Local produce seller Lisa Jenkins and her family are on a quest to collect the forgotten bounty of the region’s abandoned fruit orchards.
Across Montezuma County, peaches, pears, plums, and apples go unharvested, a niche-market opportunity Jenkins seized on.
“I don’t want to see them go to waste, so I started asking landowners if I could harvest and they were really agreeable,” she said from her produce stand next to Mr. Happy’s on Main St. in Cortez.
“She finds them and I get out the ladders and do the work,” said her boyfriend Kelly Roofe. “It is good, fun labor.”
Demand for local produce and products has created a brisk business, and has inspired gardeners with unmanageable yields to drop off fresh vegetables and fruits that would otherwise go unused.
“I pass it on at reasonable prices,” Jenkins said.
At night she and her dad, Bill Jenkins, 79, use excess produce to can jams and jellies that she also sells, along with local honey.
“I’d never had guessed it but my jalapeño and habanero jams sell like crazy,” she said. “I love that I’ve created my own business working with my family.”
Orchard hunting is an adventurous part of the job that has led to interesting discoveries, including two rare heirloom pear trees.
“Biting into them tastes like candy,” she says. “People say the peaches we are picking rival those in Palisade and are sweeter.”
Jenkins makes a point of only collecting produce that has not been sprayed with pesticides. She encourages people to drop off excess produce and make a deal or trade.
“It’s been fun exploring the county and finding great fruit ready to pick,” she said. “I love meeting new people and passing on locally grown food.”
Her stand next to Mr. Happy’s is open everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com