Flower farm winding down first year of operations at historic Venetucci Farm near Colorado Springs

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- This weekend marks the end of the first harvest season at the Venetucci Farm for Gather Mountain Blooms, a family-run operation that signed a five-year lease to grow flowers on the property.

GMB followed Venetucci's original model of using sustainable farming practices to grow a variety of flowers, herbs and grasses on two of the farm's 200 acres.

This year's flower farm covers only a half acre of the two acres being leased, but the owners said that they hope to expand eventually.

"This year, it was a full-time job for me and my two sisters," said co-owner Abby Remacle. "We had some volunteer days when people helped out. We wanted to learn what works, what doesn't and how to make the farm better. There aren't many flower farms. There's one in Cañon City, a few in the Denver area and us. That's it."

The farm also hosted flower workshops, tours and a weekly flower stand on the property along Highway 85-87 near the Security-Widefield area.

Part of GMB's operation includes the new Farm & Events Barn for community events such as weddings, family reunions and corporate gatherings.

GMB will allow customers to pick their own flowers at the farm from Thursday through Sunday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

"I saw a Facebook post advertising their You Pick, now that their season is coming to a close," said Laura Gillespie. "So I thought, hey -- I've been curious about this place and now's a good time to see what we can pick.

Except for a "Dahlias at Sunset" event in September, GMB will close to the public but reopen in October for a pumpkin giveaway.

The Venetucci Farm was famous for its popular annual pumpkin giveaway -- starting in the 1950s -- that attracted thousands of families and school kids from across the Pikes Peak region.

The farm stopped growing pumpkins in 2017, after groundwater in the area was found to be contaminated by a chemical tied to the use of firefighting foam in training exercises at Peterson Space Force Base.

However, the farm will continue the pumpkin festival by using pumpkins grown in Pueblo.

GMC said that it would use filtered groundwater or other water sources for growing operations.