Back to the Soil
Our first published magazine article written about Build.Sow.Grow
Build.Sow.Grow. is thrilled to announce it has been featured in the 2017 edition of the Peak Magazine, a Mountain Home and Mountain Lifestyle publication in Crested Butte, Colorado! The article tells about the founding of Build.Sow.Grow, the workings of our first passive solar greenhouse and the future of the company. We would like to extend a huge thank you to Crystal Kotowski for a lovely written article, Lydia Stern for the beautiful photos and the Crested Butte News for publishing our story. Below is an excerpt from the article. To read the entire article, click here.
Build. Sow. Grow’s first prototype greenhouse blends in seamlessly in the Crested Butte South neighborhood. Traditional methods and materials infused with modern technology have created “the healthiest and most energy-efficient greenhouse possible for this climate,” explains Kara Holzmiller, founding director of Build. Sow. Grow.
It’s the first and only of its kind in the Gunnison Valley. “As you walk through the doors you are instantly transformed from winter into a new world. It is everything winter is not. It is warm, humid, inviting and full of life. The plants cascade from the walls onto the floor. New growth is abundant through the entire space,” says Holzmiller.
Holzmiller is a young pioneer in the growing sustainability sector in the Western Slope. Her extensive and diverse background includes gathering and integrating wisdom from organic farming in Belize and the West Coast; studying environmental science at the University of Minnesota, permaculture in Colorado, aquaponics in California, and sustainable construction in Canada; and establishing an ecoranch in Arizona.
“I hope my work will inspire others to think of what they can do to lead a less environmentally-impactful life. I want to get people back to the soil, back to the plants,” says Holzmiller.
Her two major complementary passions of producing local, nutritious foods and low-impact, efficient living spaces have converged into what she calls “botanical oases”—or passive solar greenhouses. They are ideal not only for growing vegetables, but for a retreat for yoga, office work, recovering from a ski injury, cocktail parties, and connecting with the plant world, Holzmiller notes. Simply, they are a place to feel warmth from the sun’s rays in the depth of the winter. …continue reading
