March 14, 2017 – “Mark Beckner wanted to find out whether or not he could develop a viable business out of a small farm. The answer, it appears, is yes.”
That’s how Phil Castle kicked off an article last week on Rooted Gypsy Farms, a CSA-farm on G Road that’s bringing the latest food fads to Grand Junction – namely home delivery and aquaponics, a system of growing plants or produce in water that has been used to cultivate fish, adding nutrients that accelerate the growing process.
At GJEP, we are excited to include Rooted Gypsy Farms in our upcoming ad campaign. Here’s more from The Business Journal:
“Taking advantage of both the growing demand for locally sourced foods and growing popularity of food delivery services, Beckner and his wife, Sara, have established a growing venture in Rooted Gypsy Farms in Grand Junction.
Working with managers Cody and Shauna Rhyne, the Beckners produce a large assortment of food on a small acreage. Lettuce, kale and other crops grow year-around inside a greenhouse, while other vegetables soon will sprout from outdoor gardens. Chickens produce eggs and meat. Cattle and sheep grazing in the pasture produce meat as well.
A combination of vegetables, eggs and meats go into boxes that are delivered each week to customers who pay a flat fee as subscribers to Rooted Gypsy Farms.
Mark Beckner expects the contents of boxes to become even more varied once a commercial kitchen opens and begins to supply breads, processed meats and other foods
Thinking outside the box, Beckner also sells meat with whole and half beef and pork packages cut to order…
Rooted Gypsy Farms grows lettuce, other salad greens and herbs year-round in 3,000-square-foot greenhouse equipped with an aquaponics system.
The system includes large tanks holding tilapia, freshwater fish indigenous to Africa and the Middle East that have become a popular farm-raised species. The tilapia produce nutrients the plants extract from the water. The system works well, Beckner says, in quickly growing produce.”
Read the whole article here.
Learn more about agribusiness in Colorado’s Grand Valley here.
Photo by Tyler Logan Photography courtesy Rooted Gypsy Farms.
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