Healthy soils produce healthy plants, that produce healthy animals, that produce healthy people.
That's the Austin family's own philosophy — and it's shaped every decision since a young couple planted their first crop.
A land grant for Revolutionary War service
Farming has been the Austin way of life since the 1700s, when the family's ancestors were granted land in Tennessee for military service in the Revolutionary War. Through the Civil War, two World Wars, and the Great Depression, the family stayed on the land — and Austin relatives farm that original Tennessee ground to this day. Glenn Austin, a 7th-generation farmer, and his wife Tony carried the line forward when they founded their own farm there in 1960.
The move to the West Elk valley
In 1970 Glenn and Tony brought their young family — four children — west to a pristine mountain valley at the edge of Colorado's West Elk Wilderness Area, just outside Paonia. They started the way farmers do: renting and working other growers' orchards until they could put down roots of their own.
7,000 trees, planted by hand
The original orchard planting brought in 7,000 trees — apples, peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, and apricots. Blackberries, raspberries, and grapes followed, then honey, eggs, and livestock, as the family kept expanding what the land could offer.
Grandchildren raising bees, pigs, and horses
Four generations now live and work the land together. The youngest are already raising pigs, chickens, cattle, and horses alongside the fruit and vegetables — and it was three of the grandchildren who started the family's honey business in 2008.
