Our Story

We grow high quality and nutrient dense produce, responsibly grown on 6 acres in Palisade, Colorado. Our 10 acres of fruit trees include peaches, nectarines, pluots and plums. We offer our produce year round at specialty grocery stores, restaurants and food pantries from Denver to Southeastern Utah.

How We Got Started

The owner of Early Morning Orchard Skip Doty had a vision to grow his farm in a different way in 2011. It started when he saw a need for growing vegetables year-round. He felt there was a need to provide high quality produce year-round and this need was not being met in Western Colorado.

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.

Our Produce

Mission

To build community through education, food accessibility, and being a model of appropriate land stewardship and regenerative agricultural techniques. We aim to create a sustainable model of regenerative farming and local agriculture that protects our food, employees, environment, and community.

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 produced gained the Certified Naturally Grown status, deepening our commitment to growing high quality foods with minimal inputs.

Early Morning Orchard also provides a range of educational experiences centered around a sustainable farming model from seed to table which is healthy for the individual and the environment. 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 young 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-table.

Training for the
Future of Food

In 2023 we added culinary farm to table education designed to immerse young chefs in the farm to table process, culminating in dinners on the farm and at Skips Farm to Market in Fruita. The pilot programming resulted in a full-blown program called the Culinary Arts Entrepreneurship now servicing value-added contracts across the state of Colorado. Another major launch of education-based programming was the Seed-to-Seed Internship, a collaboration with Julia Coffey at Seeds Trust focused on regionally adapted seed production.

Both programs work with local jobs programs and higher-education groups to recruit and support interested students of all ages during every season of the year. Early Morning Orchard actively supports the LGBTQIA+ community and offers employee housing, free lunches, and a food pantry to interns and staff in recognition that the right to grow food and access basic needs belongs to all regardless of gender or economic status.