With care, respect and love – we produce premium Palisade peaches, fruit and produce on our Certified Organic farmland
Our story begins with Heather Morton Burtness growing up on one of Colorado’s first organic farms, located in Palisade. Her parents, David and Mary Morton, purchased property in 1978. They became pioneers, exploring how to grow high quality peaches without the conventional spraying that was typical of the time. In 1993 Morton’s Orchards were Certified Organic by the state of Colorado, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took over in 1996. As Farmers’ Markets became popular across Colorado, health and eco-conscious people sought certified organically grown fruit from Morton’s.
Family owned and operated since 1978
The Burtness family, including their daughters, continue the tradition of putting their hearts and efforts into the meaningful, careful stewardship of all life.
“It is our life’s work to feed people. It is with decades of experience that we care for the earth and choose organic, sustainable agricultural practices to feed people well.” ~ Heather Morton Burtness
Morton’s and Aloha’s organic fruit offers high quality options at Farmers’ Markets and shipping online across the USA
Heather Morton Burtness grew up in an organic farming family in Colorado, and so are her daughters.
Tips for buying Certified Organic Palisade fruit at peak ripeness
As nature is unpredictable, and fruit ripens on its own timetable, follow us or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram to confirm what we are picking.
We grow 17+ varieties of Certified Organic peaches to have at Farmers’ Markets from late June to the end of September. Here are harvest dates for our other fruits and produce, which include rhubarb, strawberries, cherries, apricots, nectarines, plums, pears and Asian pears.
Organic Palisade Peach harvest: June 30 – September 20
*LEGEND: SC= Semi-cling pit; F= Freestone pit
Early peach season – Late June-July
PF # 1 (SC) – Medium fruit. 90% red over yellow background with excellent flavor. PF 5D Big (SC/F) – Large early peach. Exceptional dark red color and fruit quality. Sweet flavorful golden yellow flesh. Can be cling, freestone or half/half. Rising Star (SC) – Bright-orange red. Firm, non-browning flesh. Early Red Haven (SC) – Similar to Red Haven in color, size, flavor and texture. 8-Ball (F) – Large peach, light fuzz, globe shape, excellent texture and delightful flavor.
Mid-season peaches – August
Red Haven (F) – Excellent for canning and freezing. Yellow-fleshed, well-colored with brilliant red skin surface. PF 15A (F) – Classy, large (2¾”+), high color, excellent flavor, good firmness. Blazing Star (F) – Firm 90% bright red, great quality. Non-browning yellow flesh. Glohaven (F) – Juicy, sweet. Non-browning flesh is good to can or freeze. PF 19-007 (F) – Beautiful, large (3”) highly colored, firm tasty fruit. PF 20-007 (F) – Large red-skinned, firm texture with good flavor. Suncrest (F) – Large, round peach, 2/3 red blush, good texture and flavor. Contenders (F) – High quality, firm, large, with excellent color. Blushing Star (White Peach) (F) – Pink blush, sweet white aromatic flesh. Low acid. Cresthaven (F) – Medium large, juicy, with firm golden flesh. Almost fuzzless.
Late peach season
Angelus (F) – Large, firm peach. Bright red over yellow undercolor. Mild and low acid content. Good for drying. O’Henry (F) – Large peach with a striping tendency. Color is medium yellow-green with a nice red blush over top. Flesh is firm with high sugar content.
Bing and Rainier Cherries
Apricots
Nectarines
Plums
Organic Strawberry and Rhubarb harvest: May 18 – June 15
Coral Champagne – Excellent quality deep red, early sweet cherry. Bing – Large, dark red, sweet cherry. Rainier – Golden color with red streaks. Cross of Bing & Royal Anne. Sweet and popular. Lapins – A large late sweet cherry that resembles a Bing.
Organic Apricot harvest: June 24 – July 31
Riland – Medium, sweet, round & red coloring. Perfection – Large, oval shaped apricot, orange color & sweet. Robada – Medium round shape, sweet, very juicy, deep red blush color. Goldrich – Large, oval shaped apricot that must be fully ripe. Rival – Medium sized, oval shaped apricot with a blush of red.
Organic Nectarine harvest: August – early September
PF 11 (SC/F) – (August) Beautiful sweet red blush fruit of great flavor. Red Gold (F) – (late Aug-early Sept) Large blush red fruit. Good size. Firm, juicy and ships well. Excellent flavor, high quality.
Organic Plum harvest: August-September
Santa Rosa (SC/F) – Beautiful large, red fruit with gold flesh. Sweet & delicious fresh, cooked or canned. Italian – Oblong, purplish-blue skin, deep yellow flesh with rich sweet flavors. Pluot – Delicious cross that is 75% plum/25% apricot. Fantastic flavor and aroma.
Organic Pears and Asian Pear harvest: September-October
Bartlett – Classic pear with fine texture that matures from green to red and yellow pears when ripe. 20th Century Asian Pears – Medium-sized sweet, round, golden-yellow pears with lots of juice. Shinko – Top quality variety with brownish-green skin and crisp white flesh. Rich and sweet flavor with an apple shape and it is referred to as an apple-pear. A Ri Rang – A large, round, russet-skinned pear with sweet, crisp, juicy white flesh.
An organic farm creates a long-term beneficial and sustainable environment that is healthier for all life.
We employ practices and use products that are approved for organic farming to enrich the soil, manage water, and control pests and disease.
As Palisade only gets 10 inches of rain annually, our water comes from the Colorado River. We use it efficiently by irrigating with microjets.
Solar panels help us further reduce our footprint.
It is rewarding to us to feed people and help keep our rivers clean and birds, fish, and beneficial insects like bees and ladybugs safe.
Organic certification is a long-term commitment
Getting an organic certification from the USDA (United States Dept. of Agriculture) is a detailed process that takes years. To be certified, we are inspected and audited each year by the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) as an accredited certifier for the USDA certification for raising and selling fruits and vegetables. We do this so you can verify our organic growing practice, but we would still practice growing organically even without a certification process because we believe it is a better option for the environment, customers and us as the farmers.
No conventional herbicides or pesticides are used in our orchards – ever. We love and need the bees that pollinate our fruit trees. Great Horned Owlets inhabit our trees. We refer to them as “organic pest control.”
