Ollin Farms just south of Longmont produces nutritious food for people while also nourishing the soil produces the farm’s spicy radishes, sweet turnips, bok choy heads and other produce, co-owner Kena Guttridge said Saturday.
“We need to teach everyone, including children, to learn and respect Mother Earth,” said Guttridge, as a youth rock band played nearby. “Kids need to learn to heal the land and they need to be alert to the problems we face to protect the land.”
Guttridge and her husband Mark Guttridge hosted a Winter Fiesta and open house Saturday on the Ollin Farms property, located at the corner of North 95th Street and Plateau Road. Families enjoyed free hayrides and kids were able to feed and pat the heads of goats in the farm’s pasture.
Guttridge said she also wanted to showcase the work done on Project 95, in which she and her husband are rejuvenating roughly 140 acres of a neglected parcel into productive farmland without the use of pesticides.
“The past farmers put on chemicals to kill everything around the plant, but that killed the ground,” Guttridge said. “We used zero pesticides and concentrated instead on the health of soil.”
The strategy worked as Ollin Farms now produces 300 varieties of vegetables on once barren land, she said. “Bugs won’t kill a healthy plant.”
At the fiesta, people took in classic rock tunes from the Voltage 85 band and ate Gaijin Street Food served up with Japanese curries. Local groups emphasizing clean, environmentally friendly products encircled a portion of the farmstand, including People and Pollinators Action Network.
Sue Anderson, co-chair of the group, said People and Pollinators wants to create safe zones free of pesticides for bees, pollinators, pets and people on farms and in the suburbs.
“People can do lots of things in their own backyard for the environment,” Anderson said. “Good things can start there.”
Andy Brieter began Grama Grass & Livestock,over a year ago and his 33 cows now graze on both public and private land. They are moved, sometimes throughout the day, to fresh pastures to allow pastures time to regrow, Brieter said.
“We want to try and adjust and not to take from the land but accept what the land has to give us,” Brieter said.
Also at the fiesta, were members of the Engage Latino Parents Advancing Student Outcomes - or ELPASO VOZ Longmont. The group is asking that the St. Vrain Valley School District “stop offering ultra-processed foods to our children, with so many chemicals, sugars and preservatives that are harmful to health,” according to its informational pamphlet. “We want meals to be prepared from scratch with fresh ingredients.”
“We want to change the food (given) to our kids to be fresh and healthy,” said ELPASO VOZ Longmont member Noemi Gavelan.
