Something truly remarkable is happening at Marble Farms. Yes, you read that correctly — there is a farm thriving at 8,000 feet in elevation. Despite growing in one of the harshest climates, Marble Farms is brilliantly cultivating the seeds of change with the help of an unexpected tool: a Freight Farm.
“I wish I had my camera to take a picture of everyone who walks in here,” laughed Amy Alexander, lead farmer and farm educator at Jyoti’s Seeds for Change (JSC). While I scrambled to find my words during a recent visit, my four year old exclaimed, “Wow, Mommy! Those do not have soil. I have never seen this before!” Amazed, we looked into the freight to see a self-contained, hydroponic, vertical farm. No soil needed.
Situated on the Beaver Lake Lodge and Cabins property in Marble, the farm is a multifaceted project part of the nonprofit JSC. Honoring the legacy of the late Jyoti Ulrych, the farm is a place of learning that addresses food security in Marble’s food desert. A prominent Aspen figure, Ulrych believed in natural farming, caring for the land, food as medicine and access to affordable food.
“She was so passionate about food and connecting communities and she really believed that our land should not get disposed of without feeding the needs of our community,” Alexander said.
Karen Good, Director of JSC and dear friend of Ulrych, has helped shape the nonprofit’s future and is excited to bring the farm project to Marble. As the lodge’s co-owner she contributed the land.
“In the late 1990’s, due to health reasons, the Ulrychs were forced to move from Aspen to a warmer climate,” Good said. “Ultimately, many of their projects moved farther away too, until no projects remained in Colorado or the Roaring Fork Valley — the place they loved most and called home. Long time members of the team and board still live in the area and prioritized a project here.”
Currently under construction, the farm’s campus will include a classroom, space for community events and two shipping containers, one that grows food and one for an instructional kitchen. Outside, a vibrant food forest is filled with hardy perennials on ancestral Ute lands.
“There are medicinals everywhere that people assume are weeds,” Good said. “We’re hoping this can be an example for people to see that there are plants that grow up here and can feed us.”
The state-of-the-art farm is a fully equipped shipping container that includes a nursery, work station and nutrient center. Moveable walls alternate between housing the plants and LED lights run the container’s length.
As one version of hydroponic farming, this highly-efficient method circulates nutrient-rich water through vertical towers. Alexander explained that seeds are started in a coconut coir and peat-moss grow plug. Once they become seedlings they leave the nursery to grow in uniform columns on the panels. Water then pumps from a tank to drip down the vertical towers. Remaining water is caught in a gutter and recycled back into the tank while algae that forms is collected and composted. The entire system uses five gallons of water per day.
“We’re reusing the water here inside, and then putting it on the farm outside. If any of our byproducts and produce don’t sell, they can be composted. I see it feeding the natural system as much as we feed the little system in here,” Alexander said.
In this controlled environment, the team can mitigate pests, track humidity and pH levels and ensure an ideal temperature to grow year-round. Since starting two months ago, the freight has already produced two harvests. The vegetables, which are organic, non-GMO and pesticide-free, include a variety of greens, some root vegetables and plenty of herbs that can be eaten right off the wall. Impressively, Good said that if they only focused on growing lettuce, one freight can produce 1,000 heads each week for an entire year.
“We looked into a greenhouse, and there really is just no comparison,” Good said. “This can supply the Marble Charter School (MCS) lunch program, greens for the community and if we have extras the plan is to bring it to Lift Up … It is a really prolific food source that could make a big difference to the community.”
My second grader compared the farm to a spaceship, and I like to imagine it can take us to a land where affordable food is in abundance. Already the farm is creating synergetic partnerships within the community to make this dream a reality. Each week the farm will host agricultural programming for MCS’s experiential education curriculum. A complementary relationship with the Paonia Food Movement is also underway, as the weekly á la carte food-delivery box service will begin carrying the farm’s produce to help strengthen local food systems.
“People really need to come and see this; it is unbelievable,” Alexander said. “It’s a ripple effect. You start talking to people and they are so excited. They want to come see us. It’s just starting.”
Marble Farms welcomes all schools and community members interested in touring, volunteering or donating to help educational programming and infrastructure. To contact, email info@jsfcfoundation.org or visit jsfcfoundation.org