Meet Lauren Bloom | Landscape Designer / Real Estate Broker / Rancher-Farmer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Bloom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My husband Micah and I have both worked full time from 18 on. Working while going to college was a challenge but we were both set up with a determined work ethic to out our nose down and get work done. I started working for a Landscape Design and Build firm after college and Micah started his own concrete company at the same time. In 2009, after several years of working for someone else, I decided that starting a business was the best way for us to manage our time the way we wanted to. That is how Bloom Concrete & Landscape started in Denver (see the ‘about us’ section of bloomconcrete.com). We thrived for 12 years creating lasting and transformative landscapes throughout Denver. Many Awards and Media attention helped our company grow and thrive. As time went on though, we realized that our work/life balance was affecting our desire to pursue other things in life. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to do what needed to be done and what we wanted to do with our time. City life was wearing on us as well. We wanted to spend as much time as possible in the mountains or traveling to other destinations away from the dense metropolis of Denver. As many people did, we re-evaluated things during Covid-19. Some things in life made the right circumstances for us to finally simplify, find a new spot to live, and a new evolved situation to be able to find a live/work balance that now tipped to the live side! We found just under 10 acres near Steamboat Springs that feels like we finally have room to breathe! Our city hobbies of raising ducks for eggs and bees for honey has expanded now that we have more space and our time is now spent in a way that feels like a balance exists. Finding full time help for the business has been difficult so we have simplified the Concrete and Landscape business to just installing concrete and landscape design. No more landscape install. And although I miss the rewarding feeling of the full transformation, we have hundreds of projects and clients that keep us aware of our living creations and we get to visit these sites to see the evolution of our hard work. Our new project in Routt County is Bloom Meadows Ranch, a balance of passion for living on the land.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Our duck flock has expanded to allow us to sell duck eggs to the CAA (community agriculture alliance) in Steamboat (think Indoor Year Round Farmers Market). We deliver fresh, organic-fed duck eggs to the market weekly. Duck eggs are very popular as they have a different protein structure than chicken eggs and typicaly people allergic to chicken eggs can have duck eggs. They bake better and have a rich and delicious taste. Last season we experimented with some duck for meat as well, and we will continue that this upcoming season as it was a great success. This season we are also experimenting with a small flock (8) of turkeys for meat. These birds are also a fantastic way for us to control insects on the hay meadow. Routt county had a record grasshopper year in 2022 and 2023 is expected to exceed the population issues of 2022. Honey is another offering of Bloom Meadows Ranch. The bee hives started as a couple Flow (brand) bee hives from Australia. These hives allow us to monitor the bees through windows on the hives. Harvesting is also extremely easy while allowing the honey to transport direct from the hive to jars without any filtration or disturbing the bees. To a degree we can also track where the honey came from based on what flowers/pollen is active at the time. This year our hives are expanding as Micah’s knowledge of bee care has grown and the demand of product has as well. 8+ hives this year will generate additional product and more time to spend on blooming plants throughout the ranchland.
Our focus on this hobby ranch is bring more peoples attention to the land and what it can produce, even in a small acre setting. A big challenge for us has been the climate. We are at 7,500 feet in elevation and a extremely long winter season. This winter has had a snowfall record that this area hasn’t seen in over a decade and the longer cold season temps has really changed the way I used to grow plants. For 2 seasons now, I volunteer some time weekly at another local farm nearby, Bee Grateful Farms in Oak Creek Colorado. Joe, who runs and operates the farm has taught me so much when it comes to being successful in growing veggies when the nighttime temps up here are still below freezing into early July. This knowledge has inspired some future plans for transforming this land in the years to come.

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.
I also hold my Real Estate Brokers license and operate in Routt County exclusively. With this profession comes knowledge of the area and secret spots around town! With just over a 20 minute drive between South Routt and Steamboat its a easy and beautiful commute to hop between Steamboat and the serenity that you can find in the Mountains and rolling hill ranches that surround.
I have hosted many friends that want to escape the Big City weekends and come up to visit. Breakfast always starts with the local flavors of the ranches that surround us, including our eggs. The CAA market (where we sell our eggs and honey) offers local bacon from Trout Creek Meats, Oak Creek Colorado. Local Bee Grateful farm berries will cover my honey drizzled waffles. Then its off to a hike in the Flattop Wilderness (just minutes from our place) or on a hot summer day we will take the paddleboards up to one of the hidden gem lakes in the Flattops where the only visitors other than us are the Bald Eagles watching the fish swimming around us. Then we head to lunch in Steamboat at Backdoor Burgers, a great local spot to get great food and great service. A quick float down the Yampa river through Steamboat is always a relaxing way to unwind before heading back to South Routt. The charming town of Oak Creek is a friendly oasis with real Old West vibes. The Oak Creek tavern is a place you will always be greeted with a smile and a great libation in a fun main street location. Hop down the street to Franciosi Pizza for a handmade oven fired pizza made with great care by local brothers from New Jersey that bring the best Pizza and Meatballs in the state to your plate. With a great outdoor patio they host live music on their patio stage surrounded by families gathering and the sounds of a community of families and individuals that make South Routt feel like a home we have never experienced anywhere else. Dusk in May and early June also bring something special to our little ranch. Lighting bugs! Thats right, we were so surprised the first season we experienced it. We have even had CSU entomologists up to view them and take samples of the ‘Phippsburg Lightening Bug’ as it has been named by them in 2022!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My first passion will always be landscape design and horticulture. My educators (especially Bill Cary) was a great inspiration in my life. The ALCC (associated landscape contractors of Colorado) was also a huge proponent of my career and passion to be better and help the public learn about the potential for ‘green’ all around us. My love of horticulture has also inspired my husband Micah to look from the grey (concrete) to the green. Beekeeping started as my interest and hobby and now as time as gone on, he has really taken the hives as his passion at the Ranch.

Website: thebloomranch.com / bloomconcrete.com / Realestatebybloom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realestatebybloom/?hl=en / https://www.instagram.com/bloommeadowsranch/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bloomlandscape/