High Altitude Backyard Farmers

Listen Now
3min 52sec

Keeping a garden in Colorado's high country isn't easy -- but ingenuity and a good attitude can help. Maggie Gaddis teaches high-altitude gardening in the summer classes offered by Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Salida and Buena Vista. They're the school's most popular classes in the summer session - Gaddis says sustainable agriculture is "huge" in the Arkansas River valley. Students learn to protect their plants from late-spring snows, mountain thunderstorms and hungry wildlife, and to choose the right plants for a rewarding harvest. Gaddis talked with CPR's Mike Lamp as part of our Backyard Farmers series.

The photo is from Salida Middle School, where Gaddis and math teacher Brian Lamont help student volunteers keep a garden growing.