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Leslie Witter
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Leslie grew up in Michigan, but fell in love with the mountains working seasonal jobs during college. Her background is in ecology & wildlife biology. She worked in these fields for 10 years before switching gears to explore small-scale agriculture. Leslie spent four years working on organic vegetable, dairy, and livestock farms in southwest Montana (Cloud Nine, Amaltheia, Gallatin Valley Botanicals) and Oregon (Horton Road Organics) before starting the first iteration of Root to Rise in Wilsall, MT in 2017. She and the market garden moved to our current site in Red Lodge in 2021.
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Leslie's favorite parts about growing are getting to be outside, seeing plants grow & change over the course of the season, and sharing her love of local food with others. Her favorite veggies to grow & eat are baby greens of all types. When she's not farming, you can find Leslie practicing yoga, hiking, rafting, baking & chasing that elusive work-life balance.
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Leslie is our garden & market manager!
​​​George Downing
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George grew up in Colorado and has always loved the mountains. He pursued one of his other passions & got a degree in music before pivoting to begin a career in outdoor education. George ski instructed & taught other outdoor skills in Colorado & Montana for 10 years, most recently in Big Sky.
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George moved to Red Lodge in 2015 where he began a career in carpentry & started developing his homestead property. He completed a tiny, passive solar home on the property in 2018 & has been gardening for years. George works a day job as an independent contractor in carpentry, but his skills in infrastructure development & maintenance are key in making the farm work. George also continues to explore homesteading ventures like poultry, small livestock & mushroom cultivation. ​
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Garlic is George's favorite vegetable to grow & eat. When George isn't building or gardening, he still loves enjoying the outdoors skiing, rafting, hunting & hiking. You can also find him relaxing playing guitar or cooking up a storm!
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George is our infrastructure expert, resident carpenter & explorer of all things homesteading!
