If you grew up in Colorado Springs, you probably came here for a free pumpkin in kindergarten. Then in 2016, PFAS contamination from the Air Force's firefighting foam made it impossible to grow food on the land, and the future of the last working farm in the community went completely dark.

This week we're recording on the farm itself with Sam Clark (Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation) and Nikki McComsey (Gather Mountain Blooms) about how a beloved pumpkin patch became a two-acre flower farm hosting weddings, music festivals, and monthly bloom celebrations, while still giving away free pumpkins to every kindergartner in El Paso County.

In this episode:

• Who Nick and Bambi Venetucci were, and why they gave the whole farm away
• The 2016 PFAS discovery and the winter Sam thought the farm was finished
• Why flowers were the perfect answer to contaminated soil and water
• How a conservation easement protects the land from development forever
• Nikki's path from debilitating concussion to full-time flower farmer
• The kindergarten pumpkin program, and the education requirement attached to it
• Rocky Mountain Flower Fest on August 8 with Patchwork Jack and Grass It Up
• Monthly flower festivals: ranunculus, sweet peas, zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias
• Colorado Youth Outdoors' new CORE program on the property
• The spreadsheet math behind making sure every event has enough blooms
• The barn renovation and bathroom project (and why it matters more than it sounds)

Picks of the week: Anglers Covey's $10 intro to fly fishing (they hand you a $15 gift card) and Pizzeria Leopold in Old Colorado City.

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