The farm is owned and operated by Jacob and Courtney Cowgill, two central Montana kids returning to their roots. Jacob grew up on Red Butte Lane, near Sand Coulee and Courtney spent her childhood on a farm between Dutton and Brady. We both left Central Montana as young adults, for school and careers but came back as soon as we possibly could.
We wanted to find a way to make a life in Central Montana but we also wanted to give back to the communities that raised us -- to be part of sustaining and reinvigorating the culture and economy of rural Montana.
Prairie Heritage Farm is, in a lot of ways, the kind of farm that existed in this region 50-100 years ago: diversified, small-scale and locally based. Our vision is to be a model for how to revive elements of that old kind of agriculture alongside the kind of agriculture that has sustained our communities in the last several decades.
We believe that family farms nourish not only the people who work them, but the people they feed and communities in which they live. We believe organic agriculture, diversification and a robust local food system are good for the health of our farm, our customers, our community, ourselves and our environment.
The experience thus far has been full of excitement, experimentation, the occasional bout of “are we really doing this?” but mostly, a deep appreciation for the opportunity to be back home, on the land, feeding our neighbors and friends.
Prairie Heritage Farm is focused on three main enterprises:
Organic Vegetables
Organic Heritage Pasture-Raised Turkeys
Heritage and Ancient Grains
With Community Supported Agriculture programs, customers buy in to the farm, essentially becoming “shareholders.” In return they share in the bounty -- and risk -- of the farm.
In our vegetable CSA program shareholders pay up front in the spring and in turn, get a weekly bag of produce for 18-20 weeks.
With our Thanksgiving CSA, shareholders pay at the beginning of the season and a few days before Thanksgiving, get their “share” which includes a turkey, onions, potatoes, winter squash, herbs and other fixings for the yearly feast.
In 2010 we added one more CSA program: a Grain and Seed CSA, in which shareholders get 80-100 pounds of grains and seeds not readily available anywhere else: white or crimson lentils, Painted Mountain Indian corn, a heritage variety of spring wheat, an ancient grain such as Prairie Farro (our special emmer), spelt or Kamut, and now we're also trialing a variety of dry beans, oats, barley, and rye.
Ask us about signing up for any of these Prairie Heritage Farm CSA programs.
Jacob and Courtney Cowgill
www.PrairieHeritageFarm.com
406-396-1261
farmer@prairieheritagefarm.com
