In 2006, FarmHER Jen Welch started a homestead on a single acre in Buena Vista, Colorado. The original idea was to grow food for her growing family. That single acre soon got the name The Crowded Acre Farm, and they expanded to a 15-acre family farm (raising pork, ducks, chickens, and turkeys) with 100 additional leased acres for their beef cattle.
It’s not just the operation that has expanded in those 10 years. Welch’s focus has also grown to include those in her community. This year, she entered the food truck business in a remodeled 1984 Bluebird school bus. Known as The Bearded Lady, the idea is to provide fresh, high-quality, farm-to-fork locally produced products.
When Jen’s first child was born, she decided to take the leap from a career in food service to the root of it all and finally start her farm, The Crowded Acre. Over the past 10 years, the family has grown to include three kids, and the farm has expanded to about 120 acres of land….so they aren’t all crowded into one acre anymore.
