Historic Wheeler Farm is known primarily as one of the happiest places in Salt Lake Valley. But happiness isn’t all it provides. It also is, in part, a functioning farm, and trains and empowers its employees with valuable experience. Two Mangalitsa piglets currently on the farm will later be sold at auction. The sheep provide wool, and the goats, milk. While there is a … [Read more...]
The Power of Orchids
Orchids … exotic, beautiful, mesmerizing … and thriving in Salt Lake City. Although far removed from the tropics where they bloom in thousands of varieties, orchids are abundant here in the high desert of Utah. Both the flowers and those who fancy them were at the recent spring showing of the Orchid Club of Utah held at Red Butte Gardens. "Orchids are so varied no matter … [Read more...]
Mount Olympus Community Garden Serves as a Classroom for Kids
When students at Howard Driggs Elementary School in Holladay started planting seeds at the Mount Olympus Community Garden in the spring, their outdoor classroom consisted of six garden beds filled with soil and little else. By the time the children returned after summer break, they found that a thick growth of vegetables and flowers had sprouted at the site, including … [Read more...]
Growing Sprouts in your Kitchen
Healthy Eating Without Having to Weed My husband Ken and I have killed more plants than we have kept alive. Every orchid he has brought me has turned into a stick in a pretty pot. We have managed to keep some houseplants thriving over the years, while others returned to compost. We got the idea during COVID-19 to try growing sprouts in our kitchen, while everyone else was … [Read more...]
The Freshness Factor: 8 Utah Farm to Table Restaurants You Will Love
Although the term “farm to table” might be a tad overworked these days, there really is a bevy of discerning local chefs and restaurateurs who place a high value on freshness and do their damndest to source produce locally whenever possible. That means that you really can get a fresh, healthy meal with a smallish carbon footprint in many of our best Utah eateries. Here are a … [Read more...]
Down on the [Urban] Farm: A Visit With Frog Bench Farms
You could drive right past it a dozen times and not even know it’s there. But tucked away on a quiet, residential street in a neighborhood near Foothill Boulevard is an urban farm that supplies produce, cut flowers, microgreens, and more to many of our area’s finest restaurants. It’s called Frog Bench Farms. Nearly 10-years-old now, Frog Bench Farms was created in 2012 by … [Read more...]
Shroom Boom: Ogden Mushroom Farm Brings Colorful Fungi to Utah
For a long time, the mushroom selection at most grocery stores was unimpressive: white or brown, button or cremini. Maybe a few portobellos were thrown in for good measure. But in recent years, mushrooms — and their diverse shapes, textures, and flavors — are having their moment in the sun. While there are more than 10,000 known types of mushrooms (and mycologists suspect … [Read more...]
40 Acres Not Necessary: Utahns are Homesteading in Urban Backyards
Utahns are known for their food storage and preparedness methods and have been encouraged for years to acquire food storage and a 72-hour kit in case of an earthquake or other emergency. For those who did, that storage came in handy during last year’s woes. While many of us had a difficult time believing that we were, in fact, experiencing a pandemic during our lifetime, … [Read more...]
Gardening in Pots: Anyone Can Grow a Garden
After gardening virtually all of my life, and later teaching gardening classes through West High School’s Community Education Program, I have concluded that almost anyone can grow a garden. The only real requirement is about six hours of direct sunlight for any location. It could be a small corner of your yard, a patio, or even an outside deck on the east side of a high-rise … [Read more...]
A Model for a Profitable Company Garden
Six years ago, Merit Medical Systems founder and CEO, Fred Lampropoulos, looked out his office window and watched as throngs of employees from the medical device company’s South Jordan campus walked across the street to a 3-acre farm to pick tomatoes and peppers thanks to an invitation from a local farmer. He saw the enthusiasm from his employees and an idea formed. In 2016, … [Read more...]