Montana Roots, a Livingston business located along the Yellowstone River, faces flood damage in its field and inside its greenhouse.
Thick mud caked Montana Roots Farm, while waist-high water flowed through the island leaving debris in its wake. Sam Mascari, owner of Montana Roots, spent the majority of Monday taking care of his family and sand-bagging their home to welcome them back post-rescue.
“We are on an island, but it’s high enough that we’ve never gotten flooded, so I wasn’t worried about the business—but that was a mistake,” Mascari said.
When Mascari came back to the farm, he was met with destruction he has never seen before.
“I pretty much just threw my hands up and said, ‘I’m not going to try to clean this now because this is too much work’,” Mascari said.
As he and his staff prepared to dig in and get to work reclaiming their farm from the flood, friends and strangers began to show up in force.
“And then people started streaming in, people just giving everything they could—without even being asked—just so much generosity.”
Mascari and the staff of Montana Roots were grateful for help from the town of Livingston, their neighbors, family, and friends who helped them clean up their field and greenhouses. Mascari and volunteers spent upwards of five hours power washing the greenhouse to uncover the paths, hidden by mud.
Wheelbarrows of ruined greens were tossed out, and their boiler was out of commission. Volunteers continuously visit the farm to lend a hand, to clean up that part of the island.
“There’s a lot that’s out of our hands, and that’s what you agree to when you live in a wild, beautiful place like Montana, right along the Yellowstone River,” Mascari said.
A Gofundme has been set up for Montana Roots, going toward immediate expenses such as rental of a skid steer to the removal of debris, and buying new seed.
