Guidestone's Land-Link Program Featured on Front Page of Denver Post

Jason Blevins of the Denver Post recently visited with Land Link Director, David Lynch, and members of the Guidestone board to learn more about our newly developing Land Link program. From the article featured in today's paper:

"A Land Link toolbox would include a variety of leases that protect both the new farmer and the landowner. It could be a crop share, a profit share or a straight land lease or lease-to-own. It would include an educational component for young farmers. It would require prospective tenant farmers to have a solid business plan."

Read the entire article at this link.

Guidestone Launches Membership Drive

By: Allison A.

This past year has brought significant growth to Guidestone as an organization. This summer season had a very active and successful Farmhands educational program that provided many of our local children an opportunity to be exposed to life on the farm – which, for many of them, was their first time. Now, we are in the process of launching our Land-Link Initiative, a new program that will potentially serve as a statewide pilot project to connect retiring farmers and non-farming landowners with next generation farmers who desire to work the land, produce food, and otherwise participate in a local food economy. With every passing season, the commitment to our mission and the clarity with which we pursue it is becoming more powerful.

As our conviction grows, so does our need for a greater financial basis from which to operate. In light of this, we will be introducing a new membership drive at this year’s Pumpkin Patch Festival. We hope you will find the time to come out and celebrate the autumn season with us and to learn about all of the work that has been accomplished in the past year. We also hope you will consider joining us as a member. Our membership levels consist of Individual, Family and Business annual memberships.

We appreciate your support.

Introducing Guidestone’s Land-Link Initiative

By: Allison A.

As many of you know, we have three key guiding mantras here at Guidestone:

• We connect people to the land and land to the people.
• We grow farmers.
• We support and revitalize our local food economy and food culture.

Over the last several months, the board and staff of Guidestone have been developing a new project that has the potential of significantly contributing to the fulfillment of all three of those mantras.

The agricultural lands of the Central Colorado Rockies are currently faced with substantial development pressure, water is being removed from the land and their rights are being sold to municipalities and corporations far away from their source. Many would-be young farmers and ranchers are moving to the city rather than choosing to take over the family farm while other would-like-to-be farmers and ranchers cannot afford or have no access to productive land. Our expectation is that this new project will provide a healthy alternative to all of those scenarios.

The Land-Link Initiative will work to connect retiring farmers and ranchers as well as absentee landowners with next generation farmers. The initiative will create a database that provides solutions to the challenges of access to farmland, security of tenure, long-term affordability and stewardship of the resources. Guidestone’s services will assist with crafting the lease and equitable agreements between the landowner and the farmer. These agreements provide economically viable options for landowners that keep the agricultural heritage and water on their land intact. In addition, this program will support beginning farmers through an educational curriculum with a strong emphasis in financial planning, marketing strategies, business plans, food policy, legal issues, and production techniques.

Currently, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union is providing technical assistance to Guidestone in procuring a USDA grant, which, if awarded, will provide initial funding for a land-link pilot program for Chaffee County. To meet the requirements of the grant, Guidestone must provide a $10,000 matching fund. A number of local organizations have already written letters of support of this project and many have pledged financial support in contribution to the matching fund. A list of these organizations can be found on our website.

Programs similar to this Land-Link Initiative are in place in twenty other states throughout the U.S. Already, Guidestone has received a number of applications to participate in the pilot program – both landowners and farmers. Our hope is that the Guidestone Land-Link Initiative will become a model project in Colorado and will later serve as a template for other regional or statewide land-link programs.

Allison's Righteous Carrot Cupcakes

Carrot cake is a wonderful autumn comfort food. Make a batch of cupcakes and either freeze a few for a later time or make your friends smile by giving them away. We like using hazelnuts, but that is because we have a great source in Oregon. The walnuts or the pecans both make a fantastic cake. Enjoy!!

Cakes

4 Large Eggs
3/4 C Canola Oil
3/4 C Applesauce
2 t vanilla
1 C Turbinado (or granulated sugar)
1/4 C Honey
2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t Baking Powder
1 1/2 t Salt
1 T Ground Cinnamon
1/2 t Ground Nutmeg
2 1/2 C Finely Grated Carrots
1 C Chopped Pecans, Walnuts, or Hazelnuts
1 C Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1 C Raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour muffin pan or line with cupcake papers. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, and add the oil and apple sauce while the mixer is running. Add the vanilla, then sprinkle in the sugar and honey. You will have a thick, foamy mixture. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl. Add these dry ingredients to the eggs and oil in your mixing bowl, mixing to make a smooth batter. Add the carrots, raisins, and nuts, then the coconut. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Fill each pan 3/4 full.

Bake the cakes for 20 minutes, then check the middle with a toothpick to see if any batter sticks. The cakes are done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Cool completely on a wire rack then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This particular frosting is low in sugar but still acts as the perfect compliment to the carrot cake.

8 oz Cream Cheese
5 T Unsalted Butter
2 t Vanilla
1/4 C Powdered Sugar

Have the cream cheese cold. The butter can be cold, but preferably at room temperature. Combine in a food processor and pulse just until smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too stiff, pulse for a few seconds longer. Do not over process.

Ark Valley Voice October Issue Features Local Food Issue

The cover story of the Ark Valley Voice October print edition is "The Local Food Issue". The article, Valley Sees Biggest Jump in Local Food Production Since 1930, features Guidestone's David Lynch who talks about the Land-Link Initiative.

To read the article in it's entirely, you'll have swing by and pick up a hard copy. Otherwise, you can read the first several paragraphs at this link.

Farmhands Article in Chaffee County Times

The Chaffee County Times recently published this article about Guidestone's Farmhands program:

"Being connected to the land is a way of life in the American West. Nowhere is this more evident than at Guidestone, a sustainable-farm project nonprofit organization. Its roots have been firmly planted in Colorado soil since 1992 with a dedication to creating a sustainable local food economy..."

Read Sustainable-farm project includes educational day camps here.

3rd Annual Pumpkin Patch Festival: October 17 & 18 and October 24 & 25, 2009

Autumn is a time of color and wonder in the Arkansas Valley and there’s no better way to celebrate it than to take part in its seasonal festivities. One such event will be the third annual Pumpkin Patch Festival at Cottonwood Meadows in Buena Vista. The Pumpkin Patch Festival is a two weekend celebration open to the public which offers a variety of activities and amusements for the whole family.

You can join in on a horse-drawn wagon ride pulled by a local team of horses. They’ll pull you out to the patch where you can pick the perfect pumpkin. Bring it back and carve it at the farm. Or, if you’d prefer, you can carve it at home and spend your time running through the hay-bale maze, playing cow-pie bingo, bidding in a silent auction, enjoying a barbecue lunch, sipping hot-apple cider and enjoying homemade pies and cookies, bobbing for apples, visiting and petting the rabbits, horses, calves, ducks, chickens, dogs and more. You can have your face painted, see fire trucks and learn about fire safety with the Chaffee County Fire Department, take a walk through the gardens or back to the beautiful meadows along Cottonwood Creek. Be sure to visit the raw milk dairy and Colorado Grown, a distribution center specializing in locally grown and Colorado-based products.

Admission is five dollars for adults and children three and over. The cost of admission and the barbecue will go to support Farmhands Education, a program of the non-profit Guidestone, which aims to join children with the hands-on experience of small scale, local food production. The Farmhands Pumpkin Patch hours are Saturday, October 17th and 24th from 10am to 4pm and Sunday, October 18th and 25th from 12pm to 4pm. For more information or to schedule education programs for your group schools, contact Andrea at Guidestone 719-395-5814. Special thanks to Cottonwood Meadows, Weathervane Farm, The Dairy at Cottonwood Creek and Guidestone for their support