After all their years in education, Bob and Elaine Korver have discovered a new way to educate kids, all while getting in touch with nature.

Once Bob planted the idea for their retirement, it grew and grew, until Elaine was convinced. Now, their blossoming business, Green Acres U-Pick, is in its second year.

"As former educators we wanted to do something that would allow kids to come out and kind of make a connection with their food," Bob explained.

They had a full life in education, meeting up in college.

"I was 34 years in a library," Elaine recalled, "and I finished up here in School District 51... about 18 years at Bookcliff Middle School."

"And I was primarily a counselor, english teacher, one year as a principal," Bob said.  "Spent most of my career in Parachute and Nucla."

The idea for the name Green Acres? 

"...Kind of a play on the old tv show," Bob explained, "and then we try and be environmentally green as much as we can be. So, we don't use pesticides. We don't use herbicides."

What's it like having all those people in their fields, picking on their own?

"You do have to educate people, cause a lot of people want fresh, but they really have never been in a garden before," Bob said.  "And yet they were still very respectful of the plants and took care of things."

How many things can they grow on 5 acres?  You'd be surprised.

This list goes on and on, including: 25 varieties of tomato, 5 or 6 varieties of pepper, 7 varieties of watermelon, 3 varieties of cantaloupe, 2 varieities of okra, 7 varieties of onion, 7 varieties of beet, 7 types of bean, 9 varieties of pumpkin, 2 kinds of ornamental corn, and winter squash and summer squash.  That's just a partial list!

How do you find out what's ready to pick?

"Well, if you're on Facebook, we have a page up there called Green Acres U-Pick. You can find us there and we post what's available," Elaine explained.

Their word-of-mouth marketing is paying off.

"It's spreading rather quickly," she said.

They have many other areas of interest, when they can get to them.

"We like to travel," Bob said, "but we'll have to seek warmer climates to travel to since it looks like winter will be our travel season."

"I do the Palisade Historical Society," Elaine said, "and I'm also going to be working for the Palisade Rural Fire Protection District."

For more information on Green Acres U-Pick, click here  to check out their Facebook page.  You can also find them at 3601 G Road in Palisade, or give them a call at 640-2010.  If you'd rather send them an email with any questions you have, send it to okbelaine@msn.com.