Utah's rock star farmers.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

David Bell, John Borski and Julie Clifford don't look or act like celebrities. They rise early, toil in the blistering sun and have a perpetual bit of dirt under their fingernails. Yet these dedicated farmers are the rock stars of Utah's summer growing season. They even have rabid fans: People who have joined their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs or who seek them out at Salt Lake City's Downtown Farmers Market, which kicks off this Saturday, June 12. Turn the page to find out what makes them stars, and get the skinny on Utah's other farmers markets.

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David Bell

Co-owner with wife Jill of Bell Organic Gardens, Draper.

The story » About 12 years ago, while living in Salt Lake City, Jill and David Bell, became avid backyard gardeners, growing more tomatoes than they could consume. Not wanting the beautiful fruit to spoil, David asked a close friend -- and the sous chef at Log Haven -- if the restaurant could use some home-grown tomatoes.

When Todd Gardiner, now the chef at Z'Tejas, bought their produce, the Bells considered that farming should be in their future.

"The lease on our house was about to end and David had just sold a business," Jill explained. With no job and no place to live, the couple purchased a home on a 1/2-acre lot in Draper and started an organic farm.

"We had no choice," she said. "We're both unemployable. We can't work for someone else."

It wasn't a huge leap, as farming was already in their blood.

David's grandfather had been the head of the Agriculture Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and later had owned a sugar beet farm on the border of Utah and Idaho. Jill grew up in the farm country of South Dakota. Many of her childhood memories include her family's huge garden and the canning and preserving of what was grown.

Through the years, Bell Organic Gardens has grown exponentially. Today the couple -- now the parents of three children -- grow everything from beans to Swiss chard on 17 acres in Draper and Sandy. They no longer sell at farmer's markets, instead focusing their efforts on the 200-plus members of their Community Supported Agriculture program, and supply produce to several Utah restaurants.

"David is the hard worker and the enthusiast," Jill said. "I'm the particular one who decides how things will be delivered. The two of us are a good total package."

Find them » 975 Canyon Breeze Lane, Draper, 801-571-7288; or visit www.bellorganic.com.

John Borski

Owner of Borski Farms, Kaysville.

The story » No one in Kaysville would have expected John Borski to choose a farming career -- not even Borski.

A star football player at Davis High School, Borski earned a prestigious Willam F. Christensen ballet scholarship to the University of Utah in 1977. Later he was accepted into the summer program at New York's Julliard School and was good enough to be accepted on a full-time basis.

"But the minute I got to New York they saw my 190-pound football body and said I had to work on getting a slender frame," Borski remembers. "I started watching what I ate, eating the best food possible."

He lost 20 pounds and gained a new appreciation for healthy eating and whole foods.

When Borski returned to Utah, he thought teaching dance would be an obvious career choice. "But I had trouble dealing with kids who weren't behaved," he admitted. He began searching for something more meaningful.

"I wanted to do something that made sense," he said. "That's when I started the farm."

Not just any farm, but one of the state's first organic farms, on land surrounding his grandmother's Kaysville home.

Borski was one of the first farmers to sell at the Downtown Farmer's Market, and was the first Utah farmer to start a Community Supported Agriculture program.

"I had to figure a lot out on my own," he said, as the farmers who had come before had relied on chemicals and pesticides to keep weeds and bugs at bay. "I really pride myself on using serious organic methods."

Through trial and error -- and some help from Utah State University Extension agents -- Borski's organic farm flourished. At one time, his farm ballooned to 20 acres. However, when he realized he "was not a miracle worker," he scaled back to the 10 acres he manages today.

Borski continues to blaze trails. This year he has added a "high tunnel" greenhouse structure to his farm, as part of a pilot project offered through Great Salt Lake Resource Conservation and Development. These plastic hoop houses are placed over open soil and designed to extend the growing season. For the most part it worked, as Borski plans to have his first crop of tomatoes early, sometime this month.

"I'm doing the most important thing in the world," he said. "It's my life."

Find him » Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Downtown Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park; weekdays mid-July through October at the Borski Farms produce stand, 315 N. Main, Kaysville, (next to Big-O Tires), 801-941-9620; or visit www.borskifarms.org

Julie Clifford

Co-owner with husband Rich of Clifford Family Farms, Provo.

The story » Julie Clifford had a good-paying office job with great health and vacation benefits. The only problem? Clifford hated it.

"I just wanted to farm," said Clifford, who followed her heart, and now, nearly a decade later, is best known among Utahns for her certified organic eggs. The farm also produces local honey, berries, greens and other produce, all of which are sold at the Saturday market at Pioneer Park and to several restaurants from Salt Lake City to Provo.

The couple started the business with just three acres of land, but it has continued to grow as the organic movement has taken hold. This year, the Cliffords have leased another 35 acres to meet demand. They have a greenhouse and have been experimenting with growing greens year-round.

Today, the farm has about 800 egg-laying chickens, including eight or nine different species that provide an exotic assortment of white, green and brown eggs.

Clifford Farms recently added another 600 birds that will be processed at a new facility in Tremonton -- the state's first for chickens. The whole organic birds will be available at the market, as well.

In her nine years at the market, Clifford has watched as customers have become more educated.

"Back then if you said things were organic or natural, that was enough," said the 52-year-old grandmother. "No one asked questions. Now they want more specifics about how their food is grown. They want to come out to the farm and be involved. "

That's something she's always wanted. "I've always joked: 'Does your food have a face?,'" she said. "People need to find out where their food is coming from and who is growing it."

It makes Clifford want to work that much harder to provided top-quality food.

"I feel a sense of responsibility," she said, "because it matters to my customers what I'm doing."

Find her » Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Downtown Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park; or weekdays at the farm, 1461 N. 2100 West, Provo. Eggs and honey available year-round; produce available seasonally. Call 801-368-7250 or visit www.localharvest.com/farms