My grandmother used to tell me "we were all once farmers" as she picked the most amazing things out of her garden. We would then go into her kitchen and slice a perfectly ripe tomato or a crisp green cucumber, and enjoy the taste of summer together.
I come from a Ranching family. My relatives traveled west and settled small western towns surviving off the land. Now that I am an urban dweller there is something about the change of the seasons that calls me to my agricultural roots. The fall is my favorite time to explore the bounty of produce and agricultural products that can be found in Colorado.
With the farm-to-table movement sweeping the best restaurants in Denver likeFruition, I am inspired to create a little farm to table in my own home. I grow a few herbs in my flower beds, but my success at real gardening in my tiny Capitol Hill yard is marginal at best. My ineptitude as an urban farmer doesn't keep me from wanting my family to enjoy the bounty a farm has to offer, so we hit the road. I love taking my kids beyond the farmers markets to farms along the front range. A few weeks ago we went to Aspen Moon Farms and picked raspberries. This week we took our kids to Anderson Farms for their fall festival and let the kids run through a corn maze, pick pumpkins, take a hay ride, and feed livestock. My daughter's school does an annual field trip to Miller Farms where you can take a bag and pick your own potatoes, eggplant, onions, beets and more. Learning the science of agriculture helps make the classroom come alive and encourages my kids to eat their veggies.
In the fall there are tons and tons of harvest related festivals and events across the front range and many farms open their doors to the public for pick your own opportunities or tours. It is the best time of year to take the kids and adults out and experience a little bit of country. Visiting farms also gives you a chance to see who grows your food, understand the work it takes and to taste farm grown produce. Get local this fall: take a break from the city, get your hands dirty, pick some veggies and have a Colorado grown farm-to-table party, don't forget to serve local beer or spirits at your party, Colorado has an amazing reputation for local libations too.
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