What makes Palisade peaches special? According to Audra McDowell, it’s the fact that they grow in a climate of hot days and cold nights.
“It creates stress on the trees, and that’s what helps produce more flavor,” she says.
McDowell has countless memories of growing up on the family farm in Palisade including the 10-hour summer harvesting days and year-round chores. Her father, Tom Saims, first tasted Palisade peaches traveling across the state in the 1970s.
After studying geology in college, Saims worked in the oil fields and began saving money to buy land and start farming. He and his wife, Carolyn, eventually settled in the Western Slope town and began Saims Fruit in 1992, raising three children on what would become their current 20-acre farm.
Even at age 70, Saims is still farming and, over the past three decades, the family has added three regular employees through the H-2A program, allowing the family operation to continue.
Historically, most of the family’s peaches were sold on the wholesale market, but about six years ago, McDowell began the family’s direct-to-consumer arm, aptly named The Farmer’s Daughter, to help provide a more sustainable income. It has also allowed them to increase customer engagement. The Farmer’s Daughter currently sells through its website, with plans to sell locally at the Colorado Farm and Art Market and Black Forest Backyard Market on Saturdays during the summer. The Farmer’s Daughter accepts SNAP benefits for all in-person sales and for those purchasing online.
By the time a tree’s fruit is enjoyed, a farmer has invested several years in its cultivation. On McDowell’s farm, they’ll wait until a peach tree is five years old before fruit is harvested. Before then, flower blooms are typically removed to allow the tree to focus on growing. Each tree is typically harvested three times per season. The farm hasn’t pursued U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic certification due to the cost (not uncommon for small farmers). However, Saims Fruit follows many of the same principles, including weed removal to minimize additional spraying, using cow manure for fertilizer, using non-harmful predatory wasps through the Colorado Department of Agriculture insectary for pest control and selective spraying to combat pests like the twig borer beetle. They also use a drip irrigation system to reduce overall water usage and limit runoff.
Farm work is year-round, but the nine-week harvest season is typically the busiest. Early season peaches typically involve clingstone variety, while freestone peaches, with a pit that separates from the flesh more cleanly, are harvested later in the season. The Farmer’s Daughter primarily sells semi-clingstone and freestone varieties.
This year, due to the warmer winter, harvesting is expected to begin almost a month early and McDowell expects peaches to be available at market as early as the first week of July.
At age 43, McDowell has remained involved in the family business because she takes pride in where she’s from and finds joy in being able to share the fruits of the family business with others.
“It’s such a special bond to the land, and Palisade is such a special place. Colorado’s a really tough climate to grow things, and so Palisade has this beautiful unique setup where we can farm … and so, growing up, it was kind of drilled into you that this is a really rare thing to be a part of.”
Audra McDowell, The Farmer’s Daughter