Nestled in the North Fork Valley just outside of Paonia, Colorado is a unique little farm dotted with small cabins, orchards and a few speckled chickens. Tim Austin, owner- operator, of Fort Austin takes pride in what he's created over the years.
"We have a small venue. We have small farm stays. We have very unique log cabins that are out in our orchard where our guests can literally wake up in the morning, pick a nectarine and slice it on their cereal," Austin shares with a smile.
In the next couple of years, Austin wants a place where guests can go to the chicken house, gather eggs, then go to the garden to dig an onion or pick a pepper, and make an omelet for breakfast.
" I don't suppose you can get any fresher ingredients than right from the chicken house and from the garden," laughs the long time North Fork resident.
Fort Austin is located about a mile from Paonia northeast on Highway 133 with easy access. The property is located in the middle of Paonia's wine country and boasts six vineyards within a mile of the cabins.
"We really supply housing for those vineyards. Not only do we send all of our guests to the wineries, the wineries send their guests to us. It's a great symbiotic relationship. We love housing those guests and giving them a great experience," Austin shared.
"It's our opinion. It makes our valley better if people have a great experience here. We want them to have a better experience. We want we want to send them to people who serve their customers well and take care of their guests."
Like so many agritourism businesses in the valley, Fort Austin stays open from May first until November first.
"As you know, this valley goes to sleep in November and nothing happens here except a little bit of wood cutting, coal mining, pruning of trees and feeding the cattle during the winter. And then we kind of start waking up in April and our season opens in May."
Fort Austin sits in Delta County's abundant agricultural zone with several other prime farming properties.
"We have a four acre farm and yes, we are very much in the agriculture world," said Austin.
" Right now we have chickens. We have an orchard. By this time next year, we will have a vineyard. Like I said, want to give people a bit of an experience of what it is to wake up on a farm."
For Tim, agritourism supports his financial bottom line while also supporting the economy of the North Fork Valley and Delta County as a whole.
"Right now, it's my livelihood. It means a lot to me because of that. For those of you who know about this valley, there's not a single property in this county that you can purchase and pay for with the proceeds, the agricultural proceeds from that property, it cannot be done," Austin said.
As with most farming families, agritourism allows them to keep small farms in the family by providing an added income stream to supplement their passion.
"About fifteen years ago, my dad shared the idea that because of the cost of land and the revenues from agricultural products, you just can't make a go of it. But agritourism gives families a lot of options for ways to make it and help keep their land in agriculture without having to sell out to the condo developers or sell out to those who want to take this beautiful valley land and turn it into commercial development," said Austin.
"You can have petting zoos, you can have you-pick, there's horse rides. There's all kinds of ways that you can supplement your income and keep that farm ground productive and keep it in the family and produce something of value in the ag world in addition to the tourism dollars in many of those cases."
