Meet the Farmers
Edgar Chavez and Gayla Lyons, Finca Pura Vida
Edgar Chavez and Gayla Lyons, a husband and wife team working on an 8-acre farm east of Austin in Fayetteville, live and breathe their philosophy of sustaining a lifestyle from plant to table. Every evening, when they sit down to dinner, Edgar declares, "We are eating better than the president tonight." And they are.
The abundance of what springs forth from the cradle of the earth in their certified organic four acres is amazing. A master at growing heirloom (non-hybrid) plants and saving seeds from his native Costa Rica, Edgar likes to experiment, and hopes that even in Central Texas, "I want to grow tomatoes year round." They also grow other summer crops such as peppers and squashes and spring/fall crops like cauliflower and broccoli. Herbs and tropical roots and flowers round out their repertoire. Their daughter, Teal (11), is in charge of the chickens, guineas, turkeys and pigs.
This farm family stands on a foundation of decades of farming and they grow because they believe in it. Edgar started early, picking tropical fruit from trees growing in his home near Jaco, Costa Rica, at six years old. He raised a pig before he was a teenager and his family raised pretty much that they needed to survive--corn for tortillas, beans, root crops, a little vegetables, and they cared for a cow for milk. His love of fruit trees led him to continue experimenting and expanding a fruit tree operation as an adult. When he sold this fruit in the local farmers' market in Heridia (Cenada), that is where Gayla met him.
Gayla, a University of Texas nutrition graduate and also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, had sought her knowledge of nutrition and cooking because she wanted to figure out, "why we were so sick in America, how did it happen?" She was always interested in the diet-relatedness of health and also studied what were similarities and differences in other cultures and countries in Europe and Central America. She decided to land her feet in Costa Rica to start a professional career as a chef because, "I knew I could always go out and get my fresh milk from a neighbor's cow. The fresh eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables were directly available to me from the grower." When shopping for tropical fruit as a chef at a major hotel, she met Edgar. "I fell in love with him," she says, "because I knew that with Edgar we could survive no matter what. He knows how to live off of the land and with nature."
They moved to the Fayetteville area almost two years ago because of a hometown relationship on Gayla's side of the family. For both of them and their daughter Teal, Finca Pura Vida is heaven on earth. Edgar says, "I seek to raise the best quality, best flavored crops for customers. I am content to bring something to the market that I've grown with my own hands and hard work and deliver it directly to the customer. It is so beautiful, and it tastes so good!"
The couple foresees that the Austin Farmers' Market will be a boon for local farmers. "It will open doors for us to get to the people who might not otherwise be able to taste and experience the types of vegetables that we grow," Gayla says. Edgar also sees a vibrant, central market as helping bridge the gap between the farmers and the consumers so that local citizens will take a more active role in supporting local agriculture. "As demand rises, we will increase our supply of produce to satisfy that demand. As more people buy what we have to sell, it benefits our family," he concludes.
posted June 26, 2003 | permanent link to this article
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