Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Weldon
Hi Tina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Orion and I met in 2014 as students at Rutgers University, both attending the NYC climate march in Manhattan. In a whirlwind connection, we decided to move in together after only 2 weeks of dating and were married three months after that. In that short amount of time, we crafted our plan to leave academia to go start a regenerative agriculture farm in Italy. I had European citizenship through Poland and had spent time abroad studying (and falling in love with) the Mediterranean Diet in Florence; I was working towards my degree as a registered dietitian. We wanted to be at the birthplace of the Slow Food Movement in Turino. Orion had spent the last 6 years in NJ working on his PhD in Ecology studying endangered migratory grassland bird habitat. We both found our passion for regen ag by recognizing food production as the heart of the issue in our respective fields: his in habitat loss and climate change, mine in the [lack of] nutrient density in our foods due to rapidly declining soil health.
After a phone call from Orion’s dad asking him to come come to Texas to help his parents get set up for retirement, we decided to move to their 5 acre homestead in Spicewood after graduation — just for a year. I worked as a server in Austin’s fine dining restaurants to pay off student debt while Orion built chicken coops and learned everything he could about farming. Our business grew quickly with business partnerships blossoming and opportunities we couldn’t pass up, so we decided to stay in Texas. We partnered first with Apis Restaurant to provide them with almost all the proteins on their menu- pork, chicken, eggs. Then we supplied Thai Fresh exclusively for nearly 5 years along with some special orders at Uchi, Counter 3-5-7, and more.
In 2017 we co-founded the Pedernales Farmer’s Market with my sister Karina Mackow. In 2020 when the pandemic hit our market exploded in popularity at the same time as our first son was born. Karina took over the market and has since grown it into the thriving 40+ vendor community hub it is today. Around that same time, we were invited by Annie Nelson (Willie’s wife) to come do regen ag on their 500 acre property in Spicewood. So we moved all our operations there in the beginning of 2021 in what has continued to be an incredibly fruitful partnership.
TerraPurezza has now been around for almost a decade, and we are proud of what we have accomplished over all these years and through several iterations. Today, we are anchor vendors at the Pedernales Market as well as in Dripping Springs every Wednesday afternoon. We raise the highest quality grass-fed, heritage-breed, organically fed chicken, lamb, bone broth, eggs –and we distribute raw milk from our partner Kettler Family Dairy! In addition to the delicious products we are also actively working on restoring hundreds of acres of native prairie habitat in the TX hill country. These efforts revitalize our soils, sequester carbon, rehydrate aquifers, and support wildlife.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Certainly not! In farming, the variables are always changing. Prices go up and down, businesses open and close. We have had to pivot and adjust many times over the years. One example is the food waste program we developed and ran for over 6 years in partnership with Whole Foods Market. During that time we picked up over 4 million pounds of waste that would have otherwise gone into a landfill and redirected it to the farm to feed our pigs. Not only was it the most delicious meal a pig could ask for (#spoiledswine) but we were also directly reducing emissions from our atmosphere. It was a lot of work but well worth it for what we were able to accomplish. Unfortunately once Amazing purchased WFM in 2022 the corporate lawyers decided to cut our program with only 30 days notice. We had to sell all 130 of our pigs and close our pork program altogether– reinvesting in black headed dorper sheep. Thankfully we had restored the pastures enough to support a flock of ruminants after all our efforts with the pigs and reseeding native grasses.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about TerraPurezza?
We specialize in regenerative agriculture: an approach to farming that includes long-honed native practices along with modern techniques to revitalize soil health and native habitat. We were one of the very first in Texas and part of the pioneering wave across the country to start from scratch as 100% regenerative– going beyond organic in everything we do. We only source strong heritage breeds and feed them with local certified organic feed. Our animals rotate on pasture 24/7, and then once we move them we let the land rest after reseeding with 40+ species of native grasses. We are proud of the fact that our customers can trust we make the best decisions possible, even when they are expensive, to uphold the highest standards of animal welfare and nutrition.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like that Austin continues to be a sanctuary for all things unique: people, businesses, and style. While it is gentrifying quickly, and traffic can be horrendous, we are all trying to maintain that special something that makes Austin stand out on the map. We are social dancers as well so we really appreciate the live music scene here.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.terrapurezza.com
- Instagram: TerraPurezza
- Facebook: TerraPurezza
Image Credits
Orion Weldon
