Our Terroir
Genetic studies place the origin of the wild peach in China’s XinJiang Province and Tibet, on the Northern Slopes of the Kunlun Mountains. Interestingly, if you map the climate zones of the United States to China, you see great similarities between the original range of the peach and our growing area.
The soils in these Upland Saline growing regions are distinct. Less than 5% of the US is characterized as an Upland Saline region. Saline doesn’t necessarily mean “salty,” but often means that other complex minerals are readily available for trees to use to produce the best quality fruit. Indeed, studies in Israel have shown that some salinity in soils has a marked effect on fruit flavor.
Although the soils in the region are saline, the water is not: Our water is pure, clean, cold snowmelt from the Colorado Rockies. When that water penetrates mineral-rich saline soils, nutrients are made more available for trees to produce a superior peach.
Our high elevation also matters. Not only does it bring cool nights, but it also means that we’re getting some pretty intense sunshine in the summer. This intense sunshine helps fruits ripen and take on red colors characteristic of peaches in this area.
Temperature fluctuations are critical to turn starches in unripe peaches into sugars in ripe peaches. Average highs in July are in the 90s. Average lows are in the 60s.
Sunlight also plays a role in growing a superior peach. Our peaches get around 16 hours of sunshine in the summer. That’s more than an hour more each day than fruit gets in the southern US. And as any grower would tell you: Sunshine turns into sugar!
OUR METHODS
Honey Rock evaluates every practice—from employment to energy, from sprays to sales—against the highest standards.
On our farm, we employ regenerative, organic practices to build soil, sequester carbon, and grow the tastiest, healthiest fruit, eggs, and honey. These practices benefit our employees, visitors, consumers, and the planet.
In addition, we are always looking to test, tweak, develop, and adopt technologies that are greener, more efficient, more productive, and healthier for our workers and consumers.
OUR NAME
Deuteronomy 32, also known as the Song of Moses, provided the inspiration for the name Honey Rock Landing. This song is to be a reminder of God’s faithfulness, even in desert lands.
The desert lands of Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area are in many places barren, hostile and wind-swept. However, along the Gunnison River, the alluvial soils are quite fertile, producing some of the sweetest fruit in the entire State of Colorado. In other words, “honey from the rock.”
Biblical symbology also presents Jesus Christ as the Rock, producing the sweet honey of salvation. In this way, the Song of Moses reminds us that not only will God care for our basic needs, providing fruit of the fields, but also spare nothing–including His only Son–to provide the very best of life, peace, and freedom.
