In the fall of 2019, we opened up the boutique and gym. Getting ready to open the store, we ordered some of Farver Farms products for the store; having watched Shauna working on building up this farm-to-table business and being farmers ourselves, we wanted to support what she was doing. It was inspiring, so the idea started of how we could do something like Shauna did. We were not quite sure, but the seed had been planted.... Then 2020 came along with Covid and with downtime and a lot of anger about the fact that we grow and produce large amounts of food for this great nation here in Eastern Montana. The fact that a lot of store shelves were empty of some of these basic products really made me want to do something about it. So I started looking into ideas, and chickpea flour landed in my lap. My neighbor loves to cook, and one day, I went over, and he had cooked some chocolate chip cookies, which he made with chickpeas. He had ground into flour right in his kitchen. They were delicious, and as someone who grew up in a house that went gluten-free when I was in high school before gluten-free was much of a thing, I knew this was the thing I had been looking for. So I set to work. I got a hold of my local Food and Ag development center out of Wolf Point with Great Northern Development Corp and started asking lots of questions. They sent me down the path of no return, so I started writing a Value Added Producers Grant to help get equipment and funds to get started.
In the fall of 2020, my world was CRAZY, to say the least; the harvest was extra long this year, our son was taking over CRP ground that needed protilled to get ready for spring production, he was moving a house, I was preparing to start 41 Grains, and in the middle of it all my business partner decided to step away from our business so I was running the gym and store alone. But when it all came to a head one day, there was no question about what I was supposed to do; the day my business partner told me she was leaving, I got the acceptance letter that I had gotten the grant to start 41 Grains, and that day God gave me clear directions and peace of mind that this was just how he had planned it all to work out I just had to trust and keep moving forward. In the coming months, there were many times I wondered if I was losing my mind, but throughout it all, every time I thought I had reached my end, God had a little sign or encouragement for me that I was on the right path and didn't give up. Then, in January 2021, we launched our first products with 41 Grains, and in March 2021, we went to our first vendor show. Wow, did I pick a big one to start off with a bang on. Our first show was at the Made in Montana Show in Helena, and I never in a million years would have expected how great (and exhausting) that would be. In that first year, we went to many shows, got our website going, started a wholesale website, got a second grant for Growth through Agriculture to purchase a seed cleaner, and expanded our product line to over 20 products.
Now, here in 2024, we have over 30 products and are in over 20 stores across the state of Montan. We received a second grant thru GTA for grain bins to store our cleaned chickpeas, lentils, and yellow peas, and we are working in 2024, adding in lentils to our product line with plans to add yellow pea products and mustard in 2025! So make sure you keep checking back on us to see what new things we will have next!!