Sara Patterson’s love of gardening led her to start a farm that now feeds several dozen families and cofound a nonprofit that advocates for policies benefiting small rural and urban agriculture. The venture just outside of Cedar City is thriving. The for-profit Red Acre Farm sells shares in the operation, and in return, the 40 member families get food for three meals a day, … [Read more...]
Stirling Fruit & Vegetable Co. : Finding the Silver Lining in Today’s Farm Economy
Nestled behind the Sand Hollow Dam and dispersed across Hurricane and Leeds, hundreds of acres yield peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe, along with a variety of other mouth-watering fruits and vegetables. However, these plants don’t grow themselves. Their care comes from the Stirling Fruit & Vegetable Co., which is run by David and Danielle Stirling. When David took over … [Read more...]
Winter Gardening — Why Wait for Spring?
Why Wait for Spring? Most gardeners believe the only way they can grow vegetable plants during the dead of winter is in some type of greenhouse. However, I have successfully grown cold-hardy plants such as spinach, lettuce, arugula and even carrots, beets, radishes and Swiss chard right through the coldest Utah winters for more than 30 years without any protection from the … [Read more...]
Z is for Zucchini
Zucchinis—Oh my! It is the end of summer, the time for gardeners to meditate on one of life's most perplexing questions—what do I do with all these zucchinis? It seems miraculous that one seed planted in the spring can produce a gazillion vegetables. Seed companies create this quandary when they put a dozen zucchini seeds in a pack. "If I have a dozen, I guess I should … [Read more...]
The future of farming in Utah: an interview with Jack Wilbur, a hybrid farmer
The future starts now The future of farming will look very different than it does today, just like the farming of today looks drastically different than it did 20, 30 years ago. However, the basic structure of the image of what future farming will be is being sketched and worked through right now. And it's a good thing too because, let's face it, Salt Lake City and its … [Read more...]
Every farmer is a gambler, every gardener is a believer
Thank a farmer Every farmer is a gambler, every gardener is a believer—he or she is betting that tiny seeds buried in the ground will bring forth a bounty of crops. To closely watch a plant grow strong throughout the months and then see flowers transformed into fruits and vegetables, is miraculous. It humbles one into realizing there is a provident power in the … [Read more...]
Three Young Farmers You’ll Find at SLC’s Rio Grande Winter Market
Grand Prismatic Seed James Young and Guy Banner started Grand Prismatic Seed in 2016 after they returned to Salt Lake City from Oregon, where they learned to grow and save seeds. Their backgrounds are in ethnobotany, habitat restoration, and native-seed production. Grand Prismatic Seed is committed to using organic growing practices and selling primarily … [Read more...]
Snuck Farm: Ethics and Agriculture Transcend Generations
Page Westover started Snuck Farm in Pleasant Grove in 2015 on land that her grandparents inherited from their grandparents. From the beginning she wanted it to be something different. She says, “I’ve always had a love of nature and good food. I went to Utah State University and majored in nutrition with an emphasis in dietetics.” After working in her field for more than 10 … [Read more...]
Putting the Aggie in Agriculture: Student-run Garden Provides Fresh Produce and Experience
As spring brightens and days lengthen, students in Utah State University’s Student Organic Farm class are diligently monitoring the temperatures in their hoop houses and the soil moisture in their fields. It’s already planting time, and they’re helping ensure the first baskets of fresh veggies are ready for their Community Supported Agriculture customers on the third week of … [Read more...]
Woodyatt’s Montmorency Cherry Orchard: Tart Cherries Make a Sweet Business
Delicious and Healthy Chock-full of antioxidants and a natural source of melatonin, the benefits of tart cherries juice have been making health headlines in recent years. “People love it,” says second-generation cherry farmer Dan Woodyatt, who ships the orchard’s distinctively tart Montmorency cherry juice concentrate to customers coast-to-coast. Although he’s hesitant to … [Read more...]