Afresh taste of thewest
Pick your own fruits and veggies or relax with a glass of wine and true farm-to-table dining at one of these agritourism stops.
Wineries and fruit stands are must-stops for summer road trip- pers to the Western Slope. But in a part of the state that can be likened to one giant farmers market, there are myriad opportunities to delve deeper into agritourism.
Agritourists can get their hands dirty and their attitude in the farming mind-set by gathering fresh lavender bouquets, hiking with alpacas, waking to the sound of lowing cattle, helping to pick veggies and bringing in the henhouse eggs.
And then there are the culinary delights. What could be more farmto-table than going to the pasture, orchard and vegetable patch to savor handmade cheeses, grass-fed burgers and still-warm fruit pies?
Here’s where to get a taste fresh from the farm.
IN THE NORTH FORK VALLEY
Big B’s Delicious Orchards Organic Farm Market
The crowded bristle of large signs —“Cafe,” “U-pick,” “Cider,” “Wine” and “Pie”— at this stop a mile west of Paonia are an understatement. Fresh fruit pies, local tamales and righteous Reubens are reason enough for a stop, but Big B’s also has on-tap ciders, local wines and a market with fresh-ascan-be produce and local crafts.
The grove of picnic tables under the cottonwoods invites travelers to linger and maybe feel a little Mayberry- ish as giddy children (and adults) sail out over a ditch bank on old-fashioned wooden swings. Lucky visitors might also take in some of the local talent that performs on a small stage between the orchards and the cafe. In season, you can grab baskets and head to the orchards to choose your own fruits, trying to keep in mind you must lug all that juicy produce back to the market scale.
Too much for one day? Camping is allowed for $10 on a first-come basis.
39126 Colorado 133, 970- 527-1110, bigbs.com
The Living Farm Cafe and Inn
The term “farm to table” has been truth-stretched at times in the stampede to local foods. But not here. The Living Farm, 5 miles from the historic cafe and inn on Grand Avenue in Paonia, supplies many of the creative dishes concocted by chef Mike Gillespie. He grew up on that farm, as did four generations of Gillespies before him. So you can be sure the veggies on the vegan risotto cake and the beets in the Beetnik sandwich are truly local, as is the meat in the popular elk osso buco and the lamb ... Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post