Farm
Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery, located at 7,000 feet in elevation, is a 100-acre diversified farm operation that includes grass-fed pastured poultry, layer hens, hogs, turkeys, beef cattle, dairy goats, horses, vegetable garden, greenhouse, a bakery, and hay pasture. The farm is situated outside Norwood, Co., on a mesa-top in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, near Telluride. We are blessed with fabulous views of the San Juan Mountains and Uncompahgre Plateau in Colorado, and also the Abajos, Henrys and La Sal Mountains in southeastern Utah.
We utilize the grass pastures that have been established here in the region for the past 100 years. We encourage our customers to always seek out and buy locally produced foodstuffs, especially if they are grass-fed. The results are numerous: a strengthening of agrarian communities; a healthier ecosystem; sustainable food systems are created; open space is preserved. And, perhaps most importantly, as a consumer of locally produced foods, you connect to the land and the soil in a special and intimate way otherwise not available.
We sell our products directly on-farm, through our 65-household CSA and at the Telluride Farmers Markets on a weekly basis during the summer and early fall. You can also find Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery products at the following restaurants and markets: Cosmopolitan Restaurant, Clarks Market in Telluride and Norwood, La Cocina de Luz, Steaming Bean, Between the Covers Coffee Shop, Butcher & the Baker, Flavor, There, Telluride Ski & Golf Members Club, Lumiere and Over the Moon. During the summer months, we have an “Open Farm Day” on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-noon to give tours, sell products and introduce you and your family to the many plants and animals that call Indian Ridge Farm their home.
Starting January, 2012, look for our infamously addictive granola at several locations in the Boulder area, as well.
The Garden:
In our one and one-half acre garden we grow vegetables for over 65 families as well as our volunteers and interns. This high-altitude, bio-intensive garden relies on the fertility of our soils gained through animal and vegetable compost, rotational planting, bio-diversity and lots of hands-on labor. We believe that the garden and farm are a single living organism. That is, the animals, the insects, the air, the water, the “weeds” and the vegetables are all part of a symbiotic whole. We grow a wide variety of vegetables adapted to our 7,000-foot elevation as well as flowers and herbs. We use organic and bio-dynamic growing principles and practices.
We also have a 1,400-square foot hoop house that acts as a season extender for some of our warm-loving plants. In fall 2012, we added a second, 1,000-square foot hoop house to the farm.
The Animals:
All of the animals sold through the farm are medication and hormone free. All of the livestock is pastured on grasses, bathed in the glorious Colorado sunshine.
We pride ourselves in raising the finest, healthiest broiler chickens and turkeys, layer hens, hogs, beef and goats for their milk and cheese. The difference in taste, quality and good health is noticeable. The reason? We continually rotate all of our animals, feeding them on mostly grassland pastures. This way, you, the consumer, are ingesting the many health benefits of grass-based livestock. The supplemental grain that we do feed our poultry and hogs comes from a local source, within San Miguel County. But it’s more than that. The land and subsequently, the soil, which is the foundation of all life, benefits too because the livestock, whether they’re cows, broiler chickens or pigs, leave behind their manure which then becomes part of the fertility that the soil needs to be productive.