Up in the Air

For the past four years, the Sage Mountain Center has hosted a community gardening tour at the beautiful location 6,300 feet above sea level.

Center Director Christopher Borton said they host the event each year as a way to showcase high altitude food production.

Borton said even professional gardeners come away amazed with what they are able to grow at altitude, and it also showcases a different way to do it without the use of chemicals and pesticides.

Borton has lived on the property for 26 years, and he established the center in 2009.

Borton said the center features what he calls an edible landscape of cold-hardy species of herbs, fruits, and vegetables.

He said the goal is establishing the garden is to demonstrate what can be grow in a cold, dry climate, and to work towards producing much of his own food.

Borton stated the garden has been built in stages, starting in 2009 with many of the raised beds currently on the property.

In 2010, the center added keyhole beds and experimented with different cold climate cultivars.

"We extended our growing season in 2011 and expanded food production by building a plastered straw bale greenhouse that now gives us winter crops. We also planted most of the fruit trees," he said. "In 2012, we added some new varieties of edible shrubs like honeyberries. Understanding the increasing shade and blocking the desiccating efforts of wind were important, we built the shade structure in the middle of the garden and added more fruit trees in 2013."

Borton added they usually get around 100 guests at the yearly tour, including those who make the trip from Bozeman and Missoula.

With the altitude over 6,000 feet, Borton said frost can come at anytime, but it does seem to toughen the plants.