Did y’all know Texas has fire ants?! I think I may have vaguely heard of them here or there, but we don’t have them in Iowa, so why pay close attention?! Well, I’ll tell you why you should pay attention…because they live up to their name!
A Landmark Urban Farm
I met up with these tiny red devils at Boggy Creek Farm in Austin, Texas. Boggy Creek is home to Carol Ann Sayle and her husband Larry. Decades ago this couple – an artist and real estate professional – combined their love of gardening and some good business sense to create what is now a landmark urban farm.
It is in fact, one of the first urban farms in the country that is still operating. It sits on a historic site, with their home at the heart of the farm being the second oldest house in Austin, Texas, at 125 years young.
The Second Go-Round
This was actually my second trip to the famed Boggy Creek to meet Carol Ann.
Others in the area know the farm as a legend and refer to Carol Ann as the mother of urban farming. A fitting title for the FarmHer who raises delicious produce while operating a successful business and training future FarmHers at the farm.
On the day I visited Boggy Creek, Carol Ann walked me around the beautiful farm, showing me all of the delicious and much sought after produce.
Little Devil Ants
Harvest was going on while we were there, and the crew was getting ready for the on-farm stand to be open the next day. As we were walking around the farm, I think somewhere between the Dandelion greens and the peppers (it’s kind of a blur), that’s where I met the little devil ants!
Following that excitement Carol Ann showed me around her historic farmhouse and the new in construction but old in design Texas Dog Trot guest house. The dog trot house is filled with beautiful wood creations ranging from furniture to countertops, all locally sourced and constructed by Larry. The trip to Boggy Creek finished with a visit back the next morning to the Farm Stand where I was able to see first hand the beautiful, delicious and nutritious produce grown at the farm and meet some of the local chefs and other patrons who support the farm and enjoy the fruits of Carol Ann’s labor.
It was my pleasure to meet this iconic FarmHer who has not only grown good food for generations of Texans but also has helped inspire a generation of new FarmHers! Watch the video clips of the visit here.
We have them in SC all over the place. If you have cows they visit the cow piles and take over the hill.
I think that the fire ants are cool, and that the farm is full of produce, and that the reporter didn’t even know that there where any fire ants there.
I liked this one because it was a different type of farm then the other ones because it was an fire ant farm and I was not expecting that and really enjoyed this story.
I really love how you give facts about wildlife instead of people. I learned a lot about a Texas farm. Who knows one day I might go to a Texas farm.
I liked this because it talks about how the land mark was created and how its doing today.
I like this article because it informs other people who may not know about fire ants and what they can do. Something I learned in this article was that fire ants live in Texas. This information is useful to me because if I ever move somewhere such as Texas I’ll know to keep my eye out!
I liked how the farmer was really friendly to the reporter. I learned that there are green tomatoes, I thought that there were only red, orange, and maybe yellow. This is helpful because it got me to connect with the farmer, and put myself in her shoes!
I think the article has useful information because you are learning from her mistakes.
I like this article because it tells me about the red fire ants and the Boggy Creek in Texas. This post helps me because it informs me about the red fire ants and what they look like so that I don’t run into them. this also connected me to a farmer so I can see what they work with and how they deal with their everyday equipment and how they farm crops.
I liked the article because I think it’s interesting that there actually are fire ant farms and there in Texas I didn’t even know there were fire ants there. It’s kinda useful because I have family down there in Texas I might be able to visit.
Dear Carol,
I love your story. I really love ants so your story is inspiring to me. I love that you are not one of those people who kills bugs.
– Makaiya 1E
I liked this report because it was as good read and I liked the part where it started talking about how they called her the mother of urban farming.
I like this story because it’a a bit different then all the other stories and it’s unique. I learned that fire ants can live a on a farm. I think this information is good because it kind of shows that there could be fire ants anywhere and you may want to because careful of where you are because there could be fire ants around you.
I liked this article because It is a very different farm from the other farms on this website. I learned that some farms can operate for more than a hundred years and still be successful. This is helpful to know about because it teaches us that not all farms are the same.
I liked it it because their house was 125 years young and my house is 135 years young. I liked reading that they had a farm stand because we grow a garden.
I like this article because I thought this type of farm was cool. Also, I think fire ants are interesting creatures.
I like this article because I thought this type of farm was cool. Also, I think fire ants are interesting creatures. Also, when you were walking in the dandelion greens and green peppers I was like I would of been terrified if I saw those ants.