Since 2018, Shining Mountains Farm has grown or hosted 55 varieties of cereal grain 16 varieties of bean 12 varieties of squash, 8 breeds of chicken, 1 breed of sheep, 20 varieties of forage crop, 6 varieties of mushrooms 5 varieties of grapes, 12 varieties of hops, and 50 varieties of fruit trees.

In the most improved field tested, the organic matter has nearly doubled with an 89% increase in the last four years while respiration (a measure of life in the soil) has increased by 40%.

Interview by Catherine Lutz

Originally published in Edible Aspen, Winter 2020-2021.

In September, Cooper Means harvested a field of oats at his Shining Mountain Farms, which sits on Pitkin County Open Space land that he farms under its agricultural lease program. He used a 1945 combine, part of the Farm Collaborative’s equipment library, to reap the grain and separate its seeds from its husks. Up until a few decades ago, this process happened on farms and ranches up and down the valley all the time. Means, who is also agriculture director of the Farm Collaborative, explains the significance of his grain trial today.