For the Kitts, their life has always been connected to nature. Steve Kitts grew up on a farm in Athens, Ohio. His grandparents grew grains, raised cattle, and his parents had a 200 cow-calf operation where they produced grains and 6,000 bales of hay a year. In their family of six, the Kitts grew vegetables, fruit trees, raspberry bushes and grape orchards. Eating their own food year-round, they also canned their own produce. Kitts bonded with nature early on as a former horse trainer and skier. Growing up, he struggled with the calf-slaughtering process.
"I always had a rough time with it," he said. "You feed a beautiful little creature and then you got to kill it. It didn't bother my father and I had no option in it. I did not like it."
His family also had a place in the Eastern Pennsylvania suburbs where Kitts spent time growing up; he eventually met his wife, Debbie, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and the two often visited Steve's parents' farm. She said she loved being around the animals and the farming culture. "I think it was meant to be," she said.
After moving to Colorado, the Kitts found less moisture, greater temperature swings, hail and different soil. It was a more challenging climate to grow produce outdoors compared to the Midwest. Steve had various jobs, including working as a solar engineer, a horse trainer and then eventually moved into film production making instructional videos on how to train horses.
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