On Walkabout At: Pueblo Colorado’s Farms

My wife and I are quite picky about produce and like to get the freshest fruits and vegetables as possible.  One way we do this is by traveling to various farms in the area and buying produce straight from the source.  We like to visit Rocky Ford, Colorado to buy most our melons, but for vegetables we find that the farms along the Arkansas River just east of Pueblo is the best place to go.  Last month we took a drive over to these Pueblo farms to purchase our last batch of vegetables before the first frost of the year hit.  We usually drive east on Highway 50 towards the city’s airport and from there drive along the various country roads along the Arkansas River to look for produce:

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Finding your favorite farms is part of the fun of spending a day out on Pueblo’s east side looking for produce.  Between the airport and Avondale further to the east is where we usually go to buy produce.  Many of the farms will have a sign or an office letting you know they are open.  These farms are usually only open on weekends so that is the time to go.  The farmers will usually have table with produce for sale while others allow you to go and pick your own vegetables in their fields:

That is usually what we will do.  We walkout in the fields with a bucket and pick what we want then bring it back to the farmer to weigh and then pay for.  We just find this to be a fun family activity as my daughter just loves helping to pick the vegetables out in the field plus we think it is educational for her to understand where her food comes from:

A vegetable that is really popular for Pueblo farmers is chili peppers.  Many of these farmers will roast whatever chili peppers you bought for a small additional fee.  Below is a picture of a local farmer completing the roasting of the chili peppers that we bought from him:

If you haven’t tried roasted chili peppers before you are definitely missing out. Likewise if you live in Southern Colorado and have not tried out the regions various farms and farmers markets you are missing out as well.