With the exception of James Ranch, Stone Free Farm of Arriola, north of Cortez, is the last founding member of the Durango Farmers Market remaining.
Chuck Barry, who started the farm 23 years ago with his wife, Rosie Carter, said the farm was selling at the Cortez Farmers Market when they were contacted to be a part of Durango’s market at its inception.
Since then, the farm has scaled back a bit.
“I’m kind of semi-retired. I’ve scaled my operation way down. I still enjoy coming to the markets, so I still do a lot of carrots and tomatoes and greens,” Barry said. “For a while there, we just did the full range. We did three markets and a bunch of restaurant accounts.”
The farm still keeps busy, though, he said, especially with more people attending the market later in the season.
“There’s a lot of new farmers, which is encouraging,” he said.
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
