It’s been a nice fall in the Flathead, with plenty of warm days to view the changing leaves and a solid harvest of autumn vegetables to put on the tables. But as winter approaches, finding fresh vegetables grown in the valley becomes a nearly impossible task.
Mark Winchel and Lee Anne Christensen noticed that when the weather changed, they had to give up on their outdoor garden at their home on Highway 40, between Whitefish and Columbia Falls, and buy veggies that had been trucked into the valley from elsewhere in the country or even other countries.
“A head of cabbage is shipped 1,200 to 1,500 miles to get here,” Winchel said while standing in his greenhouse last week.
Northwest Montana’s climate doesn’t jive with year-round outdoor vegetable production, but Winchel and Christensen hope to create an indoor alternative that would provide fresh, organic vegetables for shoppers, restaurants, and homes.