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AUSTIN (KXAN) – A popular community garden that supplies hundreds of people with local products has stopped selling to customers.
Brenton Johnson has been growing vegetables in the Austin area for nearly 20 years.
Austin served his 200 acre farm through a box subscription service, at the Mueller and Lakeline farmers markets, at lunch in the Austin Independent School District, and in places like the Wheatsville Co-op.
People who use his product say they haven’t heard from him in weeks.
“The food was great and the people there were wonderful,” said Chichi Armstrong. “We were on the farm.”
Armstrong says she has been a member since 2015 and was only satisfied when what it produced touched her taste buds.
“I loved the Johnson Backyard Garden because it was big,” said Armstrong. “It also had a commercial business.”
The farm is located in Cedar Creek at 4008 River Road and the distribution center is located in south Austin at 9515 Hergotz Lane. Both locations were empty on Wednesday afternoon when KXAN was visiting.
In late July, customers received a letter from JBG stating that the Community Service Agriculture (CSA) program would take a month-long hiatus, including deliveries, collections and responses a little slower than usual.
According to the letter that was sent to customers, the collections should resume on September 1st.
“In July they started running their newsletter that people were leaving the business and their farm manager was leaving,” said Armstrong. “I thought, ooof, something is wrong here.”
Flowers are in bloom on the farm in Cedar Creek, but none can be harvested.
Chichi Armstrong worries that she will never see the money she just paid to renew her annual subscription.
“Of course, I only renewed just before her break,” said Armstrong. “You now have almost $ 600 of my money.”
KXAN reached out to the Austin Independent School District on Wednesday regarding communications between JBG. The district said the product was used until March 2020.
“All JBG products served at AISD were sourced through the district grocer, Brothers Food Service. We had planned to offer JBG products this school year, but Brothers Food Service informed us in mid-August that the product would not be available, ”said an AISD spokesman.
KXAN reached out to Brothers Food Service on Wednesday, and the company said it had also not heard from Johnson.
Neighboring companies for support
If you’re looking for other local CSA options, here are a few.
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