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Jefferson of Braga Farms lets us get an inside look at the way his farm has pivoted with the weather:
“Our farm is a little different than most, as we’re just 1 acre right here in the S. Irving suburbs. We grow on an intense micro-level and also have the flexibility to scale production up and down at a pretty controlled level, depending on how much time from the homesteaders have available to pivot towards a garden scale. Leading into summer, we have needed to not till the ground as much, so that the biomass stays alive and doesn’t get burned out both from the heat as well as from the soil amendments. Because of the lack of rain earlier, we’ve had to supplement with more compost teas and amendments than usual, which at times led to beds burning out. The shade cloths had to be put up sooner and we’re watering from our well 2 or 3 times a day. But since it didn’t rain for a month of our late Spring, we’ve just gradually seen bed size dwindling.
As we consider other years, however, we have always had a month or a few weeks low in summer that allowed us to catch up on operational tasks and lead us into Fall such as weeding, pond and pathway rework, repairs and maintenance, classes, etc. Seeding and bed prep into Fall will probably be a little delayed but we hope to have three varieties of kales, a couple collards, a red ruby swiss chard, arugula, 3 varieties of lettuce, radishes, beets, and carrots. Suffice it to say there are no complaints as I’ve been able to join a great Microsoft partner to continue to build our farm’s online presence and improve customer’s experience at the Dallas Farmers Market. I’ve also spent time helping friends turn their urban homes into homesteads, and continued to press on ahead with growing in the Texas Heat!
– Happy Growing, Farmer Braga"
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