Set back behind The Valmont Farm and adjacent to a 14-acre lake, DD’s Homestead opened two weeks ago in the same location where once sat Shadow Butte Lake Ranch and most recently Sawhill Grass Fed Beef at 6967 Valmont Road. It’s one of many farmettes that dot Boulder County’s eastern ag land.
Wife-and-husband team Dawn Brandt and Doug Peterman bought the 25-acre homestead property last November, and have transformed it back into a multifaceted working farm. They also renovated the old Shadow Butte Lake Ranch horse trailer, which now stands on Valmont Road as a self-serve farm stand housing produce from both DD’s Homestead and its neighbor The Valmont Farm.
DD’s Homestead grows a variety of organic vegetables on its 100-by-32-foot plot, including peas, dragon tongue beans, squash zucchini, bird house squash and watermelon to carrots, beets, edamame, cabbage, eight or ten types of tomatoes and herbs like cilantro and dill. (Not to mention, pickles!)
The couple also has Scottish highland cows grazing — they intend to harvest them for beef — and goats they will milk, as well as chickens they keep for eggs.
Dawn drives the farm operation. The couple purchased the homestead property to support a multigenerational home close to Boulder.
“We decided to do a test garden,” Dawn tells BLDRfly of this first round of growth, “and next year will try doubling it.”
Dawn grows everything from organic and heirloom seeds when she can get them, and a no-till, non-GMO process. DD’s Homestead also has two hay pastures and the couple plan to start a fruit orchard in the fall.
Eventually, the family wants to try its hand at farm-to-table dinner events, possibly with food trucks, but for now you can get their produce from their Valmont Road farm stand.
The farm’s private lake, which the whole family enjoys for personal recreation, also houses a private fishing club that has fished the lake since the 1980’s for its big mouth bass, blue gill, carp, and crappies.
What we love about DD’s Homestead:
- Its sprawling 20-acre property with beautiful old willow trees and peaceful mountain views.
- The variety of veggies it grows!
- The ranch’s hyperlocal vibe with its shared farm stand as its only storefront. You won’t find DD’s Homestead produce at the farmers market this year, so make sure to stop by the stand next time you’re out on Valmont Road!
Header Image: DD’s Homestead’s vegetable garden. Image: Tatyana Sharpton.
