But making that jump in scale means doing everything from building up soil to constructing an elk-proof fence, all of which take a major initial investment that’s out of reach right now, Patty said. The couple is quick to point out that even getting the farm to where it is now wouldn’t have been possible without donations of things like mulch and compost, county grants, free labor from family and hundreds of volunteer hours from organizations like the American Conservation Experience and Northern Arizona University students.

Thanks to the community involvement, Tyler said, the farm’s production has gone up by 100 percent this year.

Morton-Starner has seen the same strong community support and wealth of potential customers for his food but said it takes much more than just booming demand to propel the 5-year-old farm forward. His job involves a constant stream of management challenges -- deciding on the right mix of crops that grow well here but also sell well at the market, managing the rainwater catchments that provide all water for the farm or determining how to set his prices to be competitive but also cover the higher costs of growing in Flagstaff. And without the money to pay for extra help, Morton-Starner has to create a system that he can, for the most part, run by himself.