Farming in The Mountains with Harper Kaufman of Two Roots Farm
Audio Brief
Show transcript
How can hungry bears invading your fields actually be a warning sign about your winter water supply? Harper Kaufman raised this surprising connection when explaining the high-stakes reality of running Two Roots Farm in Colorado. In this episode, Kaufman shares the raw operational truths of high-altitude farming. You will learn how to adapt labor, water, and crops to thrive in the harshest climates.
Secure your farm's cash flow before the first seed sprouts.
Kaufman relies on Community-Supported Agriculture, a model where local buyers purchase vegetable shares before the season begins. In tight-knit mountain communities with short growing seasons, these upfront memberships provide critical, predictable cash flow when winter is barely ending. This model builds deep relationships with the community.
Structure labor to align with local seasonal economies by matching farm employment with the winter job market.
Retaining skilled workers on a seasonal farm is achievable by aligning with local seasonal economies, but the winter ski season might be your best recruitment tool. In seasonal economies like ski towns, farming aligns naturally with the winter job market. Kaufman explains that farm workers can transition to winter roles in hospitality, returning refreshed in the spring. Match your employment agreements with the community's winter job market to help retain skilled staff year after year.
Keep your farm focused on agriculture instead of hosting weddings.
Hosting weddings on leased public land introduces restrictive permitting challenges. Kaufman expanded into specialty flowers for off-site designs but chose not to host weddings on-site. Her farm sits on leased public land, where restrictive permitting challenges make hosting events incredibly difficult. Transition portions of your land to flowers to capture high-value floral design revenue without the regulatory headaches of hosting events on leased public land.
Save your energy and your business by embracing a winter shutdown.
Forcing year-round production in a harsh winter climate might do more harm than good. Kaufman believes in accepting a winter pause rather than spending heavy resources to heat greenhouses in freezing temperatures. The summer leaves no luxury to spend hours on a computer, so she uses winter to analyze crop reports and conduct research. Accept a seasonal pause to preserve human energy, analyze crop data, and prepare for spring.
Read your winter snowpack to predict your entire summer water supply.
High-altitude farming means your water security is decided before spring arrives. Kaufman explains that mountain agriculture relies almost entirely on winter snowpack. Climate shifts can trigger early warming that melts the snow prematurely, causing the local river to peak two months earlier than normal and leaving crops dry later in the summer. Kaufman even noted that low snowpack drove hungry bears onto her farm in search of food.
Rely on your neighbors to keep your water flowing.
Your water security is not just about the weather, it is heavily dictated by your physical location on a shared ditch. Water distribution through local ditch systems requires intense cooperation among neighbors, making the process highly collaborative but sometimes contentious. A farm's water security is heavily dictated by its geographical location along the ditch and cooperative agreements among neighbors.
Let the winter freeze do your heavy field work for you.
Managing winter-hardy cover crops like rye without tilling the soil is exceptionally difficult when your growing season is short. Kaufman shifted to winter-kill cover crops that naturally die off in freezing temperatures, leaving the soil ready for planting with minimal effort. Choose cover crops that naturally terminate in freezing temperatures rather than hard-to-terminate varieties like winter rye to reduce labor during spring bed preparation.
Remember that sustainable high-altitude farming requires adapting to the natural rhythm of the mountains. Avoid forcing year-round production, and instead accept a winter pause to preserve your energy, analyze your data, and prepare for the spring.
Episode Overview
- Harper Kaufman of Two Roots Farm discusses the unique operational realities of managing a high-elevation farm in Colorado, focusing on seasonal labor structures, water dependency, and adaptive agricultural techniques.
- The conversation traces the seasonal rhythm of high-altitude farming, exploring how winter pauses, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and local partnerships sustain both the business and the people behind it.
- This episode is highly relevant for small-scale farmers, agricultural entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in sustainable food systems, water rights, and the practical challenges of farming in harsh mountain climates.
Key Concepts
- Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a Financial Pillar: In tight-knit mountain communities with short growing seasons, CSAs provide critical, predictable cash flow at the start of the season, serving as a primary market outlet that builds deep community relationships.
- Symbiotic Seasonal Employment: In seasonal economies like ski towns, farming aligns naturally with the winter job market, allowing farm workers to transition to winter roles in hospitality or local non-profits and return to the farm refreshed in the spring.
- The Operational Distinction Between "Flower Farm" and "Event Space": Expanding into specialty flowers increases revenue through CSA add-ons and off-site event designs, but hosting weddings on-site on leased public land introduces restrictive permitting challenges that often make off-site services a more viable compromise.
- The Restorative Value of the Off-Season: Rather than forcing year-round production in a harsh winter climate, embracing a winter "pause" allows farmers to prevent burnout, analyze seasonal crop reports, and conduct deep-dive research to prepare for the next season.
- Snowpack Dependency and Water Volatility: High-altitude agriculture relies almost entirely on winter snowpack for water security. Climate shifts affect not only the volume of precipitation but also the timing of the runoff, where premature warming can cause early snowmelt that leaves crops dry later in the season.
- Complexities of Shared Irrigation Ditches: Water distribution through local ditch systems is highly collaborative but contentious, where a farm's water security is heavily dictated by its geographical location along the ditch and cooperative agreements among neighbors.
- Cover Cropping Adaptations in Cold Climates: Managing winter-hardy cover crops like rye without tilling is exceptionally difficult in short seasons. Shifting to winter-kill cover crops that naturally die off in freezing temperatures simplifies spring bed preparation.
Quotes
- At 5:21 - "It's pretty fun to keep the farm—it is a farm and not so much an event space." - Explaining why she chooses not to host weddings on-site, maintaining the core agricultural identity of the land.
- At 7:13 - "We have a contract with them at the beginning of the season... they're purchasing food from us, so we're giving them first-class produce." - Describing a partnership with local food security non-profits, showing that food assistance can consist of high-quality local organic vegetables.
- At 11:08 - "I think it's a nice time to pause, away from your farming brain, meet with your community in a different way, get to know different people." - On the mental health and social benefits of winter off-season work for agriculturalists.
- At 13:20 - "In the summertime, it just feels like you do not have that kind of luxury to spend a couple of hours on the computer feeding your curiosity." - Highlighting how the winter season is essential for the continuous education, business planning, and research needed to run a successful farm.
- At 18:04 - "It takes you outside of this bubble that we can so often be in when I'm on the farm... starting from that very basic conversation of folks who haven't even thought about farming or food at all." - Reflecting on how working off-season winter jobs bridges the gap between the farming community and the general public.
- At 23:48 - "The bears are not usually this bad, but... they're just so hungry... we had a really, in part because of the snowpack, there's just not that much food out there for them." - Explaining how low winter snowpack directly correlates to increased wildlife pressure on farms, forcing large predators into agricultural spaces in search of food.
- At 24:40 - "For us here up in the mountains, all of our water comes from snowpack... so every winter we get a pretty good indication of what the irrigation or river season is going to be." - Illustrating the absolute reliance of mountain agriculture on winter precipitation as its primary water storage mechanism.
- At 26:01 - "Even if we get the precipitation, but it's not held as snow, then all of these patterns change... we got some precipitation, but then it warmed up and melted... so we had our river peaked like two months earlier than normal." - Highlights the critical distinction between precipitation volume and form, showing how early warming disrupts the entire agricultural water cycle.
- At 28:08 - "The bindweed does not care about the tarp at all; in fact, it just seems to... thrive... and then on top of that, we had a really bad vole issue this spring... and I am pretty sure a lot of them were living underneath a couple of tarps we had out." - Challenging the common assumption that tarping is a universal solution for weed suppression, showing how it can fail against persistent weeds and inadvertently harbor pests.
Takeaways
- Diversify revenue with off-site floral programs: Transitioning portions of land to flowers allows farms to capture high-value floral design and u-pick revenue without incurring the regulatory headaches of hosting events on leased public land.
- Structure labor to align with local seasonal economies: Match farm employment agreements with the community's winter job market (such as ski resorts or winter hospitality) to help retain skilled staff year-after-year.
- Accept the winter reprieve to prevent burnout: Rather than investing heavily in heating greenhouses for winter production, accept a seasonal pause to preserve human energy, analyze crop data, and prepare for spring.
- Select winter-kill cover crops for simpler no-till prep: Choose cover crops that naturally terminate in freezing temperatures rather than hard-to-terminate varieties like winter rye to reduce labor during spring bed preparation.
- Evaluate the secondary impacts of silage tarps: Monitor tarped areas closely for pest pressures like voles, as the warm microclimate created by synthetic tarps can provide a winter harbor for destructive rodents while failing to suppress invasive weeds like bindweed.
