Our Story: Longroots Ranch

Hi, we're Peter and Virginia Sargent!  Peter grew up in conventional agriculture, surrounded by cows and horses in Pennsylvania and Wyoming.  Virginia grew up hiking on trails and hugging trees in New England.  Our upbringings cultivated a shared commitment to conservation and sustainability and led us both to environmental policy work.  We met organizing on public land, food system, and climate issues. 

The more we both learned about regenerative agriculture as a key solution to many of these issues, the more our interest grew in implementing regenerative practices and building resiliency through holistic land management.  Peter left his desk job in 2022 and got a job as a ranch hand to brush up on his skills.  Virginia gained new perspectives as a water rights attorney and birth doula.  And we moved our family to Boulder County to let our regenerative ranching visions percolate while we settled into our new community and roles.

Our first summer: tired eyes & full hearts!

But our ten-year plan to run our regenerative operation turned into a wild adventure overnight when the local ranch where Peter worked unexpectedly had to sell their sheep flock and hogs.  It was go time...

We acquired the livestock and launched into building fence, adding guardian dogs into the mix, digging irrigation ditches, figuring out daily ranch chores, healing from a whole lot of mosquitos bites and strained back muscles, and marveling in our life with two young kids and hundreds of animals under our wing. Somewhere in there, we sold our first batch of Longroots Ranch lambs and welcomed Berkshire piglets. 

In our first year, we've had to ask for a lot of help and guidance -- a humbling requirement of agriculture. The regenerative community in Boulder County is next level. We've made so many friends, teachers, and local partners. Kris and Becca at Lazy Acres have really gone above and beyond in our first year, lending us barn space when ewes unexpectedly started lambing in negative temperatures this January and more.

We've also developed a trusted mentorship with the team at UVE. Andrea Malmberg and Caity Roberts guide us in all things holistic management. They are the masters of shifting our perspective and keeping us grounded in the task at hand: regenerating land.

And most importantly, we expanded our team to include Caelyn Hammett as ranch manager. Caelyn brings her immense knowledge of plants, patience with animals, and passion for feeding the world through regenerative production.