Agriculture Magazine June 2015

june 2015

M A G A Z I N E featuring L O C A L

In this issue

Garlic growers Bitterroot creamery Corvallis FFA and more

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Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 3

in this issue

Garlic in the Bitterroot....................... 5 Bitterroot creamery........................... 7 Duces’ Wild...................................... 11 Corvallis FFA.................................... 12 Local producer listing...................... 15 Agriculture Heritage notebook...... 19

MAGAZINE How did you like this issue of Agriculture Magazine?

Do you have any ideas you’d like to share with us for our next issue?

Let us know. Sent comments to: 232 West Main, Hamilton, MT 59840 or editor@ravallirepublic.com Photos on this page by Tom Bauer, Perry Backus & Wendy Beye Cover Photo by Perry Backus Agriculture Magazine is published by the Ravalli Republic & Missoulian Newspapers, divisions of Lee Enterprises Mark Heintzelman, Publisher Sherry Devlin, Editor Kathy Kelleher, Jodi Lopez, Sales Dara Saltzman, Production & Design Agriculture Magazine is copyright 2015, Ravalli Republic.

232 W Main, Hamilton, MT 59840 ravallirepublic.com

Page 4 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

ravalli county museum and historical society photo archives

Louis Nelson and his racing dogs in the commercial gardens at Thousand Acres Ranch, circa 1915.

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Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 5

perry backus / RAVALLI REPUBLIC

Ted Ostheimer and Shawn Ryan grow garlic at their home just off the Bass Creek Road. That job provides them with plenty of time to enjoy their grandson, Ellis Cahoon.

Garlic in the Bitterroot:

Couple builds on Internet success Story and photos by Perry backus Ravalli Republic

STEVENSVILLE – Tom Ostheimer and his wife, Shawn Ryan, will happily tell you that they did quite a lot wrong when they first started out to be farmers of garlic from their home just off Bass Creek.

Of course, those days are now well in the past.

“We planted our garlic before we figured out how we were going to sell it,” Ostheimer said.

“We could done better on that.”

Like any new venture in life, there was a lot to learn at first.

The proper amount of mulch, the challenge of predicting yields, and the best methods for marketing were just some of the challenges they faced as prepared to sell their first major crop in 2012 Ryan smiles: “The learning curve was kind of steep that first year.”

Page 6 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

And so Ostheimer tapped into his former life as a software developer to tap into a national marketplace under the couple’s company name “Red Gate Garlic” and every year since, they’ve seen demand for their Bitterroot-grown garlic grow.

“We harvested about 1,000 pounds last year,” Ostheimer said. “We have room to double that eventually. As long as we see customer demand, we’ll try to expand to meet that demand.”

Last year, the couple processed about 140 orders. Most were shipped to their customers via the U.S. Postal Service right from their home.

“They come and pick it up right here at our door,” Ostheimer said.

About 95 percent of their crop is sold over the Internet. The couple currently sells six different varieties of garlic.

The bulk of their garlic ends up in the Northeast or Midwest as a seed crop. Growers like its hardiness from disease that many struggle with in other parts of the country.

“There seem to be a lot of disease and pest problems in the Northeast or Midwest,” he said.

“I helped one grower in Minnesota replace his crop after he lost 100 percent of it the year before to a fungus. We don’t have that disease issue here in the Bitterroot. So far, we’ve been immune to it.”

There aren’t a lot of people growing garlic commercially in the Bitterroot at this point.

With the help of a Montana Department of Agriculture Growth Through Agriculture grant, the couple may someday even help others in the region tap into markets outside of the state.

“Right now, I don’t know of anyone else marketing garlic online here,” he said. “We might be able in the future to help people get a better price for their garlic than what they can selling it locally.”

This summer, the couple plans to use the grant monies to help build a 24’x32’ temperature and humidity controlled building they will use to process their crops and, if things go as

planned, garlic from other local growers.

“In a more controlled environment, we will be able to stretch our sales into November, December and January,” Ostheimer said. “That could make quite a difference in the amount we could sale.”

Garlic can be a bit temperamental when it comes to getting it to market in prime condition.

If left outdoors in too cold of weather, it will sprout. With too much moisture in the air – like right after a large fall thunderstorm – and its paper-like skin will act like a sponge.

Up until now, the couple has had to deal with the intricacies of nature during that key time of year.

The stackable trays they use to dry the garlic after its harvested in July are kept outside for about a month to cure. If temperatures drop down too far, they’re forced to bring the trays inside.

“You have to keep it above 50 degrees to keep it from sprouting,” he said.

In September, the garlic is carefully cleaned using a toothbrush, the roots snipped and the stalks cut down to about a half-inch.

“That part is really labor intensive,” he said.

“We get some help from our family and friends.”

The only downside to this labor of love is the busiest times of garlic farming correspond with everyone else’s favorite time to take a vacation.

“The best time of summer for taking a vacation happens at the same time when you have to here to take care of the garlic,” Ostheimer said. “And you don’t make enough money to go spend the winter in Hawaii.”

Raising garlic in Montana fits right in with the lifestyle of many of the state’s residents, Ryan said.

“You have to be able to draw from a lot of different pots of money to make a living,” she said.

“We feel very lucky to be here and have what we have. We do what we can and try to do what we love.”

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 7

tom bauer/ RAVALLI REPUBLIC

Cheese maker Stig Hansen flips Reblochon cheese as it drains. Hansen is a former corporate chef and cookbook author who operated his own sheep creamery in Utah before joining Tucker Family Farm.

Cave, local grass allow Bitterroot creamery to craft artisan sheep cheeses

By DAVID ERICKSON Ravalli Republic

VICTOR - Here at western Montana’s first-ever farmstead sheep cheese creamery, things run on a pretty tight schedule.

Every morning at 7 a.m. sharp, Tyler Tucker and his wife Kendra milk their 84 East Fresians, a breed of dairy sheep from northern Germany famous for their high milk yield per ewe.

The animals are mainly grass-fed, but are enticed into the milking parlor by a handful of peas and barley. The process repeats itself at 6 p.m. sharp. Each sheep produces up to a gallon of milk a day, which has upwards of 5 percent more fat and protein than an average cow’s milk.

The milk is then transferred about 100 feet uphill, where the Tuckers recently finished building Montana’s only underground cheese cave, dug into the side of a hill overlooking the bucolic farm.

It’s there that Stig Hansen, dressed in rubber boots and gloves, a white apron and a white cap, begins to work his magic.

Hansen, who the Tuckers call the “Viking chef,” is an award-winning former corporate chef and cookbook author. He was born and raised in Denmark before immigrating to the U.S., where he studied cheese-making at Utah State University before owning and operating his own sheep dairy and creamery.

He wanted a slower pace of life where he

Page 8 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

could experiment and work the cheese with his markets in Hamilton and Missoula, and they’ve hands, so he turned down offers from larger got a couple of big contracts to sell in San operations and settled at the Tucker Family Francisco and Salt Lake City.

Farm in the shadow of the Bitterroot Mountains.

They’ve found that tourists from the East Working with specially designed equipment, Coast are familiar with sheep’s cheese, but Hansen transMontanans forms the rich seem to have sheep milk into a little experience variety of artisan with it. farmstead sheep “Our blue cheeses. Right brie will probnow, they offer ably be our best a ricotta, a feta seller,” Tucker and Zephyr, a rind predicted. “It’s blue cheese with approachable a rich and creamy and unique, brie texture and a but it’s not too subdued “blue” far out of the sharpness that box. The feta is comes from a a good one for special white brie people to try mold on the outbecause they’re side and a tiny used to it in TOM BAUER/ RAVALLI REPUBLIC bit of a subtle Dairy sheep at Tucker Family Farm head to the milking parlor for one of their the stores and twice-a-day milkings last week near Victor. The farmstead is producing artisan it gives people blue mold on the cheeses made entirely from milk of sheep raised there. inside. a good idea of The other how different cheeses are aging in the cave. The Harbinger sheep’s milk is. My favorites are the ones that will be a young Manchego-type cheese, and the cheese-mongers out there are going to like, the Ensorcelor will be a French Reblochon-style the ‘stinky’ cheeses. That sells like crazy in San washed rind cheese with a young, creamy and Francisco.” delicately nutty flavor that originated high in the Alps.

It’s been a three-year process of hard labor, They also plan to have a Tomme, a baby blue, planning and thousands of dollars invested to a Pecorino Romano-type, and a few wash-rind get the creamery up and running. Tucker said cheeses using local beer and aquavit. The cave he and his wife, who also sell pastured pork and allows Hansen to precisely control the airflow grass-fed lamb, are betting that cave-aged, artiand humidity surrounding each type of cheese. san, locally produced sheep cheese will be a big From sunrise to sundown, he is constantly hit in western Montana. turning, testing, washing, stirring and monitorThere is only one other sheep creamery in ing the cheeses with the fastidiousness of a Montana, but that’s over near Virginia City. craftsman.

Tucker said there are only a handful of cheese “There’s a lot of science to it, but I’m not caves like his in the western U.S. much of a scientist,” Hansen said, grinning.

“The cow dairies took off, that’s just what Tucker and Hansen sell the cheeses at farmers everybody knows,” he explained. “Sheep dair-

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 9

ies are popping up all over on the East Coast.

It’s going to be big, kind of like goat dairies were 10 or 15 years ago. I think there’s going to be sheep dairies popping up all over the place now. It’s just nice cheese. It’s really nice cheese.

“I mean, with cow cheese, to get a similar cow cheese, a lot of times you’ve got to add half-and-half or cream back into the milk.

Because sheep milk has such a high-fat content already, you start with a creamier cheese. The milk is probably quadruple (the price of) what cow milk is on the market. “ Tucker, 32, says he became interested in agriculture during graduate school and interned on a farm in Germany.

“A lot of reading and research went into it,” he recalled.

Eventually, he hopes to have over 300 milking sheep on the farm. The beauty of selling cheese is that it has to age so long, so he can sell it throughout the winter on their website, unlike vegetables or other usual farmers market prod-

quality meats that

ucts. They will also freeze milk, so they can make cheese all year and keep demanding restaurant chefs happy.

The cave is the key piece in the process.

It maintains a temperature between 50-60 degrees consistently, although there are failsafes to ensure the temperature doesn’t vary too much if the cheese starts giving off too much heat.

Many cheeses are aged in big refrigerators, which don’t have good air exchange, and that causes ammonia that the cheese gives off while it’s maturing to accumulate in the air. However, you don’t want to have fans running full-bore.

“If you don’t have good air flow, a lot of cheeses end up tasting like ammonia,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of little things. That’s going to be a big seller for us, that we have an underground cheese cave. You get in a refrigerator and there’s a lot of air blowing and it dries the cheese out. It ages it faster than it should age.

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“In a cave, it’s moderate the whole time. It “Kind of the neat thing about farmstead is ages at the right time instead of speeding up you’re controlling the soil to produce the best the process because there’s so much wind blow- grasses and legumes and controlling the sheep, ing through the cooler. You want just slight air how you’re milking ‘em and what they’re eating movement over your cheese.” all the way up here to how you’re making the Farmstead sheep cheese cheese in the cave,” he said. is so-called because it’s “So it’s kind of the whole made with milk from the process from having the best farmer’s own flock on the soil so you can have the best farm where the animals are pasture all the way to the cave raised, and milk used to where you’re aging it to get make cheese isn’t obtained the best product. So we confrom outside sources. trol the whole system, which is The Tuckers use no antikinda nice. You can’t produce biotics and utilize intensive a good cheese if you don’t grazing management for control everything that’s going their sheep and pastures into it. I think we’re going to to ensure that their milk have a high-quality cheese that TOM BAUER/ RAVALLI REPUBLIC is specific in flavor to the sells well because we’re making The farm has already been selling its Zephyr Bitterroot Valley, and the sure we’ve got the best quality blue brie cheese at farmers markets in cave allows Hansen to craft Missoula and Hamilton. milk.” extraordinary varieties.

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Duces’ Stacie Duce

When I grow up, I want to be a gardener. In the meantime, I’ll keep helping to weed my husband’s parents’ plot of fertile soil and hope the law of the Little Red Hen still applies at harvest time.

It’s not that I’m afraid to manage my own garden plot, but I’m just not ready to face imminent failure. Because I keep my indoor plants thriving, I keep expecting the same results outside. Those trees or bushes or daffodil bulbs are supposed to know their everlasting place in my long-term landscaping plan.

It pains me to witness the springtime results of harsh winterkill or zealously grazing wildlife. I optimistically keep watering those twigs that never blossom and reiterate in my mind that if I spend good money and planted according to directions that they must grow.

My husband has learned to avoid my futile questions of “Why, why, why didn’t it survive?” and instead just digs and disposes of pitiful wooden skeletons when I’m not looking.

Unfortunately, vegetable gardening’s tragic cycle comes around too soon for me. Seemingly good seeds don’t sprout. Wild weeds are rabid conquistadors during vibrant dances of rain and sun. Some parallel plants dual to the death and some tomato plants wilt even when they’ve received the exact same accommodations as caged neighbors. There’s secret powders for this and compost for that. There’s fussy watering needs for one side of the garden versus another.

The sun and the wind can become enemies in an instant.

I feel the same antagonism about gardening as I did in my college creative writing class when my professor assigned a long list of writing assignments only to throw the entire envelope in the

W

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 11

ild

garbage without reading a word. He warned that we should never become too attached to our work and that the process matters most. That very day I marched across campus from the English department to my journalism class where I felt my writing would be more functional, useful and read rather than become disposable therapy.

Similarly, I don’t garden to only feel the cool earth between my toes – although I very much love that.

I don’t garden to just enjoy a fleeting moment of progress before a plant shrivels unexpectedly.

I don’t want my garden to have certain plants that exceed designated boundaries and produce too much or too little.

I don’t want pests and insects to enjoy the fruits of my labor before I do.

I want every effort to translate into a productive reward, but I know that’s not the way life is. And so, the risky nature of a gardening venture makes me shy away.

Because of my errant perspective, farmers and ranchers have my undying admiration. They go to sleep every night knowing something out of their control could devastate harvest or herds in an instant, and yet, they still rise at dawn with optimism.

My attitude about gardening does not equally translate to raising kids or exercising programs or even cooking dinner – I wholeheartedly accept that things never turn out exactly as I expect in those realms. But for some reason, I want directly predictable results with the flowers and bushes and vegetables and berry bushes.

Someday, when I grow up to be a gardener, I’ll cultivate more than pristine produce. I’ll have found the right attitude as well.

Page 12 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

Corvallis High resurrects FFA, agricultural program

By Stacie Duce for the Ravalli Republic

CORVALLIS – After a 50-year hiatus, Corvallis High School is reinstating its agricultural education program and recruiting students to join Future Farmers of America.

“It’s in line with the whole farm-to-table philosophy,” said CHS Principal Jason Wirt. “We want our students to see the big picture of how important agriculture is to everything we do on a daily basis.”

He said the retirement of CHS’s family consumer science teacher opened the door to explore other alternatives in curriculum.

“This is my ninth year as principal and I’ve met with interested community members at least three times who would like to see FFA return to Corvallis,” Wirt said. “This year, we have an opportunity to give it a shot and see if it’s sustainable. With all the dairies and orchards in Corvallis as well as close proximity to the Extension Offices, focusing on agricultural education is a good fit.”

Wirt also thinks new-hire Brandon Braaten is a perfect fit.

“We hired a great person for the position,” he said. “Mr. Braaten is someone who has started the ag program in one school and resurrected it in another.

He’s very enthusiastic with lots of ideas and will hopefully get a lot of support and help from the community in order to make it a sustainable, longterm program. I want it to be a success as much as they do.”

Braaten has been teaching for eight years and spent the last two initiating an agricultural program in St. Regis.

“Corvallis is a very strong agricultural community with tons to offer and it’s exciting for me to be part of the rebirth of the agricultural program here,” Braaten said.

His classes will include: Introduction to Agricultural Science, Agriculture Mechanics, Principles of Food Science, Horticulture and Agriculture Leadership.

Principal Wirt said he was encouraged after listing some of these classes as elective options for students to choose next fall and at least 20 students were interested in each section. He and Mr. Braaten also had an FFA

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 13

recruiting meeting before the school year ended and will hold meetings in the summer.

“Some kids might think it’s all about farming until they understand the wide variety of skills and leadership that an ag program teaches,” Wirt said. “The ag mechanics class will be hands-on and offer something more for kids who have taken our small engine class.

Kids will be able to fix bigger machines and problem-solve mechanical problems, which will help them for the rest of their lives. … The horticulture class is also knowledge that kids will use everyday at home and in everything they do. Anytime we can offer a hands-on class, there’s a big benefit to learning.”

Braaten said his program offers opportunities to learn life-long skills in welding, plumbing and carpentry as well as sales and service while practicing selling a particular ag product to a customer in a sales setting.

Wirt added, “Our ag leadership class will be a natural fit for our kids who are part of our excellent speech and debate club. We’ll translate all that they’ve experienced as a club into a classroom environment and give them opportunities to compete in FFA as well. I think it will also get more kids involved in the speech and debate who didn’t know they had those abilities.”

Wirt said the new ag education program will replace the family consumer science curriculum and instead of a general cooking class, now Mr. Braaten will teach principles of food science.

“They’ll still be cooking,” Wirt said. “But now they’ll also learn more about the scientific nutritional breakdown of foods, how to design labels and package food and raising or lowering pH in foods, for example. It will be more technical but definitely still hands-on cooking.”

Braaten said the class will also include safety and sanitation components as well as aroma tests and triangle testing where students identify the differences and similarities in food like

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Page 14 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

levels of sodium and trans fat.

Wirt has been discussing the possibilities of the ag students using the garden space at nearby Teller Wildlife Refuge and hopes other community groups will open their back yards and agricultural operations to the kids.

“In a sense, it’s more ‘Classroom Without Walls’ experiences for our students, but instead of being in the wilderness, they’ll be going to people’s backyards,” he said.

Wirt hopes in the near future, they can also include animal science to the agriculture education program. “We’ll need a facility to have some animals and we’ll definitely need the community’s support on that so if anyone is interested in helping out, please give me a call. The potential is limitless and I’m looking forward to see where we take the program from here.”

Brandon Braaten grew up in Spanford, Montana, on a sheep ranch and was a state

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FFA officer. He is also a skilled sheep sheerer when he’s not teaching and is looking forward to relocating to the Bitterroot Valley.

“Agriculture education in general is a pretty strong passion of mine,” he said. “I have a strong opinion that if people are connected to agriculture, then we’re all better for it.

The most important thing is that we’re an informed public in everything from principles of food science to what’s important in ag production. If we don’t understand that the whole point of ag production is to feed the population, we might not understand what we’re doing at all.”

He said, “FFA has been a huge part of my life and I’m excited to provide that opportunity for another group of students. But my classes won’t just be for kids who want to be farmers when they grow up. We’ll focus on useful skills for everyone.”

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Local Bitterroot Valley food producers Farmers Markets

Darby Farmers Market Darby City Hall, Main St. Park (106 S. Main Street) 406-821-3753 www.darbymt.net May-October, Tuesday, noon – 6pm Florence Farmers Market 5189 Hwy 93, Florence 406-777-3638 florencefarmersmarket@ yahoo.com June-September, Saturday, 9am-1:30pm Hamilton Farmers Market Cooperative South 3rd and Bedford, Hamilton 406-961-0004 managerhfm@ cybernet1.com May-Mid-October, Saturday, 9am – 12:30pm Vendors must reside in Ravalli County and products must be made or grown in Montana.

Stevensville Farmers Market 3rd & Main, Stevensville 406-381-0274 Saturdays 9am – 1pm

Local CSAs

Heirloom Apothecary 406-239-5272 heirloomapothecary@yahoo.com We offer Community Supported Herbalism (CSH) shares, based on the CSA model. Our CSH shares allow you to have direct access to high quality, herbal preparations produced by local herbalists from locally grown and wildcrafted plants. When you purchase a share, you receive 5 monthly deliveries of herbal products of your choice. (June - October).

Homestead Organics 175 Skalkaho Road, Hamilton 406-363-6627 www.homesteadorganicsfarm.com Certified organic mixed vegetables. Specializing in greens. Produce available mid-May – November. Sold direct through Community Supported Agriculture program, farm stand open Tuesday 2-7pm.

Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Farm tours by appointment and on farm commercial kitchen available for your event or we can cater it for you.

Producing since 1999.

Yourganic Farm - Know your Farmer, Know your Food 1550 Chaffin Lane, Corvallis 406-961-5452 www.yourganicfarm. com Grass-fed beef. Pastured pork raised with no antibiotics and noGMOs (genetically modified organisms). Call for direct sales. Also see Vegetable section.

Local Farm Stands

Homestead Organics 175 Skalkaho Road, Hamilton 406-363-6627 www.homesteadorganicsfarm.com Certified organic mixed vegetables. Specializing in greens. Produce available mid-May – November. Farm stand open Tuesday and Thursday 2-6pm.

McPherson Farms 457 Willoughby Road, Stevensville 406-777-1378/381-2773 mcphersonfarm@gmail.com Sweet corn, potatoes and squash as well as other seasonal vegetables. Visit farm stand on Willoughby.

Mill Crick Farm 153 Dutch Hill Road, Hamilton 406-961-8861 millcrickfarm@ gmail.com Misty Hollow Farms Corvallis 406-370-9797 Produce stand on Eastside Hwy, just north of Corvallis. Open June - Sept.; vegetables, fruits, melons. Organic but not certified. Also, grass-fed beef.

Moeller’s Farm 946 Eastside Highway, Corvallis 406-961-3389 Homegrown produce available in season (April – November). Specializing in super sweet corn, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, and squash. Also see listing under Garden Nurseries & Supplies. Call for direct sales, nursery hours

BEVERAGES

Bandit Brewing Co. 08 E Tanner Ave, Darby, (406) 646-6003 Big Creek Coffee Roasters 301 West Main, Hamilton 406-375-7508 www.bigcreekcoffeeroasters.com Offering exemplary coffees, roasted fresh and delivered free within the Bitterroot Valley. Retail locations in Stevensville, Victor, Hamilton.

Internet orders taken.

Bitterroot Brewery 101 Marcus Street, Hamilton, 406-363-7468, bitterrootbrewing.com Locally brewed beer and hand-crafted ales. Available year round at storefront. Hours: Monday – Saturday 11:30am – 8pm. Also found at IGA (Hamilton and Stevensville), Safeway, Albertson’s, Super One (Hamilton and Stevensville), and convenience stores in the Bitterroot Valley. Producing since 1998.

Blacksmith Brewing Company 114 Main St, Stevensville, (406) 777-0680, blacksmithbrewing.com Blodgett Canyon Cellers Corvallis 406-360-5680 blodgettcanyoncellars.com Hidden Legend Winery 1345 Hwy 93 N. Suite #5, Victor 406-363-6323 www.hiddenlegendwinery.com Hidden Legend Winery makes world class wines from all local, all natural ingredients. We specialize in making meads with both pure honey and wild berry flavors. We use wild elderberries, chokecherries and huckleberries, all from Montana to produce award winning wines that straddle the line between mead and wine. Our wines are a new sensation for the traditional wine drinker perfectly blending the taste of honey and fruit. Available year round at grocery and wine stores state wide. Call for direct sales. Making mead since 2001.

Higher Ground Brewery 518 North First, Hamilton 406-375-5204 www.higherground.com Famous Beer, Famous Pizza, 11am-8pm, Tuesday-Saturday; 1-8pm Sunday Hunter Bay Coffee 11300 Hwy 93 South, Lolo 406-273-5490 www.hunterbay.com Montana’s premium gourmet coffee roaster. Master Roasters handcraft coffees using award-winning recipies & European small-batch techniques. Offering 12 premium coffee blends, quality single-origin coffees & Italian-style Espressos, all roasted fresh-to-order. Certified organic coffee handler, offering a wide selection of 100% organic coffees.

Page 16 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 Lolo Peak Brewery 6201 Brewery Way, Lolo, (406) 493-6231, lolopeakbrewing.com Montana Cider Works Sula 406-360-5078 www.montanaciderworks.com Mountain View Orchards and Distillery 1775 Mountain View Orchard Road, Corvallis 406-961-3434 mcintoshcider@gmail.com 20+ varieties of apples, mid-Aug to Jan. Fresh apple cider Sept - Oct. Direct sales during apple season Mon-Sun 9am-5pm. Also at Missoula and Apple Days in Hamilton and local grocery stores. Producing since 1907. Call or email for types of distillery products. Harvest Legacy dessert cider currently available.

Trapper Peak Winery Darby, MT 59829 406-821-1964 trapperpeakwinery.com Products include: Cabernet Sauvignon made with Flathead cherries; Petite Sirah and Merlot made with grapes grown on the north slope of Mt. St. Helena, Rodeo Red - Cabernet Sauvignon, Muleshoe Merlot, Roll in the Hay - Chardonnay, Sitting Bull - Petite Sirah. Call for availability. Producing since 2004.

Zaxan Coffee Roasters 140 Cherry Street, Hamilton 406-363-4006 zaxancoffee.com And Café, Monday-Friday, 8am-3pm

Candy

Big Sky Candy 319 West Main Street , Hamilton 406-363-0580 1-866-432-8282 www.bigskycandy.com Local, handmade chocolates, truffles, creams, toffees, cinnamonglazed almonds, and more.

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Burnt Fork Bend Chocolate Stevensville 406-370-8606 www.burntforkbend.com Handcrafted, high quality dark or milk chocolate bars available in 2oz or 2.5 oz. bars.

There are no additional additives or preservatives used to make my chocolate.

Purchase by emailing or phoning or from Bitterroot Star and Valley Drug in Stevensville.

Old West Candy Mainstreet, Darby 406-821-4076 www.oldwestgallery.com Producing homemade fudge and chocolate delicacies, souvenirs and gifts. Open 7 days a week 10am to 5pm Will ship anywhere. Call to order.

The Montana Chocolate Company (Formerly Charbonneaus Chocolate Co.) 755 Main Street, Stevensville 406-777-0808 www.mtchocolatecompany.com Fine hand-made, hand-dipped chocolates, truffles, creams, brittles, nuts, chews. High quality ingredients, no preservatives, waxes, mixes or fillers. Montana novelties. Producing since 2002.

Dairy

Lifeline Creamery and Farm Store 2427 Meridian Road, Victor 406-642-9717 www.lifelinefarm.com Certified organic, biodynamic dairy (cheese, butter & milk), beef, pork, sausage (see listing under Meat). Available year round. Sold at Rainbow’s End, Hamilton Marketplace, Super One (Hamilton and Stevensville), Clark Fork River Market, and Missoula Farmer’s Market.

Farm visitors by appointment only. Producing since 1978.

Fruit

Blue Moon Orchard Stevensville 406-777-3326 bluemoonorchard@gmail.com Apples, pie cherries, plums, pears, apricots, raspberries. Mid-June through Oct. Call for availability. Email us to be put on our availability list.

Cider’s Orchard 227 Surrey Lane, Florence 406-273-3134 Organic Macintosh & Spartan apples. 40 lb. boxes. Available lateSeptember - mid-October. Call for direct sales. Call early in Septem-

ber to place order. Delivery in the Bitterroot Valley from Hamilton north. Farm visitors by appointment. Producing since 1992.

Fenced-Out Mule Deer Vineyards 822 Promise Lane, Corvallis 406-961-3285/381-6480 putman. alan80@gmail.com Tree fruits, berries, and vegetables. Call for availability. Producing since 2005 Frost Top Orchard 634 Quast Lane, Corvallis 406-961-1509 Apples (Macintosh, Spartan, Honey Crisp, and others), onions, squash and other late season vegetables. Utilizing integrated pest management (IPM) growing methods. Apples available beginning in October. Available direct and at Hamilton Farmer’s Market. Unpasturized cider avaliable at Orchard only. Producing since 1998.

Healthy Harvest Fruits 579 Porter Hill Road, Stevensville 406-777-3783/546-4851 hhfruits@gmail.com Organic Apples (Macintosh and other varieties), pears, plums, sweet cherries, mixed vegetables (see listing under Vegetables & Herbs).

No pesticides. Available July – September at Stevensville Farmer’s Market. Call for direct sales. Producing since 1989 Home Acres Orchard 839 Groff Lane, Stevensville 406-777-2831 homeacresorchard@ gmail.com Apples & pears. Available August – December. Sold at the Good Food Store, Clark Fork market, and direct from the farm. Call for direct sales. Member Montana Sustainable Grower’s Union. Producing since 1990.

Mountain View Orchards and Distillery 1775 Mountain View Orchard Road, Corvallis 406-961-3434 mcintoshcider@gmail.com 20+ varieties of apples, mid-Aug to Jan. Fresh apple cider Sept - Oct. Integrated Pest Management growing methods. Direct sales during apple season Mon-Sun 9am-5pm. Also at Missoula Farmers Market and Apple Days in Hamilton and local grocery stores. Producing since 1907. Call or email for types of distillery products. Harvest Legacy dessert cider currently available.

Honey

Apiaries of Montana 403 Grantsdale Road, Hamilton 406-381-7179 honey@montana. com Raw honey, flavored honey, pollen, pollination, beeswax, manufacturing hives. Available year round. Also sell 8 and 10 frame beehives, frames, lids and bottoms. Call or stop by for direct sales. Producing since 1968. 2nd generation honey producers.

Bee Happy Honey Farm 743 Sheafman Creek, Hamilton 406-360-1393/360-5435 bugoff95@dishmail.net Raw natural honey, flavored honey. We are vendors at the Hamilton Farmers Market and at the Darby Farmers Market and several bazars.

Call for availablity in the winter. Keeping honey bees since 2002.

Morris Honey Co. 270 Golden Pond Dr ive, Hamilton 406-370-3677 marilyn@morrishoney.com Locally produced honey – selling 55 gallon barrels only.

Prairie Sunshine Honey 250 Silverbow Drive, Victor 406-642-3535 www.prairiesunshinehoney.com Available year round at Super One (Hamilton & Stevensville), Rainbow’s End, IGA (Hamilton & Stevensville), Darby People’s Market, Victor Merc. Producing since 1989. 3rd generation honey producers.

Meat

Bauman Ranch 477 Bailey Lane, Corvallis 406-961-4343 Beef, hay, and custom feeding. Year round. Call for direct sales. 15 years producing. 4th generation producers.

Bitterroot Heritage Farms Member, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC)

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 17 Stevensville 406-207-1745 Bitterroot_Buckeyes@cybernet1.com Meat Lambs for sale.

Biodesign Farm 1541 South Burnt Fork Road, Stevenville 406-381-1554 wlpeterson5@yahoo.com Grass-fed, antibiotic-free butcher lambs. Will deliver to your choice of packing plant. Phone for availability.

Bugoni’s Sausages Missoula 406-546-6970 MTCucina@bresnan.net 7 varieties of handmade (using only natural ingredients) quality Italian style sausages, meatballs and a variety of other delectable gourmet items. Available at Clark Fork Market in Missoula and the Bitterroot Star in Stevensville.

Cherry Apple Farm 250 Chads Road, Hamilton 406-363-6139 gotpig@yahoo.com Naturally raised pork. Sold by the ¼, ½, or whole. Available year round. Call for direct sales.

Don & Joan Contraman 968 Coal Pit Road, Corvallis www.spinningfiber.net Homegrown lamb. Call for direct sales.

Duus Ranch 717 Duus Lane, Hamilton 406-363-4653 Different varieties of hay for sale, beef on the hoof. Call for availability.

Judy Edens 232 Hawker Lane, Corvallis 406-369-3280 Free range lamb, goats, pork, grass-fed beef, calves for sale, all humanely raised, no hormones, antibiotics, fed freshly ground local grain, eggs.

Jim Ellingson Old Darby Road 406-371-0295 jim@jimellingson.com Free range local lamb. Sunshine and grass, fresh air and pure water all combine to create Jim’s all natural, gently raised and humanely nurtured local lamb. Jim is fond of saying, “Give us green grass and we’ll make lamb out of it.”

Indian Prairie Longhorns Victor 406-369-0945 www.indianprairielonghorns.com Producing organically raised, grass-fed beef. Breeding stock and 4-H steers available. Contact for availability.

Marty Knox & Richard Bailly 956 Bass Lane, Corvallis 406-961-4729 Home raised, grass-fed beef; sold by 1/4, 1/2 or whole, and pork - 1/2 or whole. Available Oct - Jan., but will take orders earlier. Call for direct sales. Producing since 1988.

Lifeline Farm Store 2427 Meridian Road, Victor 406-642-9717 www.lifelinefarm.com Grass-fed beef, certified biodynamic and organic, beef, pork, and sausage. Grass-fed beef (Brown Swiss steers), grass finished all months except Nov-Mar when given a small portion of grains to augment hay. Call for direct sales.

Maki Farms 1065 Maki Lane, Corvallis 406-381-3908/381-0983 www.makifarms.com Horse hay, cattle. Call for direct sales. Producing since 1926. 4th generation ranchers.

Misty Hollow Farms 298 Wilcox Lane, Corvallis 406-370-9797 Grass-fed beef from “Lowline” Angus - whole, half, quarter orders available. also - produce stand on Eastside Hwy, just north of Corvallis. Open June - Sept., noon - 7 pm; vegetables, fruits, melons.

Organic but not certified.

Riverbottom Beef 807 Old Corvallis Road, Corvallis 406-961-3894 Producing natural beef, hay, feed corn and soybeans Call for availability. Producing since 1973.

Saddle Mountain Angus Ranch 7987 Hwy 93 South, Sula 406-821-3433 Producing registered grass-fed Black Angus beef and breeding stock. Call for availability. On-hoof beef delivered to processing plant in Hamilton.

Severson’s Flying E Ranch 760 South Burnt Fork Road, Stevensville 406-777-3576 www. facebook.com/seversonfarms Natural, grass-fed angus beef available by the pound at Bitterroot Star.

Check for availability. 1/4, 1/2 or whole contact the ranch.

Wild Rose Emu Ranch 284 Rose Lane, Hamilton 406-363-1710 wildroseemu.com Emu meat, eggs, leather & feathers. Also produce emu oil, skin care products (see listing under Health & Body Care) and emu animal care products. Call for direct sales. Ranch tours by appointment. Best time to tour is spring and summer during hatching season. Established in 1996.

Yourganic Farm - Know your Farmer, Know your Food 1550 Chaffin Lane, Corvallis 406-961-5452 yourganicfarm.com Grass-fed beef. Pastured pork raised with no antibiotics and noGMOs (genetically modified organisms). Call for direct sales. Also see Vegetable section.

Poultry

Bitterroot Heritage Farms Member, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) Stevensville 406-207-1745 Bitterroot_Buckeyes@cybernet1.com Providing quality, free-ranging heritage poultry stock & eggs. All stock are antibiotic-free and started on organic feed. Chicks and poults available Feb – May. Eggs available Jun –Dec. Homestead Organics 175 Skalkaho Road, Hamilton 406-363-6627 www.homesteadorganicsfarm.com Heirloom turkeys and chickens. Specializing in greens.

Vegetables and Herbs

Biodesign Farm 1541 South Burnt Fork Road, Stevensville 406-381-1554 wlpeterson5@yahoo.com Organic vegetables & fruit. Native bedding plants for restoration and waterwise gardens. Available at Missoula Farmer’s Market or wholesale orders only. Please phone for availability. (Also see listing under Meat for butcher lambs) Bitterroot Organics 345 Indian Prairie Loop, Victor 406-642-3653 Vegetables grown sustainably and without the use of petrochemicals. mid-May thru Nov. Sold at Hamilton and Missoula Farmer’s Markets.

Farm visitors by appointment only. Producing in Ravalli County since 1997.

Diamond Bar D Ranch 851 Middle Burnt Fork, Stevensville 406-544-3763 bevclagett@ yahoo.com Organic produce and jams. Available at Hamilton Farmer’s Market or call or email for availability. Member of Homegrown. Producing since 1980.

Deerhaven Farms & Garden City Nursery Hamilton 406-363-0773 schnee2@montana.com Homegrown mixed vegetables and herbs. Bedding plants (see listing under Garden Nurseries & Supplies). Available at the end of April – September. Call for direct sales. Also available at Hamilton Farmer’s Market and Clark Fork River Market. Producing since 1984.

Healthy Harvest Fruits 579 Porter Hill Road Stevensville 406-777-3783/546-4851 hhfruits@gmail.com Mixed vegetables, apples (Macintosh and other varieties), pears, plums, sweet cherries. Available July – September. No pesticides.

Also see listing under Fruit. Available at Stevensville Farmer’s Market or call for direct sales. Producing since 1989.

Heirloom Apothecary 406-239-5272 heirloomapothecary@yahoo.com We offer Community Supported Herbalism (CSH) shares, based on the CSA model. Our CSH shares allow you to have direct access to

Page 18 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 high quality, herbal preparations produced by local herbalists from locally grown and wildcrafted plants. When you purchase a share, you receive 5 monthly deliveries of herbal products of your choice. (June - October).

Homestead Organics 175 Skalkaho Road, Hamilton 406-363-6627 www.homesteadorganicsfarm.com Certified organic mixed vegetables. Specializing in greens. Produce available mid-May – November. Sold direct through Community Supported Agriculture program, farm stand open Tuesday 2-7pm.

Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Farm tours by appointment and on farm commercial kitchen available for your event or we can cater it for you.

Producing since 1999.

Jill’s Garden 329 McVey Road, Victor 406-642-3601 rivercare@blackfoot.net Organic garden vegetables and strawberries, not certified, sold to email list by weekly order, also locally adapted heirloom seeds.

Kangaroo House Garden 131 Deer haven Drive, Hamilton 406-375-0331 wombat@cybernet1.com or Facebook Small producers of pesticide-free fruits and mixed vegetables, dahlias. Available at Farmers Market, visitors welcome by appointment.

Lifeline Farm Produce 2363 Chief Victor Camp Road , Victor 406-642-3943 Garden vegetables, bedding plants, and organic lamb and beef (see listing under Meat). Available June – October. Call for direct sales.

Also available at Super One (Stevensville) and Missoula Farmer’s Market. Farm visitors welcome but please call first. Members of Homegrown. Over 35 years producing.

Longview Farm 2961 Hunters Lane, Stevensville 406-777-3371/396-0618 www. lvfarm.com Wide variety of vegetables and fruits. Hay and registered Hampshires for breeding, markets, 4H.Call or visit website. We also sell an all natural “horse cookie” treat made fresh at Longview Farm. Available online at www.bbhorsetreats.com or at local farm stores.

McPherson Farm 457 Willoughby Road, Stevensville 406-777-1378/381-2773 mcphersonfarm@gmail.com Facebook - McPherson Produce Large producer of sweet corn, potatoes and squash as well as other seasonal vegetables. Visit farm stand on Willoughby or find at Hamilton Farmers’ Markets. We also have hay and pork for sale.

Mill Crick Farm 153 Dutch Hill Road, Hamilton 406-961-8861 millcrickfarm@ gmail.com Misty Hollow Farms Corvallis 406-370-9797 Produce stand on Eastside Hwy, just N. of Corvallis. Open June Sept.; vegetables, fruits, melons. Organic but not certified. also, Grass-fed beef from “Lowline” Angus - whole, half, quarter orders available.

Moeller’s Nursery 946 Eastside Hwy, Corvallis 406-961-3389 Homegrown produce available in season (April – November). Specializing in super sweet corn, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, and squash. Also see listing under Garden Nurseries & Supplies. Call for direct sales, nursery hours Montana Gourmet Garlic 2711 Snyder Road, Stevensville 406-777-1566 mgg@montana. com www.montanagourmetgarlic.com Gourmet hardneck garlic. Call, email or visit website for availability.

Producing since 2002.

Rod’s Organic Produce 1464 Summerdale Road, Corvallis 406-961-4055 rodnjamie@q.com Full variety of fresh, organic vegetables and eggs. Also heirloom carrot seeds and redworms for composting. Available June – November.

Sold at Hamilton Farmer’s Market and direct from farm by appointment only. Visitors welcome by appointment only. Producing since 1992.

Peace Gardens Hamilton 406-363-8068 Vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers. Sells at Hamilton Farmers Market.

Producing since 2005.

West Naturals Farm 567 Chappy Court, Skalkaho Hwy, Hamilton Specialty tomatoes, fresh fruit, flower baskets, mixed vegetables, squash, cucumbers, melons, green peppers, hot peppers, and cut flowers. Available May – October. Available at Hamilton Farmers Market, Stevensville, Butte, Helena and Darby. Family run business since 1985..

Woodside Farm Winter Garden 876 Hwy 93 406-360-0770/360-0056 thewinterfarm@gmail.com Find us on Facebook Organically grown greens from our innovative (Solviva) greenhouse offered in winter. Contact us to be placed on email list, order from email list of available produce that we send out, pickup Friday from noon - 5pm. We also sell eggs.

Woolly Locust Farm & Garden 673 Ridge Road, Stevensville 406-546-8554 wlfarmandgarden@ cybernet1.com Organically grown lettuce, mizuna, broccoli, peas, Swiss chard, radicchio, green beans, pickling cucumbers, yard long green beans, eggplant, beets, hot peppers (large variety) amaranth (for canaries, finches, flower arrangements etc.) squash ( zucchini, yellow summer, acorn, patty pan, lakota, spaghetti etc.) tomatoes (various types and colors) painted mountain corn, sweet corn, teddy bear sunflowers.

Homemade soaps, mustards, hot pepper jelly, green tomato relish.

We are at the Stevi and Missoula Farmers Market. Will sell from farm x1/week. Visits by appointment. only. Offering a limited number of CSAs. Yourganic Farm - Know your Farmer, Know your Food 1550 Chaffin Lane, Hamilton 406-961-5452 yourganicfarm.wordpress.com Mixed vegetables, available May – October. CSA: fresh, in-season vegetables available once/week; drop off spot in Missoula. Call for direct sales. Farm visitors by appointment only. 15 years producing.

Also grass-fed beef, pasture pork and lamb for direct sale - see Meat section.

Meat Processing

State Inspected Processing Plants: Hamilton Packing Company 692 Hwy 93 North, Hamilton 406-961-3861 Processing locally raised beef, pork and lamb. Also sell retail cuts of meat.

Lolo Locker 6220 Caras Lane, Lolo 406-273-3876 www.lololocker.com Locally raised beef and pork and all-natural sausage.

Custom Exempt (also inspected) Processing Plants (no resale): Bitterroot Custom Processing 406-381-2551 Russ has a mobile slaughter unit and will go to your farm, doing humane killing, will skin, gut, and butcher your animal. $85 for kill, 45cents/lb cut & wrap, will dispose of the hide & offal.

Lost Horse Custom Cutting 213 Lost Horse Road, Hamilton 406-363-3876/363-3859 North American Foods of Montana 333 Marcus Street, Hamilton 406-363-1505 Richie’s Domestic & Wild Game Processing Company 344 Sharrot Hill Loop, Stevensville 406-777-0051 If you have any changes or additions to these listings, please contact the Ravalli Republic at 363-3300.

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 19

Agriculture Heritage Notebook The Bitter Root Cultural Heritage Trust

interpretation and affirm cultural values.

works in partnership with families,

The Heritage Trust provides an article for

neighborhoods and communities to restore

each edition of Agricultural Magazine,

historic structures, bring back traditional

highlighting the Bitterroot Valley’s

events and celebrations, encourage

agricultural history and heritage.

Story and photos by WENDY BEYE

It’s another showery day in the Bitterroot as I drive to the Hardeman place to photograph their barn. When I arrive, there are bits of blue peeking through the clouds, and

the barn matches the sky. It is pristine white with blue trim around the windows. The roof shows evidence of recent shingling, and I’m excited to see that is gracefully curved like

Page 20 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

A view of the loft down the center.

the hull of an upside down ship, an unusual design for this valley.

Betty Hardeman greets me cordially, and we chat for a few minutes about the barn. She and her husband Howard (“Howdy�) have owned the ranch for about 25 years, and in that time they have re-roofed the barn twice.

Their tender loving care has preserved the structure in close to original condition. She mentions that the ranch was known as the Gould place, and that Bruce Gould, who still lives in the valley, is the grandson of the man who had the barn built to house his dairy operation. I make a note to call Mr. Gould later.

Betty and I step through the barn door and

she points out the turkey tracks in the concrete floor. The gobblers apparently strolled through before the cement set nearly a century ago. The walls and ceiling on the first floor are smooth and spotlessly clean. The milking stanchions are gone, but there is still a horse stall with a hay chute leading from the loft above.

We climb the narrow steep stairs to the loft, and the beauty of the roof’s interior takes my breath away. The workmanship is superb, with rafters precisely curved just like the ribs of a fine sailing ship. A Jackson fork hay mover still hangs from its trolley, complete with pulley rope and trip lever cord attached. The boards underfoot are as smoothly polished as

Agriculture Magazine, June 2015 - Page 21

a high school gymnasium floor, and there is a basketball hoop at one end of the loft.

I thank Betty for her time, and for allowing me to share the barn with the community. Research at the county courthouse turns up a deed from C.B. McCool to Ernest L. Gould in 1916.

McCool bought from Minnie Cramer, widow of Frank Cramer, in 1915, and the Cramers purchased the land from homesteader Decatur Buker in 1901. The U.S. patent deed to Buker was dated 1893. A search of the Ravalli County Museum’s archives provides a few details on the Goulds.

Ernest was born in 1873 in French Creek, West Virginia, married Lenora in 1905 in Milan, Missouri, built a fine house in the Cold Looking out the loft door.

Springs are of Missoula and lived in it from 1909 to 1916, when the couple moved to the Bitterroot.

The next day I contact Bruce Gould, hoping to uncover more details about the barn. I hit the jackpot, as he is a local history buff. He and his wife are active in the Victor Heritage Museum and the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust. During our visit he tells me that his grandfather Ernest hired Adam Horning from Victor to build the barn in 1934. Horning’s crew included a pair of Swedish brothers, Ivan Gustafson and John Peterson (their names

were likely incorrectly recorded by Ellis Island scribes) who had been shipwrights in the Old Country. They were the sole laborers who so carefully erected the building, along with many other fine structures in the valley including the Etna School and an apple barn at the 1000 Acre Ranch. Bruce’s Aunt Emmaline was a young woman at the time, and passed along stories of the brothers and their accomplishments. To bend the wooden rafters into the proper curve, the craftsmen first soaked them in the ditch that ran near the barn. When the wood was pliable, they placed them in a jig on the ground, fastened straight boards across the curve, and let them dry. Then each brother grabbed an end, and together they climbed ladders leaning against each end of the barn walls, wrestling the huge trusses into place.

Emmaline told another story to illustrate the brothers’ prodigious strength. Ernest was driving a wagon loaded with grain down a lane near the barn when a wheel came off, and the wagon tipped, with one corner resting on the ground. The brothers saw the accident and jogged down the lane to help. One said to the other, “Well, do you want to pick

Page 22 - Agriculture Magazine, June 2015

Perfectly curved rafters in the Gould Barn.

Turkey tracks in cement floor of the Gould barn

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it up, or should I?” Without further ado, one squatted with his back to the crippled wagon bed, lifted, and the other brother shoved the wheel back on the axle. No jack or lever necessary!

Ernest and Lenora Gould operated their dairy for nearly 20 years, then switched to beef cattle. Bruce grew up helping with haying chores on his grandfather’s ranch, and remembers playing basketball in the barn loft.

He commented that barns were essential to the success of a ranch, and were frequently grander than the owner’s residence. His grandmother Lenora threatened to set up housekeeping in the newly-constructed Gould barn unless the nearby unfinished house was completed to her standards. Ernest was prompt in his compliance, and peace reigned in the family.

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