WHAT DO WE DO?

Our Mission
Skip’s Farm to Market strives to build a healthy community by providing the highest quality, nutrient-dense food available. We have built a foundation on supporting sustainable farming, ranching and food processing practices. We value and honor the hard work of our employees, farmers, ranchers and vendors through responsible and honest relationships. We cherish the lasting relationships we have built with our customers and desire to continue to serve our communities for years to come.

We connect you
to the farmers

Skip’s Farm to Market is committed to bringing you healthy, biodiverse fruits and veggies, directly from farm to your table. We feature farmers and producers from the Roaring Fork Valley, the Western Slope, and Eastern Utah with a focus on sustainable agriculture. We look forward to providing you with fresh, healthy produce every season of the year.

Our Partners
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Our Story

Skip Doty had a vision to grow his farm in a different way in 2011. It started when he saw a need for growing vegetables year round at his farm in Palisade, Early Morning Orchard. Skip felt there was a need not being met in Western Colorado to provide high quality produce year round. In 2012 they took out a block of old peach trees at the farm with the intention of replacing the space with four greenhouses. 

 

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Skip wanted to differentiate himself from other farms. His vision really began to take shape in 2013 when the greenhouses were completed. He found mixed results, as he tried to find the right help and the best markets to move the product to. He found those first years to be a tough learning process.

One of his favorite farmer’s markets was the Basalt Farmers Market. It was a very successful and fun market. While working in Basalt he saw that the people there had a desire for year round, locally grown produce. “People really wanted local food in that community,” said Skip. In 2016 his team said, “Let's do a CSA.” This didn’t feel complete to him though and later that year he had an opportunity to purchase a permanent space in old town Basalt. He felt this space could complete his vision of providing produce all year long to a community he cared deeply for. In November of 2017 he finally opened his first Skip’s Farm to Market in The Riverwalk at The Frying Pan.

This first store was the culmination of his dream. As part of his dream he knew he had to include the local farmers. In the first month of opening in Basalt, he hosted the annual Roaring Fork Farmers and Ranchers meeting in the small store. The space was filled with farmers with similar visions who were eager to establish food security in the valley. That meeting set the tone for the store’s niche. Relationships were formed and networking established for providing local food to the community. To be able to support our local farmers and ranchers seemed to be the best way to drive our food system forward. The Basalt Skip’s Farm to Market set the company up for expansion.

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Next Skip set his sights on the small town of Silt. He chose this location because it is a food desert; it has no grocery store. He saw a real need for people to have good, healthy food. In the fall of 2018 he opened his second location at 701 Main St. He thought that what the business offers could really benefit the community of Silt. Fresh produce, local meat, local honey, dairy, and fresh breads were missing in Silt and he wanted to help provide that.
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Later that year, while eating lunch with his mom in Fruita, they noticed most people coming and going were family units, 3 or 4 generations of family. Skip loved seeing the family oriented scene. “Family is really important for what we are trying to do, we really want to work with and support families,” Skip says. Then by chance in Sept. 2019 the owner of the long established meat market Roan Creek Ranch Grocery in Fruita, reached out to Skip. She wanted to know if he would like to purchase her business and turn it into a Skip's Farm to Market? He said yes.
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The Skip’s team has always worked toward a vision of having a place in which they could process food in order to reduce food waste and invest into seasonal eating. First, a little back story. Farms often have what is called “seconds,” produce which is considered second quality, but is still perfectly good for consumption. Seconds produce is slightly damaged, blemished or already ripe. Seconds produce is perfect for canning, drying and baking. The Skip’s team has worked toward finding a place where they could purchase or build a commercial kitchen to fulfill this goal. Skip, seeing that the old Roan Creek Ranch Grocery space was already too small for the business and community needs, decided to purchase a 6000 square foot space down the street that once housed Brumbaugh’s Groceries and Meats in the 1930’s.

After several years of working hard to maintain multiple storefront locations, and fruit stands providing fresh produce and local goods to communities in need, Skip’s commitment to his vision began to take a toll on his health. He had to make the very difficult decision to downsize and close the Basalt location (Silt location closed in 2020), as well as the fruit stands. He is now keeping things closer to home, focusing on the farm, and Fruita market location.

Early Morning Orchards continues to grow and expand providing fresh produce year round to the Fruita store, as well as working with local food banks, farmers, and non-profit organizations to get more nutritious produce to the people who need it most.

The expanded Fruita location, located at 211 E. Aspen Ave, carries primarily local products, but also staple provisions, and house-made deli salads and sandwiches to continue to provide for community needs.

 Coming in late 2023, Bake Sale Bread Company will open next door with artisan breads, pastries, and more. Skip’s collaboration with Bake Sale Bread Co., will provide an on- site, shared commercial kitchen, which will allow Skip’s Farm to Market and Early Morning Orchards greater access to eliminating food waste by creating value added products, such as canned goods, and dehydrated or frozen fruits and veggies.

Our goal is to become a true, local food hub, creating greater food security for the Grand Valley.

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Why Buy Local?

There are so many reasons that buying local first is important to us. A huge part of the work we do is not in just purchasing and selling local food, it is about educating our customers on why we value the idea so much. We are living in a time where globalization and big agriculture are big business. Many of us feel a void, a lack of connection to something, but we just can’t seem to put a finger on what it is. Being social creatures, at the heart of who we are, is the deep yearning for connecting to one another, the land, our community and in turn our food. If this piques your interest, read our Top 10 Reasons to Buy Local list.