Selfies: Searching for sustainability starting with the soil
Sustainable Settings is a working ranch and learning center located on the 244-acre historic Thompson Creek Ranch south of Carbondale. Co-owners Brooke and Rose LeVan established the ranch in 1997 after a trip to China opened their eyes to the major effects great numbers of people can have on the ecosystem. Sustainable Settings is a never-ending experiment working to find ways to better understand and live off the land in a way that benefits future generations. To do this they conduct research, and design and demonstrate whole-systems strategies in sustainable agriculture, land stewardship, green development and micro-enterprise. For more information on the ranch and its mission go to sustainablesettings.org.
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- Sustainable Settings co-owner Brook LeVan pets one of the resident pigs.
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- Sustainable Settings is located on the historic 244-acre Thompson Creek Ranch south of Carbondale.
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- Jared Minori explains to benefits of having a mixture of healthy graasses and grains where the cows currently graze.
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- Jared Minori checks the water line in the pasture that is currently being irrigated and watered.
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- Jared Minori checks the water line in the pasture that is currently being irrigated and watered.
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- Sustainable Settings is located on the historic 244-acre Thompson Creek Ranch south of Carbondale.
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- Zopher Sabo brings the cows in from the pasture for the morning milk routine.
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- Zopher Sabo brings the cows in from the pasture for the morning milk routine.
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- Audrey Adgate and Zopher Sabo work together to bring the cows in from the pasture during the morning chores.
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- The cows at Sustainable Settings are brough in from the field to be milked.
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- Zopher Sabo started at Sustainable Settings as an intern and now manages the land including irrigation, rotational grazing, and planting the pasture.
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- Zopher Sabo tranfers the raw milk into a vat to be processed.
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- Zopher Sabo gives a little bit of extra pets and attention to one of the resident dairy cows.
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- Jared Minori gives the chickens, turkeys and ducks a mixture of hay and straw as an enrichment treat and extra bedding.
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- Sustainable Settings co-owner Rose LeVan gives the resident ‘grazers’ some fresh hay to munch on.
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- The small heard of sheep are moved throughout the ranch to do what they do best, graze and knock down the grass and in return fertilize the soil.
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