It is hard to believe another year has gone by and we are ready for our Third Annual Celebrate Sustainability Event. We have so much to share with you that we have done here at the Ranch since our event last year. So come join us on September 24, 2011 for this day of fun, music, education, and fellowship with many who believe we should be humble stewards of this amazing planet.
We will be having hands on demonstrations, fishing in our pond for our greenhouse raised trout, playing some pasture golf, pitching some horseshoes, hiking, biking, hanging with the animals, or just chillin with some amazing music from Davey and the Blu Dog. I guarantee you will have a great day. You can come any time between about 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Bring the kids and your friends. If you bring pets be prepared to have them on a leash.
DAVEY AND THE BLU DOG
We have many cool things we will be able to show you that you could use on your farm, your ranch, your suburban back yard, or your window-sill in your apartment. We want to help you see how you can feed yourself and teach others to do the same
We will also have a booth next weekend (Sept. 17 – 18) at the Rocky Mountain Sustainability Fair in Ft. Collins, so come see us there.
Wow, can you believe it is 2011 and Denver is almost 150 years old and there has never been a county fair, until now. Maybe it took them a long while to have one, but they are making up for it by making it a great time for all.
So we brought some alpacas, our Nourish the Planet materials and we are now on thousands of Facebook pages in the Rocky Mountain area. What a great time we are having. Everyone wants to see the “cute” alpacas. We have three young boys who we had on the show circuit here with us – Bam Bam, Arctic, and Camo. They were huge hits with everyone. It never ceases to amaze me how little so many know about our amazing livestock breed.
This is an urban gathering with most people coming from the city. Most of them believe that you have to have many acres to have alpacas. Denver has recently passed ordinances that now allow residents to have goats and chickens, but what about alpacas. Are they legal? I would hope so, but I really do not know. Are they permissible in residential areas in your town? Why shouldn’t they be? Alpacas are quiet, they have minimal odor, they do not challenge fences, and are completely non threatening.
I know that the average urban backyard could support a pair of fiber boy alpacas. They would be good pets (not cuddly like dogs, but cute and safe – in my opinion much better than cats), they would be affordable ( much less annual cost than dogs), they would fertilize your lawn, mow your lawn, and give enough incredible fiber to make sweaters, hats and socks. How great would that be?
What are your thoughts on urban alpacas? What am I missing? Wouldn’t this be a great market for fiber animals, or even partnerships for owning breeding/genetic/show animals. Well, I have people stacked four deep wanting me to tell them about our amazing alpacas. I better go tell this tale.
Wow. we had fun!! When it started to get light about 6:30 AM on Saturday morning, and I could see that it was lightly raining I was not so sure. The weather forecast called for rain all day. But God had another plan, and by the time our first guests drove up to the ranch at 11:15 AM (yes they were a little early – excited I think) the sun was coming out, and the day ended up being beautiful.
The Mobile Barn - how would you think your alpacas would like living on carpet!
Here are some highlights:
- John did an amazing tour of our stone farming operation. Many folks did not know that this could be so sustainable!
- Our pallet buildings and temporary pasture fencing was a real eye opener for many folks.
- Our golden retriever Sky got to show the folks how competitive dog agility prepares a dog for life on the Ranch.
- There were some great fish stories from fishing on the pond.
- Yes a pasture golf hole could be a par 22 – at least for my son, Dustin!
- Java, our alpaca who thinks she is a dog, was a hit for everyone.
- Some folks watched the entire Food Inc. movie for the first time. It is good.
Well here are a few pictures, and we will post a whole bunch more within a couple of days. Thanks for coming if you did, and if you didn’t you can now look forward to our big event – The IDEA2011 that we will hold on Earth Day Weekend (April 22-24) next year. Much more to come on that!!!
The greenhouse and flowers in fall colors
The Good DR. describing our greenhouse aquaponics
