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...]
Etta Place Cidery from Torrey Utah
It was “use it or lose it” when it came to water rights on Ann Torrence and Marc Roberts’ property near the Fremont River in Torrey, Utah. As they considered what to do with this precious desert resource, they visited Capitol Reef National Park during harvest season and were blown away by the flavors of the apples grown in the park’s historic orchards. So apples it was, and … [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...]
Cash or Crops? Is Clark Burgess Selling His Orchards this Year?
Clark Burgess is in an animated conversation with Curtis Rowley concerning the repair of an oil pump in the Foothills of Alpine, Utah. These are two farmers who love what they do, but practice their fruit growing in very different scales of operation: Burgess on 10 acres; Rowley on 2,000 acres. The flourishing apple trees in neat rows surrounded by the snow capped Timpanogos … [Read more...]
The High Cost of Cheap Food
In this year’s 10th annual Farm issue, we thought we would consider taking a look back at how much our food landscape has changed here in Utah. My Grandma told me that when she was a little girl growing up in Murray, immigrant Japanese farmers were famous for their amazing produce. Other farmers raised hens for eggs, and others kept pigs or cows. Most of her family’s food … [Read more...]
Moab Woman Keeps 100-Year-Old Farming Tradition Alive
Her curly, vibrant red hair betrays her sensitive skin, but Mary Engleman just puts on her long-sleeved flannel shirt and wide brimmed hat to protect her from the unrelenting desert sun. To those who work in a climate-controlled office, the thick clothing would seem to only trade a burn from the sun for a slow, insulated roasting. But farm work weeds out the weak, and for … [Read more...]
A Visit to Utah’s Largest Medical Cannabis Farm
Two years ago there were 80 hopeful applicants vying for the coveted “golden ticket” to be one of ten of the official medical cannabis growers for Utah’s medical cannabis program. Only eight were chosen, one provisionally. The capital requirements disqualified 90% of applicants. Indoor-growing using hydroponics disqualified many more. To produce a consistent product, an … [Read more...]
Bulldozing Utah Farms For Vacation Condos: Is this what progress looks like?
Why isn’t food security and the preservation of farms and fertile soil and water an issue in Utah? Fights in Costco and grocery stores over scarce food items during Covid-19 demonstrate that food security and preservation of farms must be a greater concern of Utah political leaders. This past spring we had a small window into what happens when food insecurity and the … [Read more...]