Raw Dairy Initiative – Barn Raising – Field Days

Our Raw Dairy Initiative  includes dedicated land and water rights, the purchase of a tractor and land use implements, pasture renovations, a multi-year reseeding program drilling in a diversity of grasses and forbs to create high mountain meadow and refurbish our hay crops, irrigation upgrades- a conservation measure that will yeild higher production and greater health in the foundation of the system, the pasture ecology, and the addition of a Run-on-the-Sun Barn that will house our new “cow share” raw dairy, cheese room, a commercial grade kitchen for value added production, large walk-in cooler for our CSA program, livestock corrals and handling pens, and raw space for events, lectures, films, dances and community gatherings.

Sustainable Settings is currently raising capital for and is designing our Run-on-the-Sun green-built dairy barn and related livestock systems. We are extremely grateful to the following people, businesses, and foundations who so far have committed to funding this important addition to local food security: Adam Lewis, Branden Cohen, our anonymous donors, Xcel Energy, Alpine Bank, Kay Brunnier, Valery and Kearns Kelly, Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell, Brady Foundation, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Kelli and Allen Questrom, Susan Farver Donor Advised Fund of the Aspen Community Foundation, and a host of individual donors.

We are also receiving overwhelming probono support for this project from local businesses. Local engineering and fabricating firms, contractors, architects, timber framers, and agricultural advisors are offering their generous support of in-kind services. Schmueser Gordon Meyer, Meyer’s Architectural Metal, Wodehouse Builders, Rennaissance Works, and Cole West Inc, are some of the local companies that have pledged their expertise to help raise this barn.

The Raw Dairy Initiative has remaining funds to raise and like minded philonthroposits and foundations still have the opportunity to join in to help make this new facility and enterprize a reality. With our fundraising underway we have moved into the final design process, started to work with Pitkin County on permitting, purchased our tractor and land use implements, have begun pasture renovations, and are interviewing contractors. Please call if you would like to pledge your support either financially or with hands-on help!

Barn Raising!

The raising of Sustainable Settings’ Green Built Solar Dairy Barn will be a wonderful community effort! Some will dig the foundation and cut and stand the frame. Some will help house the timber framers and cook food to feed the crew. Some will bring gifts of music. Others will dance as we celebrate the various stages. This incredible community effort is crucial to building a living facility.

Raw Dairy Barn

Understanding that one organism’s waste is another’s food we are building systems into our green built solar dairy barn and pasture ecosystem that are restorative for the soil and grass polyculture while producing food and shelter for people. Harvesting Nature’s intelligence by modeling our designs to run on the sun and recycle “wastes”, we are creating a “solar microenterprise”. This barn and pasture system are designed to be a living system, one that models an important new economic model as we transition to a solar economy.

We invite you to take part in the creation of this example of a living food producing system, a merger of state-of-the-art green development and sustainable agriculture; one that:

• harvests the genius of this special place

• runs on the sun’s energy, producing it’s own energy and food
• recycles wastes into appropriate nutrient cycles regenerating healthy soil, air, and water resources
• is a replicable model of a financially sustainable micro-enterprise for other farmers and ranchers
• is an educational facility that teaches about the revolution in whole systems thinking and models a hopeful future as we find our way out of this fossil-fueled interlude
• combines all of the above in the development of a crucial facility that demonstrates how we can build resilience in local food sheds and develop a more food secure future.

Want to get involved? Call us soon to see how you can help develop this local agricultural facility that will provide fresh whole food to our valley community, one that demonstrates how our buildings can be designed and operated as living entities that feed their surrounding landscape instead of burdening the owner and the site they live on.

To help support Sustainable Settings’ Raw Dairy Initiative or to sign up for a share of raw milk call 970-963-6107 or email brook@sustainablesettings.org

Field Days

As we design and build the structures, agricultural and energy systems we will host field days to share our systems with the community at different stages of construction or implementation. Those interested can call to get on the list for Field Day excursions!