The Valmont Farm

When cleaning up the ‘hood leads to homegrown produce

By Tatyana Sharpton Aug 20 2020

Located along east Boulder’s open strip of farmland that feeds several Boulder County Farms, a couple miles north of Valmont Reservoir at 6967 Valmont Road, The Valmont Farm grows peppers, onions, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables on 3.8 acres.

Created in 2013 as a way for its founder and owner James Hood and his friends to help clean up the trash along Valmont Road, the veggie operation has become a full-fledged hobby for James, and his long-term plan for it includes making and bottling salsa.

James Hood. Image: Weston Rawls.

“It may sound silly,” James tells BLDRfly, “but at the time, Valmont Road between 75th and 61st had a lot of trash on the side of the road.

“So I called the county and asked what I could do to help clean it up,” he continued. “They said I’d have to go through the Adopt-A-Road program but in order to to do that, I needed to have a business with liability insurance.”

So, James created The Valmont Farm, and his friends brought over some seeds to help kick it off. They fell in love with growing veggies, and from there, the vision became growing organic fresh produce “that costs too much at the store for no reason.” Today, The Valmont Farm’s assortment of peppers alone includes bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, cayenne peppers, and jalapenos.

To the left, rows of peppers and to the right, the farm stand The Valmont Farm shares with DD’s Homestead. Images: Tatyana Sharpton.

The farmette boarders another local farm, DD’s Homestead, whose owners just purchased the 20-acre ranch this past November from James’s grandparents who previously owned it as Shadow Butte Lake Ranch 30 years ago.

The Valmont Farm’s self-serve farm stand. Image: Tatyana Sharpton.

James also owns and operates JH Carpentry, a master carpentry general contracting company, born in 2015, whose headquarters lives on the farm.

What we love about The Valmont Farm:

  • The cute, self-serve farm stand just up the road it shares with neighboring farmette, DD’s Homestead.
  • Its laid back vibe with a pack of six dogs that roam the terrain, including one Australian Shepherd and five Jack Russel Terriers.
  • The organic way that the farmette evolved as a means to help clean up the neighborhood, and grew from there!

Weston Rawls, who helps James manage JH Carpentry as well as the farm, gives BLDRfly a mini garden tour.  

Header Image: The Valmont Farm’s rows of peppers and tomatoes. Image: Tatyana Sharpton.