Farms, Ranches, and Dairies

Hardy practices regenerative and permaculture methods, growing vegetables with rotational grazing to raise meat chickens and pigs. A fruit/berry orchard was planted in 2021 to expand the farm’s food system for the future. He lives on the farm with his partner Lindsey and her four adopted mustangs. "The farm is a place for community. Happy to have you all out to the farm for a tour, farm dinner, concert, or gathering. It’s important for us all to be connected with the source of our food!"

The goal of our family farm is to produce top quality farm products while continuing to increase the diversity and health of ecosystems around us. Our focus at Ollin Farms has always been to produce the most nutritious and flavorful produce possible. All of our produce is grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides- not even the organic approved ones. Ultimately, it is the soil that will determine the health of everything that grows out of it, including the farm and the community.

This our favorite local dairy:

• Minimum grain (some silage) grass and hay diet gives healthier "nutrient dense" milk and happy-healthy cows.
• Low-temp pasturization at 145 degrees for 30 minutes preserves the natural flavor of real milk. 
• "Kind cow" practices: calves remain with mothers for 3 months, often longer. No kill -- zero cows sent to slaughter in the last 3 years. Super healthy diet and Dairyman Kevin McSweeney is a trained veterinarian.

Waves of Grain is proud to offer the 100% grass-fed beef from La Salle, Colorado. Frank started his herd of Scottish Highland cows in 1993, now numbering over 300.  As a third generation rancher, he credits his parents and grandparents for his knowledge and passion for raising animals. His herd does not get corn, soy or GMO’s. The herd moves to multiple farms at varied elevations, to access fresh grasses as conditions change throughout the year. He supplements grazing with a local non-gmo alfalfa and a mineral mix of unprocessed sea salt and volcanic ash.

Our farming practices are ecological and efficient: Woman owned, small scale operation coexisting in a thriving wildlife corridor. We never EVER spray any chemicals, even if they are approved organic. Drip irrigation used farm wide to conserve water. Sprinklers used only to establish cover crops such as Rye, Oats, Peas, Hairy Vetch, Triticale, etc. Started production on leased land in 2020 and have since secured an additional parcel doubling our capacity.

Kilt Farm selects delicious and nutritious varieties with unique items to
expand your veggie horizons -- over 50 different vegetables and nearly 100
different varieties. Why just have orange carrots when you can have yellow, red
and purple? You will find Kilt Farm veggies at fine restaurants, grocery
stores, and at Waves of Grain. Kilt Farm stands apart with a focus on soil and
plant health, which results in the best tasting, sweetest, most nutritious
food.

Our mission is to be an act of healing and to create community resilience. We intend to improve the well-being of our community and our environment through the use of regenerative farming practices. We believe that soil health is the foundation for human health, and therefore we strive to enhance the health of our soil by using methods such as crop rotation, mulching, limited tilling, composting, and cover cropping. We are committed to farming with minimal dependence on fossil fuels and heavy machinery. We never use pesticides, herbicides, or harmful chemicals of any kind.

Since our beginning in 2020, those of us in the Proyecto have come from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. We enjoy learning from one another about vegetables that are popular in our respective countries, and we even experiment with growing and selling some of them. The Proyecto meets May through October, to learn by doing—planning our crops, preparing the soil, planting and weeding the crops, and finally harvesting and selling them. Another big part of our education is instructions we receive from CSU volunteer experts and area farmers teaching us about soil and plant health, irrigation, food safety, book keeping, marketing and more. For this we receive an agriculture practitioner certificate of completion and a monetary stipend to support our participation.

High Plains Poultry supplies eggs to Whole Foods under the Cottonwood Creek “Happy Hens No Pens” label. At Waves of Grain, we sell the same eggs, labeled as High Plains Eggs. “Our birds really live outside at farms in Bennett and Strasburg, Colorado. They have shelter with Non-GMO food, water, and cozy nests. We move them around on pastures in-season so you get great tasting eggs.” High Plains is a farmer’s coop and much of the grain used to feed the chickens is produced by member farms, pesticide free. We can’t guarantee the chickens never pecked at something non-organic, but these eggs are clean, local, and fresh. Birds are fed a non-GMO ration with no antibiotics or hormones.

This mixed herd of Brown Swiss, Jersey, and Guernsey cows feeds on alpine grasses full of Omega 3s. John makes a range of fresh and aged cheeses in an on-farm creamery. Tasty and good for you!