Posted by Sam Kigar on Fri, Aug 13, 2010
Our web developer Adam Silverstein grows things. He recently grew our web page, matured its navigation and improved it's search-ability. But websites are far from the only thing Adam grows. In addition to Earthbound Website Development and Hosting, Adam owns and operates the Round Earth Farm here in southwest Colorado.
Round Earth is a sustainable and organic farm, located on a fertile mesa above Hotchkiss, Colorado; and Adam's work on the farm is a community service. He sets to work each day with enthusiasm for working the land and the desire to get good local food to the inhabitants of his valley. Part of this service is passing his knowledge about farming onto eager young people. For this reason Adam brings on several interns (in addition to five employees) each growing season. He houses his interns in an Earthworks tipi and a Colorado Yurt.
Together Adam and his crew work the 25 acres. "We grow vegetables from a to z. That's artichokes to zuchinni. Plus," Adam says, "we just put in a 1/2 acre of mixed fruit and a 1/2 acre of raspberries and blackberries." In exchange for room, board and a modest stipend, the interns get to see the farm through an entire growing cycle. They are involved in all aspects of the farm--from planting to sale. The produce is sold to retail and wholesale outlets as well as through Adam's CSA (Communitee Supported Agriculture), called Turkey Hill.
The interns say good things about staying in the tipi and the yurt. While farming restores a connection with food, living in these structures allows interns to nuture their relationship with the land.
Round Earth is part of a growing trend among farms that find yurts and tipis present a viable solution to a variety of needs. Turns out that these structures are both philosophically and practically suited to these types of farms.
- They’re low-impact: Like sustainable farming methods, they leave a small footprint on the land.
- They’re (semi-)portable: As the demands of space change on this relatively small parcel of land, the structures can be moved to accommodate.
- They're round: The shape of these structures resonates not only with the name of Adam's farm but also with the cycles that support and sustain his farm.
It has been wonderful working with Adam, getting to watch his farm develop, and, of course, eating his delicious produce. Thanks Adam!
Thinking of a farming (or any other) yurt?
Here are some good things to think about!
Posted by Sam Kigar on Sun, Feb 22, 2009
In January I had the opportunity to travel to Paris, France to see 25 Colorado Yurts go up in the Grand
Palais. The yurts were for an installation by famed photographer
Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his group Good Planet. The art piece is called
6 Billion Others.
The Grand Palais is a structure of staggering proportions. It dates from 1900 but today it still has one of the largest glass ceilings in the world. Event organizers (from the design firm Scene) told us that although the Grand Palais
is an awesome space, it can be rather difficult to control. That's why they chose to use yurts as the space in which the art would actually happen. The 25 yurts were to comprise 25 mini-cinemas.
We arrived before the show opened and yurts were starting to pop up all around us. Some were fully pitched. The latice
and rafters were up on others. The effect was awesome. Normally we think of yurts as natural and traditional spaces, meant to be pitched in organic settings. But here they were surrounded by steel and glass- a monument to industrialisation. Colorado Yurts are
traditional but have adapted and because of this they work well in all sorts of environments. Even in the most modern of settings they fit.
Check out this video to see one of the most impressive yurt pitches ever:
We didn't quite know what the
organizers meant by saying that the Grand
Palais is difficult to control
until the
show's opening night. Of course, we liked the idea of yurts in Paris and we know that they make
beautiful settings in which to show movies, but there was a practical element to using them to too: Paris in January is
cold and it's very difficult to heat a space that is 72,000 square meters. Yurts, on the other hand, are very good at retaining heat when
necessary. So when we arrived on opening night we, along with the many thousands of other guests, headed straight to the warmth of the yurts.
Each yurt showcased a different film in which people from around the world responded to a
different
question. One film asked individuals what war has meant in their lives. Another spoke to the meaning of family; still another was about how to make love last. The films were honest, moving, and sometimes funny. As we watched regular people from around the world, we understood something more about the similarities and diversity among the world's population. At the same time we realized that we were sitting with people from around the world and there, inside the yurts, we began to feel a little closer to them.
Ask a question about the yurt experience
here.
-By Sam Kigar
*Photo by Dominique Erhard