KAYSVILLE — On Feb. 14 of each year, organic farmer John Borski sows the seeds of some 50 tomato plants, a Valentine's Day labor of love.

As tomato seedlings poke up, Borski and employee Mike Chynoweth transplant them to containers in the greenhouse. Borski monitors the tiny plants day and night, getting up at 3 a.m. daily to check propane heaters protecting the plants from freezing.

When temperatures are warm enough, Borski plants them outside.

"We always start them from seed," Borski said. "And if you can get that to grow up and be a good kid, you win. It takes about four, five or six months."

Borski participates in community-supported agriculture, selling "shares" of his harvest from his Kaysville-based farm to customers along the Wasatch Front each year. Community-supported agriculture is a partnership with local farmers in which members pay a fee up front to help with the farm's operating expenses. In return, they get a portion of the farm's produce throughout the growing season.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, community-supported agriculture has been gaining momentum in Utah and nationwide. Farmland has decreased along the Wasatch Front because of spreading development, and the once-familiar roadside stands selling fruit and vegetables have dwindled, but the demand for local produce has remained strong.

The number of Utah farms participating in community-supported agriculture is growing, with about 10 statewide, said Jeff Williams, a U.S. Department of Agriculture liaison for the nonprofit Great Salt Lake Resource, Conservation and Development. This year, Draper farm Bell Organic Gardens is the latest to participate.

As millions of acres of farmland have been sold to developers, community-supported agriculture provides farmers with an incentive to continue working on the land.

"This is also a great way to preserve local farmland," Williams said.

A former dancer with the New York City Ballet, Borski was a Sugarplum Cavalier in "The Nutcracker" and Basil in "Don Quixote." He returned to Utah and resurrected his grandfather's farm in 1992, and he now prides himself on his varieties of tomatoes — such as Martha Washington cherry tomatoes, Taxi yellow tomatoes and Zebra green and yellow tomatoes.

A share at Borski's farm is one bag a week for 15 weeks containing about one pound of food. A spring bag could contain radishes, lettuce, spinach, garlic, cherries and peas. A summer bag could contain tomatoes, eggplant, corn, peppers and peaches. A fall bag could contain melons, potatoes, winter squash and apples.