Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in this week’s edition of the Roaring Fork Weekly Journal, an Aspen Daily News sister publication serving the mid valley.
The barn that is rising on Pitkin County Open Space and Trails property will be a “game changer” for its leaseholders, the locally based Two Roots Farm, one of its principals said Wednesday.
Two Roots Farm leases and manages 22 acres of Emma Open Space which it uses to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers for restaurants up and down the Roaring Fork Valley, local farmers’ markets and Skip’s Farm to Market in Basalt, according to partner Harper Kaufman.
The farm is also part of a cooperative that feeds more than 100 families who receive a share of each week’s harvest during the growing season, she said.
“We grow over 40 different kinds of vegetables using minimal tillage, organic, regenerative farming practices,” Kaufman said, adding, “Our mission is to grow healthy, fresh produce for our community in a way that cares for the land, the water and the farmers.”
The new barn will be the farm’s “central hub,” she said. “One of the most critical functions of the barn is providing a food-safe work space to wash vegetables, properly store our fresh vegetables and winter storage crops, cure vegetables like garlic, onion and winter squash and dry crops like herbs and flowers.”
Pitkin County Open Space and Trails allocated $130,000 for the barn from its budget and the Pitkin County commissioners kicked in another $20,000 toward its completion, according to Paul Holsinger, the agriculture and conservation easement administrator for Open Space and Trails.
Holsinger noted that the barn’s frame was built for about $70,000. While groundbreaking began Jan. 7, much of the barn’s construction has taken place within the past 10 days.
One of the larger expenditures on the property will come with the installation of a small septic tank, Holsinger said.
Kaufman said that the leaseholders will be investing in the barn’s completion with both their time and their money.
“We will be in charge of its upkeep and maintenance as well as be charged rent to use the space,” Kaufman said. She added that the farm owners are grateful to have a local government and community who see the value in local food and supporting small farms.
“Having the support to make our farm a more viable business allows us to feed more people, grow better food and put our energy into caring for the land that we steward,” Kaufman added.
According to Holsinger, the county has owned this property, located at 100 Sopris Creek Road, since 2000. It was here that the county’s agricultural leasing program was started.
Since its inception and the development of protocol, there are now 16 agricultural leases, totaling about 400 acres, that are in place on Pitkin County Open Space and Trails land. Most are located in the Mid-Valley though the most visible agricultural lease within the program is at Cozy Point Ranch, located near the intersection of Highway 82 and Brush Creek Road.