Get Out in the Backyard
Johnson’s Backyard Garden offers space to grow in community.
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Scott David Gordon
Brenton Johnson, East Austin resident behind Johnson’s Backyard Garden (JBG), has always enjoyed plants, but he didn’t always know how to grow them.
It was in college that the future farm owner discovered his knack for cultivating houseplants, which set a domino effect into motion that led to him abruptly switch majors from mechanical engineering to agricultural engineering in the hopes of working one day on an organic farm on the West Coast. Instead of leading him immediately to life on the farm though, Brenton got a 9-5.
Working a desk job never stopped Brenton from getting his hands dirty. While working for the government in early 2000, Brenton began transforming his yard into a vegetable garden, which, in addition to growing produce, sprouted a community of neighbors and volunteers. “When I first started, I put an ad on Craigslist, and I ended up getting two volunteers,” Brenton recalls. “And those two volunteers ended up having a really long relationship with JBG.”
The farm today
That relationship flourished as Brenton’s farm grew from an overflowing backyard full of chickens and vegetables in the Holly neighborhood to a 20-acre site in East Austin to now a commercial enterprise that is located outside the city limits, but still east.
Nearly 20 years later, JBG is a far cry from the neighborhood Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that it started as. Today, Brenton’s vegetable patch is a sprawling 186 acres in Garfield, Texas, with 100 employees who range from greenhouse managers and farmhands to operations directors and delivery drivers. One thing that has not changed, however, is Brenton’s dedication to teaching agriculture to Austinites and developing gardeners out of volunteers.
Despite operating at a scale that allows for the provision of fresh produce to local restaurants and markets, volunteers are still a core force of the operations at JBG. Dozens of local residents trek to the organic farm on any given day to exercise their skills in gardening, preparing CSA boxes, or working at the markets.
Connection to nature and neighbor
Besides the satisfaction of absorbing fresh air and sunshine alongside the plants, each volunteer has the option to indulge in the fruits of their labor with some veggies. Not only that, but the 20-minute drive to Garfield has the ability to transport Austin-dwellers into another realm: one that provides a purposeful connection to nature and neighbors.
Brenton says that’s exactly what makes time spent on the farm so idyllic. Vegetables require long hours of tending, but that careful attention allows for a thriving business and community to be built from the seeds of crisp rainbow chard and sun-ripened tomatoes.
Native Knowledge
JBG has an annual transplant sale in the spring to help jumpstart small-scale produce cultivation for home gardeners who want the freshest produce that Mother Nature can provide.
Support a Farm & Eat Fresh
Austinites looking for fresh produce can join the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program where they can select from a variety of box sizes and delivery schedules to suit their culinary needs. Summer produce shares include crowd favorites like homegrown tomatoes, watermelon, and squash. Be sure to check their website for updates and availability.
Contact:
(512) 666-3460
4008 River Road
Cedar Creek, TX 78612
jbgorganic.com
[…] The backyard garden turned 186-acre farm has long been a go-to for all things produce and farm education. Johnson’s Backyard Garden produces over 60 types of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs and distributes the harvest to the community through restaurant distribution, markets, and CSA boxes. The CSA boxes, which are distributed to those in the Community Supported Agriculture program, come in four sizes, are full of seasonal certified organic produce, and are delivered to members on a weekly or every-other-week basis. {Read more about JBG here.} […]