A Visit to Frydek Heritage Farm
There is no better time than this time to focus on taking care of ourselves. Starting with the basics which is paying attention to what we eat. Remember you are what you eat. This saying remains true no matter how long time has passed. Eating well lessens the chance of us getting sick. Thus, food is very important. Selecting good quality ingredients is the key for those who prefer to cook their own healthy food. These ingredients might be more expensive, but they're definitely a lot less compared to potential hospital bills in the future.
Behind all good quality ingredients, there are many hard-working farmers. Some of them farm for generations, some are hobbyists or some are the people who know nothing about farming, but have a passion to produce good food for people to consume.
Recently, I had the chance to visit Frydek Heritage Farm owned by a husband and wife team, Chris and Julie Lowe who moved from Austin five years ago to take over Julie's grandparents farm. She told me that her inspiration came from reading a book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
I met Julie for the first time at the Saturday Farmers Market on Grand Parkway. I'm interested in local farming, so I asked her after I got a dozen fresh eggs from her farm to see if she would allow me to visit the farm and write about it. She agreed, and we set an appointment for Monday.
On Monday, Brad and I drove to Frydek Heritage Farm. When we arrived, Julie was in the driveway waiting for us with two dogs beside her. Tundra and Cotton greeted us promptly. Julie took us on a tour starting from visiting all the roosters and hens on the south side of the driveway. I was so grateful to meet all the chicken, the producers of the eggs I bought last Saturday. Their eggs are so fresh; when I cracked them to fry for my breakfast, I was impressed with the round yolk that stands high surrounded by thick egg white.
Next to the chicken area is where a chicken wagon was parked. It's a movable chicken home which helps to protect the chicken from the number 1 predator in the area, Coyotes. To the left of the wagon is where all the Sheep were hanging out. They stopped and stared at us curiously as we were walking towards them. Julie told us that they are Gulf Coast Native sheep. This breed requires minimal shearing, and they don't have hair on their face and belly. They adapt well to the hot and humid conditions in Texas.
We moved on to the Hog area. A mama hog had just delivered her babies the day before Hurricane Laura was expected. There are eight cute little piglets competing to get milk from their mom who was laying comfortably on the muddy ground among other Hogs. Some of them enjoyed sitting in the muddy wallow to cool themselves.
Across the driveway is the duck area. Some of them enjoyed swimming in a round water tank picking bugs on the water surface while others were standing in the shade. Julie said, "unlike chickens, ducks lay their eggs wherever they want." You can see in the photo there is a duck egg on the ground.
Moving forward from the duck area toward the entry gate, there is another section dedicated to hogs. A majority of the animals on the farm are hogs. Hog products are one of the main focuses of their farm especially Pork chops and sausages. One of their customers commented that it was the best pork chops she'd ever had. She loved it so much she returned and bought half a hog.
While we were walking around, the Hogs started to make noise as a signal that it was time to eat. Julie drove her tractor along the driveway with buckets of food in the back. The hogs looked happy to see Julie coming towards them with their meal.
Time has gone by fast. I noticed that we've been there for a little bit more than an hour already. We thanked Julie for letting us visit her farm. We learned a lot today. We already know that farming is not easy work; it requires loads of patience and lots of passion especially when people want to make it a business. Meeting with Julie helped me to acknowledge the real challenges local farmers are facing.
Next time you see our local farmers at the Farmers Market, don't forget to stop by. At least thank them for what they are doing. We need people like them to ethically produce good ingredients for our society. I'm so grateful for them. Please join me in supporting them as much as we can.
Enjoy life,
Nikki
Frydek Heritage Farm | 9073 FM 1458 Sealy, TX 77474 | 979-473-9073
www.frydekheritagefarm.com
Stop by and say hi to Julie every Saturday at the Farmers Market on Grand Parkway
1225 W Grand Pkwy S, Katy, TX 77494
