower are hitting their peak. Shown here, broccoli crowns are being harvested into ifcos, set atop the arms of our harvest trailer. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
![]()
Each year ends and begins with onions. Here are some 2019 onion transplants that were planted in January and harvested in March of 2019. It's a year later, and our December photos look about the same - thousands and thousands of onions, waiting in the greenhouse for planting in the fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
0 ITEMS IN CART 
Barn Manager, Tracy, and Packing & Processing Manger, Tim, are two of the individuals who make sure that the right crop is harvested, on the right day. Thank you to these men for helping to make 2019 such a smooth, bountiful year! Photo by Scott David Gordon.
January is the coldest month on average at our Garfield Farm. Here, rows of leafy greens are bouncing back after a chilly night. On nights that we know will be extra frigid, we turn on the irrigation and cross our fingers. This photo, along with most int his series, was taken by our farm photographer Scott David Gordon. He makes his way to the farm just about every other week, usually in the very early hours, to capture the weekly beet.
Last January we had fun with our rainbow carrots which really give new meaning to the idea of eating the rainbow. We snapped this picture, posted it to Instagram, and were shocked to break the JBG record for "most liked" photo on social media. This beautiful carrot gradient collected over 1,707 likes on Instagram! Who know if we will be able to top that internet love this year... Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Kale fields! Our hearty kale crop can usually stand up to the occasional frosts that sometimes hit in winter months, making it a reliable crop for January and February. Kale's popularity affects our crop plan, and we plant a lot of this crop! Specifically, for about 36 weeks out of the year (October through May) we harvest around 100 cases of kale a week. That's around 3,600 cases of kale a year, and with 24 bunches per case, that's around 86,400 bunches of kale harvests from our fields annually, and THAT'S A LOT OF KALE. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
In addition to crop planning for our own fields, we put a lot of effort into crop planning for our annual transplant sale, which usually happens sometime around the last weeks of February/the first weeks of March. The 2019 transplant sale was a huge success and was certainly worth the effort of transforming our commercial greenhouses into a customer nursery. Checkout this colorful group of future farmers that visited the sale. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
With the danger of killing frosts diminishing and the ground warming, March can be a beautiful time at the farm. Crops like bunched beets make their return, and we are busy busy. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Did you happen to catch those kale statistics listed above? March is a busy harvest month at the farm, and cases of kale almost always make the pick list. Our favorite March days are the ones where we still need a sweatshirt. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
The first glimpse of summer squash is always such a welcome sight. If you're a customer reading this, we're sorry to say, but the first case of harvested squash is usually taken home by JBG staff - we're just so excited to see this juicy fruit after endless months of leafy greens and root crops It's hard to even imagine the late summer-squash fatigue in early April. Photo of this early squash crop by Scott David Gordon.
Our tomato transplants have been dutifully growing in the greenhouse since February, and by mid-April we're are racing to finish planting the tomatoes and getting the tomato stakes in the ground. Despite the mud on this particular day, stakes were going in. One by one by one. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Green beans are a finicky crop, with a very short planting window in Texas. Some years, we miss the window and there are sadly, no beans. This past spring, we had a small crop of green beans that were ready for harvest in April. Enter: The green bean picker - this machine’s sole purpose is to pick green beans. The reason for that is that it’s super labor intensive to pick all those little green beans that are hiding in leaves. With three people we can harvest large swaths of green bean crops that would otherwise take us all day plus a lot more people."
Some of the most stunning pictures of the farm happen as the sun is rising over a bountiful field, but our Garfield farm is only of the equation. Almost every day, anywhere from one to three harvests make their way from our Garfield farm to our Hergotz Packing Shed. Here, Cooler Manager Ricky is unloading the harvest from our (half painted) refrigerated truck. Produce gets loaded into the coolers where it's sorted, organized, and delegated to various departments. We're happy to report that later this April, the remainder of this truck was painted with the generous help of some awesome volunteers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
When a pipe breaks, you've gotta fix it. Even if it means an all-day, muddy excavation. This past May Brenton took the lead on fixing some damaged pipes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
If you're reading this as a part of our year in photos post, then June may seem like a long way away. And it always does, yet before we know it, we'll be covering our greenhouse with shade cloth, trying to eek out even a 1-5 degree temperature drop for the transplants growing inside. Shadow puppet show by the farm crew, photo by Scott David Gordon.
If you've been following our farm for a number of years, you know that every June we get really excited about one thing: tomatoes. We love this shot Scott captured of Brenton with a mixed tomato harvest, enjoying the warm June sunrise.
More tomatoes, of the Sungold variety. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
In the warm summer days, leafy greens like this arugula are harvested first thing in the morning when the day is at its coolest. Photo by Scott Gordon.
This past summer we aimed to do a bit of education regarding the varieties greens we can grow in this Texas heat - because there are a lot! From left to right, we've got: (top row) purple amaranth, baby bok choy, arugula, sweet potato greens, (next row) basil, mizuna, and purple and green amaranth. We hope that some of you learned how to easily incorporate these greens into your cooking! Photo by Scott Gordon
Fishing for black beauty eggplant among waste high plants. July and August are the peak season for eggplant at JBG. Pictured here is an early morning eggplant picking with our harvest trailer. "Arms" are swung out and float over crops, eliminating the need to carry heavy bins of produce down our long rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
It always amazes us how delicate and tiny our crops start out. Come late July, we're already thinking about the beginning of our cool weather crops. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photographer Tamir Kalifa made his way out to the farm one hot August. Tamir paired an off-camera flash with his digital camera to add a surreal, vivid element to everyday scenes on the farm. Here, Luis uses his machete to make a path among flourishing cover crops and sunflowery forbs.
Brenton and Krishna go over seeding and planting schedules in the greenhouse. August is one of the busiest seeding months of the year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Luis and Jack laying the drip tape. Here at JBG, we burry our drip tape under a prepped bed. This way, drops of precious water are targeted to plants roots and hidden from the sun's bring blaze, which would cause quicker evaporation. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
The summer heat compelled us towards some creative solutions. This year marked the first time we draped shade cloth over our transplanter for a shaded transplanting experience. This cool innovation will certainly be carried into the next decade. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Okra is a member of the Mallow family, and is related to the cotton and hibiscus plant. It's actually a tropical plant, and can therefore stand up to the unrelenting Texas summers. The same plants are picked on all summer and can grow to be over 6 feet tall. These okra seed pods were harvested by the farm crew and photographed by Scott.
Don't the flowers resemble hibiscus? Up and up our okra grows, all the way until the first first. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
The very first of the fall crops start to make their appearance in September, making for a wide variety of farmers market offerings. If you look closely at this photo from the Sunday Mueller Farmers' Market, you can see the first signs of fall - big heads of bok choy and bunched radishes among summer staples like watermelons and peppers.
This past October we finally got in the kitchen with our beloved Operations Manager, Krishna, where he shared some of his family recipes including banana pepper fritters and aloo mutter. Thanks again, Krishna, for all you do and for also sharing these gems! (To find the recipes, just search "Cooking with Krishna" in the search bar on our home page. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Just like that, CSA boxes are filled with greens like collards and kale, and savory warming recipes like this seem right. This past October recipe developer Mackenzie Smith made a dish we can't stop thinking about that included collard greens, miso, coconut milk, kidney peans, and pecans. Photo (and recipe) by Mackenzie Smith. Search "Kidney Beans Coconut" in the search bar to find this recipe.
We may not have much of a fall leaf change in Texas, but rows of colorful lettuce will certainly suffice. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Early morning bed prep. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Purple Daikon harvest, from above. To get the shots he wants, our photographer Scott Gordon has been known to climb on top of trucks and tractors, as is the case here.
Delicate December moments caught by Scott David Gordon.
And just like that, we're suddenly in December with endless fields of verdant rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
By mid December, our brassicas like broccoli and cauliflower are hitting their peak. Shown here, broccoli crowns are being harvested into ifcos, set atop the arms of our harvest trailer. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Each year ends and begins with onions. Here are some 2019 onion transplants that were planted in January and harvested in March of 2019. It's a year later, and our December photos look about the same - thousands and thousands of onions, waiting in the greenhouse for planting in the fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
