Day Trips: Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Garfield
Gardeners, start your planting
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., March 12, 2021
Johnson's Backyard Garden is selling vegetable and herb transplants at their farm near Garfield on Saturdays through April.
Whether you have a garden plot or a patio planter, the farm's greenhouses have something for you. The 108 kinds of veggie transplants include tomatoes, squash, herbs, peppers, melons, and greens.
"The varieties we grow we know do well in Central Texas," says Ada Broussard, marketing manager for the farm that also does Community Supported Agriculture deliveries. Plus, they boost the soil with a little bit of magic to make the starter plants hearty and strong, she says.
Like farms all around Texas, Johnson's farm was hit hard by the six days of freezing temperatures. "We prepare for freezes, but nothing like this," Broussard says. "It lasted so long."
As the snowstorm began bearing down on Valentine's weekend, JBG employees rushed to harvest what they could. The farm still lost much of the crop that was in the fields.
If there was a silver lining to the storm, it was the large quantity of transplants growing in the heated greenhouses. Last year, the coronavirus pandemic hit in the last two weeks of the transplant sale, spurring a rush from backyard gardeners. Expecting continued demand for starter plants, JBG had increased inventory this year. There should be plenty of plants available through April, Broussard says.
Johnson's Backyard Garden's Transplant Sale is on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm at the farm off Hwy. 71, east of Downtown Austin, at 4008 River Rd. in Garfield. Despite the crowds due to strong community support, even with social distancing the line moves pretty quickly (cash payments are quickest). For more information, go to www.jbgorganic.com.
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