Meet Veronnaka Evenson | Indoor lettuce farmer & aquaponic tour guide

We had the good fortune of connecting with Veronnaka Evenson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronnaka, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
How hands on we are. We really do not have an automation in our greenhouse so everything has to be done by hand. From planting the seeds, moving transports, harvesting and labeling. It is all done by had and by a relatively small team.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Swanky Roots provides fresh produce to Billings and the surrounding communities! Delicious leafy greens such butterhead and leaf lettuce are available all year long. We have a farm store at the greenhouse where the public can shop our local products. We also partner with local restaurants and businesses to get our greens out in the community. Lettuce is the main focus, but we also have kale, Swiss chard, other leafy greens, and a variety of herbs and other vegetables we grow on a rotating schedule.

Aquaponics is what really sets us apart. We combine aquaculture, which is raising fish in tanks, with hydroponics, which is growing plants in water. This allows us to great beautiful lettuce all year long without any additional fertilizer and without any chemicals. The system is a beautiful cycle between the fish and the plants where the fish waste gets turned into fertilizer for the plants and the plants use the fertilizer and clean the water for the fish. We are able to raise each head of lettuce with 7 times less water than outside growing and we are able to provide fresh greens even when it is snowy and cold outside.

We also now have an outdoor garden market and we have chickens! So we can offer more fresh vegetables during the summer season and farm fresh eggs all year .

I think what also sets us apart is our farm store. We are open 6 days a week for people to come and shop directly on the farm. We don’t really make it to farmer’s markets because of this but it has been really fun to connect with our customers in a more relaxed setting at our store.

I feel like a lot of people don’t know how small we really are. If you drive out here, and you see the facility, it is a very large facility. It looks like there’s probably tons of people working. There’s not, there’s only a few of us. And you know, we’re putting our heart and soul into it. We are passionate about what we do and we are very stubborn.
It is not easy to have a working farm, give farm tours, plus manage a store and supply all of our accounts. However, I wouldn’t want it any other way. We are providing our community with fresh, delicious food and also educating people on the impacts of sustainable agriculture.

We diversify our accounts – and while that is not always the easiest to manage – it has saved us. Especially when COVID hit. Instead of all of our lettuce going into the restaurants, which many cut way back, we also had our lettuce in grocery stores and our farm store. So we were not dependent on just one industry.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many great restaurants and breweries to visit here! I am always bias to visit the places that use our lettuce : ) But I know a lot of the local restaurant owners and chefs and all the food is amazing! I love seeing Improv at Thirsty Street or any of the live music at Yellowstone Cellars & Winery. Food, music, and beverages are hard to beat! I also love the Rims and the walking trails. I’ve got three dogs so anytime I can bring them along for an adventure I am excited!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom. 100%. Even though my parents have owned and operated their own business my whole life, it was not exactly something I thought that I would be doing. I planned on working as a crop consultant or teaching Ag in a school. I am so thankful that my mom encouraged me to pursue something I was super passionate about and help me along the way. We both approach problems and tasks differently so it has been really great to have a second mind helping me brainstorm through an issues that come our way.

Website: www.swankyroots.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swankyroots406/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swankyroots406

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/swanky-roots-billings

Image Credits
Photos of people by Kristin Jean Photography for the Edge of the Plains Documentary