Local Producers
 
 

 

 
 
 

 

R&P All Natural Lamb Ranch
The Lamb Chops we used for the herb-crusted rack of lamb came from the R and P All Natural Lamb Ranch located on 4500 Spurgin Road in Missoula. Ray Johnson, the owner, has been chasing sheep around since he was just a little guy. “My father was in the sheep business in the thirties and forties and he had over a thousand ewes so I was around it, but I really got started in the 4-H FFA Sheep program and have been doing it ever since.” Johnson’s sheep live just a few blocks east of the Kelly Island access feeding on Montana native grasses that have never been sprayed with chemicals or pesticides. Ray admits he isn’t getting rich on the enterprise, but says it’s more of a lifestyle choice. “I am getting up there in age and the sheep keep me busy and on my feet; and besides, I’ve been doing it so long I wouldn’t know how not to do it.” Johnson’s sheep are available in various cuts at The Good Food Store or you may call the ranch directly at 406-543-7380 to place an order.

Garden City Fungi
Chef Jim Gray chose to make a mushroom tart using an assortment of five different mushrooms from Garden City Fungi, which include: Oyster, Lion’s Mane, Shiitake, Nameko, and Chanterelle.
Garden City Fungi is a local mushroom producer nestled on a sunny hillside in the Nine Mile valley. The founders, Glen and Wendy Babcock, have been growing gourmet mushrooms for the last ten years. “I’d just graduated from the University of Montana with a forestry degree and wanted to make a living off the land. I started asking around and I realized nobody was growing mushrooms,” said Glen. His first customer was the Good Food Store located in Missoula, “I asked them if they would be interested and they were so I made a batch of shiitake and they loved them.”
Because it takes around three months to grow a block of mushrooms, the biggest challenge for the Babcock’s is keeping up with the steady growth in sales. “The demand for our mushrooms just keeps growing; if you purchase our mushrooms in the store or eat them in a restaurant they’re only a day or two old so they’re incredibly fresh and for that reason, very popular,” said Wendy.
Garden City Fungi mushrooms are chemical free and certified organic. The Babcock’s do not use manure as a base for their mushrooms and are a zero waste farm, (almost, they throw away plastic bags used in the growth process). You can find Glen and Wendy’s fresh fungi at the Good Food Store in Missoula, Mountain Valley Foods in Kalispell, or Third Street Market in Whitefish. For more information call 406-626-5757.

Clark Fork Organics
For our salad course, Chef Gray chose to use the Mixed Field Greens from Missoula’s own Clark Fork Organics. Owned and operated by husband and wife team, Josh Slotnick and Kim Murchison, Clark Fork Organics has long been a staple for many organically inclined Missoulians. When the couple started the small regional farm in the spring of 92, things were not so stable. “We thought we had an idea of what it would take, but it was bumpy and we had to learn how to do this.” Josh laughs, “I remember coming back from one of our first Farmers Markets thinking, wow we can pay rent!” Of course, Missoula has changed since the couple first drove their hands into the dirt, and so has the farms future. “Missoula began to grow, people’s needs changed, and what we were offering fit right into that market,” said Slotnick. “I never dreamed the farm would be able to provide for a family, but it has and we couldn’t be happier.” This was evident when Slotnick’s daughter, Tasha, bounded through the door and proclaimed with a wide grin on her face, “Oh I’ve got some chicken poop on my shoe!”
Clark Fork Organics are a certified organic farm, offering a wide variety of vegetables and produce. They are available at the Good Food Store and many local restaurants.
Clark Fork Organics is located on 3507 S 7th West. For more information call 406-543-1255.

Home Acres Orchard
For the Gateau de Pommes a la Parisienne, our dessert course at the Rattlesnake Winery, we chose to use Duchess of Oldenburg Apples fresh from Home Acres Orchard. Owned and operated by the husband and wife team, Pam Clevenger and Kurt Welborne is located on the eastern side of the Bitterroot Valley, near Stevensville.
I caught up with Pam at the newly established Clark Fork River Market on a soggy late September day selling the fruits of her labor. “It’s cold out here, isn’t it?” Clevenger says rubbing her small hands together, “Oh, that’s alright, I love this part of the business, you get to meet your customer eye to eye.” Clevenger and Welborne started the orchard in 1989. “We wanted to buy land and grow something on it. There was a lack of fruit growers in Montana, so we went in that direction,” Clevenger explains.
The organic Orchard consist of 2500 fruit trees with a mix of 15 varieties of apples and nine varieties of pears. According to Pam growing organic came at a price, “We grafted our own trees so that we knew they would be organic and it took five to six years before they bore fruit; it just takes longer when you don’t use chemicals. That is the price you pay but it’s worth it. Hey, we had a pretty good season last year.” She pauses, hands held up to the sky in mock surrender, a smile hiding at the edges of lips, “ But then we had to buy a tractor.”
Home Acres Orchard fruit is available at both the Missoula Farmers Market and the Clark Fork River Market through mid-October and is available at the Good Food Store through January. For more information on the Orchard and the fruits availability call 406-777-2831.