Hello everyone, my name is Heather Houk (pronounced how-k). I know you are used to seeing Darrin’s big ol’ beard in this column every month, but there have been a few changes around here. Don’t worry, we still have Darrin for our weekly radio education and entertainment with Tom, as the Garden Guys will carry on, but he earned a much-deserved promotion as our regional director for CSU Extension on the Western Slope.
I was hired July 1 (a whopping 2 months ago) to serve as your new horticulture & agricultural production specialist for CSU Extension-La Plata County. It still feels like a dream in many ways to have this opportunity and I am truly looking forward to meeting and working with many of you as the years roll by.
So, a little bit about myself that might assure you that it is OK to reach out to someone other than Darrin for guidance about your garden, farm, weed, insect issues. I have an undergraduate degree from Prescott College in Agroecology & Community Development and a graduate degree in Sustainable Education also from Prescott College. I lived and worked in Prescott, Arizona for over 20 years working with farmers from around the Southwest, teaching at PC as an agriculture instructor. I helped start the first community supported agriculture program in Arizona over 24 years ago and then created open-source materials to help dozens of other farmers and organizations start their own. I have worked on large and small organic farms and in 2017 my husband Wayne and I created our own LLC and started Tilted Earth Farm.
Some of you might have bought our sugar snap peas at the Durango Farmers Market over the past several years, it is our pride and joy. Or even remember the mudslides that followed the 416 fire up in the north valley. We were the farmers at the James Ranch that summer that had about a 1/3 of our crops wash into the ditch. That was quite an introduction to farming at the base of an alluvial slope! Eventually, we moved up on the mesa south of Durango. It is a lot harder to flood us out now that we are hundreds of feet above the river.
During the La Plata County Fair a few weeks ago, I began to reflect on my own experience growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, I realized that we didn’t have 4H or FFA and agriculture was just not a part of my life. I could never understand why my mom wouldn’t let me have a horse in our backyard, rumor has it that’s not allowed. I marveled at the dedication and expertise these youths bring to this community, and I absolutely loved working with the people that brought in their prizewinning flowers, fruit and vegetables. We have a lot of talented people in this county, and I am blown away by the enthusiasm people bring to Fair with their creativity and passion. A lot of the people I met shared their own 4H or FFA stories and I could see the pride in their eyes in having been part of these amazing organizations.
I am very excited to announce that there is still time to join the 2024-2025 class of Master Gardeners, the deadline has been extended to Sept. 15 and I would love to encourage anyone that wants to know more about botany, weed management, dealing with gardening in our wild Colorado climate, or just connect with old and new friends as we learn about various soil types and pollinators in our region. If you are interested in connecting with me or joining the next class, please email me at heather.houk@colostate.edu.
Happy Growing!
Heather Houk is the Horticulture & Agriculture Specialist for the La Plata COunty Extension Office.
