Each summer, Gracie’s Farm — a farm in Wanship owned by The Lodge at Blue Sky founders Barbara and Mike Phillips — produces fresh, unique produce despite the area’s short, high-altitude season. 

It’s the hard work of many soil-soaked hands that keeps this farm operating: the hands of Lynsey Gammon, Dominique Tarr, Gracelyn Gorman, Mary McCourt and Jacee Anderson to be specific — the five who make up Gracie’s all-women team.

On land just shy of an acre, it is now in its fifth growing season, said Gammon, the farm director, who helped bring the idea into fruition six years ago. 

Located on the back side of Saving Gracie’s Equine Healing Foundation’s property, a horse rescue Barbara started in 2014, Gracie’s Farm was another passion project for the couple. But the land they had in mind needed a lot of help before it could sustain an organic farm — that’s where Gammon came in, whose previous experience as the garden director for the Summit Community Gardens made her the perfect fit.

“This property was pretty much a dead zone, like a biological dead zone. It had been overgrazed, overused, for years and years and years by cows and horses and other animals, so it was just devoid of life,” Gammon said. “We spent the first eight months of the year building the soil and opening the soil and broad forking and getting it amenable to even starting to grow anything.”

Gammon also helped build the farm’s philosophy for growing, opting for organic practices all planted and harvested by hand. Quickly, it attracted staff who were inspired by these farming methods that are hard to find in the contemporary farming world. 

“The way that we practice here has attracted young, motivated women who are really interested in a smaller-scale farm,” she said. “I always refer back to the fact that women have always been the growers for thousands and thousands of years.”

The work at Gracie’s Farm connects these ladies to a history of female farmers across centuries, millennia even, before the industrial revolution introduced machines to farming and pushed women out of the field, Gammon said.

For Tarr, the farm’s assistant manager who joined at the beginning, it’s this coming back to original farming methods that initially attracted her to the role.

Originally from New Hampshire, Tarr moved West to be a ski bum and never left. 

“I feel like women are beginning to take ownership over farming, and we’re kind of changing the path of what traditional farming looks like,” she said. 

Women returning to this practice looks like an attitude of nurturing the land, said Gammon, and celebrating the strength of their bodies. Part of this nurturing at Gracie’s Farm is done through regenerative farming.

“Basically what that means is we’re growing for the sake of the soil,” said Tarr. “We believe that soil health contributes to healthy, nutrient-rich produce that’s going to be of the utmost quality, and you’ll also be able to grow in that soil for generations to come.”

Gammon’s patience with the soil in the early stages of the farm have paid off, and it now produces a variety of crops through the seasons. They’ve since dialed in their planting and harvesting schedule to be as efficient as possible, said Tarr. 

“Our plantings are super intensive. Every single thing that we’re putting in the ground, we pretty much know the day that it’s going to be harvested and then when the next thing is going in,” she said.

In the spring, their crops start with greens like arugula, spinach, kale, chard and purple mustard; root vegetables like radishes, turnips and carrots; and herbs like chives and dill. Soon they will begin harvesting specialized crops like kohlrabi, bok choy and broccoli rabe, said Tarr, and later in the season they will produce tomatoes.

“We grow really beautiful heirloom varieties that are hard to grow but really worth it, and they’re great,” she said. 

Working collaboratively with The Lodge at Blue Sky, a lot of their produce goes up to the hotel for use in their restaurant, Yuta. The farm store, open Friday evenings 4-6 p.m., sells crops to the public, and some crops are harvested to use for the farm dinner events throughout the summer.

The farm store started as a small-scale farm stand, said Tarr, a folding table with all the energy of a lemonade stand. 

“You’d have a couple people attend the first year, and it was really just more for fun,” she remembered. “We’ve totally built it out over the past few years, built a really beautiful customer loyalty.”

Now a barn-style space is filled with fridges, tables and shelves, where Gracie’s Farm and other local produce are available for purchase. This year, Tarr worked to build out a larger selection of Utah-based vendors, including items like cheese, kombucha, bread and skincare.

As a way to celebrate the expansion of the farm store offerings, Gracie’s Farm is hosting its first annual food festival from 2-4 p.m. on Sat., June 22. Set up like a farmers market, the $50 ticket will include samples from vendors like Ritual Chocolate, Pink Elephant, Heber Valley Cheese, Han’s Kombucha, The Bake Shop and Chop Shop, as well as Yuta and Blue Sky Lodge, said Tarr. Tickets can be purchased at exploretock.com/the-lodge-at-blue-sky/event/464899/gracies-food-festival.

Once or twice a month, Gracie’s Farm also hosts farm dinners in their Three Sisters Garden, said Tarr. Each event highlights a specific produce from the farm with a multi-course dinner created by Yuta’s Executive Chef Guillermo Tellez or another guest chef.

This summers events include “Garlic Farm Dinner” on July 16, “Queen Bees Dinner” on July 25, “Tomato Farm Dinner” on Aug. 20, “Harvest Dinner Night 1” on Sept. 18 and “Harvest Dinner Night 2” on Sept. 19. Ticket reservations, starting at $155, can be made on their website, graciesfarm.com/s-projects-side-by-side.

“I’m so proud of the farm dinner series,” said Gammon. “The locals have come out in droves to support the farm and support getting together and gathering and eating and sharing a meal that was harvested that day from the ground. It’s pretty special.”

The dinners are one form of creative expression for the small team of dedicated women, a staff who are the main reason the farm has been able to grow over the years. Connecting with these ladies is especially rewarding, said Gammon.

“I have a very unique position here in that our farm is part of a bigger company, and so I’m able to be more of a mentor to the young women that are coming up in this field,” she said. 

Learn more about Gracie’s Farm on their website, graciesfarm.com, and follow them on Instagram for the most up-to-date information, @graciesfarmbluesky. Stop by the farm store on Friday evenings throughout the summer, located at 95 W. 2100 S. Wanship, to meet some of the farm ladies in person.

“I love the community that I’ve built here and love working with women, but also beyond that, just the connections that I’ve made with our regulars that come all the time,” said Tarr. “It’s hard work, but it’s the most rewarding work, too.”