#135 Making a Living From Sunlight and Soil with George Whitten and Sam Schmidt

George (left), Sam (right). Photos by Randy Brown.

George Whitten, along with his wife Julie, own Blue Range Ranch (also known as San Juan Ranch) located in the high desert of Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Originally pastoralists, George and his family have been ranching on the same land for well over a century, and have been practicing regenerative agriculture and holistic land management since 1893, long before either of those terms even existed. Sam Schmidt, a New York City-area native, joined the ranch in 2020 through an apprentice program, and is now the Assistant Ranch Manager, alongside his partner Noelle. George, Sam and I speak about the rise and fall of industrial agriculture, the challenges of making a living from land stewardship, what it means to bridge the divide between environmentalism and agriculture, and how taking a regenerative and holistic approach to the land also means applying those same principles to our relationships and communities.

Find Blue Range Ranch at bluerangeranch.com, on Instagram, and learn more about the ranch’s apprenticeship program here.

For those local to Crestone and the SLV, check out my article about Blue Range Ranch in the June edition of The Crestone Eagle.

Songs featured: “El Jardin” by Hermanos Gutiérrez & “The Universe” by Gregory Alan Isakov

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Come hang out at the Crestone Energy Fair September 16th & 17th! Here is the link for more info.

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The Blue Range Ranch herd on the range.