http://www.MotherearthNews.coM 25S
arah Sailer never thought her life would look like this. “My
neighbors have seen some interesting things,” she says, such
as Sarah climbing on her roof in a full bee suit to check the
hive and then biking down the street wearing the bee helmet and
gloves, trailed by 20 college students. She’s been seen crossing
streets carrying cabbages in both arms and transporting ducks.
Sarah, her husband, Jeremiah, and their four daughters began
growing their own food as a solution to the family’s health con-
cerns and the cost of organic vegetables — and they achieved a
lot at their^1 ⁄ 5 -acre suburban home in Loveland, Colorado. In
fact, they were among Mother’s 2014 Homesteaders of the Year.
Eventually, though, they began to run out of space and dreamed of
expanding, but couldn’t afford to buy a big piece of land.
“I was looking longingly at farms because of the space, but we
love living in our neighborhood that’s so close to downtown,”
Sarah says.
Then she had an idea: Why not farm the neighborhood?
Neighbor Lynn Peterson had noticed the Sailers’ thriving garden
and approached Sarah after her own failed attempts at gardening.
Sarah shared her vision of a neighborhood farm and offered to
help the Petersons convert their front yard and to share produce.
A few weeks later, the Sailers, a friend, and a local youth group
cleared out weeds, hauled in compost, and covered the lawn in
wood chip mulch.
“Their^1 ⁄ 2 -acre corner lot has a beautiful amount of sunny space,
which we filled to the brim with vegetables,” Sarah says.
By the end of 2015, the farm had grown to four plots, and
now, in late 2016, there are six plots in yards around the neigh-
borhood. Homeowners offer their space and the cost of water,
and Sarah buys seeds, plant starts, compost from farmer friends
who trade for her bread, and wood chip mulch sourced from
local tree crews.
“My dream of being self-sufficient changed. We cannot do it
alone,” Sarah writes on her blog. She says her quest for food inde-
pendence became one for food interdependence.Sharing the Wealth of Food
In 2015, when the families had their first early-season crop of
greens, they realized the harvest was significantly more than they
could eat — so they started a community-supported agriculture
(CSA) program. Nine other individuals pay into the CSA pro-
gram, which has a suggested $250 donation plus two hours of
work per week (the cost covers maintenance of the gardens). Sarah
prefers that members come to work and learn, or even start proj-
ects in their own neighborhoods, rather than buy in, and members
have given each other scholarship shares.By Kristi Quillen and K.C. Compton
Transforming lawns into gardens
means “plenty” of food and a sense
of community for a Colorado town.
p 24-28 Plenty Farms.indd 25 10/11/16 2:00 PM