Fall is definitely in the air. Here up on the park the night time temps are dropping like a brick. Things are always changing here at the ranch. As of this writing we have 4 hogs available for purchase to take to your processor of your choosing. This is our first round of pigs that have been grown here on pasture.

We are on our third batch of meat birds. Most of our meat chickens have been growing to about 4-7 pounds. We currently have about 4 birds available. Our meat birds sell for $4.50 per pound and are all free range. Our first round of turkey processing will be in the next couple weeks as well. It will coincide with our chicken processing .

We are also looking for volunteers to help around the ranch. You don't have to have experience we can train you! This is open to college students looking to intern with a working ranch or just people that maybe want to farm but don't have the space for animals or the acreage to do it themselves. Volunteers would be assisting us in taking care of the over 100 animals on the ranch, building farm structures, and other tasks around the farm. If you support local ag and want to help us out contact us to find out more and to set up a farm tour.

Past few days have been crazy. We finally got moved into the house! The weird thing is this is the first move that very little has been broken. The few things that have been broken are easily replaceable. I think we live in a sea of boxes but it will get there. Little by little we are getting through it. I think the idea to get a shipping conex was the best idea ever. We packed everything up when we left the house in town and had it hauled up the Glade Park to our property. This made moving in so much easier than doing a storage unit down in the valley. Not to mention how much is saved in gas not having to go up and down the monument multiple times. Conex was about 20 yards away. We had some friends from our church up here at Glade Park come in and help move stuff in which was a huge help. Best part most everything got moved in before the recent snow started melting and it got muddy. Now it's just a matter of setting stuff up and unpacking everything.

It is my hope that I can get the shop and leather shop set up this week. It looks as though I will be having another ankle surgery in the coming weeks. So I definitely want to get that set up before I have surgery. The good news is this time around the tendon is not breaking down the nerve in my ankle is just scarred in and creating issues in both pain and numbness in my toes. After 3 previous surgeries I really hope this is it surgery wise.

Seems like every couple days we get a little bit more snow. Nothing too big ,an inch or two. It makes things a bit muddy when it melts it gets really muddy. That's the only thing that worries me about being on crutches. The mud. Up here on Glade Park the mud is like thick cake batter and sticks to everything it touches.

We finally got our C.O. ( Certificate of Occupancy). Basically its just a paper from the county that says our house if a house and that everything is above board and safe to occupy. Every stage of construction every little thing has to be inspected and signed off on. I know it's a good thing for home owners like us but at times it seems to be a little over kill. One such point was when the house was being taken off temporary power and put on permanent power. Temp power was cut off, then it had to be inspected and then another inspection done when perm power was finished about 90 minutes later. 2 different inspectors, 2 different trucks coming from town up to Glade Park. It just seemed to me at that point in time to be a waste of tax payer money and county resources. Couldn't things be done in a more efficient manner? I guess at the end of the day the big thing is we are done and are in the house and that is what is important.

We have started moving some stuff into the house. The mud has really been an issue. So far this winter the ranch has gotten about 12" of snow and the past few days with warmer temps all that snow is melting. The dirt here at the ranch is a very clay rich soil. Great for retaining water or for doing a pond or lake. It's hell if you have to walk through it. You leave the porch in muck boots you go 20 yards and you grew 5" and have platform heels from the 70's on. It's bad really bad.

The majority of the weekend has been spent doing post construction clean up and painting the last few rooms. We still have 2 rooms to go. The living room and the leather shop. I think like everything else about starting this farm and ranch it's a process. We just have to take it one step at a time and one day at a time.

Oxbow Farm 2.0

For those of you that have been following our journey it's been quite an experience. In August 2019 we bought 35 untouched acres to create our family farm version 2.0. We wanted plenty of space in order to do our thing and do agriculture our way.. We sold our home in the city of Grand Junction and moved 12 miles away to Glade Park CO. The new property sits at an elevation of 7,500 feet above see level above the Colorado National Monument.

We bought a 5th wheel which is where our family has been living since August. Our new house should be completed later this week and we can finally start moving in our beautiful home. Trust me I have a new respect for the people you see on TV who live in "tiny homes". Doing this with a toddler and a 16 year old is not easy.

Some of the obstacles we have had to deal with is having foundations put in, septic, having a well drilled, and lets not forget the snow and at times near zero temperatures. We hope that in the long run it will be all worth it. Finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We have created a you tube channel for the farm and have been documenting this whole process on our channel. Check out this whole process there . Like and subscribe to our channel.

Visit our channel here

Food 3.0

We need to get back to the basics of food. That is what Food 3.0 is all about. We need to get back to knowing where our food comes from and who grew it. We need to be good stewards about how we manage our food and grow it sustainably. Our food system right now needs a massive over haul from the growers to you the end users and consumers. It's time to take a stand against the GMO/herbicide/pesticide food conglomerates. It's not enough to pay twice the price for the "organic" label. Do you know if they are truly operating in a organic way or is this just a marketing ploy from a big city marketing firm?

Something to think about: How many people do you know with food allergies? What about the number of people who have cancer, had cancer or passed from cancer? Now ask your grandparents or anyone over the age of 70 the same questions from when they were your age. Odds are the numbers will be drastically different between you and them.

Why is this? I think it's due to chemical intervention in the food system. I think all the GMO's herbicides and pesticides used in AG have created this monster. On average food travels over 400 miles from where it was grown before it hits your dinner plate. Back 50 or even 100 years ago that number was under 10 miles. People knew where their food came from and who grew it. Some may say city's have gotten bigger, less farmland.

While yes this is all true there are ways to sustainably farm. It's about working smarter not harder. Doing more with less is possible. Growing with hydroponics and aquaponics is possible. That's what we do here at Oxbow Farm and we love it. We love getting out and meeting our clients at markets and doing deliveries each week. I enjoy talking to local chefs and see the new and inventive ways they are using our locally grown products.

Our aquaponic model allows is to grow more with a smaller foot print than most in ground farms. Am I saying in ground farms are dead? Absolutely not.! I think both have a place, both have their individual strengths and weaknesses. For instance one crop segment that does not do well in aquaponics are root veggies. Things like potatoes, garlic, carrot, radishes etc. Things that do well in hydroponic/aquaponic settings are plants that fruit above the soil line. Things like herbs, greens, peppers etc.

When I am traveling one thing I don't see that I feel is important is community gardens. Why don't neighborhoods or communities have therm anymore? It doesn't have to be aquaculture as a matter of fact I don't think I have ever heard of a community garden that was a aquaculture garden. Most are in ground gardens. Get communities involved and get kids involved! In large cities you see land that was once developed that now sits over run with weeds. Why not turn these spaces into above ground community gardens?

I hear complaints all the time about school lunch program. I would love to see schools get involved and do farm programs. Mix it up with traditional growing practices and aquaculture. Food grown with these programs can help feel the student body. Excess can be sold at school markets to the parents and local community which then generates funds for PTA and other school programs. Think about the educational value. Kids learn about plant life, biology, cell biology, the nitrogen cycle and so much more. Work with local businesses to help fund these types of programs from a product stand point if not from a monetary standpoint. These types of programs could do amazing things for middle and high school students. These are the types of things Food 3.0 needs to work on.

In this day and age we should not have "food deserts" We shouldn't have areas that have no access to fresh food. Kids should know what a tomato flower looks like. They should know where eggs and meat comes from and that they don't get "made" at the grocery store or corner market. The current food system has to change and change for the better. We need to go back to a time where people went to local farmers markets and went to your local farms. It's about building those relationships.