When the Boulder Farmer’s Market opens I know it’s time turn my attention back to local food. I start to focus more on what is in season and how to get the freshest ingredients. Our family grows what we can in our backyard garden, we head to the Farmer’s Market when we are in town, and otherwise we make our way to the grocery store. We try to eat locally whenever possible. This year we got a chance to take a tour of where our fruit comes from at Ela Family Farm.

This weekend we were invited to a farm tour at Ela Family Farms, a farm that has been in the same family for 4 generations, in Hotchkiss, Colorado [5 hours or so from Boulder].  It is here that three of the four generations live together on the farm. You may recognize Ela Family Farms from the Farmer’s Market or a bunch of restaurants in town (The Kitchen for instance). The Ela family grows fruit and produces other products from the fruit. The farm is amazing. The family engaging, passionate about what they do, and surrounded by a large community of friends.

We camped in the Ela Family Farm orchard along with many other friends and people we had just met. This was where we started our journey of wine tasting, eat a delicious meal prepared by Boulder chef, Hosea Rosenberg, in a peach orchard, and best of all toured the farm. Steve Ela is the farmer who took us on a tour to see the farm operation from growing to production, to the myriad of decisions that a farmer makes along the way daily. It was humbling to see all the details of farm life. I left in awe of the resolve, the work, the dedication, the creativity, the botany and mechanical knowledge, and the love it take to work the land and bring us all delicious fruit.

This was a magical experience and I left happy to be a part of the Ela Family Farm story! For more information on the farm visit them at www.elafamilyfarms.com.