Texas thrives as No. 1 best state for homesteading and gardening

lone star state

Texas is an ideal place to start a homestead, the study found. Photo via Getty Images

If social media is any indicator, homesteading has been one of the hottest trends of 2024. And Texas is leading the charge as the No. 1 best state for homesteading and gardening, according to a new report by First Saturday Lime.

Analysts at First Saturday Lime, an insect repellant company featured on Shark Tank, evaluated the "suitability for sustainable living" across all 50 states based on six factors: Climate, community interest (a.k.a online search trends), gardening resources, farmland costs, and others.

The Lone Star State led the nation with the most farms and ranches on the market and the highest total acreage for sale. As of the study's publication, there were 7,520 total properties for sale, spanning more than 2.19 million acres of land.

Texas also ranked favorably for its farmland affordability. The state came in at No. 9 nationally with its average farmland price coming out to $2,800 per acre, the report said.

For comparison, New Mexico (which ranked No. 11 overall) had the most affordable average price per acre of farmland at just $700 per acre. Massachusetts (No. 48) and Connecticut (No. 42), however, tied for the most expensive price per acre, at $14,300.

Among the three remaining categories in the study, Texas performed the worst for its "gardens on Yelp per capita" rank. The study calculated Texas has 0.30 gardening and community garden establishments on Yelp per capita, placing Texas at No. 49.

Meanwhile, Texas' historically hot weather meant it ranked No. 43 out of all 50 states in the "favorable climate" rank, and the state earned a middle-of-the-road No. 35 rank in the "search interest per capita" category.

"Homesteading and gardening are growing in popularity, but some states provide better opportunities than others," the report's author wrote. "Whether you're after fresh produce or the freedom of self-sufficiency, choosing the right state can make all the difference."

Following behind Texas to complete the top three best states for homesteading and gardening are Oregon (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3), two notoriously rainy West Coast states.

Meanwhile, three East Coast states ranked at the bottom of the list as the worst states for homesteading and gardening: Rhode Island (No. 50), New Jersey (No. 49), and Massachusetts (No. 48).

The top 10 best states for homesteading and gardening are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Oregon
No. 3 – Washington
No. 4 – Vermont
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – Arizona
No. 7 – Wyoming
No. 8 – Montana
No. 9 – Hawaii
No. 10 – Colorado

The study sourced its data from Yelp, Google Trends, and the UDSA to determine each state's ranking.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Houston energy startups named finalists for 2026 Innovation Awards

Meet the Innovators

InnovationMap.com, EnergyCaptialHTX's sister website, has revealed the finalists for the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, and the local energy sector is well-represented throughout the awards.

The sixth annual Houston Innovation Awards program returns in an all-digital format this fall to honor the best of Houston's innovation ecosystem, including startups, entrepreneurs, mentors, and more.

Finalists were determined by an esteemed panel of judges. The panel reviewed applications across 10 prestigious categories to determine our finalists. They will select the winner for each category, except for Startup of the Year, which will be chosen by the public via online voting launching later this month.

We will announce the honoree of our annual Trailblazer Award in the coming weeks, then stay tuned as we unveil all of this year's winners on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

Without further ado, here are the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards finalists:

Minority-founded Business

Honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation:

AI Made Fun
Deep Anchor Solutions
HEXAspec
Prana Surgical
Torres Orbital Mining Inc.

Female-founded Business

Honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by a woman:

Adair
ARIX Technologies
Bairitone Health
FlowCellutions
ParaDocs Health

Energy Transition Business

Honoring an innovative startup providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy and beyond:

Capwell Services
FlowCellutions
Hertha Metals
Mars Materials
Solidec

Health Tech Business

Honoring an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors:

Bairitone Health
InformAI Inc.
Prana Surgical
Skybound MedTech

Deep Tech Business

Honoring an innovative startup providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges, including those in the AI, robotics and space sectors:

Casimir
Focis AI
Machine Saver Inc.
Square Robot
Venus Aerospace

Startup of the Year (People's Choice)

Honoring a startup celebrating a recent milestone or success. The winner will be selected by the community via an online voting experience:

Fluxworks
IronLattice
Lumino
Progress Report
Rosarium Health
Thread
TokenRoster

Scaleup of the Year

Honoring an innovative later-stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth:

Erock
Hertha Metals
Venus Aerospace

Incubator/Accelerator of the Year

Honoring a local incubator or accelerator that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups:

Activate
Impact Hub Houston
MarMo Innovation

Mentor of the Year

Honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support budding entrepreneurs:

Al Danto, Rice University
Eric Rubenstein, New Climate Ventures
Jeremy Pitts, Activate
Joe Alapat, Liongard
Kyle Judah, Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Rachel Bickham, Bickham Services Unlimited LLC

Trailblazer Recipient

To be announced

Energy AI company opens first U.S. office in Houston after Halliburton deal

houston expansion

Building on its partnership with Houston-based oilfield services provider Halliburton, energy-sector AI company Shape Digital recently opened an office at The Ion. It’s the company’s first U.S. location.

Shape Digital’s workforce in Houston includes employees specializing in tech support, business development and client services. The company’s local hiring projections and headcount weren’t available. The new office will be located within Industrious at the Ion, according to Rice Alliance.

A key driver of the new Houston office: The company forecasts North America will account for more than 20 percent of its business in 2027.

“North America is a critical market for industrial innovation, and Houston sits at the center of companies driving that progress,” Caio Sene, vice president of client services at Shape Digital, said in a release. “Growing our presence here allows us to work alongside operators as they look for practical ways to turn existing operational data into clear recommendations for what to do next.”

Shape Digital, which also has offices in Singapore and Brazil, develops decision-making platforms for the oil and gas sector.

The Ion District office gives Shape Digital a presence close to Halliburton’s headquarters. In May, the two companies forged a partnership to combine Halliburton’s Digital Field Solverdecision-making system with Shape Digital’s AI portfolio.

Shape Digital layers AI software atop existing operations data rather than replacing legacy systems or adding new software.

The company’s suite of AI agents draws on more than 200 operations-monitoring algorithms, continually learning from company and industry data. The suite comprises four products: Shape Aura, Shape Lighthouse, Shape Lumen and Shape Reef.

Shape Digital says that by working with a customer’s existing operations data, it can deliver ROI in less than two months without any additional investment in equipment or infrastructure.

The company is a 2021 spinoff of Japan-based Modec. Modec builds, owns, and operates floating offshore oil and gas production facilities. Its Modec America subsidiary is based in Houston.

This article originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.

Houston energy startup names former Cheniere execs to C-suite

new leaders

Houston-based energy infrastructure startup Joulent has brought aboard a new chief financial officer and new chief operating officer—both former executives at Houston-based Cheniere Energy.

The C-suite moves come three months after Joulent raised $1.75 billion from National Grid Ventures.

Michael Wortley joins Joulent as co-president and CFO. Wortley most recently was executive vice president and CFO at Cheniere, an LNG producer and exporter.

In conjunction with Wortley’s hiring, Brian Boland, who was Joulent’s interim CFO, has been named executive vice president, chief investment officer, and head of strategy.

Corey Grindal comes to Joulent as co-president and COO. Grindal most recently was executive vice president and COO at Cheniere.

“As Joulent evolves to meet the growing demand for power infrastructure, our expanded leadership team will help ensure we continue delivering the execution certainty our customers, partners, and investors expect,” Chris James, Joulent’s founder and CEO, said in a press release.

“Corey and Michael are accomplished operators with exceptional records of building and leading world-class energy infrastructure businesses, where they have embedded a culture defined by operational excellence and disciplined execution,” James added.

Joulet builds dedicated power-generating facilities that feed directly into data centers and other power-dependent facilities. This eliminates the need for companies to draw power from grids.

“With an initial multi-gigawatt development portfolio and strategic partnerships across the energy, infrastructure, and data center ecosystem, Joulent is helping remove power constraints to enable the next chapter of American innovation and U.S. reindustrialization,” the company says.

The $1.75 billion minority investment from National Grid Ventures complements Joulent’s existing partnerships.

Joulent, founded in 2023, emerged from stealth mode this summer. The company was founded by investment firm Engine No. 1.

Joulent’s first project, the Project Kilby natural gas facility in West Texas, will be co-located with a Microsoft data center. It’ll deliver about 2.67 gigawatts of power under a 20-year deal between Microsoft and Energy Forge One, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Joulent.

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