Colorado community rallies around Kiowa Valley Organics after its barn caught fire

With 90 acres of farmland, Kiowa Valley Organics has become a staple in the Denver metro area for its yearly harvest of asparagus and other produce. But due to a recent barn fire, the farm is facing a significant setback.

"This year has been a tough year, just in general. With the weather, the warm winter, the water [and] moisture. It didn't produce maybe a fifth of what it normally does," said Krista Peace.

Now, a new challenge has struck her family's farm.

"I looked out my door from a short ways away, and I saw smoke, and I knew that it was the building," she said.

On July 7, a fire broke out and engulfed everything inside Kiowa Valley Organic's barn, a critical piece of infrastructure for its entire harvest process.

"We had a big cooler in there that would hold all the produce that we would pick in the field," said Peace. "That storage alone is priceless. We had the forklift, we had pallet jacks, we had all the boxes that we pick into, all the bushels we pick into [and] the boxes that we ship out in. The conveyors alone are so much money, so much equipment that we use in the operation, and all of it was inside this building. Everything."

It's also everything that's helped the farm build its reputation in being able to supply food for farmers markets, food banks, retailers and restaurants.

"We are harvesting everything every day. I'm going to run out of space really quickly, and that is a huge concern right now for me," Peace said.

She predicts damages to the supplies and equipment inside the barn could cost them over $200,000 to replace.  

"And that's just the stuff that was in there, not even the cost of rebuilding the building itself," said Peace. "So, we have a long way to go to be able to get it back to where it was."

Since the fire, however, the Denver community has stepped up in a big way to help Peace and her family rebuild what they have lost. A crowdfunding effort organized by those with City Park Farmers' Market has already generated more than $40,000 in donations and counting.

"They're not even thinking about it. They're just saying 'Yes, let me help you,'" said Peace. "I cannot even express how thankful we are for it. It's been crazy."

While Peace says there is still a long road ahead, it's this kind of support that's fueling her fight to keep the dream alive.  

"I don't want to have to get a desk job. I don't want to do anything else," she said. "I'm going to fight really hard to try and keep doing this, but I don't know what that looks like yet."