Mike and Emily Jensen were spending a winter in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, ski bumming when they noticed how bare the grocery store shelves were there.
“There’s no food up there in the winter,” Mike Jensen said. “Even the grocery stores were barren.”
The Jensens, both trained geologists from California, eventually joined a local Community Support Agriculture group, which set them on a different path than studying stones.
“We had no history of farming, but we fell in love with it,” Jensen said.
The couple then traveled all around Colorado, stopping at “almost every” farmers market along the way, looking for a place to start a farm of their own.
They found that place in Bayfield, and for the past 11 years, have participated in the Durango Farmers Market.
“Durango was it,” Jensen said. “We were drawn to the health-conscious people that care about the quality of their food.”
The Jensens own a 12-acre property for Homegrown Farm, which employs four other people.
Jensen said 2½ acres of the land are used for farming that focuses on quality, fresh food, including beats, turnips, carrots and vegetables for salad mixes.
Homegrown Farms is also a member of the Southwest Farm Fresh Cooperative, comprised of 15 farms, mostly in Montezuma County, that help farmers sell produce to other communities, such as Telluride.
Jensen said this year, despite a late frost in June, was the best year the farm has ever had, production-wise.
“Everything we grow is cold-hearty,” he said. “Definitely the best year we’ve ever had.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
