ARVADA - Aaron Brachfeld and his wife, Mary Choate, have just harvested the last of their summer vegetable crop, planted on several backyard plots rented from homeowners scattered throughout this northwest suburb.

Most of the agricultural land just outside Denver has been replaced with new housing developments. But the couple's relatively urban approach to farming has been a boon for their fledgling company because they help feed a growing appetite for locally grown food.

"It's like that suit you have in the back of your closet - it eventually comes back in style," said the 24-year-old Brachfeld, who operates his Coastalfields home-delivery business with Choate.

The two met when they were studying agriculture at Colorado State University.

Nationwide, shoppers increasingly are paying attention to the origins of their food. The "local food" trend has created as much buzz as the organic movement.

The reasons range from concern about the energy consumed in shipping food across the globe to worries about tainted food imports from China. But observers say it goes beyond that.

"Local food has really touched a nerve with consumers," said Samuel Fromartz, author of Organic Inc., a book about how natural foods have moved from counterculture to mainstream. "What's attractive to them is having really fresh food from someone who's produced it - who they've actually met."

Proponents also say the food tastes better because it is fresher. And in the case of Coastalfields, the variety suits.

"My husband is a very adventurous eater, and we've eaten a lot of things this year that we've never eaten before," said Michelle Harwood, whose family splits its weekly delivery from Coastalfields with her parents.

Harwood said she likes the idea of eating what's available rather than buying a pineapple at the store that had to be flown in from elsewhere.

Along with the usual suspects, such as squash and beans, the Harwoods say they've been sprinkling alfalfa flowers on their salads, eating mustard greens and adding some extra spice to sandwiches with the flowers from shallots and onions.

Recipes are provided for those who have no idea what to do with the produce they receive.

Coastalfields also has a cookbook that can be downloaded for free from its site, coastalfields.com.

About 20 homes subcribe to a weekly service - deliveries are free in an area that stretches from Aurora into the foothills. Another 300 households buy less frequently.

The pair will harvest about $170,000 worth of produce this year, although they will generate less revenue than that because of the subscriber discounts they offer.

Those who subscribe by March pay $12 a week for a quarter-bushel box of seasonal produce. The price goes up to $15 a week once the season gets under way. Partial-season subscribers pay $20 a week for the box.

Brachfeld says the eating habits of customers are decidedly local. "People in Denver want food like fruit that they can eat in their cars," he said. "In Evergreen, people eat a lot of salad."

The business pays $2,000 for each of the three acres it rents. It will expand to Agate this fall because that's the only place with enough extra acreage at the right price.

When Coastalfields becomes more profitable, it wants to move its larger operations closer to the city. In the meantime, it will use vegetable oil to power its delivery truck. Sensing an opportunity, it plans to sell the oil, too, through a venture called Bumblebee Energy.

Demand for home delivery has meant that businesses such as the Lettuce Patch in Colorado Springs can't take any new customers this summer. Its Web site shows all of its delivery options are "sold out" and asks people to leave contact information for next year.

But Coastalfields sees its biggest competition as the grocery store, where it hopes one day to be able to distribute its produce.

"People want to buy their food at a supermarket," Choate said.

Choate figures that if they work with other farmers they can act like a bigger outfit, producing enough food to begin supplying stores.

Toward that end, Coastalfields is forming an association with other small farmers who follow the same unconventional methods of growing produce.

Unlike conventional or organic farmers, Brachfeld and Choate shun herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers of any kind. They simply till the soil in the spaces between their plants, letting nature do the rest.

Wearing a T-shirt printed with the word Squashbuckler, Brachfeld says he's "in it for the money" because that's the way he thinks farmers can "serve society best."

But Brachfeld and his wife are clearly passionate about their approach to growing food, so much so that they teach their customers and anyone else who's interested how to "farm" in their backyards.

Aaron Schwartz gave it a try this year, but he planted his crops on a plot of land that was too far away from his house. Since he doesn't have a car, he couldn't tend to them on a regular basis.

"My crops did really poorly," admitted Schwartz, a 24-year-old Denver resident who wants to grow his own food at home when he finds a place with enough space.

"It's become a necessity" because of the environmental impact of shipping food from far away," Schwartz said. "And some people trust local food more because they can see where it's grown."

Fresh approach

To find locally grown products, go to:

• localharvest.org

Search local markets, farms and delivery services by ZIP code using this Web site.

• colorado.gov/ag

Download Colorado's annual "Farm Fresh Directory" from the state's Agriculture Department site. Also find locations where you can pick up a print copy.

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068

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