ON 25 ACRES OF COLORADO’S WESTERN SLOPE,
just south of the 10,000-foot Grand Mesa
in Hotchkiss, lies the farm that Stacia
Cannon and Harrison Topp purchased
last year, which they now call home.
It’s a good piece of land: in years with
no drought, the mesa’s deep snowpack
melts in the spring and feeds the earth
with pristine water. Everything greens up.
Here as well as on the 15 acres in nearby
Paonia where Topp Fruits began six years
ago, the couple’s organic peach, plum and
cherry trees bloom.
First, in June, comes the cherry crop.
After that, the bigger stone fruits do their
thing: Elephant Heart plums named for
their shape; Blood plums named for their
color; peaches ripening through Septem-
ber. The best are the Redhaven, Suncrest
and Cresthaven cultivars that blush
at the height of summer—“giant juice
orbs,” Topp calls them. They delight the
shoppers at the Telluride farmers’ market
and at the farmstand in the old mining
town of Ridgeway. And they’re the cream
of the crop the couple brings to the pack-
ing shed a quarter mile from their farm, to
be shipped to grocers all over.
“We have hot summers here, so a lus-
cious peach is an amazing Colorado treat,”
Topp declares. Cool nights, warm days
and sweet mountain water lend a sugar-
acid complexity to the fruit.
The fruit’s beauty, though, belies the
sacrifice that goes into it. At 29 and 32
years old respectively, Cannon and Topp
face the same struggles as other young
farmers: Loans to pay off and help to
pay. Cash flow and free time are scarce.
Tricky weather can knock out a crop,
and changes in the fruit business make it
tough for small farmers to survive.
The couple holds down second jobs tomake ends meet, she as vet tech and he
as an organizer for the Rocky Mountain
Farmers Union, which provides oppor-
tunity to farmers through education,
cooperation and legislation. Topp attends
union gatherings throughout the region to
figure out how to help those communities,
while back at home, he and Cannon are
supported by neighboring farmers who
pitch in to fix equipment and keep the
standards at the packing shed high.
Indeed, though visiting hikers, bi-
cyclists and skiers might not realize it,
there’s a strong agricultural tradition in
this part of Colorado, including vege-
tables and herbs, ranching of all kinds,
and apples, which Topp and Cannon also
grow. But those who look will also find an
agritourism scene that brings them closer
to farmers like Topp and Cannon. Organic
orchardists Kevin and Karen Kropp run
the historic Bross Hotel Bed and Break-
fast in Paonia, an excellent base, says
Topp, for exploration. There are cideries,
farm tours, you-pick fruit, a boom in local
wineries—people are going to get up close
and personal with the food in this region.
“They’re going to have a trip they’ll really
remember here,” Topp says.
“We’re stewarding the land in Western
Colorado,” he continues. “There’s joy, suc-
cess and accomplishment, and it’s replete
with challenges and moments of despair.
But agriculture is not about not failing. It’s
about getting up after you fail,” he adds,
invoking the wisdom he’s gained thus far
in his long hours in the orchards. “And no
matter how crazy the summer gets, it’s
sweetened considerably because we love
what we grow. I have profound respect for
people who grow grains, but there’s noth-
ing like growing a peach.”BETSY ANDREWS is a food and travel
writer and a poet. Her award-winning
books include New Jersey and The Bottom.KATE MCDERMOTT is a baking teacher
and James Beard Award-nominated cook-
book author. Her latest book is Home Cook-
ing with Kate McDermott.Harrison Topp and Stacia Cannon—
who also raise Bernese mountain
dogs—prune their trees into
funnel-like shapes for maximum
exposure to air and light and to
make the fruit easier to pick.