From Palisade to Lyons and Olathe to Swink, Colorado is full of communities that harvest some of the most flavorful produce in the nation. One town that has become internationally synonymous with superb melons is Rocky Ford, which is situated on the Arkansas River. This tightly knit town on the Southeastern Plains utilizes the ideal climate to grow the juiciest and sweetest cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelons around. In fact, as far back as 1897, melons from this area were shipped to England, where the British were willing to pay $4 a crate for the exceptional melons. The craze for Rocky Ford produce continues to this day. But as we found out when we talked with local farmer Greg Smith, there’s more to this part of the state than just farm-fresh treats.
Tell us about Rocky Ford and melons.
Rocky Ford was originally a crossing on the Arkansas River. At that time, there was a river-bottom island and some settlers planted watermelon on that island. They had large barrels filled with water and they’d open them up to irrigate the land. Over time, they started planting the seeds on the arid land around the river and they found that the warm days and cool nights were perfect for growing melon.
A visitor to your farm stand would certainly recognize the watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, but there are a whole bunch of other melon varieties, too, aren’t there?
There are. We have the galia melon, which is also known as the rocky sweet melon. It’s an Israeli melon that grows particularly well here. It has a sort of spicy-sweet taste to it. There’s also the canary melon and the Charente melon, which is a nice French melon. We also have the Denver melon.
And why are there so many varieties in Rocky Ford?
Well, there is a melon seed company based here and they conduct a lot of research on crossbreeding melon types. It’s a good climate for their operation and you see a lot of those seeds being used by local farmers.
And do you have any family melon recipes from the kitchen?
Just cut up a lot of varieties and combine them for a melon salad. Cantaloupe, galia, watermelon, honeydew. Any of them will work well. It’ll keep for a while. It’s really good if you let it sit for a day or so and let the flavors blend more.
What other farm-fresh treats can you pick up in Rocky Ford?
Well, there are tomatoes, chili peppers and sweet corn in the summer. The sweet corn is especially good. The trick is to pick it early in the morning before it gets too hot out. It tastes better when it’s picked early. We usually have it on the shelves by 10 am that day.
So that means you’re awake by...
Before sunrise. We start picking when there is just enough light to see.
What types of peppers are grown there and how hot are they?
The most popular is the Anaheim pepper, or as its called, the Big Jim. It is fairly mild. We also have a pepper called mire el sol—which is Spanish for “look at the sun.” That’s also a nice pepper. Rocky Ford and a lot of the towns in the area, including Pueblo, are renowned for their green chili.
And when are the farm stands open and running?
Usually we open with the first harvest in July and we stay open until the first frost, which is usually in October.
Do you have professional chefs utilizing your produce in their kitchens?
Yes. There’s a chef by the name of Ron Charleton who started originally in La Junta. Now he runs the restaurant at the Thatcher Museum in
Pueblo. The museum is a big Victorian House and he converted the carriage house into a nice little restaurant.
What does he serve of yours?
He serves a lot of our melons. I can’t think of any item off the menu at the moment. It changes here and there. Usually in desserts and sometimes in appetizers. He sometimes uses up to five different melon varieties, including the dove melon.
What does Rocky Ford have in the way of dining opportunities?
Like a lot of towns down here we have some great Mexican restaurants. In fact, that’s the best food in town. When we do visit
Denver, we usually look for other types of restaurants because we have such good Mexican here and in the surrounding communities.
What kinds of special events should a visitor take note of if they’re visiting your area?
Well, there’s the Arkansas Valley Fair here in Rocky Ford. It’s the oldest continuous fair in Colorado and it’s a really neat fair. There’s a watermelon day in which we all compete for the best watermelon. That’s usually held in late August, right in the middle of melon season.
What makes Rocky Ford and Southeast Colorado such a great place for kids?
When I moved back to Rocky Ford I wanted to raise my kids on a farm. Kids really learn a sense of responsibility living on a farm. You show them how it's done and they take after it. At a certain age, I bought my sons horses and they rode them around and learned to tend to them. Again, they learned responsibility and it shows today in the young men they’ve become. That’s something I don’t know if I could do in another place.
Where do you go with your sons when you have time away from the farm?
When they were growing up we went to
Bent’s Old Fort a few times. That’s great over there. They have great history there and the boys really got into it. Nowadays my sons go hunting for deer. They only have to drive about fifteen minutes and they can start hunting, so that’s nice.
Do they hunt for anything besides deer?
There’s a lot of hunting around this time of year. I always know when dove season has started because the hunters just start showing up in town and at our place in September. There’s also pheasant hunting.
Do you spend much time in Picketwire Canyon?
I haven’t been down there in a while but it is really something.
Describe it for us.
Well, it’s a fairly deep canyon, surprisingly deep. The Purgatoire River flows through it and there’s a really long stretch of dinosaur tracks along the bottom. You can follow them for a long ways. They look like really big bird tracks. You have to walk in several miles to see it, but its something to see. I’ve also seen it from the air and that’s really something.
You can see the tracks from the air, too?
Yeah. You can see where these two walked alongside each other and stopped.
So there was some kind of interaction between these two dinosaurs?
Yeah, you can tell. I don’t know if they fought or if they kissed or what (laughs). But you can see how they stopped and interacted in some way.
When is it a good time to visit the canyon?
Fall is really nice because it’s warm and not too hot. It does get hot in there during the summer and since it’s a long walk, you’d probably have to spend much of the day in there. Spring is also nice.
I also understand you like to fish. Are there any particular fishing holes you’d be willing to divulge?
Well, we really don’t go too far. The life of a farmer means you have a lot of long days during the summer, so we don’t drive up into the mountains often. When we do get things done early and can go fishing we like to head down to the southern mountains and fish Trinidad Reservoir. If you like to fish for warm-water fish the
John Martin Dam is also pretty good for bass and crappie and catfish. There are also some good fishing lakes north of Lamar that we like to go to.
What’s your favorite time of year on the Southeast Plains?
Oh, I like all seasons. The climate is great all year. I’m the type of person who likes to be outside a lot, so they’re all great to me. In winter we don’t get a whole lot of snow, which is nice. Spring and fall are nice and moderate temperature wise. I like the fall because its nice to have that feeling as you finish up a year’s worth of work. As a farmer, you notice each season for what it is.
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