Corn

In the Garden Many varieties of corn are considered long season crops. For this reason, some growers can struggle to produce a successful crop in our shorter Montana season. However, there are some work-arounds that still allow Montana’s growers to enjoy fresh corn....

Grow & Tell: From Lake to Plate

Buying local filets gives Flathead Lake’s native fish a fighting chance. Salish Kootenai tribal members netting non-native Lake Trout & processing them. | Lynn Donaldson | Native Fish Keepers | Polson, MT Cold water dripped back into Montana’s largest natural lake...

2023 Mission Mountain Pedal to Plate

2023 Mission Mountain Pedal to Plate

Stomachs filled with local food, lungs filled with fresh country air, eyes filled with the peaks of the Mission Mountain Range; Participants in the 2023 Mission Mountain Pedal to Plate will get to experience all this and more – some of the best Montana has to offer....

Farm Bill 101 – Grow Montana

Farm Bill 101 – Grow Montana

Grow Montana is the statewide coalition that works on food policy and related issues at the state legislature, as well as advocates for food access programs, farmers markets, and small & mid-scale producers. Formed in 2005, the coalition has mostly focused on...

Montana Berry Growers Association Video

The Montana berry industry is thriving. With the demand for locally grown fruit steadily increasing, growers struggle to produce enough supply. Montana Berry Growers Association (MTBGA) aims to connect, support, and assist berry growers throughout the state as they...

Montana Berry Growers Association

Montana Berry Growers Association

Founded in 2019, the grower and member led organization is committed to developing the emerging Montana berry industry. Although still in its infancy, the industry demand is greater than the supply, so the potential for its growth is significant.  “As a state that is...

Farm Succession

“The farm, once the work of parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, and the dream of so many who came before, is itself like an old, immortal relative. . . It has, and it will endure beyond the time of its current steward or their successors,” opens Megan...

2023 Local Food Guide Sources

Agritourism Page 16 Source 1: In 1950, about 70% of the food Montanans ate was grown in Montana. By 2006 that number was down to 10%; today, it is 3%. Composting Page 19 Source 2: Nearly 40% of all food in America is wasted. Native Fish Keepers Page 23...

Meet Your Farmer – Healthy Meadows

In the rolling hills above Red Lodge Creek, their family of five raise a rambunctious herd of approximately 250 goats which they use to manage noxious weeds in their community.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hifPrOGiYF0 In Montana, landowners are responsible for...

Meet Your Farmer – Cowgirl Meat Co.

Meet Your Farmer – Cowgirl Meat Co.

Along the lush river bottom and among the sagebrush hills south of Big Timber, they ranch naturally raised grass fed beef and pasture raised pork. Producing high quality meat, for both Jaimie’s family and her community, is a lifestyle that brings her joy with each...

Reflections: Abundant Connections

The virtual format of Abundant Connections allowed Montana producers and buyers to foster new relationships, which would lead to sales opportunities, support our Montana food economy, and get more Montana-produced food served throughout the state. Prior to the event,...

Meet Your Farmer – Delpine Farms

Along the lush riverbottom west of Martinsdale, their farm produces fresh eggs and nutrient dense vegetables far from the larger markets in the state. On their rural operation, they employ a mix of hoop houses, outdoor beds, and indoor setups to provide a variety of...

Meet Your Farmer – Awesome Herbs

Meet Your Farmer – Awesome Herbs

https://youtu.be/poD6-RiXD2Y During one of the hottest weeks of summer, we visited Katie and Larry Nesky of Awesome Herbs at their home in the Flathead Valley. On a bountiful spread of sloping pasture and lush gardens in St. Ignatius, their farm produces herbal teas...

Winter Squash

Winter squash is indigenous to North and South America, and was a valued food source long before the first Europeans ever set foot on the land. Popular varieties of winter squash include butternut, honey nut, Hubbard, acorn, spaghetti, and kabocha. In the Garden In...

Apples

Crunchy, sweet, and delicious, apples are easy to love. And, with 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the US, there are so many different kinds to try. In the Garden Apple trees are a long-term investment and can take multiple years to produce fruit after planting....

Broccoli

There’s a reason our parents told us to eat our broccoli. And we agree, this powerhouse cruciferous vegetable rarely gets the spotlight it deserves.  In the Garden October means broccoli season! Broccoli belongs to the brassica family along with cauliflower,...

Grow Montana

Grow Montana Works to Improve Our Citizens’ Access to Healthy Montana Foods In 1950, 70% of the food Montanans ate was grown in Montana. Today the percentage of local food that Montanans consume is just a fraction of what it once was (3%). With shifts to large scale...

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

According to Mark Twain, “cauliflower is just cabbage with a college education”. Twain may have been onto something as they are close relatives in the brassica family. While we also love cabbage, cauliflower has been in the spotlight these past few years due to its...

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

When it comes to local tomatoes versus grocery store tomatoes, there's no competition. Locally-grown tomatoes are plump, flavorful, and sweet. There’s a reason they are often referred to as nature's candy. In the Garden Because the growing season is short in Montana,...

Huckleberries

Huckleberries

Montana is known for vast skies, diverse wildlife, and huckleberry everything. A huckleberry is a common name for small berries that look like blueberries and domesticating them has eluded researchers for decades. For that reason, you can only harvest them in the...

9 Local Food Restaurants in Bozeman

9 Local Food Restaurants in Bozeman

Local food just tastes better. Whether you are a local or visiting town, these 9 restaurants are serving up some of Montana’s best eats. 1. Little Star Diner 548 E Babcock St, Bozeman, MT The menu at this modern, farm-to-table diner highlights the peak flavors of each...

Zucchini

Summer squash season is here, and you know what that means–zucchini galore! Along with cucumbers, melons, and winter squash, zucchini is a member of the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family. With its soft texture and mild flavor, zucchini is a highly versatile vegetable that...

Snap Peas

This sweet legume is a favorite among people of all ages. As nitrogen fixing plants, sugar snap peas have many nutritional benefits, for both the soil and personal health. Not to be confused with snow peas, English garden, or shelling peas (all great in their own...

Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a tell-tale sign of spring. You may recognize the plant by its large, green triangular leaves. The leaves of the plant contain toxic substances including oxalic acid and are inedible. However, the plant’s vibrant green, pink, or red stalks are rich in...

Radish

Radish

Radishes are one of the first spring crops available at your local market. Despite their vibrant pink, red, and purple hues, radishes tend to fly under the radar. Whether enjoyed raw, pickled, or roasted, this modest crop deserves a more prominent place on our plates....

Asparagus

Asparagus

We love our spring greens and asparagus is no exception. It’s crisp, subtle in flavor, and simple to prepare. In Montana, you can find green, white, purple, and even wild varieties. In the Garden Did you know that a well-managed asparagus bed can remain productive for...

Spinach

Spinach

In the Garden There are many varieties of spinach but flat-leaf, savoy, and semi-savoy are the most popular. Spinach is a fast-growing, cool-weather crop. Because hot temperatures and long days can cause spinach to bolt, spinach grows best in Montana during early...

5 Reasons to Become a RegenMarket Member

5 Reasons to Become a RegenMarket Member

RegenMarket is a membership-based local food retailer founded by two families grounded in their community in Big Sky, Montana. Their slogan is “The Best Food on Earth!” How can they make such a bold statement? Because they only sell food grown by Montana farmers and...

Hi-Line Kitchen Processing and Garden Center

Hi-Line Kitchen Processing and Garden Center

Community Adaptability and a Good Sense of Humor Thayne Mackey, from Hi-Line Kitchen Processing and Garden Center in Malta, MT, has known first hand the importance of community-grown food for a long time. “In the Hi-Line if we don’t have our own consumable...

The Farmers’ Stand

The Farmers’ Stand

Four Farmers Taking a Stand It’s a rainy Saturday morning in Whitefish and The Farmers’ Stand (TFS), the new 100% farmer-owned market in town, is bustling with activity. The two goals of TFS are 1. to provide their community with fresh and nutritious food, while 2....

Lifeline Farm

Lifeline Farm

A Full-Circle Dairy Erica Capp walks through a pasture at Lifeline Farm one September afternoon, talking in a low voice to her cows. She’s the head herdsman at Lifeline Farm, where she manages the farm’s operations. The animals are at ease in her presence. One even...

Honey

Here in Montana we are moving toward winter, a time of cold and darkness when fewer locally grown foods are available. Montana-grown honey is a great product to enjoy after the abundant summer months are over. And while the sweet sunshine and flowers we usually...

Cowgirl Meat Co.

Where Human, Animal, and Soil Health are Interwoven Jaimie Stoltzfus and her husband Austin are behind Cowgirl Meat Company, a regenerative cattle and pork ranch just outside McLeod, MT along the West Boulder river. Since 2014, the couple have been raising meat for...

Grist Milling and Bakery

Grist Milling and Bakery

From grain to grist to bread Making bread is a careful, reverent undertaking at Grist Milling and Bakery. Bakers prioritize tradition, nutrition, and flavor. “Other than using electricity, we make bread the same way people did 2,000 years ago,” Dan says. “We’re...

Pumpkins

Pumpkins

Each year, I look at pumpkins at every farm stand, at every grocery store, and in every field. I love to collect different varieties of these joyful gourds. They find their way into recipes and onto my doorstep, and spark so much joy. So what should we know about the...

Cabbage

Hardy and easy-to-store cabbage is abundant even in late winter. It will keep in cool, moist storage for 3-4 months! Part of the Brassica genus, which includes broccoli, kale and cauliflower, this crunchy veggies comes in a variety of shapes, sizes...

Year Zero at Lower Valley Farm

Year Zero at Lower Valley Farm

Janie Locker, the new owner of Lower Valley Farm, smiles and waves to me as I pull into the driveway, and then immediately disappears into a high tunnel. I walk through the maze of farm equipment and poke my head into the door I think she has slipped into.“HI!...

Happy Trash Can Curbside Compost

Happy Trash Can Curbside Compost

Closing the Loop in Local Food Waste On a smoky July day, with temperatures hanging just below 100° F, I  visit with Adrienne Huckabone and Ryan Green, the husband and wife duo behind Happy Trash Can, in Bozeman. Around a bend at the Bozeman...

Beets

Beets deserve the spotlight for their funky exterior and sweet flavor alone, but add to that their super-food level nutrition, versatility in the kitchen and hearty growing characteristics and it’s easy to see that they’re a truly incredible vegetable. Past enjoying...

Mannix Beef

A family business rooted in land stewardship Some days, Logan Mannix rides a motorbike through his family’s land in the pristine Blackfoot Valley, moving cows from pasture to pasture or setting up irrigation. Other days he’s working with a big crew of family and ranch...

Cherries

Northwest Montana is known for its cherry production. The unique, warm climate around Flathead Lake allows sweet cherries to thrive. Mid-July to Mid-August is peak cherry season, so now is the time to find and enjoy these delicious fruits. You can find cherries at...

Snap Peas

Snap Peas

Snap peas are a legume which means they are in the family of incredible plants that can “fix” nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into a usable form in the soil for other plants to access. Similar to snow peas (edible pod, flat) and English garden/shelling peas (inedible...

Sun Hands Farm

Sun Hands Farm

The Art of Farming Mushrooms We all understand the general idea of fruit and vegetable farming: you take a seed, you plant it into the ground, a plant grows from that seed and produces something edible. But how do you grow mushrooms, which produce microscopic spores...

Farm 51

Farm 51

Spunky Goats Nourish the Local Food System “Food is better when it’s loved and respected in its life.” Joe, the emotionally sensitive guard donkey who watches over the goat herd at Farm 51, receives a spritz of insect repellent to the legs while his owner...

Missoula Community Free Fridge

Creating a network of hyper-local food access sites Imagine a city where every person who experiences food insecurity is within walking distance of a site stocked with prepared meals and food ingredients. That’s Missoula Community Free Fridge’s vision. “There’s...

Clark Fork Organics

Trellising Tomatoes On a sunny June day Dylan Brady was in Clark Fork Organic’s humid hoop house in Missoula, trellising young tomato plants. He carefully chose the most promising stalks of each plant, chopped off the others, and attached the remaining spindly stems...

YES Compost

YES Compost

Vermicomposting for Healthier Soil in the Gallatin Valley “Worms stitch everything together.”  Karl Johnson, the founder and owner of YES Compost, gently pulls his fingers through the top layer of a compost bin at his Belgrade facility, inspecting the...

Blarney Heights Farm

Blarney Heights Farm

Regenerative Agriculture in NW Montana I received a text on the Sunday morning I was scheduled to visit Blarney Heights Farm. It had rained all night and was supposed to rain all day, and Brian wanted to make sure I was still up for the trip out there. I pulled...

Glacier Tilth Farm

Glacier Tilth Farm

Following a tradition of land stewardship and community building Every weekend of the 2020 summer season the same senior couple drove along the Flathead River to the Glacier Tilth farm store. The pair would look at the fresh produce and pick out a week’s worth of...

Phyllary Farm

The Necessity of Flowers for the Soul Phyllary Farm is a non-certified organic flower farm located in Kalispell that aims to steward the land and connect the community through positivity. This year is Phyllary Farm’s first year in production, but Althea Hogle,...

Feast Raw Bar & Bistro, Bozeman

Feast Raw Bar & Bistro, Bozeman

Feast Raw Bar & Bistro opened in 2015 with a desire to bring fine cuisine with a focus on fresh, sustainably sourced seafood to Bozeman. Nearly all of Feast’s delicious menu supports produce, meat and fish farmed or harvested in a sustainable manner. They...

Montana Ale Works, Bozeman

Montana Ale Works, Bozeman

Montana Ale Works, based in Bozeman, is an award-winning community gathering place that has been dedicated to local, sustainable food and beverage sourcing since 2000. You might be familiar with them since they’ve won “Best of Bozeman” in four major categories for the...

Golden Yolk Griddle, Missoula

Golden Yolk Griddle, Missoula

Golden Yolk Griddle, which started as a popular breakfast sandwich booth at the Clark Fork Market 10 years ago, is now a community powered take-out restaurant, dedicated to offering delicious, locally sourced food, nurturing community relationships, and supporting...

Green Source, Missoula

Green Source, Missoula

Jess Maisel started Green Source Missoula in 2014 as a Green Smoothie Delivery Service. After two years and a lot of encouragement from customers, she opened her shop on the Hip Strip in Missoula in September 2016. From the beginning, her interest and...

Dish-Ability Food Truck, Butte

Dish-Ability Food Truck, Butte

In 2017, Dish-Ability was born with the mission of providing on-the-job culinary training and employment opportunities to folks with disabilities. In addition to increasing community awareness of the value their employees bring to the community, Dish-Ability...

Streatery Food Truck, Havre

Streatery Food Truck, Havre

Are you hungry for change? Sarah Manuel, owner and chef of the Streatery and Farmer Meets Foodie, believes in challenging the way society has taught us to eat. She describes Streatery Food Truck as a humble beginning in her efforts to contribute to the...

Nourish Food Truck, Great Falls

Nourish Food Truck, Great Falls

Nourish, based out of Great Falls, offers catering, events, cooking and wellness classes, and runs a food truck! Nourish is all about bringing the community together to facilitate learning, exploration, and exposing people to great Montana-based food. Nourish...

Mustang Fresh Food, Livingston

Mustang Fresh Food, Livingston

Mustang Fresh Food, located in historic downtown Livingston, was founded in 1997 by Carole Sullivan to offer the Livingston and Bozeman area a casual yet elegant setting for gourmet comfort food. Their ever changing menus highlight Montana’s plethora of natural...

2nd Street Bistro, Livingston

2nd Street Bistro, Livingston

2nd Street Bistro opened its doors in the Historic Murray Hotel in the heart of downtown Livingston in the spring of 2004. The Bistro is rooted simply in the belief that great food and wine make life more pleasurable. They are committed to providing locally...

Farm to Fork, Bigfork

Farm to Fork, Bigfork

Farm to Fork, located in Bigfork, provides fresh, local, plant-based take & bake meals and grab & go foods! Farm To Fork’s mission statement is: To make every effort to do business with local farmers, vendors & to use organic, local & seasonal produce...

Wich Haus, Whitefish

Wich Haus, Whitefish

The Wich Haus, located in the heart of Whitefish, is a cozy, farm-to-table sandwich shop featuring local, seasonal ingredients in sandwiches, salads, prepared foods, haus-made bread, and frozen custard. Ellie and Orion Heyman bought the restaurant almost two years ago...

Fork & Spoon, Bozeman

Fork & Spoon, Bozeman

Fork & Spoon, located in Bozeman, is Montana’s only pay-what-you-can restaurant, started by Human Resource Development Council of District IX to share a hot meal with people that didn’t have means to prepare a food box from the Food Bank and to lend a...

Little Star Diner, Bozeman

Little Star Diner, Bozeman

Little Star Diner, based in Bozeman, is a modern diner featuring truly unique dishes from talented husband & wife team Lauren, farmer, and Charlie, chef, with ingredients from their own Star Pudding Farm and other local farms. They opened in 2017 with...

Red Tractor Pizza, Bozeman

Red Tractor Pizza, Bozeman

Red Tractor Pizza serves New York style brick-oven pizzas with a Bozeman spin! They use the freshest, most locally-sourced ingredients to bring you hand-tossed artisan pizzas in a comfortable, family-friendly environment. We highly recommend ordering your pizza...

The Abundant Montana Restaurant Series

Six Bozeman Restaurateurs authored an Opinion piece in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in the fall of 2020 in response to a national survey that predicted as many as 80% of restaurants could close due to the pandemic. The Bozeman community’s call to action was simple:...