A unique take on farming is bringing fresh leafy greens to the Whitefish community and surrounding areas all season long. Tim and Harline Moyer are the owners of The Farm at River’s Bend, and they are in the process of growing produce in their new vertical farming operation.
Tuesday marks the farm’s first harvest. All of the farming is done inside a Freight Farms container. The container is an entirely controlled environment, therefore the produce is not exposed to any elements. This means they can grow produce even in the middle of winter in Montana.
The Moyers are not new to farming; they also own the Lahaina Family Farms in Maui. But vertical farming is a new venture for them, and they decided until they fully understand their new farming technique, they are going to give away their lettuce to the community at no cost.
On harvest day, staff at The Farm at River’s Bend loaded up containers full of fresh leafy greens to be delivered to local restaurants. “We wanted to do something, which is giving our first harvest to the community and the restaurants, especially,” said Moyer.
Moyer said his heart goes out to the restaurants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He said it is upsetting for him to see restaurants only able to operate at half occupancy, or worse, closing down.
Read more at NBC Montana