My name is Penn Parmenter and I am one of a high altitude gardening team - Cord Parmenter is my husband and partner and a bold and excellent mountain gardener. We teach many classes on high altitude gardening together - we both bring something different to the table. We have been gardening at 8,120 ft. in the Wet Mountains of South Central Colorado - growing food, herbs and flowers since the spring of 1992.
I love to grow tomatoes from all over the world, greens and squashes - but I really love medicinal and flowering herbs. Cord loves to grow sweet corn and pumpkins and nasturtiums and beans. The mountains are a blast to garden in and our garden evolved over all of these years into a 15,000 sq. ft. deer fenced extravaganza of high altitude growing solutions. The three gardens - two vegetables and one mixed has something for everyone - and each are very different. They total about 75 growing beds of different kinds - bio-intensive, dry-stack and wood. My degree is in Theatre Arts and I spent much of my life working in my parent's clay art business. I create red slab clay garden masks and art pieces for the garden. I am currently writing a book about mountain food growing - hope to be done soon. I have been self-educating in horticulture since we arrived on our mountain in 1992. I love to hunt, fish, forage, and journey into the wilderness.
Cord is a Master Blacksmith - since 1985 and the best I've ever seen. His hand-forged custom iron work graces many homes in Colorado and around the country. His skill at forging is a beautiful thing to see - its obviously what he was born to do. See his work at theironmancord.com. Cord also teaches blacksmithing classes and holds open forges here at his shop. Cord hunts, fishes, builds and gardens all while making a living in the blacksmith shop.
Cord and I have three magnificent sons - Maximilian, Beauregard and Wulfgar.