High altitude produce hits Town Square

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A healthy crowd of bumblebees buzzed in Dick Shuptrine’s raspberry patch last Friday – one more sign of the wettest June Shuptrine has seen since he started his Game Creek garden in the mid 1980’s.

He pointed out lettuce and other greens sprouting in rows behind a six-foot tall deer fence, and next to them the broccoli and cauliflower, and peas that grow up the fence. In about a week he will be eating cucumbers, arugula and spinach, even though the farm is a little behind from all the rain.

Shuptrine has the only commercial scale vegetable and berry operation in Jackson Hole, but to get there, he had a lot of lessons to learn, the harshest of which looms on the horizon every time a summer storm rolls over the Tetons.
“The worst thing that can happen once your garden is planted is a hail storm,” Shuptrine said.

A navy pilot before he owned White Glove cleaning service for 25 years, Shuptrine paid close attention to the way a storm moved across the valley, toward his farm.
“If they come in really dark towards Teton Pass with a little bit of blue sky over Munger Mountain, then we’ll get the tail end of it,” he said. “If they come directly over Munger Mountain, we’re gonna get nailed.”

Two years ago, some unexpected quarter-sized hail wiped out his plants.
Jackson Hole is not a hospitable place to grow things, because of a 90-day growing season, cold nights, poor soil and finicky weather - in addition to the usual threats from critters. But Shuptrine, who says in a Georgia accent that farming is in his genes, has found the right balance of protection and exposure for each of the crops he grows, through the process of “trial and errah.” In fact, Shuptrine has learned how to grow more varieties of vegetables and greens in Jackson Hole than anyone else before.

He credits his land, which sits up in the Game Creek drainage opposite the south end of the Teton Range, where direct sunlight slips through until 9:30 p.m. in the summer and cross breezes blow up and down the canyon. This means his garden can be 10 degrees warmer than one in the valley on a summer night. He also has six inches to a couple of feet of topsoil up there, whereas most people in the valley have yards full of rocks.

Shuptrine’s garden occupies less than an acre of actual ground, he guesses, but it will produce kale, tomatoes, beets, bok choi, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers and peas, among other crops. Most of it will be consumed by friends, diners at local restaurants and customers at the Town Square Farmer’s Market.
“I’ve sort of grown my garden according to the needs of the community and the demand of produce,” he said, both of which are on the rise, or at least unmet by local producers.

Point of sale
The Farmers Market on Town Square, which kicks off this Saturday, has grown from about 10 vendors in 2001 to about 25 last summer, and this summer there could be as many as 40, President Ariel Mann said.

The market has grown in popularity and size every year, and has now become a fixture for all walks of Jackson life.

One explanation for the Farmers Market’s success is a worldwide obsession with locally grown food.

This summer, market stands will sell beef from the Mead Ranch in Spring Gulch, produce from the Cosmic Apple and Blue Flax farms in Victor and the EverGreen farm in Alpine. Mann said that food from smaller, local producers will be available throughout the summer as well.

But a lot of food will have traveled hundreds of miles to get to Jackson.
The popularity of the market relies on a somewhat intangible quality. Its founder, Jim Darwiche, said its the ancient sense of community that people seek at the market. He explained that the farmers market concept is thousands of years old, and throughout history markets were centered around socializing, as much as buying food. Some markets were known for hundreds of miles around for their poetry or music.

“It draws people from all circles of the community and they mingle and they buy fresh produce and so forth, so really the purpose also of starting the Farmers Market was to bring the community together,” Darwiche said. “You don’t have to pay anything, you’re not commited, you can come in your shorts, you can bring your brother you can bring you daugher in law – and its just fun. It’s a great way to spend a Saurday morning.”

Return to the Square
The market was designed to be on Town Square, Darwiche said, as a way to bring locals back to their Town Square park that had been given over to tourists. There, chefs from local restaurants hand out samples, and often a recipe. A featured nonprofit puts on an activity and a local music act performs. Jerry Tapp starts the day off with a perfomrance on his alpenhorn.

Chip Marvin, JHFM boardmember, explained that some farmers markets evolve into craft fairs, this one is strictly about consumable flavor - mostly out of respect for Town Square merchants who pay high rents to sell hard goods, but also because it keeps the market fresh, and keeps it from being flooded with wares.

Shuptrine and other vendors said that they sell their food almost exclusively to locals; barring the occasional peach or cherry picked up by a tourist. But the Farmers Market bags are a favorite souvenir, selling well enough to be the only income the Farmers Market board brings in. The vendors only give up 10 percent of their profits, and those go to the week’s featured nonprofit. Last year, Darwiche said, the market raised nearly $14,000. This year, that could grow higher as more and more vendors apply for permits (which are available at jacksonholefarmersmarket.org)

Farmers Market board members and vendors offered different reasons for the increase in popularity this year. In tough economic times, people are cooking plans to make extra cash, and entrepreneurial ingenuity is on the rise. A new Wyoming cottage food bill makes it legal to sell baked goods and other non-hazardous foods without a license, furthering entrepreneurial possibilities. (Farmers Market guidelines are available at www.tetonwyo/phn/eh/).

In past years, vendors had to get licenced through a commercial kitchen, via the Teton County public health department, in order to vend.  Darwiche expects to see a handful of home-producers on the Square this year.

Getting started
The concept of community farmers markets is catching on, but when Darwiche first announced he wanted to start one on the Town Square in 2001, people told him he was crazy, he said.

“Because nothing grows in Jackson Hole,” he said.
He gathered a dedicated board, and pushed the Farmers Market through that year, despite opposition from the town’s then-mayor, who didn’t want a market on Town Square and threw out not a little red tape.

“It was obvious that the community was ready for it,” Darwiche said.
Still, it was difficult to attract vendors.
“I sat three days on the phone and tried to convince people to come from as far as Boise, Idaho,” he said. “People weren’t sure about it, but that first year we got 8 or 10 vendors.” The next year people were prepared, Darwiche said. The Jackson Hole Farmers Market on the Square was the second community farmers market in Wyoming in 2001, and now there are 25 statewide, including one in Alpine, Darwiche said.

Sloan Andrews owns the original Jackson Hole Farmer’s Market, which was started several years before the one on Town Square. It consists of a couple of tents set up from Thursday to Saturday in the Movie Works Plaza, beginning this Thursday until October 15. She imports fruits from Washington, and Oregon and produce from Idaho and Utah, but she said that as the summer progresses, her bounty comes more and more from valley gardeners, because people have, over the years, approached her to sell the fruits of their local labors. But Andrews doesn’t see the Town Square market as competition, even if it kind of did steal her name.

“I knew I would be set up [on Town Square],” Andrews said. “I think there are so many people interested in great produce that, honestly, the more the merrier. There’s no way that we could grow enough here to have enough produce for everybody, so the Farmers Market on the Square is just more publicity for locally and regionally gown produce.”

She sets up two stands on the Square and one in her usual spot in the Movieworks Plaza.

Arrival
The seeds planted by people like Darwiche, Andrews, and Shuptrine continue to grow. The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model of farming has caught on with a few farms in Teton Valley, and in Alpine, where consumers pay money or trade work for a share of the farm’s bounty. The Jackson Hole Community Garden has a waiting list, and small cold frames and greenhouses can be seen all over town. But the fact remains that growing veggies above 6,000 feet is hard work. Shuptrine, said he wouldn’t mind leasing his farm out next year so he can have more time to go fishing, he said.

And only people with free land, or skills at acquiring government grants, have made a living off of farming - even in sunny soils of Teton Valley, or Alpine.
Shuptrine doesn’t see why there’s not a community garden in every neighborhood in Jackson Hole, and in the school system, so kids can learn about eating what they grow. He also said he wished the Farmers Market had more local producers, but even he admitted that only so much could be done in Jackson. He will return this weekend from Washington with 300 or 400 pounds of tree fruit from Washington.
And if you want the good stuff, get there early on Saturday. The market starts at 8 a.m., and as Andrews said, it’s every vendor’s goal to sell out before they go pack up around 11 a.m., so don’t be surprised if all that’s left then is some grinning people and a little chard. JHW

Market for local art
The Farmers Market may have spawned an unaffiliated art market down the street at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary.

LMC will host its first Saturday Art Market from, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this weekend, with vendors setting up tables to sell art, clothing, jewelry and handmade products produced by Jackson Hole and Teton Valley residents. McCandless hopes the event will become a permanent fixture, and the next step for people hanging out on the Town square.

As many as 15 artists are interested in the first market, McCandless said, but Raskol Inc. and Anomoly Farm - local companies that produce original screenprint designed hoodies and T-shirts - will be anchoring the first show.
McCandless said the market will evolve as the summer continues, hopefully incorporating music, other performances and participatory art projects.
“My vision is that it’s going to be a collaborative, artistic experience, highlighting local creative pepole,” she said.

The markets will be juried, McCandless noted, so folks who want to sell their art and handmade wares need to check with her first by calling 734-0649.

Lyndsay McCandless, who has been looking for ways to keep her gallery afloat during a tough economy, has recently looked to capitalize on the gallery’s community presence, by selling local, affordable art. – HS

PERMALINK:
High altitude produce hits Town Square | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

Leave a Comment