About Us
This is the third year that Grow Girls' Farm has been growing food for the Arvada Community. Our growing practices focus on the health of the soil using only organic practices. Grow Girls' Farm builds soil through organic amendments, cover cropping, crop rotation, companion planting and mulching. We use drip irrigation to conserve water. Denise Ery and Elaine Silburn have come together to collaborate on the CSA program. Together, Denise and Elaine grow a wide variety of wonderful nutrient dense food!
We invite you to learn more about the people of our farm.
Denise Ery- Master Gardener
Denise grew up in Belpre, Ohio. As a child she learned to garden with her grandmother. Some of her earliest memories are snapping beans in the garden with her. It was here that she learned to love and care for the soil and crops- instilling in her a compassion for things that grow. A seed was planted that would help her begin to understand the impact it has on us all. This compassion runs in her family. Her father, 83, still works a local garden community that puts out tons of food for people in need in the Belpre area. Denise has a passion for sustainable and organic produce, the quality of the soil and helping others discover this love of the soil from the young to the young at heart.
Elaine Silburn
Elaine is a native of Colorado and grew up under the influence of the Rocky Mountains in beautiful Golden. She grew up learning to appreciate nature, creativity and what it means to be family. Working in the family business, she learned how to lead and grow a business. The more Elaine learned about our issues as a planet, the more she saw the need for stronger communities where food is produced locally and with the greater environment in mind. Part of her dedication to this movement is to make this world a better place for her nine grandchildren.
Gwynneth Short
Gwynneth is our compost specialist!
Kathy Storch
What can we say about someone who is always there to lend a helping hand?
Kathy is the very best volunteer we have ever had at the farm!
Kendall Ogle
"Kendall is one of our farm hands for the 2021 growing season. Her past experiences on farms as an intern and volunteer have been some of the most rewarding and influential times of her life, and she is extremely excited to be working with the Grow Girl team to continue developing her knowledge and skill as a farmer. Kendall loves interacting with all types of plants and people and looks forward to meeting many of you at the farm stand! As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, she is passionate about sustainable community development and eventually wants to build a career in food security and agriculture extension services."
Sarah Keller
Sarah was born and raised in Denver, where she helped her mom keep flower and vegetable gardens at home. While pursuing her degree in Environmental Studies, she discovered her passion for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. She believes in food’s ability to reconnect us to ourselves, each other, and the Earth, and hopes to share this resource with her community and beyond. Having had the opportunity farm in Southern California; Sikkim, India; and numerous locations in Nepal, she is looking forward to many more years of farming on the Front Range. Sarah is thrilled to be working with Grow Girl Organics as a farm hand for her third season of small-scale organic farming in the Denver-metro area!
Nick Materise
Nick is one of our CSA working shares for the 2021 searson. He is a fourth year PhD student at the Colorado School of Mines studying applied physics focused on building quantum computers with superconducting circuits. As a western New York transplant, he relishes the year-round Colorado sun and easy access to the Rocky mountains from the Front Range. This season he is excited to be a part of the Grow Girl team to learn more about organic farming and community engagement. He enjoys growing and harvesting plants and fungi, and looks forward to applying the knowledge shared on the farm to his current garden and future farm.
Ashley Lipasek
Ashley is one of our farmhands and our resident artist this 2021 season at Grow Girl Organics. Growing up outside of Chicago, Ashley gardened and farmed with her family, which first inspired her appreciation for agricultural work and food production. More recently as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, Ashley continued to develop her passion for ethically-sourced agriculture while relying on the local produce in the small Andean town she called home for two years. Upon her return to the U.S. , Ashley embraced the opportunity to join the Grow Girl Team, where she can advance her training in sustainable agriculture and community development as a farmhand, and contribute to the farm's mission as the resident artist as well. Ashley has designed and painted our Grow Girl signs and photographed the farm and its staff throughout its developmental stages. You can find the photos in our gallery here on our website!