After 20 years in farming, Rosie Carter has learned a thing or two about rural life.
In 1994, Carter and husband Chuck Barry bought the bones of what would become Stone Free Farm – 60 acres of irrigated pasture and a tiny 50-year-old farmhouse on a dirt road in Arriola.
Carter has launched the website homeandrange.com, which offers items that celebrate rural life. Carter and Barry are known for the produce they sell at local farmers markets, and they also dabble in music and art.
Home and Range, Carter said, seemed to be the next logical step.
The winter tends to be a slow season for farmers, and Carter and Barry were looking for ways to expand.
“So we thought, why not do farm-inspired products for your home and garden?” she said.
The result is a site that pays homage to simple, rural living and offers handcrafted items, available for purchase to customers worldwide.
“Home and Range aspires to embody this very beauty that’s rooted in tradition and simplicity. The ideas for the farm-inspired items seen on this site originated on that Southwest Colorado homestead, sparked by a life of practical charm and hard-working grace,” Carter said.
The site sells a variety of goods including mugs, purses, towels, pillows and trivets. They are all locally handcrafted.
“The artisans we work with to create these items all excel in bringing traditional craft and technique to the contemporary world. Every detail is attended to because the products must be lovely to look at, but must also withstand time and use,” Carter said.
Maegan Crowley, of Iron Maegan in Dolores, for example, designed trivets – something to set a hot pan on. Carter’s screen-printed art is available on pillows, dish towels, napkins and T-shirts. Cutting boards are made from reclaimed wood from a bowling ally. Janet Harrell, of Menefee Mountain Pottery, produces a line of mugs and honey pots.
A pillow costs about $75, the dish towels $24.
“Some of the stuff is on the pricier end because it is so labor-intensive,” she said.
In the spring, Carter plans to add gardening supplies and crop mixes, with help from Southwest Seed. Varieties include mixes for weed suppression, chickens, clay soil, and cool or warm weather.
“You grow these crops and till them in, and it adds nutrients to your soil,” she said.
Carter and Barry will continue to sell their produce, including their popular carrots, but they wanted to get deeper into the buy-local movement.
“Farming and buying local is really big right now,” Carter said. “I want to provide products to people who are interested in that. This site is for people who appreciate things that are handmade and done with nice craftsmanship and attention to detail.”
