Urban flower farm to join popular pumpkins at Venetucci Farm in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Gather Mountain Blooms, an urban flower farm that started last spring, will begin a five-year lease to operate at the historic Venetucci Farm.
The lease agreement with the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, one of two entities overseeing the farm, was announced Monday morning.
"We're losing money on the farm" said Samuel Clark, executive director of the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation, a partner of the PPCF. "And in that time, we've also been able to find a way to work with a flower farmer to make sure we sustain the agricultural legacy of Venetucci Farm."
Clark said that that much of the losses come from the farm's inability to sell its well water to surrounding districts because of the contamination tied to the use of a firefighting foam at Peterson Air Force Base.
"We made around $260,000 in annual revenue from the water sales, and earned more from selling produce grown at the farm," he said.
Plans are for GMB to follow Venetucci's model of using sustainable farming to grow a variety of flowers, herbs and grasses on two of the farm's 200 acres.
GMB also plans to host flower workshops, farm tours and a weekly flower stand on the property along Highway 85-87 near the Security-Widefield area.
Part of GMB's operation will include offering the new Farm & Events Barn for community events such as weddings, family reunions and corporate gatherings.
The agreement is an example of how environmental impacts -- specifically, groundwater contamination that was discovered in the area several years ago -- have forced the Venetucci Farm "to reimagine its role in the community," according to a release issued Monday.
Pumpkins will continue to be grown and given away to children during the farm's annual fall festival in October. However, the pumpkins will be acquired from Pueblo -- as they have since 2017 -- and not grown at the Venetucci Farm.
A 2019 community survey asked community residents for ideas on how to best use the Venetucci Farm during the next decade. The survey also analyzed case studies in that regard.
The survey results recommended a creating a wedding venue, adding a distillery and continuing the pumpkin festival. Only the distillery idea was discarded, with GMB to be in charge of the flower farm and the events barn.
GMB was started a year ago by Nikki McComsey, as part of her recovery from migraines caused by a 2017 concussion. Her two sisters will be part of the operation at the Venetucci Farm.
"I just stood up too fast and fainted, and hit my head," she said of her concussion. I don't remember anything, but after that I just started having some pretty awful symptoms. I finally found a surgery that helped, and my husband bringing me flowers every day helped a lot. Now I want to share them with others.
McComsey said that the farm will use well water that has been filtered to reduce the contamination, or water from another available system.
The farm plans to host a community tour on May 11 and 15. For more information, visit: https://www.gathermountainblooms.com/.
