For those who don’t know, Telluride, CO is one of the most active and environmentally aware communities in the U.S. Not only do they host countless festivals, like the Telluride Film Festival, MountainFilm Festival and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, but they have a weekly farmer’s market that brings out the best of the town.
My husband and I wandered through on Friday morning when the sun was shining and the mountain was clearly in view.
We saw some beautiful produce:
About halfway through we realized that every vendor was flying a banner with their farm name, saying that they were growing organically. We found out later that Telluride was the first to have an all organic farmer’s market. Very impressive.
Not only did they have a great selection of fruits and veggies, but they had several vendors who sold grass-fed organic beef and organic eggs. James Ranch, which was featured at MountainFilm 2009 as a sustainable farmer following the ranching practices of Joel Salatin (Omnivore’s Dilemma), was on hand to sell organic beef, cheese and sunflowers. We walked away with some great cheese that day.
One of the vendors offered to take our picture in front of their banner (home movie time!) It just goes to show how friendly and unhurried everyone is in Telluride.
We bought tomatoes and spinach for a salad, along with some absolutely amazing looking chocolate mini pies and tarts. Lunch was fabulous that day!
Telluride finds new green gold! the perpetual, never mined out gold! They should try Solar, Wind and the like! Same modest outputs but forever! Not enough at any one time to support the Great Hulking American Neanderthal and his urban sprawl, not that rich! but quite enough for the smaller of body, the vegans, lighter, faster, less materialistic, smarter folk to survive on! Aquaponics next in order, and use those old mines to age cheeses, store Solar heat, or just explore! Nature, the new unexploited resource, Americans will have a field day! Don’t forget to compost, and bio-gas humanure to keep the lakes and rivers clean, and the soil well fed with top-soil building fertilizer from the gas-works sludges. Swedes “Dry Compost” Humanure. even better! Beautiful veggies in the photos, just like my garden at home. Good on you old Gold Prospector! Good on you! Greetings and good luck from a “Hard Rock Miner” in the Far-North.