165: Penn Parmenter on High Altitude Tomatoes

165: Penn Parmenter on High Altitude Tomatoes

Growing and saving seeds for extreme or challenging climates

Since 1992 Penn and her husband Cord have been growing food just above the 8,000 feet level in the Wet Mountains of South Central Colorado.  With many years of research and development, they founded Smart Greenhouses LLC and Miss Penn’s Mountain Seeds in 2013,

Miss Penn’s Mountain Seeds is a small, high-altitude, bio-regional seed company servicing the mountain people.  As a tomato specialist, she offers over 200 varieties of adapted tomatoes – the Holy Grail of the mountains; as well as around 50 native wildflowers along with a mix of garden flowers, herbs and wild foods.

Penn and Cord have three famished sons, Maximilian, Beauregard and Wulfgar who help them in all aspects of their work.

IN THIS PODCAST: we hear an enthusiastic and fun guest as Penn chats with Greg about her passion for growing and saving seeds.  Penn tells how she got started in the seed business and why she enjoys her job so much.  Besides making the act of saving seeds sound really fun, she also explains why it is so important.  Her upbeat and positive nature has a great effect, and with the way she describes her crops, it must be like adopting a loved one when you order seeds from her.  And if you have a garden, her explanation of how seeds adapt for the area they are grown might just be enough to encourage you to try seed saving on your own.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/03/penn-parmenter/ for show notes and links.