By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

The Farmery has opened for its spring season and despite some challenging weather, the little store on Apple Cider Road has a big selection of fruits and vegetables.

“It has been a tough year to say the least,” said Charles Mikeska, who runs The Farmery along with wife Denise. “The hail storm took its toll, along with the massive swing in temperatures. But we look forward to providing Central Texas with fresh fruits and vegetables.”

The Mikeskas farm about 200 acres east of Temple near the community of Doubleheader, and the operation includes roughly 300 peach trees, greenhouses and rows of produce. The farm has been in the family since 1896.

“The greenhouse is a new addition,” Denise said. “We are able to start our plants in the greenhouse then transplant them to the fields. The greenhouse puts us ahead of the heat and you don’t have to worry about bugs and fungus for the first 30 days.”

This year, the Mikeskas grew about 50,000 transplants and started in January with Brussel sprouts, kales, cabbages and onions.
The Farmery opened for the season on Saturday with Swiss chard, several kinds of kale, white and red bunch onions, green cabbage, several varieties of potatoes, watermelon radishes, spinach, squash, beans, basil, baby fennel and tomatoes.

“In the next few weeks we will have beans, sweet corn, beets, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, canning tomatoes, okra, a variety of peppers, eggplant and carrots,” Charles said.

The Mikeskas have added asparagus to the mix this year and have expanded its beet and Italian flat bean crops.

In addition to just about every variety of vegetable you can think of, The Farmery also grows many fruits, In addition to peaches, the little store will have apricots, apples, nectarines, watermelon cantaloupe and honey dews when in season.

“We planted our first round of blackberries and raspberries this year, but they probably won’t make for a year or two,” Charles said. “We will add strawberries this fall.”

“We also grow flowers,” Denise said. “We have marigolds, black-eyed Susans, hollyhocks … and flowers you can’t buy at Lowe’s. We have sunflowers, but not just your standard colors. We have orange, red and black as well.”

It’s not just the flowers that are a little different, some of the food is out of the ordinary as well.

“We like to grow some weird things in addition to our traditional crops,” Charles said. “We have different colors of cauliflower — cheddar, white, yellow and a purple variety called graffiti. We also have colorful carrots, and a carrot variety that resembles a golf ball.”

“We have field trips from churches, and schools have shown an interest as well,” Denise said. “We are popular with families — kids love to watch the food grow.”

Charles agreed that there is a definite interest locally in farm-to-plate produce.

“People are hungry for this kind of environment,” he said. “It’s a complicated world, and people are searching for something simple. We grow as naturally as we can.”

The Farmery Store is open 2 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Gas hits record high for 4th straight day

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

Gas prices have hit record highs for the fourth consecutive day nationwide and in the Temple area, and experts say the upward spiral is likely to continue into the coming week.

This morning’s average price for a gallon of regular-grade gas in Temple and Belton was $4.11, up about 3 cents from Saturday. Mid-grade gas was selling at $4.42 per gallon at noon today, and premium was $4.67. Diesel continues to climb as well with today’s price eclipsing the $5.16 mark.

The Texas average for regular-grade gas was $4.14 this morning, up 16 cents in the past week. Diesel is averaging $5.23 statewide.

National averages were $4.47 for regular, $5.12 for premium and $5.57 for diesel.

Experts don't believe we've seen the end of rising prices at the pump. Andy Lipow, a Houston-based industry consultant, said he expects retail gas prices will climb by another 18 to 20 cents in the next few weeks.

The pandemic and the supply chain crisis have pushed the cost of virtually everything higher, and now escalating gas prices are adding to the financial crunch. Food and cars are more expensive, as are transport and labor costs.

According to AAA Texas, many Americans who were planning on seeing the country this summer are opting to stay close to home.

SUNDAY | MAY 15, 2022

New program helps businesses Cultivate success

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

Everything starts as a dream, and that includes plans to start and operate your own business.

To assist in making that dream come true, Doree Collins and the Un-Included Club has developed a program to provide five new businesses with a variety of services.

The Cultivate Micro-Enterprise Alliance is funded through a Community Development Block Grant and is open to any local business with no more than five employees.

If you have five or fewer employees and you are in the process of building your business, you are eligible to apply,” Collins said.

The deadline for applying for the program is June 2 and businesses that are selected to participate will be announced June 15.

“We want to help people realize and manifest their dreams,” Collins said.

Participants will be mentored through the process of planning, opening and maintaining a business, and Cultivate will assist with the finances of forming a business entity. Work space also will be provided for up to six months.

To register, CLICK HERE.