Help Us Raise Money For Our Farmer in Training (FIT) Program

We offer internships to Fort Lewis College students and an incubator farm program, where folks can run their own businesses and get low-cost access to land. Our newest program is the Farmer-In-Training (FIT) program, which bridges the gap between internship and incubator: FITs co-manage a plot of land with lots of input from Old Fort staff.  This is the second year of the program; two participants from last year went on to become incubators, and the third is working on a farm in Mancos. Of this year’s awesome participants, two moved here from distant states to do the program, and one is continuing after doing an internship here! There’s clearly a need and desire for the kind of training we’re offering.

Our programs are funded by grants and sales from our produce. However, there are costs to starting a new program that spur us to ask for help. In particular, we need to purchase new equipment for next year that exceeds our operating budget: a hand-operated seeder, a rototiller, a tractor cultivator, a tractor toolbar, a propagation space, sowing trays, and row cover. 

We're kicking off an online fundraising auction at our Open House on July 20th at noon.  It will conclude on Friday, August 4th at 5 pm MST.  There is a wide variety of items so something for everyone.  If you don't have time to check back in on the auction, you can always use the Buy it Now option which wins you the item immediately.