Spring Break
Going Organic
CSU touts "specialty crops"
Nikki Cristello
Issue date: 8/1/07 Section: News
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The carrot is a "Purple Haze," said Frank Stonaker, director of the Specialty Crops Program at CSU.
The purple carrot can be found with a host of other organic vegetables being grown at the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) research farm, an 80-acre spread where organic produce is grown for research and to feed a select portion of the local community.
The CSA project is Stonaker's brainchild.
"I think my main interest [in initiating the CSU CSA] was my experience as a small farmer," Stonaker said. "We didn't really have someone to go to. CSU was focusing on larger crop programs. There wasn't a whole lot being acquired in vegetables and food that would benefit small organic farmers. So, this is an outreach to them."
The CSA, known as the Rocky Mountain Small Organic Farm Project is contained on an eight-acre plot of land while the remaining 72 acres are filled with luscious trees, shrubs and other greenery.
Daily, suntanned interns evaluate and note growth of the food. On a walking tour of the site, it is easy to forget that I-25 and the Budweiser brewery are only several hundred feet away.
The farmland has a rich history. Dana Christensen, the farm manager, said the land was bought shortly after World War II, possibly around 1946, by CSU's Horticulture Department. It is the main research facility for the department, although there are more sites.
The University uses the land to conduct research on turf grass breeding, ornamental trees and shrubs and vegetable entomology, to name a few areas of study.
The land has been certified organic for six years, and pesticide free for nine years. While synthetic, chemical pesticides used on large, conventional farms are prohibited, some organic pesticides are OK to use. However, the organic pesticides are made from natural resources, for example, to clear bugs from crops.
The farm utilizes a share-purchasing system in which a small portion of people associated with CSU can buy either full or half shares. Only a handful of people associated with CSU can purchase a "share" of the farm's harvest for the season. Each share feeds a family of four. The full price of the (more or less) 22 weeks of produce is $500. Half shares are available for $275. Separate fruit and flower shares are $50 each but must be purchased in addition to a vegetable share.
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