ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — An Elbert County farm is discounting produce for volunteers who are willing to get their hands dirty.
Grace Kelley, co-owner of Further Up Farms in Elizabeth, calls herself a "foodie first and farmer second." Her family moved from Fort Collins in 2021 to start up the farm and bring fresh produce to an area with limited grocery options.
This year, Further Up Farms is growing 70 different varieties of plants. Looking out on the property, one can spot the vegetables growing in the ground, but in the barn is their aquaponics farm where lettuce and microgreens are grown.
Further Up Farms began its community-supported agriculture (CSA) program last year, which allows people to buy a weekly supply of vegetables directly from the farm. There is also a workshare option, where people can work a set number of hours on the farm and receive a discount on their produce.
"We wanted to farm not just for ourselves, but for others," Kelley said. "Like I said before, to create community and to kind of connect people back to the land and to their food and where their food comes from. The workshare program is a great way for people to do that because many of them haven't seen what it actually looks like in the ground when this thing is growing."
Workshare volunteers help out with tasks like weeding, watering, harvesting, or helping out at farm stands during the week.
Whether it's working on the farm or serving the community, Kelley has seen the positive impact it is already having.
"Some of them want to grow their own stuff and want to learn how to do it, and so we're able to come alongside them and do some passive education and active education, even as we're doing it," Kelley said. "Some of them just want to volunteer to work with a community farm that is doing just the work to care for the local community."
Further Up Farms also donates produce to the local food bank.
"Even working with local food banks, things like that, it's just a great feeling to know that you're part of something that's helping educate people about food and helping to address some of the food scarcity issues, especially in rural communities with fresh produce," volunteer Paige Cassara told Denver7.
Cassara's family has been in Elbert County for five generations. She was looking for a community connection and found out about the farm on a community board. Now, in her second year with the program, she said the farm is leaving an immense impact on this rural community.
"There's less people. You really do have to rely on each other — your neighbors, your community — for everything," Cassara said. "So I think for people that are already out here, being able to know that they're getting their food from someone that's probably sitting next to them in church or goes to the same dentist office or teaches their kids, it means a lot to the rural communities to be able to kind of stick together and just have our community support."
Volunteers Andi Doebler and Janelle Justice drive quite a distance to help out on the farm. While the discounted produce brought them to the farm, they said the connection with fellow volunteers and Kelley keeps them coming back.
"I would love to see more farms doing this," Justice said. "I think it's really great to get to know your neighbors and, like Andi was saying, just to know where your food is coming from and everything that goes into it, it's a lot more than just going to the grocery store and picking it up."
- Andi Doebler and Janelle Justice share more about their volunteer experience in the video player below:
The CSA program has shares available for the fall, which can be found online. The farm is also taking applications for the program here.
The farm has several opportunities for the community to visit it, including:
- Monday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at a pop-up stand at 3623 Judge Adams Road
- Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at a pop-up stand in Elizabeth, by the "Methodist Church area"
- Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Black Forest Backyard Market
