Tucked into the southeast corner of Mountair Park at 13th and Depew — right alongside the W Line tracks, the bike path, and the 40West Arts District ArtLine — sits a 1.5-acre patch of ground that has quietly become one of the most important community assets on the West Colfax corridor.
It’s the Mountair Park Community Farm, run by the urban-agriculture nonprofit Sprout City Farms, and this year it’s doing something remarkable: giving away its entire harvest.
A farm built by the neighborhood, for the neighborhood
Sprout City Farms (SCF) got its start in 2010, when a group of farmers, teachers, researchers, and community members came together with a simple, stubborn idea — that underused urban land could grow food, build community, and make neighborhoods more resilient. The Mountair Park farm followed in 2014, established in partnership with the City of Lakewood.
The park grew directly out of residents’ requests during the City’s 2013 “20-Minute Neighborhood Initiative,” when neighbors asked for better access to fresh food and gathering space. Locals helped plan and build it, and a Community Advisory Committee of neighborhood stakeholders still helps steer its direction.
In a typical year, the farm produces 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of organic vegetables.
Beginning in 2026, the majority of that harvest is being routed straight into food-access efforts — an on-site donation-based farm stand in the Mountair Park lot, a stand for seniors at Creekside Senior Apartments, and donations to a long list of local hunger-relief partners including The Action Center, Mountair Christian Church, Angelica Village, Brown Bag Ministries, Kaizen Food Share, and Andrea’s No-Cost Market.
A hard year to be growing food in Colorado
The farm’s shift toward no-cost distribution arrives during one of the more difficult growing years the region has seen. Colorado came through what SCF calls a “wild winter” — historically warm temperatures and abysmally low snowpack that left many rural farmers with too little water to irrigate, forcing some to leave fields fallow.
The warmth carried its own trap. Fruit trees broke dormancy weeks early; SCF staff spotted Denver trees blooming in February. Then, on the night of April 17, a hard freeze dropped temperatures into the low 20s across the Western Slope.
SCF frames all of this as part of a longer trend: the U.S. Geological Survey now warns that the Colorado River Basin is undergoing not a temporary drought but a lasting aridification. It’s exactly the kind of pressure that makes a resilient, hyper-local food source down the block from your house more valuable, not less.
The Community Abundance Circle
To make the transition to a 100% free-food model sustainable, Sprout City Farms has launched the Community Abundance Circle — an invitation for neighbors to support the farm according to their capacity, standing alongside volunteers, learners, and skill-sharers.
The urgency is real: a recent report from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment puts metro-area food insecurity at an alarming 37% to 45%.
The idea is that a community farm can be many things to many people at once. Some show up to grow, some to learn, some to receive food, some to give. The Circle simply widens the front door.
Keeping a free farm running takes support, and SCF recently spotlighted one of its newer corporate backers — XorFox, a Denver technology company whose motto is “Computer Scientists Who Speak Human.” The team spent a day at the farm seeding, weeding, and planting.
As CEO Matt Parmley put it, the partnership is about “directly giving back to the humans in our community where our employees live and work.” Sponsorship opportunities range from the $500 “Sponsor a Row” tier to the $10,000+ “Harvest Guardian” level, with details at sproutcityfarms.org/sponsorships.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have Sprout City Farms right here at Mountair Park. The farm is a phenomenal asset and an invaluable resource that feeds, educates, and unites our neighborhood. This is community in action—let’s do our part to support it!” – William Marino, director of the local business improvement district.
How to get involved this summer
There are plenty of ways to plug in over the coming months at Mountair Park and the sister farm at Denver Green School (DGS):
- Weekly volunteer days — Fridays, 10 a.m.–noon, at both MAP and DGS. Come learn to grow food and take home fresh harvest-season vegetables.
- No-Cost Markets at MAP — Biweekly Wednesdays through October (a 10 a.m.–noon market and Andrea’s No-Cost Market from 2–4 p.m.).
- Community Meals at MAP — Biweekly Fridays, noon–1 p.m.
- Lunch & Learn sessions at DGS — Beekeeping with Greg the Beekeeper (Fri., July 10, 10 a.m.) and Insects & Pests with CSU entomologist Karim (Fri., July 17, 10 a.m.).
- Night on the Farm — SCF’s annual farm-to-table fundraiser and silent auction, Saturday, August 29, 5–7:30 p.m. at Mountair Park, celebrating the farm’s 16th season. Tickets are on sale now.
For events, volunteer opportunities, and Lunch & Learns, visit their calendar.
Learn more at sproutcityfarms.org, follow along at @sproutcityfarms, become a corporate sponsor, and reach out at development@sproutcityfarms.org.
Photos courtesy of Sprout City Farms.
