What’s under your feet? If you’re standing on a farm that practices regenerative agriculture, it’s a living ecosystem. Come to one of our Family To Farm 2024 Farm Tours, and learn for yourself how the healthy soil of a living ecosystem grows healthier food!

Healthy soil is fundamental to regenerative agriculture which, simply defined, means an agricultural practice that renews itself year after year without the use of chemical “inputs.” It does that by keeping the soil alive. And that living soil ecosystem includes not only the minerals that we think of as “dirt,” but also water, decomposing organic material, and many living creatures ranging from earthworms to microscopic organisms. Working together, these soil components nourish the plants that feed us.

Natural, healthy soil is alive, and regenerative practices aim to keep it that way. You can see it in action in all our farm tours this summer.

We started with the Happy Hive Farm in northwest Grand Junction on May 18. Happy Hive raises pasture-fed chicken using regenerative farming practices. Incorporating livestock is one of the primary principles of regenerative farming. At Happy Hive, chickens do that job, contributing fertilizer and helping with insect control. The chickens rotate through the farm in movable coops so all the soil benefits from their work. Thirty-six people showed up to tour and meet some happy chickens at Happy Hive. They also enjoyed a petting zoo with chicks and baby rabbits!

The Lobato Farm in Fruita will host us on June 15. This farm grows delicious and healthy vegetables using another regenerative practice, “no-till,” which minimizes soil disturbance and allows the soil ecosystem to grow and thrive. Other important regenerative principles on display here are “roots in the ground at all times” and “keeping the soil covered,” both of which help to keep the essential soil ecosystem alive and thriving. And at Lobato’s, you’ll enjoy the farm’s two miniature donkeys, Lily and Lovey!

Join us at Early Morning Orchard (EMO) in Palisade on July 10. EMO grows a wide range of vegetables and fruits, illustrating a fifth important tenet of regenerative agriculture – diversity. Unlike in a monoculture, growing diverse plants on your farm can minimize insect damage, since a large monoculture crop of a single plant can attract a very large infestation of a single species of predatory insect. At EMO see how vegetables begin their life in a greenhouse and then graduate to a spot in the ground outside as they mature. You can purchase healthy vegetables grown by Early Morning Orchard at Skips Market in downtown Fruita.

Sandy Seed Farm in Montrose is next on our Farm Tour agenda on July 22. Sandy Seed has a unique approach to growing their organic produce. They have a small space of their own, and also have additional farm plots on land “borrowed” from others. In that way, traditionally landscaped lawns can become producing farms – a benefit for both farmer and homeowner. With today’s high cost of land, it’s a good approach for young farmers as they work up to owning a farm of their own.

On August 13 this year, we’ll travel to Paonia, to Gray Acres. Similar to Happy Hive, Gray Acres is a family farm that produces pasture-raised chicken. They process the meat themselves, and sell it under the “Mountain Bird” label. Gray Acres nurtures their chickens lovingly throughout their lives, making sure each one always has access to clean living conditions, good food, and fresh air. Gray Acres also raises milk goats, and sells their milk.

On October 5, as the summer growing season comes to an end, we’ll visit Blaine’s Farm Store in Palisade. Blaine’s touts itself as “bringing the community together around locally and sustainably grown food and flowers.” They grow vegetables of their own, and are especially known for tomatoes, but also offer food, flowers, and products from other local producers in their very quaint and fun Farm Store. An attraction at Blaine’s is their luffa tunnel, a tall greenhouse-like tunnel grown over with luffa plants – the same plants that produce the luffa sponges you might find in your own home. A shaded table under the tunnel is a wonderful place to enjoy a lunch from Blaine’s!

And we will also be scheduling a farm tour in Garfield County in September or October. Watch your email or the Alliance Facebook page for details once they are finalized.

Here in our Alliance, we believe in healthy food, grown locally, feeding healthy families right here in our community. It benefits us, our children, and our local economy. And it helps create opportunities for young people who are excited about this new (and at the same time very ancient) method of farming — working in intimate cooperation with nature.