Organic Farm Tour

Some friends invited us to go with Houston Wilderness to visit a local organic farm. The day would start with a "leisurely" bike ride on country roads. We love to bike, but by that I mean a few miles here and there. I think our longest ride had been about 6 miles.

I started to get worried when we met the rest of the group, ten folks who look like they do this sort of thing every weekend. They had actual biking clothes and fancy bike racks on their cars. Then I really started to get worried when Eric got the map and added up the mileage--22.5 miles. So I psyched myself up for it, and we head out in Brazoria county with the group. It was a windy day, so we pedaled into some breezes, then turned into an idyllic stillness, passing cows and fields of corn and picturesque barns.

And then we turned again. Into wind. Into awful wind. We dropped our bikes to the lowest gear and ducked our heads to no avail. It felt like we moved at a snail's pace. Fellow bikers did share our frustration, so we knew it wasn't just us. At least 12 miles of the trip we faced that horrible wind, but we made it the whole way. We felt pretty good about ourselves. But not about the wind.

The grower took us on a tour of her farm, Sullivan's Happy Heart, a beautiful collection of herbs and vegetables and fruits, all completely organic. She's pretty hardcore, only using a shovel and till, nothing mechanized. She even has a goat to trim the lawn. Fresh eggs and rabbits and goats are also on the property. She sells at farmer's markets and to a few restaurants who value local produce. It was so inspiring and clean (I felt really bad about using mosquito repellent).

To top off the experience a Houston caterer (and the farmer's boyfriend) prepared us dinner using all local, organic items (much of it from that farm). We were thankful for the wind then, relaxing under the tent and enjoying our food.