An Illustrated History
Boggy Creek, the urban farm of East Austin, is a place where families and friends and visitors of all ages can go and purchase produce, explore fields and escape to a world of rich colors, community and life right in their backyard. While the Boggy Creek Farm is significantly known for their involvement in the community today, owners Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler have researched and made the mysterious history of the land more known. The different stories they have found contribute to the story of how one of the oldest structures rooted in Texas history became one of the first urban farms of the nation.
History
Estimated to have been built and completed between 1839 and 1841, the farmhouse of Boggy Creek Farm is one of the oldest buildings in Austin, along with the French Legation (a home built around the same time.) The French Legation is now a museum ran by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
In 1839, the year Austin was founded, the well-off Smith family had purchased the property along with other plots of land across the area. Smith supervised 19 slaves in the building of the farmhouse. The slave labor that went into the building of the farmhouse and the human lives that were involved, although not individually recorded, must be remembered.
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The Smiths raised cattle, pigs, and grew wheat, cotton, corn and possibly tobacco. “‘At that time, there were more than 400 farmers around the city of Austin and five lawyers,’ Carol Ann Sayle says.” A letter written by Sam Houston to his wife, Margaret, was discovered to have referred to Houston’s visit to the Smith’s at their house. “President Houston walked with crutches from his carriage, as his ankle still hurt from the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836,” Sayle describes in an interview. “He was assisted by a major of the Texas Army.” He described the “food-doings” as “first-rate throughout.”
The Smiths held onto the farm until 1885, and in 1902 it was puchased again and farmed/rented out. In the late 1930s, the property was sold to another owner and underwent some physical renovations. Between 1979 and 1991 farmhouse went through many different ownerships and was subdivided multiple times. In 1992 the land hadn’t been farmed on in decades...
1992 Purchase & Restoration Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler had been wanting to start a farm for a while and began to commute to farm outside of Austin in 1981. They continued their careers (Larry in real estate and Carol Ann in art) and ran the farm as a hobby until about 1991, when they decided to farm full-time. They then saw that an old property was for sale in East Austin. “We thought: ‘Oooh! If we can buy this, we can farm right here in town. And we won’t have to drive so far!’” Buddy the farm dog!
“The children were just about grown, and besides, what did we have to lose? Art prices had bottomed out and the real estate bust had turned Larry into a house remodeler.” -Carol Ann Sayle
The name “Boggy Creek� came from the body of water/ditch that spanned from the Greenbelt to in front of their property (which a large part is now concreted in.)
After renovations of the house and selling at different pop-up spots around Austin, they began to sell from the farmhouse, their home.
Today Sayle and Butler make produce at their Boggy Creek Farm and their Gause Farm (outside of Austin) and a majority of their foods are sold at the Austin location. Many programs and activities encourage involvement in their processes of farming, gardening, and creating. People are welcome to explore and make themselves at home. Carol Ann Sayle also still produces art pieces, but now they feature the landscapes and still-life that is so abundant around Boggy Creek Farm, the land they have cultivated.
At the
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Cool Season (Nov–May)
Hot Season (May–Nov)
Head Lettuce Succulent Spinach Fall-Winter-Spring Lettuce Salad Mix Fall-Winter-Spring Tender Greens Mix Chicory Salad Mix Cilantro Dandelion Greens Celery Endive Frisee Celeriac Parsley Chervil Bunched Greens French Sorrel Greenhouse Potatoes Carrots Mache Brussel Sprouts Leeks Turnips Fennel Kohlrabi Fresh Garlic Hard Squash Green Garlic Green Onions Spring Onions Daikon Radish Parsnips Escarole Radicchio
Tomatoes (May–Mid-August) Cherry Tomatoes Garlic Potatoes Onions Green Beans Long Beans Squash Eggplant Melons (July–August) Peppers (sweet/hot) Sweet Corn (mid June) Cucumbers Basil French Sorrel Crimson Lamb’s Quarters Figs (June–July) Okra Hard Squash (July–Nov) Pears (August–Sept) Smoke-dried Tomatoes Arugula (year-round)
Events & Opportunities Open Wednesday – Saturday 8AM–1PM Art & Wood-crafting on the Farm Ongoing display ft. Christine Reilly Photography, Carol Ann Sayle’s Oil Paintings, Barbara’s Pottery & Larry Butler’s Woodworking
Outstanding in the Field: Farm to Table Dinner & Tour SUN OCT 15, 2017
Grow Locally, Cook Globally: 19th Annual Fall Festival SUN OCT 29, 2017 benefiting Green Corn Project
East Austin Urban Farm Tour SUN APRIL 15, 2018 1PM–5PM
“Make yourself at home!”
For more info. and updates on events visit boggycreekfarm.com/events & facebook.com/ boggycreekfarm
Information for zine retrieved from: “Happy 175th to the French Legation and Boggy Creek Farm” article by Michael Burnes (2016); “Back to the Future: Austin’s Agrarian Past Rises again” article by Kate Thornberry (2010) & boggycreekfarm.com (A lot of more details & stories can be found at these sources)
Emma Drumright St. Edward’s University Fall 2017