The idea behind entrepreneur Tim Rowse’s small scale farm took root in 2020 when he retrofitted a freight trailer creating the first of two indoor growing containers on his property located at the base of Buffalo Pass.

“I’ve always been into growing my own food, but I’d never done it commercially. I just grew food for myself,” Rowse said. “I wanted to solve that puzzle, and as a chronic entrepreneur, I wanted to figure out how to make it work for people.”

With that thought in mind, Rowse created Buffalo Pass Farm, a cost-effective efficient, small-scale farm, on his property located just outside of Steamboat Springs in Strawberry Park. The farm includes the two 48′ x 8′ grow containers which provide 800-feet of growing space where crops can be started in the early spring.

The containers are insulated, include rows of trays for growing and lines of growing lights. The trays are enriched by compost that is produced on the farm. A short walk away, there are two traditional polyethylene greenhouses that expand the operations and several outdoor areas used to grow produce in the warmer and shorter Steamboat Springs growing season.

The farm produces produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peas and beans. It also grows onions, celery and zucchini; along with beets, radishes and turnips, and arugula; and tatsoi, bok choi and radicchio. Their offers also include herbs and lamb shakes.

Rowse brought in Brittany McGuire, grower and co-owner, to handle the day-to-day growing operations at the farm, and added that she is a key piece. McGuire has worked for several small growers in Steamboat Springs and brings a wealth of experience with her to Buffalo Pass Farm.

“I love the containers because it allows us to grow a lot of food year-round,” McGuire said. “The amount of food that we kick out of here is pretty impressive, and the quality is also very impressive.”

Rowse and McGuire have implemented several regenerative practices on the farm including growing cover crops, using the farms compost system to create the nutrient rich solid that is tilled into the growing rows prior to planting and also applying compost tea. The tea is sprayed onto the rows every other week. Efforts are aimed at improving the soil’s microbiome to naturally create chemical free, non-GMO vegetables.

Buffalo Pass Farms offers the bulk of its shares in the summer. It served 90 shares to customers in 2025 and expanded to 120 this summer. Rowse said fall is the second busiest season for the Buffalo Pass Farm. The season offers a more limited number of shares in the winter and spring when the opportunity to grow is limited by the weather.

“I set out to build (a growing container) that cost less, and that an owner operator could run and make a decent living growing locally sourced food, and that’s what we’ve done. I simplified everything,” Rowse said.

Rowse said the idea for the farm is an extension of a project he undertook in Kansas City, Missouri in 2019. In that one, a group was hoping to increase more locally sourced food.

“I was involved with a project that wanted to grow 30% of Kansas City’s food within 30 miles of Kansas City. It was a great idea, but (the group) fell apart,” Rowse said. “As part of that project, I did the deep dive on container growing, and indoor growing.”

He said the reality with indoor growing is, and there’s a lot of companies out there building container grows and hydroponic systems, that they land on the farm somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000. That doesn’t pencil that well and its why Rowse set out to create a model that would make more financial sense, a model he hopes to replicate with operators in other communities.

“I went and looked at three or four different models, and I came up with the same conclusion, that they don’t work financially. My first motivation was build (a model) that works financially for an owner operator and replicate it,” Rowse said.

“I realized how cool it was to feed your community, and the unexpected joy out of this is the people that people show up. They get fresh food, and you have a community building,” he added. “That’s been really cool.”

Right now, Rowse is happy with what he is accomplishing at his small farm, but someday he is is hoping the model can be used to increase the number of agricultural producers.

“It’s not going to pay out as an investment. It’s going to pay out as a job,” he said. “That’s the difference, and the smaller farms are only going to work if they’re owner operated because the labor sucks too much money out of it.”

Shares will start June 11 and are available on the Buffalo Pass Farm’s website. Customers can choose single or double shares including summer only, fall only or combined for summer or fall only of shares. Winter shares are limited.

“This is such a great compliment for what we have here from a small farm perspective, because our growing season so short,” Rowse said. “I can put an eight-week-old plant in the ground in a normal year by April 1, and this year more like March 10, so we have harvestable plants this year, right now.”