Originally published in the Spring 2020 issue of SPOKE+BLOSSOM.

Nestled next to the Colorado River lies Ghost Rock Farm, the 11-acre peach farm named after the surrounding mesas that glow at night. When experienced cheesemakers Tess Peterson and Halsey Swetzoff bought the farm in 2018, they sought to stay committed to the peach farm and the surrounding land in Palisade, while still recognizing their decade-long experience and hard work in the artisan dairy industry. One of the selling points of the farm for Swetzoff was that “the hidden food movement on the Western Slope felt like it was lacking artisan cheese and dairy products.” Thus, Ghost Rock Farm specialty dairy products was born.

Prior to Ghost Rock Farm, the pair worked in a variety of places in order to hone their craft, including Wisconsin, Vermont, Italy and even Tasmania, where they owned an artisan cheese producer called Bruny Island Cheese for over six years. Their time in Australia helped cultivate their love for “the magic of turning milk and cream into these wonderful aged or fermented foods that have lots of history and tradition,” discloses Peterson.

The peach farm itself is unsuited for dairy- producing animals, due to its sprawling peach orchards and forest that run up to the Colorado River, making dairy farming a potential challenge. To combat this, the farmers source their dairy from local co-ops that employ organic, pasture-feeding practices. They believe that good cheese and butter starts with quality cream, so it was crucial for them to partner with dairy co-ops that met their standards.

Ghost Rock Farm’s products can be found in specialty stores and restaurants throughout the West Slope, like Blaine’s Farm Store in Clifton, Rooted Gypsy in Grand Junction and other local establishments. The duo also currently attends one farmers market in Palisade, with the hope of attending another sometime this year. While at the Palisade Farmers Market, both owners are told by customers that the butter samples taste like “real” butter. Those familiar with the taste of homemade churned butter should recognize the taste of cultured butter as being similar.

While the team of two love all of their products from concept to execution, the cultured butter holds a special place in their hearts. In order to create this dense, rich masterpiece, the cream is exposed to live bacteria culture for 48 hours and then churned. While this may sound perfectly normal, mass-produced butter is not cultured and left to sit for so long, a process Peterson describes as a “Slow Food fundamental.”

“We often joke that if we had a stick and a bucket and there was a dairy-producing animal close by, we’d still be making cheese. In our case, now we feel committed to making food that doesn’t replace time and tradition with innovation and technology,” Peterson explains.

“I love experimenting with the nuances of the cultures and creating a product everyone can appreciate and enjoy,” Swetzoff elaborates. Because the cultured butter is a living food, it can be left on the counter over the course of a week, where the flavor can change over time as the culture evolves.

As their business expands, the duo hopes to put a small commercial processing room and commercial kitchen on the farm, allowing them to explore more production ideas, while still utilizing their local assets. Possibly, in the future, the farm may even be open for customers to buy cheese, dairy and baked goods straight out of the oven. This early on, the business owners are just looking forward to what the year has in store. Ultimately, Swetzoff believes, “there’s not one ‘right’ way to make cheese or butter, but there are certainly ways you can make it more special — and all you have to do is taste something to know the difference most of the time.”

Learn more at ghostrockfarm.com.

Ghost Rock Farms: Slow Food Culture