Another Splendid Pumpkin Patch Festival

Guidestone’s Pumpkin Patch is an annual event, hosted over two weekends in October, which provides a festive celebration of the harvest season for children and families. Activities include crafts for kids, a hay bale maze, face painting, pony rides, and a horse drawn wagon ride out to a pumpkin patch where children can pick their own pumpkin to bring home. For three years the event has been held at Cottonwood Meadows in Buena Vista, where there are farm animals to visit and Weathervane Farm’s beautiful gardens to peruse. Or participants can take a walk through the golden leaves of the Cottonwood trees along Cottonwood Creek. Music and food round out the festive atmosphere.

This year, our 3rd annual, was the most successful one yet, with around 1000 people in attendance over the two weekends. People came from Chaffee, Lake, Fremont and Eagle Counties to enjoy this abundant time of year. All of the event’s proceeds go to support Guidestone’s Farmhands Education Program, which provides hands-on, experiential farm & nature-based education programs to groups, children and families. Community support is invaluable to the success of these programs, and Guidestone is grateful to everyone that attended this year for appreciating and celebrating agriculture, community and education. We would also like to thank the farmers, volunteers, and the folks at Cottonwood Meadows for their continued support of this festival.

By: Andrea Earley Coen

Online Farmers Market Makes Buying Locally a Cinch for Central Colorado

The Arkansas River Valley is rich in agricultural abundance and now a new company is making it possible for residents to access local products by providing a convenient way to buy locally from dozens of producers over the web.

Lindsay Diamond is the founder of Colorado Local Market, a new year-round online local foods market dedicated to bringing the people of Central Colorado freshly picked, locally produced food and related products. “There are dozens of local food resources in the Arkansas River Valley alone,” says Diamond. “My goal is to make it very convenient to purchase from all of them so eating locally can become an easier and richer experience.”

The new website, www.colocalmarket.com, enables local producers to list what foods they have available each week. Customers can shop from those items, add them to a shopping cart and pickup their order on Tuesday afternoons in Buena Vista.

Diamond is targeting farms and producers and consumers of all sizes. “The beauty of this site is that it provides the abundance of a farmers market (CSA), the convenience of community supported agriculture and the selection of a grocery store all in an easy-to-use website.”

While there are active farmers markets and CSAs in the area, Colorado Local Market fills the need for individuals who don’t want to commit to a CSA or who can’t always attend a weekend farmers market. “With Colorado Local Market you get more choice. You can choose what you want and how much you want,” says Diamond.

Colorado Local Market will begin selling items spring 2010. It is currently accepting producer and customer registration. Items ordered from Colorado Local Market (www.colocalmarket.com) will be available for pick up on Tuesdays from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Jala Blu Yoga, behind the Evergeen Café in Buena Vista. Visit www.colocalmarket.com to learn more.

Pumpkin and Pistachio Risotto

By: Jeff B.

This elegant combination of creamy golden rice and orange pumpkin can be as pale or bright as you like by adding different quantities of saffron. Who doesn’t love cooking with saffron and, better yet, this recipe cleans out the frozen pumpkin left over from Halloween and Colorado Grown. Please be careful, this risotto recipe is likely to be a stepping stone to booking a spring trip to Northern Italy.

Serves 4

Ingredients
5 cups fresh vegetable stock or water
Generous pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsps olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lb Arborio rice
2 lbs pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into ¾ in cubes
¾ cup dry white wine
½ oz parmesan cheese, finely grated
½ cup pistachios
3 tbsps chopped fresh marjoram or oregano, plus extra leaves, to garnish
Salt, freshly grated nutmeg and ground black pepper

1. Bring the stock or water to a boil and reduce to low simmer. Ladle a little stock into a small bowl. Add the saffron threads and leave to infuse.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice and pumpkin and cook for a few more minutes until the rice looks transparent.
3. Pour in the wine and allow it to boil hard. When it is absorbed add ¼ of the stock and the infused saffron and liquid. Stir constantly until all the liquid is absorbed.
4. Gradually add the stock or water, a ladleful at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more and stirring all the time. After 20-30 minutes the rice should golden yellow and creamy, and al dente when tested.
5. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, cover the pan and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
6. To finish, stir in the pistachios and marjoram or oregano. Season to taste with a little salt, nutmeg and pepper and scatter over a few extra marjoram or oregano leaves.

Enjoy!

The Season of Giving – Shopping Local

Judie Anders - Nathrop, CO

It’s the holiday season and I find myself reflecting on people and things in my life that I am thankful for. I love living in this Valley with its clean air, beautiful views, majestic mountains, great people and good food. Salida and Buena Vista have their own farmers, ranchers, gardeners, farm workers, food workers, and cooks who are long time food lovers and make the world a more delicious place in which to live. They are near and dear to my heart. My thoughts of holiday meals and gift giving are getting a lot of my attention these days and this year I am considering the impact of my food purchasing and gift purchasing choices and how that affects this valley in which I live.

Statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor in February — state that if half of the country’s employed population spent an additional $50 per month at locally owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion revenue.

From a 2008 study by analysts from Chicago-based Civic Economics — reveals that, of every $100 spent at a locally owned, independent merchant, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. This number drops to $43 per $100 for purchases at retail franchises.

I found these on a website called The 3/50 Project: Saving the brick and mortars our nation is built on. You might want to check it out yourself for some new ideas: www.the350project.net This website inspired me to consider how I could change the way I shop and make a difference where I live.

PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

I am a member of Guidestone, a local not for profit organization which is devoted to supporting a sustainable future for the bioregion of the Upper Arkansas River Valley. Guidestone enhances our growing local food economy by supporting local growers through programs such as the Land-Link Initiative and Farmhands Education Program. It puts on great events like the Pumpkin Patch every year which brings people out to the farm for a taste of farm life and to meet the farmers who grow their food. Food production and farming, and their benefits to a happy and healthy lifestyle, is a passion of mine. Here’s a little history about our valley from the Guidestone website www.guidestonecolorado.org:

Believe it or not, historically, the Upper Arkansas River Valley was a thriving agricultural region. At one point the iceberg lettuce capital of the US, our soils played host to a large variety of crops and livestock. As our American culture began to lean more heavily on foods imported from elsewhere, much of our local agricultural knowledge and food economy was lost. We envision an Upper Arkansas River Valley of the future that embraces the agricultural heritage of our past while always keeping a keen eye for better and more sustainable methods of food production. Food is a celebration of life. It is at the core of who we are as people. It is often the centerpiece for community gatherings and events. It tells stories of our past and, we believe, our collective regional knowledge of it will determine much of our future.

Through our educational work and the facilitation of new relationships with farmers and landowners, we encourage the emergence of new farming enterprises here in the valley. We look for ways to bring buyers and producers of local goods together by promoting and offering opportunities such as CSAs, distribution centers, farmers markets, and events.

I realize that I can do something to keep our local economy GROWING by making unique, or sometimes just different, choices about what I purchase and where. I can support the local growers, restaurants and artists who make this valley more diverse, more sustainable and more enjoyable.

SHOPPING LOCAL

Support local artists and attend Craft Fairs where locally produced gifts can be purchased, often to the benefit of local charities and people in need right here in our community. There are fine cheeses, wines, breads, baked goods, clothing and tools made right here. There are many locally made gifts which can be found for everyone on your shopping list. Give a subscription to a local CSA Garden - Community Supported Agriculture - which provides in season vegetables fresh each week from local gardeners for a number of months each season. That will support our agricultural lands right at home and those who grow it as well. What about taking the family on a vacation to any number of the hot springs in the area, or eating out at a local restaurant for a special meal? These things would bring money to our friends and neighbors who live and work here and be pleasurable as well.

In this economy we may need to downsize the amount of money spent or number of gifts given this season. Even so, it’s good to remember the often quoted saying when giving or receiving gifts, it’s the thought that counts the most. When someone gives thought to the perfect gift it fits just right in every way. Shopping locally gives to the well being of the community and is a loving gift to someone special. Giving gifts that give again in growing the health and wealth of our community can be one of the joys of this season.

Happy Holidays!

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.