Family and Friends

Our farm has made many new friends since we moved in the fall of 2005. This is our diary of family and friend visitors. Their joy in working on our farm inspires us! Our earliest guests start at the bottom of the page, recent visitors are added to top of page.

Joseph's first bath!! Max and Wink are proud grandparents. We hope Joseph and his family (Nik, Julie and Roman) can visit the farm in 2010!	Boone and Tanner working on the cupola, MORE BARN STORY HERE >>
Mike not only contributed his valuable expertise to the cupola design, he helped put it together!	Not enough good can be said about the Wilson Brothers and Cousin Frank shown celebrating the roof raising with other crew stalwarts, Bryan and of course, Wink and Monty.
Bryan helped all summer long, first in the picker cabins remodeling the baths, then on the barn. A tireless individual!	Luke regaled us with endless wisdom like: "Slow and steady wins the race," and "if you can't do it right the first time, you sure won't have time to do it right later."
Joe Gogonola (remember that name) is the papercrete block designer and maker on Redlands Mesa.	A couple of weeks before we started the barn, a barn cat showed up to take possession. Not surprisingly, we named her Maybelline.
Matt inspects one of the volunteer veggies in the hoop house.	Jules, Melissa and Sierra during a visit to Mark Waltermier's goats and gardens. They annilalated a ferocious thistle infestation in the asparagus and we are eternally grateful!
Jeff and Linda live in Grand Junction and have built a fabulous house out of mud and tires! Next time we visit them we'll bring back photos for our website. UNBELIEVABLE!	Matt grafts Honey Crisp scion wood to Gala apple tree in May 09.
Scott worked with us and DMEA to convert our electrical from 200amps to 400amps for irrigation on the farm. He did a great job!	Alan from GJ Pipe was the source for much of the irirgation equipment and more importantly, knew how it's supposed to work.
These young ladies were terrific helpers on the farm. We've posted photos of their work in the 09 vegetable section and orchards.	Karla owns a ranch near Paonia, and by her admission it's been organic before organic! She also operates a FDA approved poultry butchery for the local poultry farmers.
During February and March, willow has the right quality to transform into baskets. Annie came to visit and shared her know-how!	Farm Fav, Cec joined the BGF festivities. Max was able to complete two gathering baskets with their help and good times were had by all.
Life on the farm is slower now. Thanksgiving was a family affair of good food and great company!	Wink's high school buddy and fellow gearhead visited us in time to help press wine. He celebrated election night with us too!
We had Grapepickin' Girl Power in October when Kate and her friends came to help. Jenn dumps gris into the crusher-destemmer.	Ellie removes some questionable grape from the cluster. We managed to press nearly 60 gallons of juice for wine this year.
A daring move and teepee later, Marian is living in the North Fork Valley after a summer hauling fruit to Colorado Springs.	Lee and his daughter Claire connected with Lee's rural roots by helping with peach harvest, packing and mowing. Lee also helped distributed our fruit in Colorado Springs. We're grateful!
Susan and Walter, Jacob's parents, were delightful guests!	Cec and Robert on a flyby.
Laura's parents came to see what their daughter was up to! We think they approved.	Nathan and Kate are now living on ranch near Telluride but we hope they'll still need the occasional "farm fix."
Annie heads up the CC organic garden in the President's backyard. She's has helped out on our farm several times and we're always glad to see her.	John took Sam, Teddy, and Jacob rafting, visited the Black Canyon, and all helped plumb the compost pile.
Sam, Teddy and John came to visit Jacob and enjoy a vacation in the North Fork.	One of the treats Teddy enjoyed was smores made over a campfire in the courtyard.
Jessie is one of Wink's cohorts from CC days circa the 60s — she's much younger!	Ned is a gardener at heart, he and Jessie own a farm near their Riverdale NY home.
Jacob stayed on the farm while certifying as a photovoltaic installer at SEI. He was a guest that attracted other guests to the farm, and took one of our farm inhabitants home with him — the kitten on his shoulder.	Tom and Cheryl from Cloud Mountain Farm stopped on their way to Denver. They have been in the farm biz for 30 years, supplied our live grape stock, and shared their vaste knowledge and experience. We appreciated their visit in more ways than one!
Max's brother Dale, an accomplished gardner, stopped by on his way to Wyoming for a brick swap.	Gail, CSU soils student, helped out a couple days a week while bunking at the CSU research station down the road.
Laura and Anno before heading out to the vineyards.	Emily, CSU horticulture student, quickly finished off her ailing gloves during grapevine planting.
Rob "filled in" as the main ditch dude early in the summer.	Horst Caspari and his daughter made the rounds of North Fork vineyards to examine spring frost damage.
Julia visited us again in 2008 to kick off the growing season.	This little guy hasn't visited our farm yet, but Roman definitely arrived to Nik and Julie! Max is a happy G'ma.
Patrick and Susan are farming Venetucci Farm in Colorado Springs. We enjoyed their ag stories and comparing notes.	Our friend Paula spent a weekend on the farm with Vivian and David, prominent healers from Colorado Springs.
2007 Special DieHard Award X 2 goes to Erik and Sara who worked on the grape trellising and irrigation piping until nearly Thanksgiving!	2007 DieHard Recidivist Award goes to Aaron who was our first key help this spring, left for a tour of the NW, returned to the farm and left post-Thanksgiving!
Mia comes to our farm especially for the bugs! Bill and Lauren are long-time friends who made possible our Farm Fruits Direct to Colorado Springs this year.	Chad helped two days a week during our busiest season. Then Italy called him away to assemble 500 bikes for a bicycle touring company. He's looking forward to lots of pizza!
The indefatigible Chef Dava! Moves so fast she's just a blur at the Farmers Appreciation Dinner.	Morgan stayed briefly on the farm helping with heavier projects. All the while beaming.
Erik is our Chief of Staff this year. We love his willingness to do "whatever it takes" which is Wendell Berry's test of a true farmer. It's a test for other occupations as well, which is how we'll probably lose Erik after this summer!	Marilyn and her friend Bea came all the way from Ft Collins to buy our peaches and entertain us for a couple of days. Both are octogenarians in their prime!
Eugenie, Wink's other-daughter, celebrated her 30th birthday on the farm! We were honored. "Come back! You forgot your champagne!"	Citizen-Powered Media, aka Growthbusters Board Members enjoying farm food after hard work.
Colorado College students making noodles on the farm, see the entire class here.	Wink's sisters, Mary Ellen from Colorado Springs and Deb from Seattle plus her affianced Mike, came to the farm for a visit. A good time was had by all!
Julia visited us twice in 2007 as well as 2006. In between visits she spent months working on farms in Argentina and brought us plans for a composting toilet!	Cisco, a friend of Julia's, helped during garden planting. They left the farm to co-lead Outward Bound trip.
Grady was a regular during planting, pruning, and harvest. He also shared raspberries and other goodies from his mom's garden.	Nik and Nel, Max's children, hung chimes in the orchard — a team effort. We hear the beautiful notes and think of them often!
Aaron arrived exactly in time to literally "bail us out!" He was a great help to us during the spring of 07, he even cooked some meals (formerly a chef).	Trish, Tom and their crew did all of the cement irrigation and foundation work in the spring.
Maggie graduates from RMCAD in April.	Sue is a welcome neighbor who has a wonderful garden.
Miro, CC environmental science prof, shared his farming techniques in Czechoslovakia when he was a teen.	Raman and John study directions for a new hoop house that replaces apple trees.
Jake helped during Spring Break 07 as well as playing great music with Raman and John.	Sophia worked hard raking apple prunings, here she also starts 6 varieties of peppers.
Anno returns for a family visit from Argentina with her boyfriend Manu. We were mighty glad to see them!	Salvador and Octavio continue to teach us how to prune better.
Annie and her family, Dan, Rachel and Molly came from Colorado Springs for a Thanksgiving visit.	We enjoyed a traditional feast with Karla's turkey, Wink's daughter Maggie, Gus and Michelle. We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Monty had a run for his money – or something involving lots of running – with the Gardners' young pup Kenya.	Molly whipped up the cream for a successful end to the meal.
Ed and Carol working on the diaphram solar pump, which unfortunately didn't work in our silty well – no fault of theirs however.	We've had many delicious meals on the farm this fall thanks to Chef Gus.
Mac is Wink's friend since college. He and Catherine visited last year too and worked on the wine. We are better equipped this year!	Artist-gardener Catherine and Mac spend a majority of time on a boat. Read her blog.>>
Amanda helped on all projects, what a versatile joyful farmer and cook she is!	Romana added much fun and color. She, Andrea and Amanda were our end of summer mainstays!
Tim, our architect friend and Kerry stopped by during the big BMW rally in Paonia.	Marilyn stopped by for cases of peaches on her way home from California in her RV. Her timing was perfect.
Marilyn taught Stephanie (Dad Dave to the right) and Max many things about canning and preserves from her experience spanning more than half a century.	Dave and Stephanie made the trip back to Colorado Springs with a big load of peaches to deliver.
Jessie from Massachusetts was interning at a nearby farm. We provided a few days of variety.	Erasmo worked for us and neighboring organic vegetable grower. He was tireless in the field.
The Elder family were our first agritourists, and we enjoyed their visit immensely.	Robert is especially fond of grapes as he's an aspiring winemaker.
Erik, primo intern and our first "recidivist"!	Wink's cousin Gus and Michelle, visited us during their Colorado music tour, check out incredible original tunes!
Bill weeding new pinot gris plants. He had too much fun as usual.	Our friend Donna, a gal who loves getting her hands in the dirt.
Rusty helped pick peaches and then took cases back to family in Denver.	Pat and Ben stayed a short time but thinned apples "long."
Bill, Mia, and Lauren (left to right) came for a weekend to help thin apples. It was HOT so Mia cooled everyone off with squirt gun.	Wink's daughter Andrea spent over a week with us thinning apples, building trellis, training grapes and being an all around joy!
Bennett has been a great source of help since we first moved to the Valley. Visit his website, DeBeque Canyon Winery.	Trinidad, Bennet's foreman, drove from Grand Junction to be our head honcho during grape planting.
Kristen helped with the first round of grapevine planting then pruned peaches tirelessly for several days between leaving CS and her Aspen docent job.	Tyler was planning to stay longer until another intern talked him into going to Mexico!
An "pre"-25th birthday celebration for Maggie.	Everybody's tired as a dog after pruning and triathalon training.
Monty had a helper too, Bridger, Chris and Becca's spunky pup.	Our two first long-term helpers, 10 days! Chris and Becca never tired.
Melissa stayed with us while she interviewed local organic women farmers for her senior thesis.	Look at all this junk! The last stuff from Colorado Springs finds a new home. Anno, Jeff and seven CC students passing through helped unload.
Mike and Amanda helped setup the hives.	Big project this fall and winter, removing apple tree carcasses. Our neighbor on Redlands Mesa, Lance Hanson helps out. See heaving roots! dialup video \| broadband video
Tracey and Alice, the guard dog.	Border Collies help patrol sheep and cows at EA Ranch, where we picked up tractor in December.
Anno's friend Aiden helps pick apples in September.	One of our first visitors.