Sublette County's mountain vistas, gin-clear rivers, and wide open spaces are truly inspiring, but arguably no one ever traveled through this part of Wyoming and concluded that it would be a great place to grow tomatoes. Until about two years ago. That's when entrepreneur Dakin Sloss recognized this high-elevation, short-growing season area as a food desert, and he set out to do something about it.
Many people who have traveled the stretch of Highway 191 from Pinedale out past Daniel Junction, then north up through the rolling sagebrush-covered hills, have seen Sloss's new greenhouse.
Many of those same people may have wondered how many tons of tomatoes it will take to offset the power and gas bills required to produce vegetables in a place where strong winds and frosty temperatures are as predictable as magpies on roadkill. The answer? It doesn't matter.
"The big picture is we are what we eat," Sloss told Cowboy State Daily. "There's not really a surplus of healthy local vegetables here, and I think it's important for the communities of Jackson and Pinedale to have that." The greenhouse is a 5,000-square-foot building with a heated floor and a ceiling curtain system used to create shade when needed or an insulation barrier during the winter. A fine mist in the air creates a welcoming level of humidity to pamper computer-monitored plants ranging from herbs to peppers to melons and various root vegetables.
Read more at cowboystatedaily.com