This summer, rather than just going to farmers markets, I found myself romanticizing about the notion of staying on a farm as a relaxing getaway, petting cute livestock and leisurely picking fruit off trees for a fresh snack.
So I made plans to glamp in mid-August on a farm in Hotchkiss just as the Western Slope’s harvest season was getting underway with ripening Colorado peaches.
Hotchkiss, Paonia and Crawford make up the North Fork Valley, and are lumped in with the Western Slope as a whole being the state’s orchard hub and where a lot of foods grow well in the high desert climate. (Grape harvest started around Sept. 1, with pear picking and apples scheduled for around mid-month. Check before you go.)
My AirBnB hostess of Bath Haus Farms recommended that I stop in nearby Paonia to check out Pickin’ in the Park, a weekly summer event where local food trucks and breweries set up while visitors listen to live music at the Paonia Town Park.
I got my first taste — literally — of what the North Fork Valley offers when I was ordering from the Southern Belle food truck. “The tomatoes are from Abundant Life Organic Farm,” I was told without asking the provenance of the biscuit sandwich ingredients. I was here in part to go to the source, and pick my own fruits and vegetables.
I headed out for the 10-mile drive southwest to Hotchkiss where I found my glamping tent just off a dirt road on the farm property. Above me was a star-filled night sky, and in front of me, a dim trail to the fancy outhouse with an outdoor shower.
After drifting off to the sounds of crickets chirping, I woke up the next day to the classic cock-a-doodle-do of a neighbor’s rooster with intermittent bleats from that farm’s goat. My tent had a wooden deck with an expansive view of the valley to the north. I opted for the one-mile hike around the farm’s property which took me past pear trees (a reminder that harvest season will have many cycles), around a retention pond fed by a natural spring, and back to the vegetable garden.
As I passed the main house, owner Kaitlin Bath popped out and invited me to join her in picking tomatoes. “I picked 50 pounds yesterday,” she said. Guests on the farm can choose to join in this activity, depending on the season, and kids really enjoy tossing what can’t be eaten by humans over the fence to their chickens and ducks.
As we plucked various ground tomatoes (so sweet!), heirloom tomatoes (so pretty!), and basic red tomatoes for making a marinara sauce later, we talked about my urban backyard pumpkin vines, the resident garden spider (so big!), and peach salsa possibilities.
Bath had a tip about peach picking, so I headed to head to a neighboring Bloomstone Farm. Typically, I prefer hotels over Airbnb lodging options, but for a farmstay there is a benefit in getting local insights like this. Bloomstone was an established orchard recently taken over by a new owner, so the “u-pick” arrangement was not widely publicized and we had it to ourselves. These trees were practically dripping with peaches; we filled box after box for a fair price.
As we picked fruit, the farm’s sheep wandered out to munch on the clover and keep the undergrowth manageable, but they weren’t interested in peaches for lunch.
For my own lunch, I headed back toward Paonia and Big B’s Delicious Orchards. This one-stop farm has it all: u-pick for fruits and vegetables; a café; a bar with hard ciders and other beverages; a shop with locally made goods including wines; a playground area for kiddos; a variety of lodging and camping options; and live music on select evenings. You’ve probably seen (or sampled) Big B’s juices at your local grocery store. I couldn’t resist picking more peaches here and getting some locally grown corn and green beans, too.
I could have happily stayed for the live music scheduled at Big B’s hours later, but I had goats to meet. Western Culture Farmstead & Creamery is a small goat farm in Paonia where they make exquisite goat cheeses along with scented lotions and soaps from the goat’s milk. You can schedule a tour, or take a chance as I did, and then be invited to walk among the goats. Owner Suanne Miller told me, “Just scratch them under the chin; they love it!”
Just before an afternoon summer rainstorm, I explored Black Bridge Orchard on the north end of town, which also still had some blackberries and raspberries for picking. There are more wines and other delectables for sale in the shop here as well.
Back at the Bath Haus Farm, I got to unwind in my tent for a while before joining Kaitlin Bath as she and a friend cooked up some yummy tomato sauce and chopped peaches for a peach salsa. Sun-drying tomatoes were brought in from the rain and we had a debate about using cumin in the salsa.
My hosts had recommended dinner at Mesa Winds Farm & Winery, just down the small country road lined with row after row of orchard trees at different farms. This small but sophisticated dining experience focused on what’s grown in this area, including a sampler featuring wines from Sauvage Spectrum in Palisade.
Dessert? A peach ricotta cake made with local Osito Farm peaches. Also on the menu were Mesa Winds lamb, Western Culture Farmstead goat feta, and Gray Acres pastured chicken — all from nearby farms and ranches.
With more time, I would have happily spent the next day visiting all the area farms. Instead, I swung by Abundant Life Organic Farms store, which is an honor-system donation walk-in cooler where you can seasonally select just-picked strawberries, raspberries, melons, tomatoes and more.
Throughout the North Fork Valley, there are plenty of drop-in places to buy locally grown and -made foods, along with u-pick orchards, berry patches, farms and flower fields. You can decide how much “farming” you want to do, and how much sampling you want to enjoy.
IF YOU GO
To get the most out of your visit to the North Fork Valley during harvest season, I recommend:
Bringing an empty cooler that you can fill with perishables like fresh berries, goat cheese, juices and other goodies you won’t be able to resist bringing home. Even if you plan to freeze your produce once home, you need to keep it from going bad on the way.
Bringing sunscreen, a hat and your water bottle for your own picking time. These experiences are pretty independent and, before you know it, you’ve walked half a mile in an orchard on a hot summer day–and now have to walk back with a basket full of apples or peaches or both.
Bringing cash. While the more established u-pick farms and orchards easily take credit cards, you may find honor-system cash boxes or small vendors that aren’t set up for digital payments.
Planning your visit around a specific local activity such as live music, a workshop, a specific harvest (such as peaches, lavender, apples, pears or your favorite vegetable), a farm dinner or tour. For example, plan on heading to the Mountain Harvest Festival on Sept. 24 with area farm tours or the Vegetable Tasting Event on Sept. 27 at the Arbol Farmers’ Market.
Making time to go to Colorado’s least-visited national park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This impressive gorge can be accessed via the town of Crawford (the north rim, which is closer when you’re in Paonia and Hotchkiss) or Montrose (the south rim). You’ll see more farm country on this 40-minute drive and can opt for the 1/3-mile Chasm Trail or taking a longer hike.
Staying on a farm. You can find a list of local wineries, farms and ranches that have lodging accommodations at the Valley Organic Growers Association website (vogaco.org). Not all of these places have their own website, so the directory is helpful in finding those hidden gems.
