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Colorado fruit growers expect a banner year

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 18, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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Cherries from Z's Orchard are ready for market Wednesday. Z's this year harvested a full crop of Bing and Rainier cherries.

Cherries from Z's Orchard are ready for market Wednesday. Z's this year harvested a full crop of Bing and Rainier cherries.

Harry Talbott of Palisade-based Talbott Farms checks the progress of the peaches Tuesday. Talbott Farms grows 25 varieties of peaches sold across Colorado and the Midwest.

Photo by Photos By Ken Papaleo / The Rocky

Harry Talbott of Palisade-based Talbott Farms checks the progress of the peaches Tuesday. Talbott Farms grows 25 varieties of peaches sold across Colorado and the Midwest.

Mario Lopez picks peaches Tuesday at Z's Orchards in Palisade. Harold Larsen of Colorado State University's Western Colorado Research Center said western Colorado's fruit "should have better size, better quality, better appearance than we've had in a long time."

Photo by Photos By Ken Papaleo / The Rocky

Mario Lopez picks peaches Tuesday at Z's Orchards in Palisade. Harold Larsen of Colorado State University's Western Colorado Research Center said western Colorado's fruit "should have better size, better quality, better appearance than we've had in a long time."

Z's Orchard co-owner Richard Skaer carries boxes for apricots Wednesday morning in Palisade. Ideal weather this year has been good for stone fruits.

Z's Orchard co-owner Richard Skaer carries boxes for apricots Wednesday morning in Palisade. Ideal weather this year has been good for stone fruits.

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Colorado's celebrated peaches will arrive at markets roughly 10 days behind schedule next month, but growers say that the quality of this year's extra-plump crop should make the wait worthwhile.

Ample snowfall over the winter and a long, cool spring in the Western Slope created ideal conditions for stone fruits like peaches, cherries and apricots to slowly develop on the trees and benefit from maximum sunshine.

Unlike last year, the fruit-growing counties of Delta, Mesa and Montrose largely managed to avoid devastating April freezes or disease infestations.

"This should be one of the banner years for fruit production in western Colorado," said Harold Larsen, fruit program leader and interim manager of Colorado State University's Western Colorado Research Center. "We should have better size, better quality, better appearance than we've had in a long time."

Peaches are a point of state pride as well as Colorado's largest fruit crop, with an estimated 2,100 acres worth an estimated $13 million.

This year's crop likely won't hit a record, but growers expect an ample enough harvest that for the first time every attendee at the 40th annual Palisade Peach Festival, which runs from Aug. 14 to 17, will be handed a peach upon entry, said Carol Zadrozny, owner of Z's Orchard in Palisade.

"Even though they're a couple of weeks late, we should have a full crop, and they seem to be in great shape," said Zadrozny, whose farm grows 18 peach varieties and plans to begin harvesting the first early clings next week.

In the meantime, Z's Orchard already has harvested a full crop of Rainier and Bing cherries this year, and the apricots are coming in strong as well. That's a welcome change from last year, when freezes wiped out all of her apricots.

Stone fruits are able to withstand extreme cold during the winter. But once flowers start to bloom in the spring, the fruits become susceptible to frost. Apricots and cherries, because they ripen first, are the most vulnerable, while peaches tend to get hardier with the later-season varieties.

"The nice, cool, long lead-up to summer is very, very helpful for the fruit to size," Larsen said. "With all the sunlight we're seeing now and moderate temperatures, those trees should be pumping sugar into those fruit like you wouldn't believe."

Talbott Farms, which grows peaches, wine grapes, apples and pears, expects to begin harvesting its first peaches around July 27.

"Everything looks good, but we're not going to claim a bumper crop until we're in it," said Charlie Talbott, president of Palisade-based Talbott Farms, which grows 25 varieties of peaches sold across Colorado and the Midwest.

Talbott also packages apricots and cherries for other farmers, and that produce is sold at Safeway, King Soopers and Whole Foods stores throughout Colorado.

The chilly spring wasn't ideal for every kind of produce. Olathe sweet corn is also running behind schedule, by about five days, but the delay doesn't confer the same volume-boosting benefits it does to stone fruit.

"Corn is a grass, and it likes heat to grow," said David Harold of Tuxedo Corn in Olathe. "Some of it came up and turned around and went back down."

Even so, Harold is expecting "a decent year" for the sweet, tender corn crop that Olathe is famous for. Harold says the cold probably knocked out, at most, 2,000 plants out of every 29,000- plant acre.

Barbara Bikki, owner of Bikki's Ranch of Liberty in Palisade, grows apricots, cherries and peaches. She says her apricots are "the biggest I've ever seen," and the peach crop, while down slightly, is on track to hit ideal size.

"It's a beautiful year. We cannot complain," she said.

Bearing fruit

Peaches are top producer in Colorado's abundant crop

* Apples

Apples were once the state's biggest crop, making up 6,500 acres of the state's 10,500 acres of fruit orchards in 1985. Now, they're the state's second-biggest crop, after peaches, and acreage has continued to decline from an estimated 1,300 acres in 2006 to an estimated 1,100 acres in 2007. Spring frosts reduced apple production last year to only 50 percent of a full crop.

* Apricots

Plenty of winter moisture and the long, cool spring created ideal conditions. Z's Orchard in Palisade reports a strong supply. Frosts in 2007 wiped out all of this orchard's apricots.

* Cherries

Because they ripen first, cherries and apricots are the most vulnerable to spring frost, and some farmers have seen a reduced harvest. Colorado farms grow more sweet cherries than tart ones, which make their way into pies and other baked goods. Rising values for the sweet variety, however, have made this crop more attractive to growers. Last year's sweet cherry harvest was only 10 percent of potential.

* Grapes

Wine grape acreage was negligible in 1985 at about 50 acres. But the crop has taken off in recent years and continues to increase - estimated this year at 1,000 acres. Grape acreage is expected to exceed that for apples this year or next and would then become the second-largest- acreage fruit crop in Colorado.

* Peaches

Although behind schedule, Colorado's best-known and largest fruit crop is expected to be top-notch in size, quality and appearance. The 2007 peach harvest from about 2,100 acres was an estimated $13 million. The state's peach acreage hasn't changed much in the past 20 years.

* Pears

Weather damaged pears last year the least. About 300 acres were planted in 2007, and valuation was estimated at $1.3 million. Peaches, apples, grapes, pears and sweet cherries led all Colorado fruit crops in acreage and value in 2007.

Comments

  • July 20, 2008

    7:29 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Jim writes:

    Ingredients
    2 tablespoons cornstarch
    1 1/2 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
    1 1/4 lb blackberries (5 cups)
    2 lb peaches (6 medium), peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
    3 cups all-purpose flour
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
    1 cup plus 3 tablespoons whole milk

    Preparation
    Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish (3-quart capacity).
    Whisk together cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large bowl, then add blackberries and peaches and toss to combine well. Transfer to baking dish and bake until just bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes.

    While fruit bakes, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in another large bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and stir just until a dough forms.

    Drop dough onto hot fruit mixture in 12 mounds (about 1/3 cup each), then sprinkle dough with remaining teaspoon sugar. Bake cobbler until top is golden, 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm.

    Cooks' note:
    Cobbler can be baked 6 hours ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Before serving, let stand at room temperature 1 hour, then reheat in a preheated 350°F oven until warm, about 20 minutes.

  • July 21, 2008

    3:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    buffsblg writes:

    thanks Jim, sounds wonderful. I moved back to Denver from Grand Junction eight years ago and still miss the fresh peaches. If any of you get the chance, drive over for the Palisade Peach Festival some day. It is a small taste of what Colorado used to be and the fresh peaches will remind you what fruit really tastes like before they hit the refrigerated trucks.