Welcome to Millican Farms
On Sunday, the Brazos Locavores visited Tanya Miller and Steve King of Millican Farms, formerly known as Millican Produce. They supply greenhouse-grown tomatoes to the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market, several local grocery stores and many of the finer restaurants in town.
Steve and Tanya give us the background on their farm
Farming is in Steve and Tanya’s blood; both grew up in families that farmed, which naturally encouraged them to seek plant-oriented careers. About six years ago they decided to construct their own greenhouses for off-season tomato production, a niche market that until then did not exist in the Brazos Valley.
January in the greenhouse
1000 indeterminate (vine type) tomato plants greeted us as we walked into the 6000 square foot greenhouse for a tour. Each is planted in a five gallon coconut coir filled polypropylene bag that is connected to the watering and fertilization system. The trellising is particularly interesting as each plant is wound around a polypropylene spool that hangs from the greenhouse “rafters.” As the plants grow up, the strings and attached tomato plants are lowered for ease of harvest. Simultaneously, the plant suckers are pruned and flower clusters pollinated by hand. Using this method, they can harvest an average yield of 22-25 pounds of fruit per plant. That’s a lot of tomatoes!
Tomatoes are grown in coconut coir filled bags
Tanya demonstrates her growing techniques
Millican Farms produces beefsteak or dutch type tomatoes, and now by popular demand are growing grape, cherry and roma type tomatoes. You can’t find prettier tomatoes than these:
- Beefsteak or dutch tomatoes ripen on the vine
Steve and Tanya discussed their methods of heating the greenhouse (propane and wood), watering (reverse-osmosis to filter out salts), fertilizing and pest management. While they aren’t certified organic, they try to utilize as many organic techniques as they can.
Yellow sticky cards indicate pest levels
- Millican Farms’ field-grown produce
Millican Farms also produces lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, bell peppers, melons, herbs and eggs. At the end of the tour, Steve and Tanya had an exciting announcement: in April, they are launching their inaugural CSA (community supported agriculture), in which 25 members will pay for and receive 12 weeks of produce from the farm. See their website for more information. But don’t worry, they’ll still be selling their beautiful produce at the weekly farmers’ markets and local grocery stores.
Farm fresh produce for sale
A BIG thanks to Tanya and Steve for hosting a record turnout of 50 locavores on a beautiful January day!
Tomatoes in January - Go Texan
This post originally published at http://grwhryrpltd.wordpress.com/ and shared with permission. All photos copyright Andrea Fox, 2010.
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