Way back in May, I told you a little about the gorgeous gardens at Zephyros Farm, gave you a bit of the background behind Daphne Yannakakis’ gardening skills, and showed you some photos by Karina Salinas Heredia, a farm intern from Ecuador.

For new readers: Zephyros is an organic, family-run farm in Paonia, Colorado, where I WWOOFed for two weeks this spring. So far, out of all the places I’ve visited, it’s been my favorite. Read all about it here: Zephyros Farm and Garden.

Just the other day, Karina sent me more photos from the farm—and so I’m passing them on to you. Spring and summer have been good to the gardens, apparently. Here’s how things have blossomed in the past few months.

Note: these are just my favorite shots. See all of Karina’s photos here.

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, Colorado, ecotourism, farm, flowers, gardening, nature, organic, Paonia, phenology, photography, summer, voluntourism, WWOOF

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Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers also feed the soul. – The Koran

It was planting season when I visited Zephyros Farm and Garden: snow melting off the mountains, grass high and green, and everything beginning to sprout. We spent most days preparing beds for tiny plants that would soon grow tall and fragrant. As we worked, Daphne buzzed around the farm, visiting every bed to check on her babies.

Smart as a whip and twice as fast, Daphne knows exactly what each plant needs— along with its proper Latin name, family history and variant. Under her care, scores of perennials grow tall and lush. When the time is right, she harvests the blooms, arranges them artfully, and sends them off to market.

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Read the rest of Brilliant (organic) Blooms of Zephyros Garden (218 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, Colorado, flowers, gardening, nature, organic, Paonia, photography, spring, voluntourism, WWOOF

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It started out innocently enough: it was a sunny Friday afternoon, and everybody at Zephyros was ready for a break from work. On Fridays, most of Paonia heads to Revolution Brewing. Daphne and all the interns (except Siwar, who was too young and therefore tasked with cooking dinner) hopped in the Subaru to go have a pint.

Like I said, it was a good day and spirits were high. The brewery’s yard was full of interesting people, and as we all laughed and chatted one beer turned into two.

But then the sun started setting: we’d stayed too long. We had to get back to the farm for evening chores. We motored back up the hill, arriving after dark, and powered through our work as quickly as possible. We hit one snag, however: the chickens had fallen asleep outside of their coop. Actually, under their coop.

Now, let’s talk about chickens for a second. Chickens, for your information, are stupid. Implacably idiotic, even. See video above.

Still, these particular stupid chickens had been hand-raised since they were two days old. Most of them were too young to start laying, but would be old enough soon; their (organic, cage-free, grain-fed) eggs would bring a lot of money at market. These stupid chickens were loved. They were important.

You may notice I’m talking about them in the past tense.

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Read the rest of The Great Chicken Massacre of '09 (477 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, animal, chickens, Colorado, farm, organic, Paonia, voluntourism, wildlife, WWOOF

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photo by Karina Salinas Heredia

When I was in third grade or so, my class visited a local farm. I didn’t learn a lot that day, not exactly: mostly what I recall is the smell of hay&manure, and the big scary turkeys clucking at me through a fence. Still, it brought the idea of a farm out of the Old MacDonald fantasy realm, and into reality; thereafter, when I saw an Orzalli peach pie at the farmer’s market, I knew where it had come from.

Don and Daphne at Zephyros Farm have taken the farm visit a step further: more than just a tour, their educational visits give kids the chance to see earthworms up close, weed and plant, and cuddle any adorable quadriped that might happen to be grazing nearby.

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Read the rest of Flowers, Lambs, Worms & Dirt: A Kid's-Eye View of Organic Farming (212 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, animal, Colorado, community, education, environment, farm, organic, Paonia, photography, teaching, tourism, touristry, WWOOF

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My first night at Zephyros Farm, I set up my tent as usual, and went to bed early like a good farmworker. It was quiet and breezy as I drifted off to sleep… but sometime in the middle of the night it started raining.

Hey, rain, no problem! It’s good for the plants, and my tent was up to the challenge. I woke up long enough to notice the rain, and then went straight back to sleep. Until about 5am, which is when the rain that had collected on my tent turned to ice and started rolling down the rainfly.

See? That’s ice, bro

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Read the rest of Colorado Springtime: ICE RAIN (213 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: adventure, camping, Colorado, environment, nature, outdoors, Paonia, photography, spring, water, weather

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Yes, that’s right: it’s time to talk about irrigation! WHOO exciting! IRRIGATION YEAH!

Okay, calm down all yous. It may not be the most fascinating topic, but it’s more interesting than you think. And it’s necessary: in places like Paonia, which gets less than 20 inches of rain a year, it’s next to impossible to farm without using irrigation. Zephyros Farm sits below Landsend Peak, which is covered in melting snow. But how does that runoff get to these fields, and what happens to it after that?

Well, I’ll tell you.

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Read the rest of Things I Learned: Flood Irrigation! (650 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, Colorado, education, farm, how-to, organic, Paonia, reuse, voluntourism, water, WWOOF

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Right off the bat, I knew I’d love this place. 35 acres of organic, healthy goodness: Zephyros abounds with beautiful veggies, scampering lambs, mouthy goats, budding blooms, and one big black dog called Ullur who spends all day prancing around with giant sticks in his mouth.

The farm (and garden!) is run by Don Lareau and Daphne Yannakakis. They’re a bit hard to photograph, since they’re usually each in the middle of five hundred different and equally important tasks. Between the two of them, they run a diversified organic farm and CSA; manage four full-time interns and various short-term workers; raise two absurdly cute kids, Sophia and Diego; manage a website full of photos, links, recipes, and news; host farm dinners and educational sessions; serve in the local organic growers’ association; make gourmet bread and cheese and lasagna and run their own house besides.

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Read the rest of Zephyros Farm and Garden (524 words)

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: agritourism, animal, Colorado, education, environment, farm, flowers, organic, Paonia, photography, spring, teaching, volunteer, voluntourism

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