The Origin Story

Dylan and I both went to school at Utah State University in Logan, UT. Our paths crossed fairly often – we had some of the same classes, co-presented a presentation about mountain goats, and spent some time together outside of our coursework. We both graduated in 2017 with degrees in Natural Resources – Dylan with a bachelor’s in Recreation Resource Management and me with a bachelor’s in Conservation and Restoration Ecology. We went on our own journeys after graduation. Dylan was a raft guide in Bend, OR during the summer and worked at a ski resort in Tahoe, CA in the winter. I moved to Cedar City, UT and worked as a field crew supervisor doing trail and chainsaw work on public lands across Utah. Eventually I moved back to Logan, UT to work at Utah State University. In January 2019, Dylan contacted me out of the blue and asked if he could crash on my couch for a few days while he was in town for a wilderness first aid course. The rest is history (and farming).

In the spring of 2019, Dylan moved back to Logan, UT and was looking for work. If you know Dylan, he’s very particular about only doing work that he enjoys (this basically meant nothing behind a desk, nothing indoors, and the job needed to be active). I had volunteered at First Frost Farm back in 2013-14(?) and was friends with the family that owned it. I suggested to Dylan that he might check in with them to see if they could use any support, even if it was part time. As luck would have it (for Dylan – not the other guy), their current help had just broken his wrist and was out of commission for the foreseeable future. Dylan leapt at the opportunity and spent the next 1.5 years learning everything he could about farming - planting, harvesting, irrigating, pruning, weeding, trellising, fertilizing, working farmers markets, and the list goes on. He loved the work and the people.

Fast forward to late fall 2020 and we moved to Moab, UT. I was fully remote for work because of COVID so we decided to move somewhere that we’d visited many times over the years to rock climb, mountain bike, camp, and hike. Dylan picked up a part-time job at a local used gear shop and again, as luck would have it, the manager of the shop just happened to have a small garden area behind his house that he didn’t have time to tend. You can guess what happened next. That’s right, Dylan leapt at the opportunity and tried his hand at growing vegetables in the sandy soils of Moab – it was then that Sandy Seed Farm was born. Arugula, spinach, peppers, carrots, and beets were some of the more successful crops he grew. We ran a very small CSA that first (and only) year of farming in Moab and worked with Moonflower Community Cooperative to get more of our produce into the community (Local Grower Spotlight: Sandy Seed Farm - Moonflower Community Cooperative).

After a year of renting a house in Moab, we were considering next steps. Family friends of Dylan’s met up with us in Moab to do some hiking and we learned that they were moving to Montrose, CO. They had purchased property west of town and were planning to build a home in the near future. Discussions ensued about what Dylan and I were doing for work and farming was a frequent topic of conversation. We took a few trips over to Montrose to visit the area and hike with our friends, and eventually the idea to set up a 1/3-acre farm plot on their property came to fruition. We decided that we could enjoy living in Montrose, Dylan could really give this farming thing a go, and I could continue working remotely. The move to Montrose happened in the fall of 2021 and our first farming year was 2022. We’re now headed into year 5 of farming in Montrose!

We bought a home here in the spring of 2022 and grow mostly flowers and some experimental, “for fun” crops on our property. While the bulk of our production is currently on the 1/3-acre property, we recently received the go-ahead to start farming operations at 2 other locations. That puts us at a total of 4 separate locations in Montrose! The farm is growing quickly and we’re very excited to turn more lawns and unused dirt into regenerative food production spaces for the local community. All that to say, we’re figuring it out as we go!

Some of the places you can find our food around the Uncompahgre Valley:

Ultimately, none of this would be possible without the support of our family, friends, and the community (shoutout to our CSA members, farmers market customers, and wholesale buyers)! We are very, very grateful.