“I have nothing but good things to say about this program. I have been homeless for five years. This is the first time I’ve received a housing voucher, and it’s thanks to this program.” — Kate, Green Team member “I still volunteer there once a week because I love it so much. I give back because I’ve received so much.” —Teressa, Green Team alumni “Being of service … [Read more...]
The Seventh Day Adventist Faith Based High School in Castle Valley, Utah Hopes to Produce Half-a-Million Pounds of Potatoes this Year
“The main thing that’s happening here right now is potatoes,” said Tom Mayer, farm manager at Castle Valley Farms. Mayer is exuberant about the tubers: the many varieties, their nutritional value, and growing them organically. In past years, Castle Valley Farms has devoted about one fourteenth of an acre to potatoes. This year, they’ve planted 14 acres, which Mayer says will, … [Read more...]
Local Flavors: Utah Fab Farm to Fork Regional Restaurants
The term “farm to table” has, in recent years, been replaced in some culinary circles by the more alliterative “farm to fork.” They both imply the same thing: cooking, and restaurant cooking in particular, that favors locally sourced, wholesome, organic and artisan (when possible) ingredients. The idea is that foods that are local are fresher and make, in theory … [Read more...]
Vanishing Farmland: Paradise Lost as Vital Farmland Gives Way to Development in Ogden Valley, Utah
Utah’s best farmland is disappearing. Just ask Utah Farm Bureau Federation President Ron Gibson. “We are losing the most productive farmland in the state to development,” Gibson said recently, referring to the fertile land that first attracted pioneers to settle in Salt Lake City and along the Wasatch Front. “We have one of the best economies in the country … so people … [Read more...]
New Roots SLC, Organic Vegetable Farm Supports Refugee Families to Continue Tradition of Gardening and Farming
In the midst of West Valley urban sprawl is a somewhat unexpected sight: a diverse, organic vegetable farm called New Roots. The farm is a local program of the IRC (International Rescue Committee), an organization serving people whose lives have been upended by war and natural disasters. While the IRC has had offices in Salt Lake since the 90s, New Roots SLC was developed in … [Read more...]
Historic Wheeler Farm: A Park and One of the Last Functioning Farmsteads that Withstood Housing Development of Salt Lake
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...]
Tagge’s Famous Fruit & Veggie Farms on the Biggest Challenges that Utah Farmers Face Today
A megadrought. An increase in the cost of land. The high price of diesel fuel. Fertilizer doubling in price. An increase in labor costs. This is what Utah farmers face this year. Despite these issues, Thayne Tagge of Tagge’s Famous Fruit and Veggie Farms is hopeful. “We got the water from Pineview (Reservoir) about two days ago (mid-May). It’s looking pretty good, and we’re … [Read more...]
Dancing Moose Farm: Ogden Valley’s Premier Agritourism Destination
Quietly and steadily since the mid-1990s, a barren field has been cultivated for sustainability and converted into a farm along the South Fork of the Ogden River. Four yurts, a straw bale home, beehives, grazing cows and ducks, and an Earthship-style chicken coop now sit on the seventeen-and-a-half-acre agricultural cooperative, Dancing Moose Farm. It’s a dream unfolding … [Read more...]
Utah’s Disappearing Farms
Utah's farmers markets are booming, the local food movement is stronger than ever, and local farmers-market farmers are making record profits ― so why are we building over the top of the best remaining farmland in Utah? The simple answer is that the land, in the eyes of our political leaders and developers, has far more economic value as homes and apartments than as farms. … [Read more...]
Easy Bee Farm: Growing Food on Easy Street in Moab Utah
The entrance to Easy Bee Farm, just off Easy Street in Moab, is tucked between thick curtains of growth that make it hard to spot if you haven’t been there before. “That’s part of the adventure,” laughs Rhonda Gotway-Clyde, who owns the farm. Once found, the long gravel drive leads to what does feel a little like a magic kingdom, lush with flowers and vegetables, and … [Read more...]