Happy Friday from the farm! Before we jump into this week’s blog post, we just wanted to send out a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for this year’s Tomato U-Pick. For two Saturdays in a row, hundreds of families came to the farm and picked thousands of pounds of tomatoes. It feels so wonderful to be able to slowly again open up the farm to the community in this way. If you missed the U-Pick, don’t fret. Our Saturday Farmstand is still open for business, and for the next few week’s we’ll still be selling tomatoes… the kind that you don’t have to pick yourself! 

And now onto the post! This week on the blog we wanted to zoom in on an important set of tools that we couldn't run our business without: our fabulously hodgepodge fleet of hand-painted delivery vehicles. (P.S. Want to help us paint a van? Scroll to the bottom of this post for volunteering info.)

We often get telemarketer calls from big distribution companies who manage very large fleets of trucks, overseeing complex distribution networks.. It’s always a bit of a joy to quickly end those calls by simply saying, “We’re growers and distributors. We do all of our own distribution!”. It’s this fact which makes our veggies truly farm to table, and though managing our own vehicle fleet can often be a headache, we think it’s important. By doing our own deliveries, we can get food to its final destination quickly, meaning you’re eating vegetables that were often harvested just days before. It’s our tiny part at disentangling the complex food systems that move the majority of produce around our country. 

Unlike a fleet owned by a large corporation, our fleet is… farmy. Currently, we have 5 vans (mostly used for home delivery and CSA pickup) and 5 box trucks (farmers’ markets, grocery distribution) and our team of amazing delivery drivers often drive a bit of both. Most of the vehicles we add to our fleet are on their second or third home, and though they arrive looking a bit weary, we give them some JBG love with a Tim-the-mechanic tune up and a hand-painted mural, the art for which was designed by JBG’s original graphic designer, Ryan Rhodes. For these vans and trucks, JBG is their forever home. When the time comes that they are no longer road-worthy, we send them to the farm fields where their paint can chip in peace, and where they can do some off-roading from the tomato block to the farm coolers.

These days, there are lots of options to vinyl wrap a vehicle or even get large magnets with logos printed on them. Perhaps we’re a glutton for punishment, but we just can’t bring ourselves to do these “easy” options, and though we’re always looking for ways to increase efficiency at the farm, our vehicles’ sweet decoration is the exception to this rule.There is just something so homegrown, so friendly, and so fun about the outcome when they’re hand-painted. Slight paint drips, like a tiny blemish on an organically grown pepper, are just a part of our branding, all a result from being homegrown and made by hand.

For the past few years, one of our long-time JBG employees, Lyndsie, has been in charge of overseeing our vehicle painting. She’s the perfect candidate - when she’s not slinging veggies at the weekend markets, Lyndsie is an artist. Before volunteers ever arrive to paint the vans, Lyndsie has to go to Hergotz after dark, and trace the artwork onto the vans. For this process, she uses crayon-like pens and an old-school overhead projector. Yes, the kind your teacher used to roll out on a cart. Once the designs are traced, it’s time to paint. Big box trucks and “reefers” (or refrigerated trucks) can take many sessions to finish, while the painting of a van can be knocked out in just one or two sessions of a handful of volunteers. After each painting day, volunteers leave the farm with a bounty of vegetables, and we are left with a tiny piece of their artistry that we proudly drive around Austin, delivering organic vegetables. Make sure to wave if you ever see one of our vans out and about! 

We’re currently working on painting one of our box trucks and are looking for some help! We have two volunteer shifts scheduled for Monday August 2nd, and Tuesday, August 3rd from 10-2pm. If you’re comfortable wielding a paint brush and would like to join us for one of these days, please email Ada: ada@jborganic.com .