Local grower sprouts success

For locally and naturally grown produce, the Waterway Community Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) roadside stand has fresh vegetables and other products available for self-serve purchases. Owner and operator Elizabeth Riffle has her farm on Fruitland Lane off highway 200. At the moment the stand has lettuce, Napa cabbage, kale, swiss chard, radishes, beets, broccoli, peas, and green onions. "Peppers will be ready by the first part of July," Elizabeth said. Her four year old granddaughter Olivia Riffle helped plant the peppers recently. "I helped plant hot poblano peppers," Olivia said. They also planted anaheim peppers and sweet peppers. "I like the sweet peppers, not the hot ones," Olivia added. "We will have red, yellow, and purple peppers this year," Elizabeth said.

Produce available from other growers in Sanders County include microgreens from Kassy Moore's MT Wild Roots in Trout Creek. Her packages of sprouts are available in mixed, pea, or spicy varieties. Moore will also provide spinach for the stand. Toby Walrath and Katie King from Bull River Farm have duck eggs at the stand and Riffle said they will be providing frozen chickens for CSA freezers and other produce. "The Amish in Plains grow carrots, lettuce, green beans, beets, potatoes, zucchini, kale, and a large amount of the pumpkins that will be ready for the harvest festival in the fall," Riffle said.

Carrisa McNamara from the Wild Horse Lavender farm in Plains will be adding purple and yellow beans, cucumbers, red onions and plenty more pumpkins and squash for the fall. "We all practice regenerative farming, that involves naturally growing vegetables without the use of chemical sprays or fertilizers," Riffle said. "We are a lot more stringent (than organic practices) on what we spray or use on our plants. No weeds are sprayed," she explained. Riffle said that early produce she brings in from Yakima, Washington is certified organic.

Riffle said she has produce for sale at the Plains Farmers market on Friday afternoons. She has a collaborative deal to sell other farmers' produce. "I am always looking for more vegetable growers and want to expand at my farm stand and market with baked goods and canned goods. I currently have some jams, jellies, and freeze dried fruits. I will be adding more meat products that will be wrapped in boxes or individual cuts at the CSA stand freezers. If I could find locally grown dried beans and grains, I would like to incorporate those items from Sanders County," she added.

Riffle said she has beef and pork to add. Non GMO grain and grass fed products are raised on her farm. Riffle said she makes sure that her animals are well cared for and have a good life. "My father said, 'They are giving their lives to feed you, so you need to give them the best possible life,'" she recalled learning from her dad, Allen Dykstra, as a child.

Currently, Riffle has two paid employees, four helpers working for produce, who help pick produce, and her husband Mark Riffle who helps with the infrastructure around the property. The farm has two high walled greenhouses that allow for cooling on high heat days with sides that can be rolled open. "This saves on electricity by not having to run fans," she explained. There is a corn field that will become a maze for the fall festival. Through summer and fall customers can come out to the stand and pay by the honor system, or go to the markets to buy from Riffle in person. "If someone wants a large amount of vegetables for canning, I take orders," Riffle said.