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This weekend was the annual farm tour of my favorite fruit grower, Steve Ela of Ela Family Farms. Steve is a 4th generation fruit grower. He's the only child who, after completing an education in biology and geology, decided to take over the family farm AND make it organic. His fruit is amazing and has filled many a jar in my pantry. I've long wanted to meet him in person.
Saturday morning we woke up early and left Boulder, destined for the Western Slope. We stopped for lunch in Redstone, Colorado and the historic inn. It was suggested on our weekend itinerary which the Ela family provided. Redstone is fairly remote and really isn't on the way to anywhere in particular, so it's a very tiny town with just a little tourism income. While lunching, two guys walked in. I said to Gerard, "Look at those two gay guys. I bet they're from Boulder and they're on their way to the farm tour." They looked about as out of place as we probably did. We finished our lunch and continued on, but not before a short stroll through downtown Redstone, which consisted of two or three shops and some log cabins. The river was gorgeous.
We eventually made our way to the farm and, among the crowd of 30 or so people, were the two gay guys from the Redstone Inn. There wasn't much time for introductions but we all organized quickly and kicked off the weekend with a wine tour. Southwestern Colorado, apparently, is decent grape-growing country. Provided, that is, you've got water rights, know how to deal with the weather extremes, can figure out the red soil thing and can make a three month growing season pay. More than a few people are doing it.
I'd never been on a wine tour and we had three on our list. The first was owned by a couple from California who'd gotten rich in the software industry. They bought some acreage in the mountains, built a cozy, rustic home, and invested in quite a lot of fancy wine making and distilling equipment. They seemed to be doing fine. Their wine was quite good, and they even produced vodka, brandy and a number of other spirits, all of which were organic and made either from their own fruit or the fruit of their neighbors. Seventy stores and restaurants in Colorado now sell their products. After a tour of the vineyard and facilities, we were invited inside where we all sampled the goods and chatted.
The second winery was owned by a Frenchman. His wine was less appealing to my palette, except for his dessert wine which was quite good. He also served food, which included various cheeses and elk and bison pate, all of which he made himself on the farm. Very good stuff. He also had a lot of farm animals which was kind of fun, including a goose with a very bad temper.
The third winery was my favorite. It was absolutely picturesque. It featured a stone cottage, which the family had built themselves with stones from the snowmelt river running through their property, and I don't know how many acres of lush grape vines trailing down the hillside with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. He was an aerospace engineer and she was a marketing something or other and they had previously lived in Boulder. They decided to leave the rat-race and sell everything. They bought the land, packed up the kids, built the cottage, planted the vineyard and threw their whole lives into making a go of the winery. Seems to be working for them too. When asked, they said they wanted a life where the family could live and work closely together, where they could enjoy the outdoors and do something creative. It was very nice, actually and the kids really seem to love it.
We were all pretty much lit after the wine tour so our caravan headed to a bed and breakfast that was once an old farmhouse. It's still a working farm, and the current owners were busily preparing an all-organic, all-local feast for us. At the farmhouse, we cracked open the wine we had purchased on the wine tour and everyone really got a chance to get acquainted. It was a perfect setting: a big farmhouse with an impressive garden, chickens milling about, a playful dog, a couple of farm cats skulking on the margins, a babbling brook, distant mountains, and lots of left-wing earth-mother foodies with way too much wine. Really, who could ask for more?
We met the gay couple we saw in Redstone (turns out they're from Denver, not Boulder), a really fun straight couple and a few other individuals who we'll definitely be socializing with again in the near future. There were over 40 people packed into that farmhouse. There was much laughter and celebrating and we carried on into the night. It was a truly wonderful experience. It felt like a community. It was cool outside, but the house was so warm and inviting and was filled with the aromas of good home cooking and lots of joy. Really I was amazed at how well the crowd just clicked. It was like we were all old friends. Someone would mention a book and everyone had read it. Someone would make a GW Bush joke and everyone would laugh. Several times I paused and thought it felt just like a big perfect family where everyone loved and accepted each other, had parallel interests, and times were good. There were parental figures and grandparental figures and niece and nephew and cousin and grandkid figures. If you didn't know, you wouldn't know. This b&b, in fact, has regular community dinners and brunches and is quite attuned to this sort of thing. Right before the meal was served, our wonderful hostess, Dava, announced what we'd be dining on and where every item came from: the greens were from the garden outside, the chicken from her neighbors Dave and Sue, the goat cheese from Crescent Farm, and so on. She thanked all of us for supporting the farmers that sell at the market, she thanked her neighbors, some of whom were dining with us, and she was thankful for the community we had all come together to create. It was really quite beautiful. Then Steve Ela stood up to say a few words, thanked all of us for our support of his farm and of his neighbors' farms, and again express his gratitude for the sense of community and celebration we had all come together to create. There we were in very rural Colorado, gay, straight, old, young, rich, poor, farmers and office professionals, business owners and interns, retirees and children, husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends all coming together to celebrate not just food, but living. It was a very beautiful thing. I can't say I've ever experienced anything quite like it. It surpassed all my expectations. It literally felt and looked like a family, and for a few hours the world was absolutely perfect.
After the evening wound down and people began to drift away, Gerard and I retired to our room. We rented the "King Cottonwood" suite at the farmhouse, which featured a spacious room, a king sized bed, a private bath and a beautiful view of the farmstead. We slept with the windows open. I don't think I even twitched.
The next morning I awoke with the sun and the rooster, but I think it was the aroma of coffee that drew Gerard out of bed. We lolled around the farm grounds before the other guests stirred and eventually we all sat down to a leisurely and of course local breakfast. I think I could have spent two weeks, easily, relaxing on that farm. Bookshelves were stocked with titles on self-sufficiency, organic farming, yoga, and, of course, whitewater rafting, hiking, horseback riding, winery tours and all the other things to do and see in the area. And under Dava's kind and attentive gaze, we never wanted for anything. But we had to say goodbye, which we did with hugs, and finally moved on to the main event: the tour of the Ela farm. Steve, who had been with us throughout the weekend, was there with his wife, kids and his mother and father, who were just the quintessential country grandparents. Steve told us more about running an orchard, caring for the trees and using organic methods than we could adequately digest in a single sitting. He also talked at length about the importance of supporting local agriculture and illustrated one example after another of how our combined actions were making positive impacts on our community and our environment. As a fourth generation fruit grower who only in the last ten years switched to organic methods and started selling directly through farmer's markets instead of to the corporate ag market, Steve knows his stuff. And as always, he lavished us with genuine, heartfelt gratitude for our support.
We concluded the orchard tour with applause and a catered lunch in the orchard from a local restaurant. Phone numbers, hugs and handshakes were exchanged, thank-yous and smiles were traded, and people began to drift away. Gerard and I were among the last to leave. It turned out that I myself was a bit of a local celebrity and I didn't even know it. People were coming to me left and right saying, "So you're the ultimate locavore" or "I hear you're a locavore legend" and other silly things. Apparently my reputation for canning, butter and cheese making and general homesteading type activities preceded me with this crowd. I admit I enjoyed the attention, though it was entirely unexpected.
With much sadness we finally had to begin the journey back to our "real" lives. I'd say we took the scenic route home, but in Colorado every route is scenic. We did take roads less travelled, and I used the quiet and the scenery to reflect on the weekend. For all the irritating, mean, and downright despicable things humans are capable of, we can also be pretty darn wonderful. And to experience that in such a landscape as the Rockies, well, I think I'm pretty darn lucky. But I have to say this has only whetted my appetite for wandering the west and for homesteading, but I'll save that for another day.
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