Growing up, Kyle Monroe and Samantha (Sam) Caplan spent much of their summers at the Boulder Farmers Market. Their parents both had booths: Kyle's mom and dad, Jacquie and Jerry, jointly running Monroe Organic Farms, while Sam's dad, Howard Caplan — affectionately known by market regulars as "the muffin man" — sold baked goods as Brillig Works Cafe.
Perhaps the cutest love story ever told, Kyle and Sam went from two kids bartering vegetables and baked goods on behalf of their parents to falling in love, starting their own family, and being the latest of four generations to run Monroe Organic Farms.
The first three generations of Monroe Organic Farms
The family farm was founded by Lester Monroe (Kyle's great-grandfather) in 1936. Despite there being no term for it at the time, he grew all of his vegetables organically. When his son, Jerry Sr., went off to World War II, he saw the very chemicals used by American farmers weaponized as chemical warfare. Returning to the farm after deployment, he vowed never to use pesticides — cementing the Monroe family's commitment to organic farming for decades to come.
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