Our Story
The owner of Early Morning Orchard, Skip Doty, had a vision to grow his farm in a different way in 2011. He saw a need in Western Colorado to provide high-quality produce year-round so he set his sights on making that happen.
His vision really began to take shape in 2013 with the construction of four greenhouses in addition to field growing spaces and orchards. Those first years were a tough learning process, with mixed results as he tried to find the right help and establish markets for the products grown.
Growing The Farm
In 2018 the farm transitioned from a direct to consumer to wholesale only sales farm. This decision coincided with the opening of Skip's first farm to market store, Skips Farm to Market in Basalt. He realized that in order to have a year round supply of produce for this store and future stores he had planned it would be important to forge close relationships with the farming community surrounding the store. In 2019 with the hiring of Operations Manager Kaye Davis, a farm to table private chef and small business owner, the farm expanded the focus of the wholesale business to include new customers and new delivery areas. With the addition of a store in Fruita it gave the farm a reason to scale up production, at this time the farm added several acres to its production.
Where We Are Now
2024 will mark our fifth year of transitioning to regenerative agriculture, working with the NRCS on three projects incorporating conservation cover and working to upgrade our watering systems for our orchards. We are working with several partners and local coalitions to pilot mobile markets and other community-based outreach initiatives.
More than ever before, the team’s commitment to food accessibility now includes working with several food pantries both here in Mesa County and in Denver, including the existing programs with various partners to source, grow and deliver fresh food for their clients. In 2023 our farm’s produce gained the Certified Naturally Grown status, deepening our commitment to growing high quality foods with minimal inputs.
Early Morning Orchard provides a range of land-based educational experiences centered around a regenerative and sustainable farming model from seed to community. Our agricultural experts both on staff and in partnership ensure food accessibility through programs focused on putting the best nutrient dense fresh food possible into the hands of the community and those most in need. The farm encourages a continuation of regenerative farming methods, including regionally adapted seed, through training and providing the tools necessary for beginning farmers to move forward in their own pursuit of responsible land stewardship.
This part of the mission saw pilot programming early in 2022 and now Early Morning Orchard boasts several credit-based programs for any young farmer seeking to make an impact on the Future of Food from seed-to-community.