We had the good fortune of connecting with Candice Shaw & Danielle Thurm and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Candice and Danielle, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
As I was planning my gardens and homeschooling curriculum for my own children, I realized that so many children could benefit from learning how to thrive by having the knowledge of growing their own food, foraging, herbs and how to all of it sustainably so that our land is impacted the least.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a Children’s Day camp in New Castle, Colorado focusing on teaching children the appreciation for agricultural living through gardening, animal husbandry, preserving and foraging classes, crafts and sustainability classes. Children spent 90% of their day outside on our beautiful mountain farm being fully emersed in planning, prepping, planting, harvesting and preserving their beautiful bounty from the gardens. Children spend each day learning a new animal on the farm, their specific needs, care, and their purpose on the farm. Each day they join their counselor on a hike to discover all of the amazing beneficial native plants and how to properly identify, prepare and how their family can benefit from them. Our day camp opened the Spring Break Covid hit, and we had to shut down until the following year. This was especially difficult to press forward but we knew the children needed this knowledge; more now than ever before. Covid slowed us down the first year, with only being able to teach at community centers, once it was approved to do so, but we were still able to start teaching a few of our classes.

We have learned that anything worth it, is hard. That is why it is worth it. Watching these children start their first day with us until the end of the week or even the Summer, they change so much. They become much more confident in themselves and their ideas, they become more comfortable around the animals and the things their parents learn alongside them, amazes us all! We have also learned how capable these amazing humans are. They are ready to take this knowledge and help make changes. They just need someone to take the time and help build their confidence and knowledge to take steps towards a greener future with their families beside them,

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many things to do in our beautiful community on the Western Slope.

Monday-
Visit- Alpaca Farm in Silt
Eat- Miner’s Claim for a nice dinner in Silt

Tuesday-
Coffee- Drifters Coffee and Fly Shop in New Castle
Visit- Rifle Falls
Eat- Wingnutz in Rifle, Co

Wednesday-
Family photos at Harvey Gap in Rifle by Nazla Anne Photography
Eat- Tapatios in New Castle for the BEST mexican food

Thursday-
Glenwood Caverns is always great with the Hotsprings
Eat- Masala and Curry for Indian food
Shop at the Homested Apothecary

Friday-
Walk around Glenwood and
Dinner and show at the Vaudeville

There is so much to do near our farm!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would love to dedicate our shoutout to the amazing people in our Western Slope community, who have welcomed our business with open arms and support.

Website: rootedinnaturekids.com

Instagram: rootedinnaturekids

Facebook: facebook.com/rootedinnaturekids

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