Groundwork Blog

I applied for this fellowship because I am interested in approaching sustainable food systems from a different perspective. I have previously worked on organic farms and researched the social and environmental aspects of sustainable and organic agriculture. This fellowship posed an exciting opportunity to learn about the issues facing our food system, and world, from a community perspective. I have always loved food and cooking, and growing up with an awareness of climate change led me to focus on the environmental impacts of our food […]

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I applied for this fellowship because… I applied to this fellowship because I was drawn to the core values and mission of the organization, mainly those around divestment from capitalistic systems and returning to a land based lifestyle. I am interested in being a part of an intentional community space focused on exploring this lifestyle and learning together/from each other. I am also interested in learning more about food systems/production/sovereignty. Some life experiences that brought me to the point where I am are… Oh gosh! […]

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We’re excited to share a short video talking with participants on our Human & Natural Ecologies of Colorado courses on the Grand Mesa in Western Colorado. Participants built their connection with the landscapes of Colorado, from the high alpine down into the aspen groves, scrub oaks, and piñon/juniper forests. Leaving the course, participants walked away with knowledge of wild edible plants, wild edible mushrooms and how to go mushroom hunting, knowledge of ecosystems to help in their foraging, and knowledge of landscape-scale human interactions in […]

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Shannon first introduced me to the adage that “a river flows between banks” many years ago. She was describing the need for a clear container in transformational education experiences. But the adage extends beyond the watershed of education and into other streams of creativity, community, and culture. The constant current of a river requires clear banks. Many systems and processes likewise benefit from such boundaries. Creative writing requires a form and an intention. Music generally finds its aesthetic in the structures of rhythm and scales. […]

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Seeds have a story… Groundwork grows and maintains over 200 varieties of seed. We partner with local seed companies that adapt seeds to our arid Colorado region, breeding resiliency for a changing climate. Indian Blue Pearl Millet. Millet is one of the most drought tolerant, versatile grain crops in the world. Millet is a broad category of grasses with edible seeds. In fact, the word “millet” doesn’t just refer to many species, but it includes 10 different plant genera (that’s the first word in the […]

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This post was written by Cora, a student on a Traveling School semester program that visited the educational farm in fall 2022. Driving up to the Groundwork farm in Paonia, Colorado, I had no idea what I was getting into. Our van sputtered down the Colorado roads, past tall coniferous trees growing in pinkish-orange soil, surely sending rocks skittering as we descended into a stunning valley of yellow aspen and wide green farmland. The van rocked with music (usually Caamp or Taylor Swift) and shook […]

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I spent almost three months interning on the Groundwork farm. My time on the farm showed me the variety of paths that exist through life, and I met people with experiences wildly different from anyone I had known. I learned the basics of many arts and practices, from basketry to seed saving, and it made me want to further develop my knowledge in the years to come. The farm was a place of learning and growth, and I look back on the laughter and experiences […]

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When I founded Groundwork, I wanted to give voice to the big questions. What does it look like when a society regards the Earth as the source of everything they love? How could people in the modern world treat the Earth as more than something be just barely sustained, an obstacle on the path to profit? What would it take to envision a future that is not just a minor adjustment to the destructive ideologies of the present? I like to think of Earth Day […]

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The core narrative of climate change is one of urgency: “we need to act fast because it’s almost too late.” This urgent time frame is unquestionable. Indeed, climate change could and should have been solved decades ago. It may seem heretical, then, for an environmentalist to question this narrative of “acting fast”—but this is exactly what I’d like to do.  I want to question our society’s default process when confronted with urgency: fast action. The narrative of speed embodies a subtle dissonance—because the Western, capitalist, […]

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Headlines in past weeks have touted reduced greenhouse gas emissions as COVID-19 halts travel and industrial activity. If not for the suffering and death, the pandemic could be a climate activist’s dream: grounded flights and idle cars. It’s tempting to see emissions reductions as a silver lining in this bleak time, but the Wall Street Journal reports that past economic slowdowns have caused only temporary reductions in emissions. A few months of reduced emissions will mean nothing if we return to business as usual once […]

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