TELLURIDE – The signs of summer are just beginning to poke through the dark earth at Reverse K Bar Ranch, an organic farm outside of Collbran, Colo. The whispy tips of bolero carrots stand at only a few centimeters high, nearly as tall as the rich green leaves of two varieties of beets planted in the next row. The tomatoes, which were started early in Reverse K Bar’s nursery, already have fruit, but the jewel-like green orbs are sheltered from early summer’s harsh blasts of wind and sun – and wandering pests’ appetites – by a protective cover.

The onions, peas, and summer squash are all growing rapidly, as is the farm’s crop of cilantro, but all of the arugula was destroyed by flea beetles during a spring cold snap. The annihilation of the arugula crop is only minimally upsetting for Marie McGowan, who owns Reverse K Bar Ranch with her husband Mike. The couple still has eggplant to plant, along with daikon radishes, zinnias, and more than an acre’s worth of other crops to look after, as well as a herd of cattle to care for and an orchard of fruit trees to harvest.    

The McGowans, who peddle their organically grown wares at the Telluride Farmers Market, spend the majority of their days outside the walls of their restored farmhouse, which sits on a105-acre parcel on the lower reaches of Grand Mesa. The young couple wouldn’t have it any other way. “We don’t do it to make millions,” Mike says with a laugh. “We do it because it’s what we truly want to do.”

The McGowans represent a new generation of families making living from the land, growing organic fruit and vegetables and raising all-natural, grass fed beef. They couple is following in the footsteps of Marie’s parents, who bought 89 acres of land in Collbran in 1976 and eventually began raising cattle.

Both Mike, 35, and Marie, 30, admit that the farming and ranching life is not an easy one. “I think a lot of the reason that more people our age don’t come back and take over the family farm is that these days, you need to have another income,” says Marie, who works as a teacher in Collbran during the school year. “Gone are the days when both [spouses] could stay and work at the farm full-time.”

Despite the challenges facing this young farming couple, the two – who are expecting a baby in November – have committed to growing and raising food as their living. Aside from their weekly trip to the Telluride’s Farmers Market, Reverse K Bar Ranch also offers a Community Supported Agriculture program, which enables families in the region to share in the McGowan’s weekly harvests throughout the summer.

The “dream life” of being organic farmers on a scenic ranch located directly adjacent to Marie’s parents’ property wasn’t always so clear for the McGowans. They met while in college in Boulder, where Mike, originally from the Boston area, was finishing a degree in geology and hydrology and Marie was working toward a master’s in multicultural bilingual education. While in school, they both spent time working on a ranch in the San Luis Valley, which sparked their inner agriculturalist.

It was during a winter trip back to the Marie’s family farm over four years ago that the couple realized what they were missing. Mike was on the path to getting his PhD, but life on the farm was calling.

“We asked ourselves what we were thinking” by staying in Boulder, Marie says. “We just decided to stay here, and it’s worked out so far.”

Today the couple lives just down the fenceline from Marie’s parent’s land. Her mother Sharon says she never thought her oldest daughter would return to the farm life experience that she grew up with.

“When she left and was gone for ten years and then decided to come back, it was a dream come true for us,” Sharon says, adding that having the young couple around has added a new spark of energy to the farm. “They’ve brought new knowledge about the science of sustainable agriculture. It’s been wonderful.”

While the McGowans tend their crops and look after their cattle, they make constant improvements on the ranch. They’re currently building a hoop house, where they’ll plant eggplant and other more tender plants. They also plan to construct raised beds in the garden to increase plantable space. They just finished erecting an eight-foot-high deer fence around the garden, and Mike has just started cutting hay from their fields to feed the cattle through the winter.

What started as a desire to grow good food for themselves has evolved into a nearly full-time profession for the McGowans. “It’s what we love to do,” Marie says. “The way we look at it, you may as well go outside and grow your own food.”

Look for the McGowans’s Reverse K Bar Ranch stand at the Telluride Farmers Market, every Friday, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on S. Oak St.