Venetucci Farm Proves Colorado Springs Knows How to Save What Matters
For decades, a free pumpkin from Venetucci Farm was a Colorado Springs childhood rite of passage. Today the farm is still standing at 90 years old, but what's growing there has changed completely.
In this episode of Springs and Things, we sat down on the farm with Sam Clark of the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation and Nikki McComsey of Gather Mountain Blooms to talk about contamination, conservation, flowers, and what it takes to keep a legacy alive.
What happened to Venetucci Farm?
In 2016, Venetucci Farm (along with properties throughout the Fountain Valley) was found to be affected by PFAS contamination stemming from the Air Force's use of aqueous firefighting foam. The chemical leached into the aquifer, which meant it was in the water, the soil, and anything grown in that soil. PFAS is a "forever chemical," so removal wasn't an option.
Without the ability to grow edible crops or lease its water, the farm lost both its purpose and its revenue model. Sam describes standing on the empty property one winter genuinely unsure it could survive.
Why does Venetucci Farm grow flowers now?
Flowers were the answer to a very specific problem: they're a non-edible crop, so soil and water contamination doesn't pose the same risk it would for food.
Nikki Norris of Gather Mountain Blooms came to flower farming after a concussion left her with migraines and nerve damage that took her out of work. Gardening became part of her recovery, and flowers her husband brought home became one of the few sources of joy during that period. She trained through Floret's flower farming program in Washington State, started growing on under a quarter acre in her backyard, and sold bouquets outside Eclectic in downtown Colorado Springs before approaching the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation about Venetucci.
Gather Mountain Blooms has leased the land for five years. What started as a half acre is now two acres of cultivated flowers, with events running roughly three days a week from Mother's Day through Halloween and workshops through the winter. Nikki farms alongside her sister Abby.
Do Colorado Springs kids still get free pumpkins?
Yes. The Venetucci pumpkin giveaway continues, though the pumpkins themselves now come from Milberger Farms in Pueblo to support local agriculture.
Every kindergarten student in El Paso County can book a field trip to the farm and take home a free pumpkin. In a nod to Bambi Venetucci — Colorado's Teacher of the Year and an instructor at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind — the giveaway includes a curriculum-aligned outdoor education program covering science and how pumpkins are grown. For many of these students, it's their first field trip ever.
Separately, Gather Mountain Blooms hosts a public Pumpkin Fest each fall.
Who were Nick and Bambi Venetucci?
Nick Venetucci began by driving a vegetable cart up North Tejon and handing pumpkins to kids for free, a practice that grew into the pumpkin patch generations of locals remember. He was known for being kind but not soft. He reportedly liked that there were cockleburs in the fields so kids would understand that farming is hard work.
Bambi Venetucci was blind, learned to farm, taught at the Deaf and Blind School, was named Colorado's Teacher of the Year, and learned to drive with Nick coaching her along empty dirt roads.
Before her passing, Bambi placed the property in a conservation easement and deeded it over; a decision that almost certainly saved it from becoming apartments or a shopping center.
What is a conservation easement, and what does it mean for Venetucci Farm?
A conservation easement is a binding agreement restricting how a property can be used. Bambi's agreement with the state prohibits uses like single-family housing development or a golf course, reserving the land for agricultural and educational purposes. It reduced the property's market value significantly, and permanently protected it.
The easement allows a limited building footprint, which is what accommodates the barn and event infrastructure Gather Mountain Blooms uses today.
What else is happening on the property?
Beyond the roughly 14 acres Gather Mountain Blooms activates, about 160 acres are leased for alfalfa. The property backs onto Fountain Creek with strong birding, and fields there have been in cultivation for well over a century, predating the Venetuccis.
New in 2026: Colorado Youth Outdoors is piloting its CORE program at Venetucci. Based in Fort Collins and expanding into El Paso County, CORE runs after-school and weekend classes in traditional recreation (archery, fly tying, and similar) designed to strengthen the parent-child bond.
Venetucci Farm events in 2026
Gather Mountain Blooms organizes its calendar around what's actually in bloom each month:
May — Ranunculus
June — Sweet peas
July — Zinnias
August — Sunflowers
September — Dahlias
Rocky Mountain Flower Fest — August 8, 2026. The farm's flagship music festival, featuring Patchwork Jack (Manitou Springs) and Grass It Up. Includes a flower crown station, u-pick flowers, a vendor market, and line dancing in the barn.
Also on the calendar: Music and Blooms, Dahlia Nights, Pumpkin Fest, weddings, and winter workshops. Note that events frequently sell out and capacity is limited by flower supply, not space.
What's new at the farm this year?
The farm is fundraising for a major renovation: air conditioning and accessibility improvements to the barn, indoor bathrooms, and an additional bathroom facility outside. The design is built around the farm's most frequent visitor (the kindergartner) with trough sinks at appropriate heights and layouts that let a single teacher supervise a group. Donations can be made through the Venetucci Farm website.
Local picks from this episode
Anglers Covey — Saturday morning intro to fly fishing, $10 with a $15 gift card in return
Pizzeria Leopold — Old Colorado City, near Bancroft Park, rooftop seating, kid friendly
Listen to the full episode of Springs and Things on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the people shaping Colorado Springs.
