Casey Piscura took his life on Feb. 2, 2025 — a Sunday. That week the news broke slowly, then quickly rippled through the community, opening a chasm of grief shared among the people who knew and admired this seemingly unstoppable farmer. Several memorials were held in the weeks that followed, including a gathering of hundreds […]
Sunfire Ranch
Posted inNews
Potato Days unearths support for RFV farmers
The 116th annual Potato Days has arrived with a plethora of community activations in store over the weekend on par with the theme: “The Grate Spudsby” — an homage to the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby.” This year’s Potato Days is particularly special in that it honors the life of […]
Posted inNonprofits
Family and friends carry on a local farming legacy
On Feb. 2, the Valley lost one of its most prolific young farmers to suicide. Casey Piscura, 39, was an ambitious entrepreneur and adept plant whisperer. He founded Wild Mountain Seeds, a for-profit seed-breeding business with the byproduct of abundant, delicious, organic vegetables. Later, he formed a nonprofit, Seed Peace, with the mission “to accelerate […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Local farm aspires to global impact
Glimpses of bright, reflective ribbon shine out from between dense masses of green at the Wild Mountain Seeds greenhouse. These silver and neon orange ribbons are strung around plants that look healthy, green and bear a robust fruit. Around the flagged plants, others wilt and brown, struggling to grow. Casey Piscura, Seed Peace and Wild […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Conserved ranch looks to future
At the end of 2020, a conservation easement that had been in negotiation for more than five years came to fruition. Sunfire Ranch, over 1,200 acres near the confluence of the Crystal River and Thompson Creek, sold a $10M conservation easement to Pitkin County Open Space and Trails (PCOST). Support also came from Great Outdoors […]