Salute to Farmers: Farm in Buhl to take advantage of geothermal resources

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) - Geothermal resources aren’t just for hot springs. One farm in Buhl, formerly Onsen Farm and now under new management, is taking advantage of the geothermal resources in the area.

“We’re able to heat greenhouses through the winter when it’s really difficult to grow a lot of fresh greens," said Farm Operations Manager Charlie McIntosh. "That’s going to be our bread and butter, essentially. The main focus will be a salad mix and greens operations.”

McIntosh and his crew are deciding on a name for the farm located on River Road in Buhl. The idea is to build five greenhouses to work with year-round on the property.

“The goal is once we have five greenhouses built is to get to about 500 pounds of salad mix per week, at least,” McIntosh said.

There are greenhouses from the previous owners on the property , but McIntosh’s team is working on scaling up the operation. However, the focus won’t just be on greens. There are plans to farm about 5 acres of permanently raised beds.

“We’re planning to grow somewhere around 20, 25 different crops in that mix and to provide direct to consumer — farmers markets, local groceries, local restaurants, that kind of thing,” McIntosh said.

The farm is looking to grow crops people wouldn’t otherwise find in the area.

“We’re looking for feedback. We’re looking for ideas about what crops we should grow, when things are available, when things are not available," McIntosh said. "We’d love to reach out to the community and say help us build a farm that actually serves you.”

The farm could decide to grown bananas, citrus or anything the farm deems possible in their climate controlled greenhouses.

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