Meet Bryon Pike | High altitude seed grower

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bryon Pike and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bryon, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was doing large growouts of produce for market and farm store sales. I would notice that commercial vegetable seed would do well in first year production, except there would be losses in my crops. This production would generally happen at 7000 to 8500 ft. in altitude in challenging conditions. I started growing out the seed i would use for the next season and quickly identified increased vigor, hardiness and most importantly better stands of crops with less time and field space spent producing barren spots in my fields. This led me to a method of growing out and increasing my own seed supply prior to large crops for field production.
This really increased my production performance. Seeing the results was really like night and day.
This is the process that led me to producing high altitude adapted vegetable seed that thrives in harsh and extreme growing conditions.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
High Ground Gardens was initiated from the passion that I have for growing fresh food in high altitude environments. HGG is a labor of love. Being a small enterprise allows quality control in every aspect of production to be of highest priority. It has not been an easy business to maintain, but the drive to produce and share altitude adapted seed has always found a way to overcome obstacles. One of the main obstacles that have had to be dealt with is the lack of farm ground to produce crops. This has been overcome by finding and operating small plots to produce seed gardens. These small plots are often unused yards or lots that have access to water for irrigation. This production generally equals half an acre in multiple sites. This approach brings up intensive management issues, but also lends itself to an advantage of isolating crops that would cross pollinate in the same garden. Hence we can produce multiple varieties of the same crop in the same production season. Where theres a will theres a way!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite pastime is mountain biking and hiking. The Sangre De Christo Wilderness is a favorite place to hike and climb. We live right below this beautiful national resource. There is also plenty of world class mountain biking all around us. Some favorites are Salida and Del Norte trail systems, as well as Penitente Canyon, which a lot of people call little Moab. The Great Sand Dunes National Park are also just south of us and a great place to take visiting family and friends. Another great time is four wheeling on all the great jeep roads that are all over southern Colorado and a graet way to access old mining towns and camps.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Dan Hobbs of puebloseed.com was hired to help organize and grow our farm operation at that time. He has become a mentor and really encouraged me to launch High Ground Gardens. I am very pleased to be in a group of like minded high altitude seed producers that networks and links our websites.
Penn Parmenter of Mrs Penns Mountain Seeds
Joseph Lofthouse of Joseph Lofthouse Seeds
Laura Parker of High Desert Seed & Garden
Alex Zeidner of Folks Farm and Seed

Website: highgroundgardens.com

Instagram: @highgroundgardens