A Pagosa Springs farm lady fattens turkeys to a roaster size of 35 pounds by feeding them fresh goat’s cheese, yogurt and whiskey, while raising a pet wild turkey named Millie. “The reason she became a pet is she was the only one that made it. A farm really is many things. First you help them be born, then you care for them, then you watch them die. It’s a full circle of life that teaches you everything you need to learn about life,” Joanie McAteer says in the movie.
Joanie, and Udgar Parsons of Growing Spaces, are two Pagosans featured in the documentary “Heart and Soil” showing at the Liberty Theatre in Downtown Pagosa on Monday, May 19 at 6:30pm. Parsons, who has developed his signature Growing Dome, demonstrates that it is possible to grow food in the local climate. These are two of the many examples of agricultural sustainability in the film.
Durango filmmaker, Mara LeGrand, has captured this concept of local sustainability by taking us to farms, ranches, and farm markets in Southwest Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Small scale farming means many things, but most importantly, as presented by the farmers in “Heart and Soil”, it’s a step toward sustainability for the future health of ourselves, our children and our planet. The farmers featured in this film speak with passion, pride, conviction, experience and wisdom. The film’s simplicity is its strength, so take the whole family and leave inspired to grow some of your own food and support those who do.
 The Southwest Organization for Sustainability (SOS) is bringing this film to Pagosa for this one time showing and will appreciate donations to further the concept of sustainability in Archuleta County. To this aim, SOS will be running the Pagosa Farmer’s Market beginning June 27. |