St. Ignatius, Montana
Foothill Farm sits on the Flathead Indian Reservation, homeland of the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreille people, on 110 acres first homesteaded in the early 1900s and farmed for decades as part of a family dairy. Julie Pavlock has farmed this land since 2004, drawn not from a farming upbringing but from a love of animals, plants, and meaningful outdoor work, and inspired by the farmers she apprenticed with along the way. In recent years, she's been joined by her partner, Micah Helser, who farms nearby organically, and together they work the land with a shared love of draft horses and the surrounding Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness.
Certified organic by the Montana Department of Agriculture, Foothill Farm is a diversified operation built on integration: 6 acres of vegetables and herbs feed the local market and the Western Montana Growers Cooperative, of which they've been members for over 20 years, while the remaining acreage supports pasture, hay, heritage grains like wheat, rye, and oats, and a small herd of grass-fed beef and milk cows. The farm runs on mixed power - tractors, human labor, and a team of Brabant and Suffolk mares who help spread manure, mow hay, and cultivate crops.
Beyond produce, Foothill Farm has become known for its dried herbs and seeds - lavender, elderflower, echinacea, calendula, milky oats, and more - rooted in Julie's family history of herbal medicine. The farm balances a working production focus with a wilder, looser character, letting herbs and flowers take root in unexpected corners. It's this blend of discipline and wildness, old skills and new experimentation, that makes Foothill Farm distinct - and the couple is excited to keep growing herbs for a wider community.
