January 2023 - 16

Tito's Fourteen Acres Farm grows
numerous vegetables, using 74 raised
beds and 16 high tunnels. The farm
employs vermiculture, the use of
worms to decompose organic food
wastes into nutrients. Photos: Tito's
Fourteen Acres' bounty
Texas farm supplies staff healthy vegetables
BY DOUG OHLEMEIER
ASSISTANT EDITOR
I
n an unusual combination, central Texas distillery
Tito's is growing fresh produce, and seeks to inspire
other distilleries to do the same.
Tito's, Austin, Texas, officially introduced Fourteen
Acres Farm in August to ensure its employees have
fresh and healthy food and to encourage healthy eating.
Up until then, Fourteen Acres was operating behind the
scenes, growing on 74 raised beds and 16 high tunnels.
Seven farmers cultivate more than 30 items at the farm,
including artichokes, broccoli, Napa and red cabbage,
carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, mixed baby greens, kale,
kohlrabi, romaine, spinach and sugar snap peas.
Originally, employees received fresh fruits and
vegetables through a company farm share program.
Fourteen Acres now serves as a weekly farmers
market, where they can select their produce and
connect with farmers to learn recipes, cooking tips and
how the food is grown.
Worms to the rescue
In 2021, Fourteen Acres added vermiculture - the
use of worms to decompose organic food waste into
nutrients. That fall, the farm began making biocomplete
compost, started an in-house soil lab and
began conducting crop trials with more fruit, beginning
with strawberries.
" The addition of vermiculture is incredibly important,
as it heavily influences nutrient cycling and increases
resistance to pests, diseases and pathogens, " said
Kathleen Kuper, farm director. " It also assists with
better root growth and nutrient absorption. Additionally,
16 | JANUARY 2023
the liquid amendments help with foliar feeding and
support pest and fungus control. "
Soil health remains critical for Fourteen Acres.
" Soil health is important because, like the popular
saying goes, 'You are what you eat,' and that holds true
for plants, too, " Kuper said. " The healthier our soil
is, the better yield we'll
see with our crops. By
establishing an in-house
soil lab, we'll know how
to best balance our soil
to make it as healthy as
possible, improving our
ability to grow. Conducting crop trials allows us to
be better farmers and produce better crops for our
employees to enjoy. "
Crimson clover, millet and sorghum are some of the
cover crops Fourteen Acres plants to help plant growth
by preventing soil and wind erosion. The cover crops also
help improve soil and feed the microbiome. Blooming
cover crops feed bees and encourage pollination of the
crops, which also include yellow and Zephyr summer
squash, butternut, acorn, spaghetti, kabocha and
tetsukabuto winter squash.
Because it manufactures its own inputs, Fourteen Acres
remarkably hasn't experienced major difficulties acquiring
herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides.
" Because we're a sustainable farm, we can easily
make and acquire what we need, " Kuper said.
Tunnel protection
Challenges remain, however.
" The biggest challenges we face in growing are the
wind, soil and water, as well as pests, disease and
January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2023
