Our Story
Victoria, Texas · Est. 2012
Our Story
From soil and seasons and necessity and love.
Two Families. One Mission. 150 Years of Texas Roots.
Before there was Vela Farms, there were two families who had been feeding Texas for generations.
The Vela Family
Mark Vela is a 5th generation Texan whose family descends from the Velas of Laguna Seca Ranch in Mission, Texas. In 1871, his ancestor Carlota Vela planted the first orange tree in the Rio Grande Valley — from seeds given to her by a traveling priest. That single act sparked the entire Texas citrus industry, verified by the Texas Historical Commission.
Mark's grandparents carried that legacy of feeding people forward, operating Vela Grocery stores in Port Lavaca, Texas — a family name woven into that community for generations.
Sara's Family
Sara is also a 5th generation Texan. Her family's roots trace back to a Civil War doctor — though some in the family say he may have started out as a veterinarian. Who knows. What we do know for sure is that he sent money home from the battlefield so his wife could buy land. That land became their family homestead near the Guadalupe River — the same property Sara's family has farmed ever since.
Her grandfather, Fred Smith Sr., was a rancher and farmer. Her father, Fred Smith Jr., was featured on the front page of the Victoria Advocate as a small boy — standing chin-high in the flax fields. He was a cowboy his entire life. Sara grew up with dirt under her fingernails and food on the table that came from the ground outside.
Before 2012 — Thirty Years of Farm Life
It started long before we opened our doors.
Long before anyone called it homesteading, our family was already living it. We gardened. We farmed. We canned. We dehydrated. We raised animals. We filled our freezers with food we grew with our own hands.
Not from a cookbook. Not from a YouTube channel. From soil and seasons and necessity and love.
Our farm sits along the Guadalupe River in an old growth pecan grove — land that has fed our family for generations. Yes, it floods here. But that small inconvenience is exactly what makes this soil so extraordinary. Rich, fertile, and alive in a way that only river-bottom land can be.
In 1998, we lost our house in the flood. It was devastating. But God provided. We rebuilt.
That experience never left us. It's part of why feeding families facing hardship isn't just a mission for us — it's personal.
That knowledge — built over thirty years of real farm life in South Texas — is the foundation of everything Vela Farms is today.
2012 — How It Really Started
I told him no. I was happy being a bookkeeper.
Every year Sara would drive to Devereux Gardens in Victoria and buy 100 to 150 heirloom tomato starts from a man named Lon Smith. He'd always ask what she did with so many. She'd bring him jars of salsa. They didn't know each other well — not yet.
In 2012, Lon suggested Sara become a vendor at his Spring Fling market. She said no. "I just make stuff for my family and to give away. I don't know anything about food." Lon said she knew more than she thought — she had teenagers and fed half the football team at her house. She told him she was terrified of the health department. Labels. Jars. Rules.
For weeks the thought kept coming back. God kept working on her. Finally she said — "OK. But this isn't gonna work. I'll try it and then go back to my comfy bookkeeping job."
With Lon's help she got a commercial kitchen, labels, jars, certification, and 30 flavors of jelly — because tomatoes were out of season. They sold out at the very first show. The community showed up with so much love and support that Sara quit her job. She and Mark hit the road — farmers markets, fairs, every place they could sell jelly across the Southern states. As far as Arkansas.
Lon still laughs about it today. He says: "I've told things like this to people for years. You were just the first one to believe it."
The Ride Begins
Boy, were we in for a ride.
It was tough. It was fun. At one fair — Taste of Houston — they did so poorly they couldn't even make gas money for the trip home. Standing in that booth, wondering if this was all a mistake.
That's when they met a product buyer from HEB. They became friends. He encouraged them to enter the contests. The rest is Texas history.
Along the way, Vela Farms became something else too — a place where people who don't always fit the mold find a home. Several team members work alongside Sara with autism, hearing impairment, and speech challenges. They've figured it out together. John has been with Vela Farms for nearly 10 years. He is family.
What We Believe
Provision matters more than perfection.
- A tired mom deserves a real meal on her table tonight without spending what little energy she has left.
- An elderly person eating alone deserves food that tastes like someone who loves them made it.
- A stocked freezer is one of the most loving things you can give a family.
- Real food — made by real hands, with real ingredients — changes real lives.
A Calling
God called us to this.
It's as easy as breathing. There is a deep spiritual need to feed people — and it breaks our hearts to think that anyone goes without a good meal.
Every meal we make, every kit we pack, every subscription box we send — it is an act of gratitude. This was never just a business. It is a calling.
November 2024 — Our Mission
What about the families who have nothing at all?
That question became Table of Hope — four varieties of wholesome, shelf-stable meal kits made by hand in our farm kitchen. Each one feeds a family of four for $5. Just add water.
Churches, nonprofits, and organizations purchase Table of Hope kits to distribute to families facing hunger, hardship, and disaster. Since launching with zero marketing, we have already put 1,500 meal kits into the hands of families who needed them.
On April 1, 2026 — our 14th anniversary — Table of Hope goes public.
“For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat.”Matthew 25:35
14 Years. One Mission.
Welcome to our table.
We started with jellies at farmers markets. We grew into casseroles, catering, subscription boxes, and a full kitchen feeding Victoria families every single day.
We farmed 20,000 pounds of fresh produce for the food bank in 18 months. We built a retail store. We earned our place on HEB shelves statewide. We built a mission project to feed families who have nothing.
Every single piece of it comes back to the same thing.
We feed people. All kinds of people. In all kinds of circumstances.
That's who we are. That's why we're here. That's what thirty years of farming, and fourteen years of Vela Farms, was always building toward.
Welcome to our table.
— Sara Vela, Founder · Vela Farms & Table of Hope · Victoria, Texas 🌿
