WHO WE ARE
We grow our field produce using manure and compost, which we have delivered by the dump truck load, as a primary source of plant nutrition. We also use some amounts hydrolyzed fish, kelp and molasse products. This increases biological activity in the soil, important to plant health. Plants that are under stress are attractive to insect pests so good plant nutrition and adequate moisture is key. We utilize drip irrigation to cover as much produce as possible, however we rely on surface water and can't supply everything. We still need natures water from the sky which can be elusive many years. Our surface water supply gives up approx. 5 acre feet of usable water at a given time, not much from a farming perspective. We do not have a well as any underground water found on the property to date has been salty. Our hydroponic greenhouse items are produced using highest quality greenhouse grade nutrients. We started with hydroponics in 1999, long before we had surface water, we relied upon the community water supply, which has increased drastically in price and continues to increase. We can produce tomatoes with less than 10% of the water required to grow in the field. Our primary source for insect control is use of beneficial insects and biologicals, as well as organic based compounds often used by organic growers. Experience has taught us that if growing conditions are more favorable for insects and weeds, it may be practical to wait till conditions improve, rather then to produce a inferior product. This is something we deal with constantly.
Fred & Jackie are life long residents of Guadalupe county. They both grew up in and around agriculture and small family farming. Although they both have had outside careers, they both have maintained a connection to agriculture over the years. Jackie has been self employed on the farm since 1996 after 22 years as a production line supervisor for Motorola Inc. Prior to that she grew up around Swine, Beef cattle and horses, in fact in her younger days she would break horses with her dad.
Fred has been a part time rancher/farmer while working off farm over the last 45 years and is retired from a 37 year career in the energy industry, first 10 as a mechanical analyst, then approx. 27 as a Telecommunications Tech, and now on the farm full time. Having extensive knowledge and experience in mechanical and electronic trades is extremely handy to keep a farm running.
The farm itself was originally purchased by V.C. Pomrenke in 1950 when he decided to semi-retire and leave the Harlingen Texas area where he had a small Dairy and Cabbage farm. When he moved here he grew cotton and grain until his health would no longer permit, when Fred's uncle took over. By this time Fred was getting big enough to handle some tractor work ( 12 years old) and would help his favorite uncle out often. This would have been about 1965 or 66. He learned to drive on a 1946 John Deere model B and 1948 model A, and a 1930's Allis Chalmers WC. Non of these were electric start. The farm continued growing grain and started a swine operation. This continued until the swine processing plants left Texas and the hog market basically collapsed. At this point the farm was converted over to be a Cow / Calf Beef farm. Upon the sudden death of Fred's uncle in 1987, Fred took over and continued with cattle, but in the early 90's started dabbling with growing produce for local sale. Small amounts of Produce were sold at Farmers Markets in Seguin, San Marcos and New Braunfels during the summer months only. In 1996 Jackie decided to leave Motorola and try something different. By 1998 we decided that a Hydroponic Greenhouse would be worth a try since it offered year round production and was very water efficient. This was important as water on the farm is a very scarce item and expensive to purchase. The first greenhouse was constructed in 1999 and in 2000 we started selling produce at the Westlake Farmers Market near Austin which gave us a market all year long. Since then we have built a couple of smaller houses for strawberry's and plant production since we start all of our own transplant plugs. We have also been fortunate to build a irrigations pond to store up about 5 acre feet of water.
Fred & Jackie are life long residents of Guadalupe county. They both grew up in and around agriculture and small family farming. Although they both have had outside careers, they both have maintained a connection to agriculture over the years. Jackie has been self employed on the farm since 1996 after 22 years as a production line supervisor for Motorola Inc. Prior to that she grew up around Swine, Beef cattle and horses, in fact in her younger days she would break horses with her dad.
Fred has been a part time rancher/farmer while working off farm over the last 45 years and is retired from a 37 year career in the energy industry, first 10 as a mechanical analyst, then approx. 27 as a Telecommunications Tech, and now on the farm full time. Having extensive knowledge and experience in mechanical and electronic trades is extremely handy to keep a farm running.
The farm itself was originally purchased by V.C. Pomrenke in 1950 when he decided to semi-retire and leave the Harlingen Texas area where he had a small Dairy and Cabbage farm. When he moved here he grew cotton and grain until his health would no longer permit, when Fred's uncle took over. By this time Fred was getting big enough to handle some tractor work ( 12 years old) and would help his favorite uncle out often. This would have been about 1965 or 66. He learned to drive on a 1946 John Deere model B and 1948 model A, and a 1930's Allis Chalmers WC. Non of these were electric start. The farm continued growing grain and started a swine operation. This continued until the swine processing plants left Texas and the hog market basically collapsed. At this point the farm was converted over to be a Cow / Calf Beef farm. Upon the sudden death of Fred's uncle in 1987, Fred took over and continued with cattle, but in the early 90's started dabbling with growing produce for local sale. Small amounts of Produce were sold at Farmers Markets in Seguin, San Marcos and New Braunfels during the summer months only. In 1996 Jackie decided to leave Motorola and try something different. By 1998 we decided that a Hydroponic Greenhouse would be worth a try since it offered year round production and was very water efficient. This was important as water on the farm is a very scarce item and expensive to purchase. The first greenhouse was constructed in 1999 and in 2000 we started selling produce at the Westlake Farmers Market near Austin which gave us a market all year long. Since then we have built a couple of smaller houses for strawberry's and plant production since we start all of our own transplant plugs. We have also been fortunate to build a irrigations pond to store up about 5 acre feet of water.
