Seven Meadows Farm, a 70-acre homestead between Mancos and Dolores, grows a wide variety of food crops for folks in the area. There are many buildings, trees and animals around the farm, and owners Rusty and Laurie Hall have created a beautiful place for themselves and their animals.
The place was homesteaded between 1901 and 1905, said Rusty, and they have kept, and still use, two of the original buildings. The cabin that was built there around 1908 and lived in for a long time is connected to the new house that Rusty and Laurie built a few years ago.
Its only good for dry storage right now, but we hope to remodel it at some point, Rusty said.
The Halls use a root cellar that is not far from the house, built in the 1930s, for short-term storage of their greens. The cellar is made of native stone and wood, and it stays about 50 degrees year-round, Laurie said.
The two started farming when they came to the place in 2004, and they have turned it into a lucrative business. But it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance, Laurie said. She takes a lot of pride in growing the food they have.
I am an artist by education, so the look of food really appeals to me, Laurie said. I love selling to chefs. They really enjoy food!
The Halls also have three interns who help around the farm during summer.
Rusty and Laurie own The Farm, a restaurant in Cortez that specializes in naturally grown, organic dishes made with as much of the food they grow as possible. They also sell their produce to Pepperhead in Cortez, The Dolores River Brewery, Zumas in Mancos, and Durango Natural Foods and Guidos in Durango and Aemonos in Telluride. You can see them at the Durango Farmers Market on Saturdays as well. Their focus is on selling food in bulk, and they want to encourage communities that are trying to keep their food local.
The community in general is interested in keeping their food local, and we want to help other growers that way, Laurie said.
The Halls use one large greenhouse 30 feet by 72 feet and are in the process of having another one constructed on their farm. The greenhouse is thanks to the Natural Resources Conservation Service program they are involved in. The NRCS is a government group that works with landowners through conservation planning and assistance to benefit the soil, water, air, plants, and animals for productive lands and healthy ecosystems.
Sixteen growers in Colorado have received greenhouses to increase local food production, Laurie said.
The greenhouses help the Halls grow year-round and extend the season of crops they grow.
The plants they have in the big greenhouse are Romaine lettuce heads, pak choy, Asian greens, mustard and kale, volunteer Calendulas, peas, arugula, cilantro, Toscano kale, and scarlet frill mustard, which is spicy. They also have 360 tomato plants, which they started indoors but have brought out in stages to get used to being in the greenhouse, Laurie said. In March, they planted multicolored baby carrots, lettuce, French breakfast radishes and scallions.
They taste the same but look different. Theres the artist coming in, Laurie said.
The Halls do have some crops theyve planted outside, but the plants are covered most of the time with a frost blanket. They are lettuce, corn, kale, scallions, beets, chard, Chinese cabbage, potatoes, Asian greens and flowers.
The flowers are for beauty, and some are edibles that sell in the summer, Laurie said.
The flowers also help with pest control.
A structure that Rusty built keeps some of the plants protected, but the plants dont need a structure as big as a greenhouse. In it are tomatoes, celery and peppers. They are in raised beds and have southern exposure. It gives them protection from hail.
As you wander around the farm, youre struck by the amount of trees and bushes, brambles and windbreaks on the property, and among them are peach, plum, pear, apple and apricot that may or may not produce fruit each year.
It just depends on the weather the year before, Rusty said.
The Halls also have strawberries, raspberries and culinary herbs.
Along with all the edible crops, the Halls have 40 acres of alfalfa hay in various places around the farm. On the edge of their property is about 15 acres of pinyon and juniper trees in which their three horses and one donkey hide until the hay is harvested.
They come out after its cut, Laurie said.
There are free-range chickens that we have just for the fresh eggs, and a mother goat with her twin kids that like to follow people around, Laurie said.
Some people protect their animals from the garden and pen them up, she said. We like to let the animals roam free and protect the garden from them.
The frost blanket the Halls use on the plants help keep goats and chickens out, and it helps regulate the temperature and conserves the water on the plants. The Halls like to use biological control like microorganisms to control the bugs. The couple also use soaps and oils.
You have to watch the plants closely every day to control pests, Rusty said. We tell all our interns to let us know when they see any bugs, Rusty said.
The Halls have started a worm compost pile, and theyre raising some Blue Slate turkeys for themselves.
Theyve learned a lot from friends who do the same thing, their neighbors, and the Internet, Laurie said.
Farming is much harder than I ever thought it would be, she said, but its rewarding, too.
On the Net: www.sevenmeadowsfarm.com.