Tyler Hoyt’s interest in farming started after a series of college classes made him question the quality of his food and where it came from.

He has been growing food in the area for about 10 years and is a familiar face at the Durango Farmers Market.

“You get into farming for the same reasons you want to save the world,” he said. “Once you put a paycheck behind it, it becomes an unbeatable job.”

Hoyt owns Green Table Farm, a 72-acre family-owned farm in Mancos. This is his third year farming for profit, and his garden is an acre and a half.

He said a late June frost required many vegetables to be replanted, but it has been a good growing season overall.

“We had to replant a lot of stuff that got knocked out by the frost,” he said. “Grasshoppers have also been really bad this year. They ate the garlic; I couldn’t believe it. Still, we are hitting more of a stride going into our third year.”

A few everyday challenges for Hoyt include farming in the semiarid Southwest climate, managing a short growing season and juggling projects on the farm.

“We have such a short season, and we try to do a lot of projects at once,” he said. “We are doing a lot of construction around the farm right now.”

Hoyt said eggs and leafy greens are the farm’s biggest sellers at the market, as well as beans and peas.

“We sell a little bit of everything,” he said. “The popularity of vegetables changes with the season.”

mrupani@durangoherald.com