While we kept busy during the winter, the work during the “off season” is quite different from the work we do throughout the rest of the year. Winter work is made up of conferences, continuing education, and lots and lots of computer work. Certainly not our favorite work season, but the way our bodies respond to those first few weeks of spring is a humbling reminder of how important the winter was for us to rest up a bit.

We have a small crew here at Topp Fruits. Aside from the family, we have four guys who work with us for the season. Things really kicked off a few weeks ago when the crew made it through the consulate in Mexico and arrived ready to get moving. We’ve been pruning non-stop since they arrived, trying to dodge the weather and race against the trees waking up from dormancy. Juan, Jesus, Gonzalo, and Luis are an amazing group of orchard professionals that are the backbone of our success.

We will be adding the Longmont Farmers Market on Saturdays to our market schedule! We will continue to sell at the Boulder Farmers Market (Wednesdays), Telluride Farmers Market (Fridays) and City Park Farmers Market in Denver (Saturdays). We look forward to sharing some amazing fruit with you at one of these markets!

Can’t make it to market? Well, we have other options to satisfy your fruity needs. Check out some of our partner CSA’s like GoFarm and Common Name Farm in Denver or Two Roots Farm near Basalt, CO. Stay tuned for a Topp Fruits CSA with pickup options on-farm or at our market locations. We’ll launch more information about our own CSA in the next few weeks.

Rounding out this newsletter, we thought we’d share some interesting research projects that we’re involved with. The first is the STAR Program, colloquially known as the Colorado Soil Health Program. The Star Program is helping us to track our practices and outcomes when it comes to environmental stewardship. Learn more here: Star Program

Ever bite into a peach that’s just not quite ripe? Us too. And we are very, very passionate about growing delicious fruit and harvesting them exactly when they’re ready. But even the most experienced peach pickers can get it wrong, which is why we are working on a new pilot project that scans the chlorophyl level in the fruit to determine its ripeness. This information will help us make decision on when to harvest and how to store peaches so they are at the peak of quality when you take that delicious, juicy bite. We cannot wait to see what we can learn and how we can contribute to the continued development of this technology and its utilization in the growing space of precision agriculture. Learn more at XLSOR.