There’s a precious parcel of land where the Avalanche elk herd can forage in peace, away from shoulder-season recreation on the Crown. It’s sandwiched between two chunks of private Mountain Primal Meat Company acreage. It’s enclosed in a multitude of adjacent conservation easements. It’s Pitkin County’s Shippee Open Space. “This particular ag-land lease was not […]
agriculture
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A toast to open space ag lands
Pat Scanlon, co-founder of Woody Creek Distillers (WCD), would trial nine potato varieties in search of the perfect vodka potato. In so doing, WCD became the first lessees to grow vegetables on Pitkin County Open Space and Trails ag lands. “Of course it would be a Colorado potato,” Scanlon chuckles, describing the venerable Rio Grande […]
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Sinking roots in stewardship
The sole function of land — its ecosystems and all life therein — is to perpetuate itself. Plants or creatures at every (in)conceivable scale feast upon one another, building soil, circulating water, and distributing byproducts — infinitely. Land is nourishment; it’s that simple. A simple concept, but easy to lose sight of when the very […]
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Where the butterfly lands
Ayla woke knowing that today they would slaughter Brown Boy, a heritage pig on their farm. She is not your typical modern child, with soccer practice, piano lessons and a Labrador retriever. She is fiercely independent, able to advocate for herself already. And she doesn’t eat meat anymore. “I don’t really like the way it […]