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Show Th? Park Record Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, July 3-7, 2009 MARKETPLACE Calcium Springs Farm: a Parley's Canyon Shangri-Lsi Even though he's no stranger to gardening, Wilson is the green thumb of the operation. Together the two dream up what they want to grow. von By ANDREW KIRK Puttkammer then installs Of the Record staff the needed infrastructure, Kurt von Puttkammer friends, von Puttkammer and Wilson does the plantcalls himself a "recovering" and his partner in the ing. endeavor, Karen Wilson, architect. "After visiting Peru last He was a busy builder cleared one acre of brush summer and seeing the teruntil the recession. Now he's and weeds, built a USU- raced gardening, I knew we starting a new career pro- designed greenhouse with could do it." she said. "It's moting a different approach plastic piping and tarps and amazing how much food you to land use. On a plot in planted seeds. can get from such a tiny Parley's Canyon belonging To hear him describe it, space." to Ira Sachs - that von you'd think it was ShangriJesse Swing loves helping Puttkammer had originally La. The odd elevation keeps out on the farm. Volunteers dreamed of developing - he the plot at an ideal tempera- like Swing get to eat some of now runs Calcium Springs ture preventing the frosts the vegetables and improve Farm, a Community that shorten northern- their organic-farming skills. Supported Agriculture proj- Utah's growing season. The He said he likes the goal of ect producing organic food water is just -as good as the the farm. for shareholders. bottled-stuff people pay pre"It's living the good life. It's a labor of love. He mium prices for. It's sur- It's living a truly sustainable doesn't make any profit rounded by forest on three lifestyle," he said. "We don't from it - excluding all the sides and the open canyon to just talk the talk, we walk fresh herbs and vegetables the south provides a view of the walk." red rocks at the top of the he can eat. von Puttkammer said You'd never know it was opposite ridge. community is also an impor"It's either worthless or. tant part of the plan. By sellthere. On the north-side of Exit 132 in the canyon is a priceless depending on how ing the produce to sharedirt road with a gate near a you look at it," he said.. holders, he gets to have an von Puttkammer and intimate relationship with large water spigot from which Sachs used to sell Wilson have worked hard his consumers and hears promoting Calcium Springs their feedback. That's more artesian-spring water. Follow the dirt road up Farm as something priceless. gratifying than selling to the hill awhile, and out of They enlisted about 12 peo- strangers at a farmers' marsight from the freeway are ple to invest $500 each in the ket, he said. about 19 acres of fairly flat endeavor. In return, these The cooperation needed land at the bottom of what is "shareholders" are able to to run the farm provides too small to call a canyon, pick up a bag of produce many opportunities for fun. each week at the Park Silly Wilson said. Getting the but too big to call a gully. Once development was Sunday Market. The pro- farm started and greenhouse ruled out by Salt Lake duce has been so popular built in February was a lot of County, von Puttkammer they're raising the price of work, but they had a good asked Sachs if he could start shares to $750 next season. time doing it. In the future, a farm. The goal of Calcium they plan to hold regular The acreage is located Springs Farm is to experi- potluck gatherings for peowhere water used to run ment with the limits of agri- ple to see their work and down the mountainside 500 culture in the Wasatch support the effort. years ago, he said, and creat- Mountains. With the greenSome of the volunteers ed a miniature alluvial plain. house, and by choosing the only help out on Saturdays. plants, von Others, like himself and Utah State University soil right analysts said it was near per- Puttkammer thinks he can Wilson, dedicate a portion fect for agriculture. grow 10-and-a-half months a of their week to working the With the help of some year - if not year-round. earth. One way of looking at An organic farm is pushing the possibilities of mountain gardening it is as a hobby to keep himself busy during the recession. But he prefers to call it training for his next career: designing agricultural spaces that get maximum yield from minimum space. von Puttkammer said he'd feel comfortable tilling up to 12 of the 19 acres in future years. He's not sure the land can comfortably support the number of volunteers that amount of growing would require, so he plans to expand a little at a time, being conscious of how it's affecting the space. He said they're careful to only disturb as much of the land as necessary to keep their plants healthy. Will shareholders get $750 worth of food next year from the farm? von Puttkammer said they might, depending on yield, but if someone is only in it for the food, this isn't for them. • y w i wfr. '*?.£ ^ »>•• *• - - ^ r ;--'• - - •; if ••A.n. r v y^S Uy.-^-. PHOTO BY DAVID RYDEHJPARKRECORD Top, Kurt von Puttkammer discusses crops (below) with Karen Wilson at Calcium Springs Farm on the, west end of Parley's Canyon. Calcium Springs Farm is .,'. an experiment in agriculture For more information, call and membership is for people who want to feel really Kurt von Puttkammer at i good about where their 801-509-2829 for visit superior produce comes vAvw.calciumspringsfarm.com from, he said. 'Park City is becoming recognized as one of the best places for mountain biking, and one of the best things is we have trails for everyone, from kids to endurance racers." THE Bike Shop in Park City GOT A GROUP, IN TOWN? We've got just the ticket. White Pine Touring creates custom . - ; tours just for your group - large or small - from corporate to wedding parties to special events to family reunions. : • Hiking, biking & alpine rock Climbing; • All ages and abilities • Two hours to all day WARNING: EVERYBODY WILL COME HOME HAPPY • Low intensity or high octane • Surprisingly affordable Over 60 years of bike shop experience! 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