One hundred years ago, the Helena Commercial Club, a local service organization, published a booklet promoting the Helena Valley as a "Land of Opportunity for Real Farmers." With nearly 100,000 acres of land surrounding the growing city, there was plenty of room and water for livestock, dairy cattle, grain, and any number of row crops all destined for the kitchens of a growing Helena.
Today the Valley is "growing" 5-, 10-, and 20-acre residential lots instead. We no longer hear the rousing enthusiasm for local food grown just minutes from the city limits.
After 40+ years selling plant starts, fresh produce, and flowers at the Helena Farmers Market, Covid sent Terry and Lisa Johnson, owners of Johnson's Nursery and Gardens, into new territory in 2020. They now sell direct from a farm stand and garden north of the Helena city limit. And the Johnsons have proven that 2 to 20 acres is exactly the right size space to grow produce for Helena home and restaurant cooks.
We must preserve Johnson's Nursery and Gardens and replicate the model so we can repeat it throughout the Valley as we face climate change, crumbling food supply chains, and a proliferation of cheap "edible food-like substances" that are causing chronic diseases in younger and younger populations.
Protecting our unique assets including people, skills, and market gardens is the only way we can protect our health, the health of our land, and our local food system.
Now Terry and Lisa Johnson are facing their own changes and challenges as Terry is scheduled for surgery to treat reoccurring cancer. While they've reduced the number of bedding plants, vegetable starts, and hanging baskets on hand through a "flash sale," and have lined up several garden managers to keep the business operating, Helena needs to recognize risk to this the treasure "hidden in plain sight."
The Johnsons need your help to keep this part of our food system secure and strong heading into the future. Buy and eat fresh whole food grown by your neighbors - keep this hidden treasure in business!
More reading:
• Read the GoodFood World article about Johnson's Nursery and Gardens here.
• To keep up on all the news from Johnson's Nursery and Gardens, check out their Facebook page here.
Spent years in Billings & from a family of homesteaders.
Jan,
I didn’t know that! Montana is such an interesting place though soooo much drier than Seattle!
Gail NK