Here are some agritourism offerings all set to bring travelers
up-close and personal with the farmers while creating memorable
experiences of Colorado:
AG CLASSES: Many farms open their doors to educational and whole-learning workshops. Sustainable Settings
offers biodynamic agricultural programs as well as composting,
beekeeping, soap-making, cultured vegetable fermentation, and kids
sustainability workshops. Three Leaf Farm offer herbal medicine-making workshops including salves and tinctures, along with crafts and arts. Mountain Goat Lodge
offers cheese-making—a hands-on guide to varieties such as feta,
chevre, fresh mozzarella or paneer as well as goat husbandry. Lyons Farmette
offers spring gardening, flower-growing, vermicomposting through to
more artisan subjects like calligraphy and knitting or cocktails with
bitters. Cure Organic Farm offers a range of fiber art classes including farm-fresh botanical dyeing.
SHOP THE FARMER’S MARKET: Colorado is home to 156 farmer’s markets, and readers of USA Today and 10Best recently named the Boulder Farmers Market the
“Best Farmers’ Market in the U.S.” Grab some fresh goodies and take a
seat next to the babbling Boulder Creek or on the shady lawn and enjoy.
All products at the Larimer County Farmers' Market in
Fort Collins market are grown, produced or made by the local vendors
themselves. Pick up authentic Polish dumplings from Baba and Pop’s
Handmade Pierogi or all-natural mustache wax from Colorado Beard Co. The
sprawling Vail Farmers' Market has
more than 135 tents and a pleasing county-fair flair. Vendors
include Alpenrose, offering delicious Belgian-style pastries and
desserts. Southeastern Colorado’s high elevations, along with hot summer
days and cool evenings, facilitate a flawless environment for meaty,
zesty Pueblo chilies to thrive. Pick up a batch or two to roast at
the El Pueblo Farmers Market, along with other super-fresh goods.
CHEFS-TURNED-FARMERS: Taking farm-to-table to the next level, these culinary masters have also become stewards of the land. Chef Alex Seidel of Fruition, Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver operates Fruition Farms
in Larkspur, a sheep farm which provides rich milk for three distinct
kinds of cheeses that are used in Seidel’s restaurants and available at
specialty retail shops. A partnership between Chef Bradford Heap and Full Circle Farms’ owner Dave Asbury led to the Soul Patch
in Longmont, a 15-acre experimental plot for growing lettuce,
vegetables, and specialty crops, which feature on the menus at Colterra
in Niwot; SALT the Bistro and Wild Standard in Boulder. Eric Skokan of Bramble & Hare and Black Cat in Boulder is raising pigs, sheep, and chickens on the 130-acre Black Cat Farm
outside of Boulder, and a huge variety of produce is used both in the
restaurants’ kitchens and sold at the Boulder Farmers’ Market. Black Cat
Farm is the first certified biodynamic farm-to-table operation in the
nation. At The Home Ranch in Clark, chef Clyde Nelson
had dreamed of having a farm at this dude ranch, and the results of his
vision, now overseen by Jonathon Gillespie, include on-site organic
gardens, a greenhouse and, ranch-raised livestock. Mike Gillespie grew up on The Living Farm
outside of Paonia, which has been in his family for generations and
allows him to pair his culinary training with the freshest ingredients
possible.
STAY AT THE FARM: Colorado farms and ranches are
opening their doors to travelers looking for genuine experiences that
can include a range of non-required activities from cheese-making to
picking dinner’s veggies, butchery classes to group picnics and shoeing
horses to just a (delicious!) bed-and-breakfast stay. Zapata Ranch, A Nature Conservancy Preserve
sits on 103,000 acres in southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, combining
gourmet cuisine, nature hikes, yoga sessions and guided fly-fishing
excursions with the slightly less glamorous — but most enlightening—
activities of moving grass-fed cattle, monitoring bison-herd health,
mending fences, irrigating farmland and learning about land
conservation. Visit during special themed weeks focused on photography,
horsemanship, painting, and butchering. Badger Creek Ranch is
a working cattle and guest ranch, offering guests a glimpse into an
"old fashioned" lifestyle that is becoming recognized as a new way of
creating sustainability, moving cattle through pasture rotations timed
to create impact on the land that mimics the patterns and impact the
herds of bison would have had in the past. Mesa Winds Farm & Winery
invites guests to wake up to the sight of dewy peaches, apples, grapes,
and cherries glistening in the sun at the Mesa Wind Farm & Winery
in Hotchkiss. There’s a chance to pitch in around the farm by prepping
peaches for pressing into wine, helping with the grape harvest, weeding
and raking, or pruning in the orchards, or picking and sorting tree
fruit. Colorado Cattle Company is
located at Carr Ranch, a 10,000-acre working ranch in New Raymer, where
visitors learn the rancher’s life, helping with any cattle work or
learning new horseman and roping skills at “cowboy school”.
MEET YOUR FARMER: Sometimes there’s a chance to
meet the face behind the produce. Many Colorado farmers are innovative
leaders in their fields, often with a fascinating background story. Garden Sweet Farm, located in North Fort Collins, is a small sustainable farm that is a staple in the local food scene overseen by Amy Kafka, the "Strawberry Queen" who is known for her delectable berries, and Ryan Wilson
who is passionate about maintaining a healthy farm ecosystem. Together
they are known for their high quality, pesticide-free, fresh produce. Mark Guttridge operates Ollin Farms
which is a family-run sustainable farm. Their goal is to produce top
quality farm products with minimum impact on the surrounding
environment. Their bio-nutrient farming model is founded on getting the
right nutrients, in the right proportions into an active, living soil.
Former biochemist, now lavender farmer, Dr. Cindy Jones formulated Colorado Aromatics
Skin Care Line for the outdoor lifestyle. As a biochemist and
herbalist, she had a good handle on the physiology of skin and what it
needed as well as what herbs could contribute to the needs of the skin. Fred Dorenkamp is a former pro-rodeo rider, and together with his wife, Norma, they welcome guests at Arena Dust Tours,
in search of a rural getaway to stay in their home in Lamar. Aside from
bird watching, wildlife viewing, and chuck-wagon dinners, guests are
offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to see prairie chickens. Having
established strong relationships with private landowners who host the
chickens, the Dorenkamps offer Lesser Prairie Chicken Tours every April.
TAKE A TOUR, PICK A PUMPKIN: There are many ways
to visit the many farms that are eager to teach people about agriculture
during the fall season. Learn the differences between conventional and
organic farming on a stroll through Aloha Organic Fruit
peach orchards, see how water is brought to the trees from the Colorado
River and shop the farm store. Make a day of it driving through the
southwest region and hit up all the U-pick farms in Mesa Verde Country.
Stock up on apples, herbs, pumpkins, corn, and squash or consider
stopping by a quirky alpaca farm. Meet the farm’s chickens, ducks and
two cute pigs named Bacon Bits and Pancetta at Berry Patch Farms, Brighton. The
harvest season beings plenty of opportunities for farm fun. Pumpkin
picking, hayrides, mazes and other activities make for the perfect fall
day. More than just a maze, Fritzler’s Corn Maize
in Greeley, delights with a mini-rollercoaster ride, pillow jump, duck
races, pumpkin canons, go-carts and a haunted maze at night. Colon Orchards in CaƱon City has not one but two corn mazes, along with hayrides and pumpkin picking in the heart of the Arkansas River Valley.
SMALL TOWN FOOD FESTIVALS: Many Colorado
communities have summer festivals dedicated to the crops that have been
increasing the profile of the state’s farm-to-table restaurants. Paonia Cherry Days
piles the festivities high with a 5k run, “Cherry Days’ Got Talent”
contest coal-shoveling and wood-splitting contents, July Fourth parade
and much more. The corn from Olathe is often described as
melt-in-your-mouth tender and the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival
celebrates just that. A slathering of butter would only compromise what
Colorado’s sun and soil have already perfected. Find out what makes
people speak so rapturously about it at the festival’s sweet-corn-eating
contest. The Telluride Mushroom Festival
is scheduled for a time when mushroom growth is at its peak, hundreds
of mycophiles descend on Telluride to soak up technical mushroom
science, embark on mushroom-hunting excursions, taste the fruits of the
hunt at a cook-off and more. Greeley’s annual Potato Day
celebration goes beyond feasting on the versatile spud with living
history activities like blacksmithing and adobe brick making, swing
dancers, live music and appearances by the Potato King and Queen. The Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival
is a great chance to taste of pride of Pueblo: a special, intensely
flavorful variety of green chile. Served smoking on a stick, chopped and
tucked into a quesadilla or sprinkled in salsa, it’s the star of this
show.
FIELD DINING: Farmers are teaming-up with local
chefs to serve seasonal menus in the farm itself, which also provides a
truly memorial and atmospheric setting. Meadow Lark Farm
rotate locations throughout Boulder County all summer-long using each
host farm to serve up ingredients at the evening’s dinner table. A Grazing Life brings local farmers together with live entertainment for a unique field-dining experience in Black Forest. There are Sunday brunches, and family tour picnic days as well as sell-out dinner series from spring to fall. James Ranch in Durango opens the barn doors every Thursday
during the summer to host Band and Burger night, using ingredients
sourced from the ranch. Picnic blankets are recommended, guests can sit
back and enjoy local music while taking in view of the 400-acre ranch.
DRINK AT THE FARM: It’s not hard to find a good
local libation across Colorado, with more craft brewers and distillers
connecting with in-state farmers for their ingredients. Or, it’s the
farmers themselves doing the brewing or winemaking. Big B’s Delicious Orchards have become leaders of Colorado’s Western Slopes cider industry and the farm features a tasting room. Jack Rabbit Hill Farm
is a 70-acre certified organic farm in the North Fork Valley which
produces a full range of wines, craft spirits—including the
award-winning CapRock gin, plus single orchard ciders and perries. Marble Distilling Company offer guided tours (via helicopter!) to meet the third generation of Nieslanik ranchers who grow white wheat, rye and triticale (a naturally-occurring wheat-rye hybrid) for Marble’s spirits. Whiskey Sisters Supply of
Burlington, a farm founded in 1912 as a homestead, is now overseen by
the next generation of the family which is working directly to supply
heritage grains to Colorado’s craft beverage industry, including Laws Whisky and Leopold Bros.