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Southwest Life
Angela Fountain
Position: La Plata County Extension Office

La Plata County Fair: A celebration of community, talent and 4-H Excellence

The 2025 La Plata County Fair was an incredible success, filled with laughter, learning and a deep sense of community pride. This year’s fair offered a perfect blend of tradition and innovat...

The tantalizing and tormenting tomatoes

As we head into August on this trip around the sun, this feels like a good time to talk about all things tomato. We as gardeners and farmers know the joy and heartache of growing this little...

It’s fair season in La Plata County!

Mark your calendars, this year’s La Plata County Fair will be held Aug. 6 to Aug. 11 at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. The week will be packed with adorable animals, impress...

Searching for ways to save money? Get thrifty

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Fenn’s treasure. A million dollars in gold, hidden somewhere in the Rockies, by Forrest Fenn, a Santa Fe art dealer. Fenn’s treasure was eventually found, b...

Are you prepared for the fair?

If you live most places in the United States, especially in a rural county, then you know there are actually five seasons: winter, spring, summer, fair, and fall. Now you may not have realiz...

4-H packs June with camps, competitions, and leadership growth

June is one of the busiest and most exciting months for 4-H. As soon as school lets out, our calendar quickly fills with workshops, competitions, camps, conferences and travel opportunities....

So, what’s bugging you this spring?

Most of us get very excited as the days get longer and the plants are greener, and spring is officially warming our hearts as well as our skin. But we all notice that with a warming to our h...

Emergency preparation is a proactive approach during drought

If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, you’ll appreciate knowing this isn’t the driest year to date in La Plata County. However, in the last 131 years, it is the 10th driest. Thus, it m...

Celebrating our 2025 4-H Scholarship winners

The 4-H program is proud to recognize four outstanding youths who have been awarded this year’s 4-H scholarships. These young leaders have demonstrated hard work, dedication and a commitment...

Walking tours fill the need for fun, physical activity

Having grown up in Colorado, four seasons is the norm. With the smell of lilacs, the sight of baby animals and the sound of birds, we finally spring free of cold, short winter days. No wonde...

Time to plan and prepare those gardens

April showers bring May flowers is not the song we sing here in the Four Corners, or anywhere in the Southwest. I check the weather every day, just for the fun of seeing if it is the same re...

4-H is empowering the next generation of extraordinary women

I’m so thankful to have been nominated for the Extraordinary Woman award given by the Women’s Resource Center every March. Myself and two other amazing women were chosen as the 2025 winners....