Tiffany Sybert is the owner of Cherrywood Orchard, a regenerative, soil-first orchard situated on the edge of Flathead Lake in Bigfork, MT. Like most parents, Tiffany is concerned about her kids eating healthy food.
“This all started out because I’m a mom, and I care about what goes into the bodies of my family.”
When the opportunity arose for Tiffany to purchase Cherrywood Orchard in 2021, she and her family saw it as an opportunity to experiment with how growing practices could affect the quality of food. Over the last few years, they’ve transitioned the orchard from conventional methods to a fully regenerative operation, helping the trees produce higher-quality and better-tasting fruit.
And the key to tasting the difference?
Soil.
“We are changing the way our land and our fruit trees are cared for. We want to see how the fruit tastes and what the quality of the fruit is if we make some changes in growing practices…We are soil first farmers, so we’re really looking at how and what we’re inputting into the soil and how that affects and provides a flavor-driven commodity, our cherries.”
This “soil-first” philosophy means Tiffany starts by building living soil, creating a thriving ecosystem of beneficial microbes and insects. By nurturing tree health naturally, using methods like cover cropping, supporting soil biology, and relying on organic matter and microbial life, Tiffany is able to eliminate the need for herbicides. One of the inputs Tiffany is most passionate about is compost from the Columbia Falls-based business, Dirt Rich. Dirt Rich sources its food scraps from businesses and individuals around the Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park.
“[It’s] so exciting because people don’t realize that their food scraps and their recyclable paper materials are literally food for our trees and the soil, and then we grow [cherries], and people eat them, and the circle goes around and around, and it’s beautiful.”
You can taste for yourself how regenerative practices transform flavor by participating in Cherrywood’s U-Pick events—by reservation only—July 13-18 & 20-25, visiting them at the Missoula Farmers Market August 2nd and 9th, or at the Flathead Cherry Festival July 26-27, 2025. Cherrywood Orchard also offers plums, pears, and many value added products.
You can also follow along with Cherrywood’s seasons by following them on Instagram or on Facebook!
