Joel Salatin’s visit to South Texas last week was an overwhelming success.  I can’t think of anything that would have made this day better or more special.  We are so thankful for Joel Salatin and our wonderful sponsors for making this event possible, and for the many good folks who visited our farm and shared dinner with us.

Joel refused payment of any kind, not even an honorarium, for making the trip.  He said his spirit would not allow it.  Joel Salatin is the most well-known farmer in the world because of his ideas and his vision for the future of sustainable farming.  Now, after getting to know him, I am even more impressed by his humility, his servant’s heart, and his passion to make this world a better place.

You can find more pictures from these events on our Facebook page. We invite you to tag us in your post and add your own pictures as well.

Farm Tour and Talk at Four String Farm

We had about 150 visitors at our farm on Friday afternoon.  This would be an impressive turnout at any farm in Texas, but is particularly special in the middle of a school/work day in our little town, which is still recovering from the hurricane.  Thank you to the sponsors who made this possible (please see them listed below and visit them soon—they are great people!)

I believe most of the small-scale farmers in South/Central Texas were with us on Friday!  There were farmers from Austin, Houston, Sealy, Nixon, Cleveland (about six hours away), San Antonio, Victoria, Cuero, Beeville, Brownsville, and one very special farmer who came all the way from Louisiana.  There were many students from TAMUK, who came with their soil science professor, Dr. David Ruppert.  Most of the folks who came just wanted to support a good cause.

Originally, I had planned a farm tour with Joel Salatin to start the day.  You may laugh, but I was expecting maybe five or six really committed small-scale farmers would be there to join us.  Instead, we had 150 people surrounding Joel as we started the tour!  It was the shortest farm tour in history.  I led Joel to a high spot by the lake where he began to answer questions.  After a short time in the hot sun, we led everyone back under the tent to continue the discussion.  Joel talked and answered questions for three straight hours.  He never stopped or slowed down, it was quite impressive.  His talk was inspirational and perfect for the occasion.

Sold Out Dinner at Water Street Seafood

The sold-out dinner was perfect.  The decorations, the music, the ambiance, the wonderful people, everything was beautiful, and the food was amazing.  The farmers who grew this food were honored at the dinner, and there was huge applause as each of them was introduced.  Carol Koutnik gave Joel the gift of one of her paintings from the series Fantastic Garden.   Richard Lomax, Director of Operations for Water Street Seafood, announced the partnership of Water Street Seafood with the Farm Share going forward.  It was an unforgettable night.

Thank you to Joel Salatin and Our Wonderful Sponsors

Thank you Joel Salatin for visiting us in South Texas.  We hope you know how welcome, appreciated, and invited you are to return!  We hope to bring you back to view our raft gardens, hügelkulturs, and lake muck fertilizer in action!

We are so thankful for the support of SpringCure Foundation, led by our friend Dr. Mohammad Emran.  Because of the generosity and vision of Dr. Emran, the afternoon farm event was FREE and open to the public.  Dr. Emran is leading a health revolution in South Texas, we are excited to tell you more about him soon.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors Water Street Seafood, The Bend Magazine, Oh Goodie Designs + Events, and Hester’s Cafe for your generous support!  If you have an event of any kind, ever, from a wedding to business luncheon, please call Jo Anne Howell of Oh Goodie Designs + Events.  Jo Anne is so completely buttoned up, professional, creative, and tasteful, and she can turn any room (even the woods of our farm!) into an elegant setting.  Jo Anne donated her time and brilliance to make this event a success.  We could not have done it with her.

Of course, we must thank the farmers who made the dinner possible:  Spirit Pioneering Farm, Whole Earth Farm, Turkey Hollow Farm, Palo Verde Cattle Company, and Groundswell Farm.  If you met any of these good folks, you know how completely blessed we are to work with such amazing people.  They lift and inspire us every day, they are truly the salt of the earth.

We are so thankful for our afternoon event sponsors:  Hollie Schaub of Fed by Bread; Kimmi of Kimmi’s Fine Foods;  Grow Local South Texas and the Bawktoberfest Urban Chicken Coop Tour; Spencer of Roastorium Coffee; Jessica Gignac of Eleanor’s Coffee Bar + Market ; Ginger Easton-Smith with Texas Agri-Life; Karey Swarthout of GLOW of Rockport ; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds; and Premier1 Fence Supplies.

Finally, we are so thankful to our neighbors Mike and Ginette Collins for letting our guests park at their beautiful property next door.  Mike and Ginette are great people and the best of neighbors.

Please visit these wonderful sponsors and find out more about them.  We have such a great community in South Texas because of these folks, we could not be more thankful for all of them.

We have many requests to hold another event like this Joel Salatin visit, and we will!  Stay tuned, we have a great event in the works!  Thank again friends for an wonderful day!