green cash

HOPE Farm Stand Project wants to buy your homegrown produce

A basket of local produce.
Courtesy of HOPE Farmers Market
Tomatoes
Fresh Herbs

Summer gardens are in full swing, and some of you may even be experiencing an embarrassment of riches when it comes to certain fruits, vegetables or herbs in your backyards. Well, HOPE Farmers Market is stepping up to take that excess bounty off your hands.

The farmers market, which was launched at Pine Street Station in 2009, operates on Sundays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. during the summer. While HOPE already has a steady showing of farmers at the weekly open-air market, organizers realize that this new program could provide a much-needed service to green-thumbed Austinites, encouraging the continuation of urban farming methods.

Although still in its infancy in terms of details and logistics, the organizers of the HOPE Farm Stand Project are asking interested participants for any and all feedback in order to make this a viable weekly offering at the market. The first step will be finding out what type of high-quality, sustainably grown surplus even exists within the community, which is why they’ve launched a survey to do just that.

HOPE is also currently testing out other models of community engagement, recently launching the co-branded HOPE Farm Cooperative, an urban farm in East Austin that will also ultimately be a direct line to the neighborhood market. The garden is expecting its first crop — sunflowers — in July.

As for now, the best way to offload your extra bushels of tomatoes is to reach out to HOPE directly to discuss individual arrangements. You can contact Program Director & Market Manager, Elizabeth Garrett with further inquiries: elizabeth@hopecampaign.org

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put it on santa's amex

2 wealthy Austin suburbs top list of biggest holiday spenders in U.S.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Austin loooove to do up the holidays.

It looks like Santa Claus is going to be competing with residents in Cedar Park to see who brings the most lavish holiday gifts this year.

This festive Austin neighbor ranked No. 23 in WalletHub's annual report of U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets in 2024.

Residents in this well-to-do suburb are expected to spend $2,930 on their Christmas gifts this year. That's up $576 from the $2,354 they were ready to shell out in the 2023 ranking — and it bumped them up 21 spots from their previous ranking at No. 44.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that Cedar Park's estimated population of 77,516 had a median household income of $118,903 in 2023. No wonder they have the extra cash to spare.

Cedar Park consistently makes the list of the top U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders, and now Round Rock is also climbing up the list, landing at No. 39 this year, up significantly from its previous low ranking of No. 283 in 2023.

The average holiday budget in Round Rock skyrocketed from $1,148 last year to $2,538 this year in an eyewatering $1,390 increase. You gotta spend to stay on top.

The No. 1 city in the U.S. for biggest holiday spenders in 2024 is Newton, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb right outside of Boston, where the median income measured in 2022 was $176,373. Slots 2 through 5 were all cities in California's Silicon Valley: Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Milpitas.

Meanwhile, Austin proper landed at No. 87 in 2024 with an average holiday budget of $1,905.

Each year, WalletHub calculates the maximum holiday budget for over 550 U.S. cities "to help consumers avoid post-holiday regret," the website says. The study factors in income, age of the population, and other financial indicators such as debt-to-income ratio, monthly-income-to monthly-expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly-expenses ratio.

Whether an Austinite's holiday budget is under $200 or more than $1,000, it's better to prioritize remaining within that budget instead of racking up the credit card bill, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"There are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays and show you care without spending much money, like hosting potlucks or giving handmade gifts," said Lupo.

Other Texas cities that made it into the top 100 are:

No. 7 – Flower Mound ($3,541)
No. 11 – Frisco ($3,412)
No. 13 – The Woodlands ($3,395)
No. 15 – Sugar Land ($3,214)
No. 18 – Allen ($3,070)
No. 25 – League City ($2,897)
No. 32 – Plano ($2,658)
No. 45 – North Richland Hills ($2,484)
No. 52 – McKinney ($2,386)
No. 60 – Pearland ($2,223)
No. 76 – Richardson ($1,980)
No. 81 – Carrollton ($1,932)
No. 92 – Lewisville ($1,848)

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