Day Six: Houston, Texas

This morning we visited Hibiscus Hill Plantation, a 272 acre working ranch and farm located in Waller County.  Here we met Rick Bost, who spoke to us about the day to day operations and gave us some background on how it all came about.  Rick's wife Georgia is the creator of the "Village Botanica," a business of promoting and harvesting health and wellness sustainably.

Hibiscus Hill Plantation is a sustainable operation selling grass-fed beef, natural pork, true free range poultry and organic produce.  Georgia also does extensive research and development on North American hybrid Hibiscus.

Here are the highlights from the visit:

• Farm purchased in 1999
• Little/no antibiotic usage
• Animal welfare approved young castration
• Hibiscus is a sustainable biomass feedstock
• Chicken feed supplement is corn and soy free
• Over 1000 chickens, produce 100-300 dozen eggs a week
• Grass fed Hereford and Black Angus Cattle
• Grass fed beef contain 1/8 times less saturated fat than traditional fed
• FDA definition of fresh is a joke
• USDA organic definition is also a joke
• The term natural has nothing to do with how an animal is raised

This stop was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time the previous day, and did not get to visit the market or restaurant.  I will make it a point to visit the next time that I am in the Houston Area.  Rick was very down to earth and had a plethora of knowledge.  Many thanks to Rick for taking the time to show us around the operation.