Under a hot July sun on Wednesday, high schoolers Maria Perea and Eley Dominguez gave a tour of Highwater Farm in Silt, sharing information about different crops and their ideal growing conditions.
The 5-acre farm, situated along the Colorado River, was started in 2020 by Sara Tymczyszyn in partnership with the Town of Silt and the Aspen Valley Land Trust.
Perea and Dominguez, both 16 years old, are part of Highwater’s Summer Youth Program, an eight-week paid internship for teenagers from Rifle to New Castle.
Their tour was the prelude to an annual community lunch hosted by the farm to celebrate the youth program, giving the students an opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned.
Dominguez pointed to rows of black beans, corn, and squash.
“Sometimes little squash bugs like to appear under the plant and around it, which is very bad for the plant,” he said. “But instead of spraying chemicals like other companies do, we handpick the bugs out of the plant, and then we just dispose of them in a cup of soap.”
The goal isn’t to push kids into a career as a farmer, said Annie Litten, Highwater Farm’s youth program coordinator. They hope students can use farming as a vehicle to develop important life skills, such as accountability and the value of hard work.
Both Dominguez and Perea agreed: Farming can be tough.
“The sun, when it hits you, it's really hard to focus and pull the weeds out because you're sweating,” Perea said.
Despite the challenges, she said there are also moments of fun. It’s a chance to hang out with friends, and for Perea, to go on her first camping trip where she saw wild sunsets and slept outside.
Dominguez added, “When do you get to go camping with your co-workers?”
The youth program is one of a few entry-level jobs for teenagers in the region, said Litten. Although Rifle has some industry, New Castle and Silt are commuter towns, which means teenagers who can’t drive yet or don’t have access to a car don’t have many opportunities.
“Transportation is a huge barrier,” said Litten, noting many of the youth program participants she surveyed are under 16 years old.
Nationwide, the summer job market for teenagers has become more difficult in recent years, as economic uncertainty forces many businesses to either pause new hiring or choose adults for those roles.
Dominguez tried to apply for a job at Autozone in Rifle, where he lives, but he never heard back.
When Perea was looking for a summer job, she said she didn’t find many options around her hometown of New Castle — other than working at a McDonald’s. “I was like, ‘I don't think I want to do that.’”
On the farm, Perea liked that all the weeding, composting and picking tiny bugs out of squash plants could lead to something tangible.
“The hard work — it’s what you do to make the plants grow healthier,” she said.
