Located on 514 S. First Street in Montrose, Straw Hat Farm Market & Kitchen Store, started life 25 years ago as Straw Hat Farm — a placed dreamed up by owners Karen and Chet Byler. The two met and married in Arizona, then they started a slow drift northward until they ended up in Montrose.

The Early Years

“Chet’s dream was always to live in the country on a farm,” says Karen. “A couple of years after living here, we made the dream come true and bought 15 acres south of town. My husband was known for wearing a straw hat when he was out in the garden. For lack of more inspiration, we ended up calling it Straw Hat Farm.”

For the first 12 years, Straw Hat Farm grew certified organic vegetables and sold them at the various farmer’s markets throughout the Uncompahgre Valley, all this while Chet was working full time in the construction industry.

“In hindsight, I have no idea how we managed it,” says Karen. “Making a living growing food takes a LOT of hard work. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. A small town like Montrose makes it even more challenging since we couldn’t just grow one crop that did well because there just wasn’t a market for that much of one type of produce. Instead, we had to grow over 100 different crops, and each one had its own growing requirements. Of course, the weather didn’t always cooperate. I remember a year when we waited to put tomatoes in until Memorial Day weekend, and that Monday, June 1, we had a freeze and lost all the new plantings.”

“I can tell you we did put our children to work during those years … but they still love us anyway,” Karen says. “In fact, my daughter still helps me bake pies every Friday.”

Evolution to a Brick and Mortar Operation

During those 12 years while they were farming, the Bylers purchased an online kitchen implement site.

Karen says it just made sense … if you are growing things to eat, you also needed implements to prepare them.

“Eventually, we ended up with a basement full of stuff and we decided we really needed a brick-and-mortar store,” says Karen. “Since we were well-known by the Straw Hat Farm name in the community, due to our farmer’s market presence, we decided to keep it as part of the store name when we found the 1st Street property.”

“Those early days were challenging,” says Karen. “Chet was (and still does) work full time as a construction supervisor, but between us, it was just the two of us doing everything for the store.”

These days, Straw Hat Farm Market & Kitchen Store is a boutique kitchen supply store which offers a wide range of kitchen gadgets and food preparation items. It also offers fresh-baked goods and local produce from not only Straw Hat Farm, but other small farms and bakers in the area.

“We know that supporting the local economy has a lot to do with shopping at brick-and-mortar stores,” says Karen. “At our store we offer a selection of products that are made locally in the Montrose area – jams, jellies, candies, breads, produce, fruits, eggs and more.”

The Bylers have added a certified kitchen in the back as well as four part-time bakers who provide many of the baked goods and treats.

In addition, the team boasts four part-time retail employees that staff the front of the store.

“My biggest dream for the future is to offer cooking classes and cooking demonstrations,” says Karen. “I’d love to host things like pie-making parties and even company team building challenges.”

“I’m so lucky because I love what I do every day. I especially enjoy chatting with our regular customers, meeting people who are new to town, and welcoming visitors to the area,” says Karen. “I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to grow the business thanks to the support of the community.”

Get on the List

For those curious about the baked goods available at Straw Hat, go to strawhatfarmmarket.com and sign up for the weekly email that comes out on Friday. The email will detail what baked goods will be available on the following Saturday.

“Tuesdays we offer soups, entrees and salads on a first come first served basis,” says Karen. “Wednesdays are pizza day. Though we offer a few sweet treats every day on the week, Saturdays are our big bake sale days when we offer pies, cakes, cookies, rolls, breads, muffins, bars, granola and more! I send my email out each Friday, letting people know what we are baking for our big Saturday Bakery Day, and then folks can reply to my email, or call us to reserve any baked goods to pick up Saturday. Customers can call or email a week or two ahead for large orders for events.”

Throughout the year, Karen and her team take advantage of the fresh produce and fruits available, so expect peach pies during peach season, cornbread from the sweet corn, pumpkin and apple pies during the Fall, and more.

Jen Wolfe is a freelance contributor for the Montrose Business Times