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SANDY — It's harvest time, for all those tasty farmer's market goodies most of us love, like tomatoes and squash. And at one of those markets, there is a new twist in the long tradition of farming.
It's harvest time for the man who runs a vegetable stand at the Sugarhouse Farmer's Market, Elliot Musgrove, and tomatoes, carrots, chard — they're all ingredients of a dream.
"So I had a dream to grow my own vegetables, but no place to do it," he said.
His rows grow in the heart of several backyards and side yards, right in the heart of Sandy.
"Well, I'm a farmer without a farm, I guess," he said.
He's part of a growing movement called "small plot intensive" farming, raising vegetables as well as chickens.
One of his customers is just a short bike ride away: Mary Visser, whose family used to farm 25 acres in the area.
Most of the farm was sold, and now it's home to homes and a school. The small, ditch-irrigated yard is the last part still in production. Visser provides the land, Elliot the labor.
Well, I'm a farmer without a farm, I guess.
–Elliot Musgrove
"No, I couldn't go out and manage the ground any more, do the weeding and the watering," Visser said. "I do pretty good to get my lawn watered."
They share the fruits of that labor.
"Weekly, he brings over a box of fresh vegetables," Visser said.
Musgrove has a thriving business, a variety of customers — restaurants, a natural foods store, farmers markets — and no complaints.
"I think it's a contagious trend and people are super happy," he said.
