I’ve been on a road trip the past week, driving from our snow-covered yard in Colorado west to a land of broad-leafed evergreens and warm sunshine. Wyoming was cold and windy, as expected. The I-80 corridor is desolate at any season. The slopes around Alta were crowded with skiers, Salt Lake City was smogged in, and Lake Bonneville had an inch of water in it, much to my surprise. Next morning, as I crossed Nevada, I encountered fog in the intermountain lowlands that had left hoar frost on every surface of the ubiquitous sagebrush. It was a desert fairyland. I wanted to grab some photos but there are few places to stop on the interstate, and besides, the car thermometer hovered at 3 degrees!
Tag: local
Development-supported Agriculture?
I’ve mentioned Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) as an alternative to growing one’s own fruit and veggies. Well, the developer in this NPR story is taking the matter one step further:
Forget Golf Courses: Subdivisions Draw Residents With Farms,
by Luke Runyon
If I have to live in a housing development, I would love to live one that has its very own farm. I could still have chickens and get dirt under my fingernails in a garden, yet not need to hire a house-sitter when we’re going to be away. It seems like the best of both worlds.
Having access to food grown in one’s very neighborhood is the ultimate in eating locally. I’m not sure how successful this would be in our neighborhood (at 7,000+ feet elevation), but it could certainly work in most of the country.
Who knows—maybe Pete and I will “retire” (hah!) to Ft. Collins. If so, this is the first place I’m going to look for our next house.
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My daughter supports it in Idaho. My brother-in-law supports it near Denver. My friend supports it here in Colorado Springs—maybe it’s time I join the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement too.
Let’s say you’re eager to enjoy locally grown, organic produce but you don’t have the time or room for a garden (or you just hate yard work). Your first inclination is to head for the neighborhood farmer’s market. But there’s another option. You can buy a share in a farm.
This is how CSA works: one or more small, family farms grow a variety of produce. How much variety depends largely where they are and what will grow there. The growers estimate how much they’ll harvest over the season, and divide the yield into family-sized portions.
Eating Locally in Colorado?
All over the country, foodies are advocating the wonderful benefits of eating locally. Save on transportation costs (both financial and environment). Know where your food came from and who grew it. Fresher is healthier. There’s no shortage of good reasons to base one’s diet on food produced within a hundred mile (approximately) radius. In fact, several noted authors have written books on the topic.
Mountain Plover 