Hausbar Farms

Gordito, a sweet bundle of a baby bunny who has a snug shady place to call home at Hausbar Farms.

The interconnectedness of living things is joyfully evident at Hausbar Farms, a 2-acre establishment in East Austin where farmer/owner Dorsey Barger lovingly tends to a bounty of plants and animals all the while looking to nature for cues on how to improve common agricultural practices. Dorsey is the first farmer who I have met in Austin implementing principles laid out in One Straw Revolution, a memoir by Masanobu Fukuoka, Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for developing natural farming techniques that "eliminate the need for pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort."

My colleague, Lani, a chef and farmer from the west coast, saw okra growing for the first time on this trip to Austin! 

Okra is native to Africa and thrives in our Central Texas summer heat. Hausbar's okra looked as healthy as can be and measured in at least a foot taller than me! 

David harvesting mint and fennel flowers at Hausbar to garnish a citrus cantaloupe soup to cool us down after spending an hour in the heat - superb.

Hausbar does the majority of their business with local restaurants.  You can find this rare North African green on the menu at Kome. It's definitely tough to grow greens in Central Texas' summer heat, but these do quite well because they contain an aloe-like gel that keeps them cool. Unlike some other other hearty greens like mustard and dandelion  greens which can be bitter,  these were pleasantly mild. We simply sauteed them with a bit of garlic to make a nourishing side dish. Next time we'll have to have them with some of Chef Rosa's gluten-free injera!

Thank you again, Dorsey, for bringing such a beautiful vision to life and sharing it with us!

http://www.hausbarfarms.com/