On the fringes of the foothills southwest of the city, Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms is a model of sustainable, regenerative agriculture, with plenty of lessons for gardeners amid the fertile landscape.
Originally settled by the Hildebrand family in 1866, the former homestead that is now Chatfield Farms was overwhelmed by the flood of the South Platte River that inundated Denver 99 years later.
“When this got flooded, it was condemned for human habitation,” says Josie Hart, associate director of farm programs.
After the 1965 flood, the Army Corps of Engineers bought the old Hildebrand farm and started leasing it to Denver Botanic Gardens in the early 1970s. Another operation, the Green family farm, was likewise evicted.
“They raised more Peking ducks than anyone else in the West,” says Hart. “They were also bootleggers.”
Many of the historic farm buildings remain. The farmhouse is the main office, old outbuildings are now part of pig, goat and miniature horse enclosures, and the old barn is an events facility. The property has 2.5 miles of trails in and around water-efficient gardens.
For many of its early years, Chatfield Farms focused on hosting annual events like the Lavender Festival, celebrating the bloom of the farms’ 2,500 lavender plants, and the autumn Hop Festival and Corn Maze.
In 2010, it started to emphasize regenerative agricultural practices as part of a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program.
“We try to make the farm healthy and easy on the Earth,” says Hart. “We are small-scale, sustainable, regenerative growers. Really what that means is we’re focused on soil health.”
The operation includes a 1.5-acre Market Garden for greens and other small crops, then six more with tomatoes and other vegetables with larger footprints. Farmers use tools largely from Korea, Japan and Italy, epicenters for small-scale farms.
The embrace of regenerative agriculture has changed the landscape in numerous ways. Wildlife has reappeared, including bears, bobcats and beavers. Native plants have taken root, attracting pollinators and supporting the farming operation.
“We have completely restored our creek waterway,” says Hart. “We want to slow the water, we want to spread the water out, and we want to soak the water in.”
Beyond the CSA, Chatfield Farms is the hub for the Plant Select program, a partnership between Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University. Plant Select tests water-efficient plants to release to local nurseries if they’re a good fit for the high desert climate of the Front Range.
“A lot of our horticulturists go around the world and collect seeds from places like Mongolia with a steppe climate that’s similar to ours,” explains Hart. “It’s a 10-year process to vet them.” While it’s mostly ornamental plants, Research Garden has vetted garlic from Kazakhstan and rhubarb from Mongolia.
The farm composts all of its agricultural waste with an assist from red wigglers, worms known for their prolific ability to break down organic matter, and Chatfield Farms Soil Health Technician Rutger Myers. “We call him the worm daddy as a joke,” says Hart. “He loves them like children.”
Chatfield Farms also employs “hügelkultur,” a German term for burying stumps and dead wood. “It turns into really amazing compost,” says Hart.
The farm attracts native pollinators and also operates a butterfly house in conjunction with the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. An onsite apiary is home to bees that provide a big assist to the agriculture operation. “We grow special forage crops just for the bees,” says Hart. “They also pollinate our pumpkins for us, which is extremely important.”
Chatfield Farms’ push toward sustainability is ongoing, and Hart highlights the “three pillars” of “healthy food, healthy ecosystem, and smart energy.”
A new agrivoltaics project aims to balance agriculture and renewable energy, says Hart. “It’s basically five acres of raised-up, bifacial solar panels, and they also oscillate, so they follow the sun.”
The panels provide shade for crops that don’t do well in full sun.
Hart says she expects it will generate enough power for both Chatfield Farms and Denver Botanic Gardens facility south of downtown on York Street. The vegetables grown under and around the solar panels will be donated to food-insecure households in Denver and Littleton.
Prairie restoration continues on the 700-acre site. Kentucky bluegrass has been replaced with wildflowers and non-native Siberian elms with native oaks. It’s currently four years into a 10-year project.
And construction is underway on the first phase of Chatfield Farms’ master development plan, involving a new visitor center and parking lot. But just not any parking lot. A series of manmade swales will promote greenery without irrigation.
“The runoff water from the parking lot is going to make the trees grow up big and beautiful,” says Hart. “It is to show best practices, but it’s also to make our site sustainable. We don’t want to water those trees.”
As she shows off the ever-evolving landscape, Hart’s passion for Chatfield Farms is unmistakable. Same goes for the 30 employees and 75 volunteers.
“I’ve been here for 14 years,” says Hart. “A lot of the staff have been here for 30-plus years.”
Photos by Scott Dressel-Martin courtesy of Denver Botanic Gardens.