Outlier Farm

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Outlier Farm

Outlier Farm believes in adding to a vibrant food system in SW Colorado by providing consistently fre

09/18/2022

The time has come to share some big news with you all!

After 8 incredibly rewarding yet challenging years of growing food for our community in SW Colorado, we (Max & Megan) have decided that this will be our last season here at Outlier Farm. For those of you who have been following our journey, you’ve seen the many trials we’ve faced the past few seasons. While the nature of farming can be a stressful endeavor in itself, it’s been a few unexpected life events that have guided our difficult decision to leave this place we have called home.

Rather than focusing on these challenges, we’d like to celebrate all the ways that we’ve grown, nurtured and enjoyed this land along the way. From the thousands of pounds of nutritious vegetables to the countless rows of hardy apple trees, we’ve been humbled by gifts the Earth has given us through the years. Along with your support and an almost absurd amount of work, we have been able to help transform this landscape into something with depth and abundance that we hope can be a cherished part of the community for years to come.

Outlier Farm will be undergoing a transformation over the next couple of years. We feel confident that the work we and our stellar crews have done will empower the next chapter of the legacy, and that feels pretty darn good. As for us, we are heading North for the winter to decompress and recenter after nearly a decade spent in the fields.. after that, who knows?!

I believe it goes without saying that everything Outlier Farm has become has been the result of collaboration and support. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts to our faithful customers, inspiring mentors, trusting landowners, hardworking employees, and endearing friends & family who have helped us make this dream a reality.

With love,

Max & Megan (Olli & Penny)

06/10/2022

A sample of some of the food heading out to our wholesale customers today!

We may not be stacking it high at farmers markets or packing CSA boxes this year but we’re incredibly grateful for the grocery stores and restaurants that have supported us through thick and thin 💚

05/16/2022

Happy 27th birthday to the best partner in crime this farmer could ask for!

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lowest, and everywhere in between- I’m grateful for every day I get to spend with you by my side.

I never thought that cute girl that I met at a farming conference in ABQ would become such a grounding and integral part of my life.. but im so happy you did 💕

03/10/2022

It’s been tough to share our lives lately but I’ve found writing to be cathartic. Here’s a tale about my dad who recently passed on and the impact he had on our farm:

“The winter after completing a 6 month internship at a small vegetable farm in Norwood, my life’s directions seemed boundless and my ambition to grow and learn must’ve been quite contagious. So much so that when I would visit my dad’s dilapidated rental in downtown Golden, bright glimmers of excitement would show in his eyes as we schemed about building a new life together somewhere in the Four Corners area. At that point it had been nearly five years since his botched cocktail of pain pills and alcohol, but he was now certain that life was worth living and the country was calling his name.

It took a couple of visits that spring to check out places in the Durango area that he could move to and we promptly discovered that the astronomical price of land there would not lend itself to our vision. Slowly his focus drifted further west where he set his eyes on a quaint 5 acre ranchette complete with a (fairly) livable house, good soil and an absurdly massive old barn near Dolores. Our half-baked plan was for him to quit his job, make a down payment on this quite affordable piece of land, and grow potatoes together to get him back on his feet until he found a new job. My lifelong friends Max and James who now owned a farm, supported this idea and spearheaded the blue collar effort of working land, getting a crop planted and assuring us that our tubers would fly off the shelves come harvest season.

That summer I started my own farm on a small piece of rented land in Hesperus and learned the hard way about running both a farm and a business. Periodically through the hazy daze of summer I would go out to my dad’s place and help him w**d, move water around, and drink Coors on the back porch watching the mystical Southwest sunsets dominate the sky.“

Story continued in comments…

01/10/2022

We’ve got some big changes happening on our farm in 2022!

After the multitude of challenges that we faced last year in regards to drought, grasshoppers, and water availability, we felt that it might be time to step back and take a good look at what’s working and what might need to change at the moment.

I started Outlier Farm (aka High Pine Produce) in 2016 as a CSA-focused farm and for the past six growing seasons we’ve been happy to expand our offerings and grow our membership to up to 80 families. Our CSA members have given us a tremendous amount of support over the years and we’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude for those of you that have stuck with us year after challenging year.

However, after much deliberation, we’ve decided that we will not be offering a CSA program in 2022. It is our intention to allow this time and space to focus on our wholesale production as well as taking care of the ~7 acres of apple orchards that we manage for our landowner Sam . We are incredibly lucky to have a secure and collaborative work arrangement with Sam where we can develop and enact management plans in the orchards while being able to live and work at the very farm we’ve been busy digging our roots into. We’re also excited to be working on ways to open our farmscape to our community more than we’ve able to in the past- more on that to come!

While we will undoubtedly miss the excitement of filling CSA shares and seeing all of our wonderful members this year, we are by no means stopping production! We will continue to grow a small variety of crops in larger quantities to supply our trusted wholesale partners and keep their shelves stocked with leafy greens, tomatoes and other goodies as long as our water availability lasts. Our hopes are to get the ball rolling on increasing our resiliency and build community through diversification, all while our reservoirs and soils can (hopefully) have time to regenerate and replenish. Who knows what the future holds but at the moment were hoping to pick up where we’re leaving off in 2023 🤞

Thank you all for your continued support!

- Max & Megan

11/03/2021

Our fall veggie crops were light this year (to say the least) but there’s plenty to keep us busy elsewhere on the farm!

Stepping away from the fields and into the orchards is always a welcome change of pace and marks the final push towards completing the cycle of the season.

While it still feels like we have leaps and bounds to come in regards to management, it feels like a small blessing that many of these hardy trees made it through a meager two month irrigation season and the stresses that ensued.

Looking forward to digging a little bit deeper into caring for these small but mighty apple trees next year and maybe, just maybe begin to taste the fruit of our labor we’ve given the past few years 🍎

10/24/2021

The shimmering light reflected from golden leaves of the cottonwoods lends itself well to the nostalgic feeling that accompanies this time of the year. Like the flush of green growing through the browned pastures that the fall rains brought, the current sights and sounds are a deep sigh of relief after a chaotic summer.

We’ve been taking advantage of this beautiful weather to tuck away next years garlic in its home for the foreseeable future and trying our darnedest to cover crop as much of our fields as we can.

Without access to copious amounts of locally-sourced compost we rely heavily on these winter hardy plants to cover our soil through the harsh winters and boost our organic matter.

Oh and picking lots of apples for our friends over 🍎🍏🍎

09/25/2021

Keeping up on the ‘ol Gram has felt like a pretty low priority lately but at least the veggies are flowing strong!

Privileged to be harvesting so many goodies for our Mercy hospital CSA shares through the and our other amazing wholesale accounts the past few weeks (we thought our season was toast there for a minute..)

While we’re ready for the much welcomed change of pace that this time of year brings, we’ll greatly cherish all of people, critters, experiences, and veggies that helped define our growing season, despite the often challenging road to get here. Thanks to everyone who supported us in this journey, we literally couldn’t have done it without you this year!

Happy Fall 🍂🍁

07/31/2021

Nothing like some monsoon magic 🌩🌈💦

07/12/2021

Finding solace in our high tunnels while the rest of our fields remain locked down under row cover.

The grasshopper problem this real has been a real doozy this year but as of now it feels like we’re doing okay. We’re the lucky ones around here though and we are seriously hoping that rain and cooler temps can bring some relief to farmers and ranchers in our little SW valley.

Amazed at the very fact that plants can grow in this harsh environment and very grateful to share their fruits amongst ourselves and our community- thank you plants 🌱🌿🍀

06/28/2021

It’s been a funky season so far for sure but having these awesome people around working their butts off makes it a whole lot better 🧡💛💚

06/17/2021

Packing plants in every square foot of our high tunnels!

These are about the only places on the farm that aren’t completely inundated with grasshoppers right now so we’ve been having to get creative with ways of keeping the planting train a-rollin’ 🚂

Address

39364 Road G
Mancos, CO
81328

Telephone

+13035237671

Website

http://outlierfarm.com/

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