This week my family and I had the pleasure of visiting a most delightful organic urban farm in East Austin, Boggy Creek Farm. I’d heard many great things about this farm, and let me say that they are all true and then some!
Boggy Creek Farm offers fresh organic produce at their popular on-the-farm market stand twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.
In addition to gorgeous and tasty veggies, fruits, fresh eggs, and other yumminess, they sell locally produced honey, yogurt, goat’s milk, and meats, as well as chocolate, sauces, books, and more. They also offer produce grown on other local organic farms, so that you can always choose from the freshest and largest variety of seasonal produce. During the year, Boggy Creek grows more than 100 kinds of vegetables and fruits.
Owners Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler bought their farm and its historic 1800s farmhouse in 1991, but they first began farming back in the 1980s. The farmhouse itself is white and quaint, and lots of delicious seasonal recipes are born there.
Boggy Creek Farm is about 5 acres, though Carol Ann and Larry also have another farm where they grow even more veggies, those that need more space. While some rows of veggies are green and growing, other rows are being prepped for the next planting. Off to one side of the farm is their large compost area, a source of rich organic matter that revitalizes the soil before each planting.
Though I didn’t get to meet Larry, I can tell you that Carol Ann is a gem among Austinites — her passion for organic farming shines through as she shares stories of her hens and of life on the farm. She was kind enough to give our family a personal tour, including a meet-and-greet with the chickens.
The Hen House is quite large and has many different sections.
The chickens are family pets — all 80 of them. They live the good life, right up through their old age. The oldest hen on the farm, shown below, is a remarkable 17 years old!
There are lots of different chicken breeds at the Boggy Creek chicken haven, and Carol Ann can tell you every one of them, along with names and various tales of their personalities. Breeds include Auracana, Ameraucana, Leghorn, Production Red, Polish, and more.
All the chickens are beautiful, healthy, and happy, and they have a safe home long after they stop laying eggs.
Many of them roam the farm freely, searching for bugs and worms and whatever else looks tasty. They are given leafy green veggies and other organic goodness straight from the farm (sometimes they even try to sneak some straight from the fields).
To complete their well-balanced diet, the chickens are fed a locally-milled superior soy-free laying mash.
And in the afternoons they get a treat — chicken scratch, which includes cracked corn, milo, and other grains.
They love it so much, they’re happy to jump in the container and eat it right from the source.
Of course, the chickens’ incredible diet means that their eggs are equally high in nutrients!
While we were there, a few of the Leghorn hens were in the nesting boxes. I hope they didn’t mind me taking photos.
This next one might have minded a little, but I couldn’t resist capturing that glare stare.
In the photo below, you can see one hen gathering an egg and tucking it under her body. It wasn’t even her egg, as Leghorns lay white eggs.
We left Boggy Creek Farm wanting to reignite our plans to have a chicken coop and to become regular Market Day customers. I highly recommend you plan a visit, too. Be warned, though — produce can sell out fast!
I just loved all the photos of the chickens. Wow, 80 chickens as pets. I like chickens a lot and wish I could have them here, only two though. The black and white hen is really pretty. I don’t know the names of the varieties, sorry.
Meredith, what a wonderful place to visit! All of the veggies look so tasty, and the chickens put on quite a show. You’re lucky to enjoy fresh local produce in the middle of “winter”. Have some for me!
Meredith, thanks for giving us a tour! Your pictures are always so vivid, I feel as if I was on the farm with you. You have a natural talent for storytelling through your pictures. Locally, in Mount Pleasant, SC, we have a similar farm that has its own Market. I need to stop by more often. And I hope your son’s surprise project is going well!
We;ve belonged to a CSA for several years now, and there is just nothing like the taste of fresh veggies picked that very day. Plus we can get eggs, cheeses, honey, and lots more from them. Plus they are so friendly and knowledgeable.
Just found your blog via blotanical – and I enjoyed it a lot. The Boggy Creek Farm post was great – especially that picture of what I assjume are purple carrots – I think I read some time ago that the original carrots were purple and they were bred to be orange, but that the older pruple varieties were making a comeback. Congratulations on the spider macros aswell – they were excellent.
That’s interesting about the purple carrots — you have peaked my curiosity and now I want to learn all about them. The purple carrots were labelled “Loose (but moral) carrots” — priceless! Thank you for visiting!
Meredith, Boggy Creek Farms looks like a great place to visit if you are in to tasty food. The carrots look absolutely delicious! I hope you got a sampling of everything. I would love to have a place like this nearby.
Do you think chicken are color blind? Or perhaps it’s their nature to tuck eggs under their body so long as they see eggs? I remember as a child, I saw my Mom put a ping pong ball in the coop and the hen will lay eggs where the ball was.
I like your use of the phrase a “meet and greet with the chickens”. It looks like you and the family had a nice visit.
This place looks fantastic! and the everything looks so fresh and delicious. such a wonderful thing to look at in the middle of January here.:)
I’ve been to Boggy Creek many times and it’s always a treat! Your photos captured the place beautifully! And they reminded me, it’s time for road trip 🙂