© 2008 Lake Valley Seed

Lake Valley Seed was founded in 1978 in Boulder, Colorado. The company was founded by Rick Roen and his wife, Leslie, and operated out of their garage for its’ first years. The original product line was limited to herbs, under the ‘Helix’ brand. In those days, Rick and Leslie grew every variety of herb, testing them in their own garden and on their own table.

For awhile, a limited line of specialty herbs with sales distribution in the Rocky Mountain area was enough. However, looking around at other full-line packet seed suppliers, they spotted a glaring omission and a disturbing trend.

The omission was in the number of seed varieties offered and the trend was in marketing tactics. The larger national seed companies were trimming their variety offerings as they went after large national accounts. The economics were simple – to offer the deeper discounts necessary to get the rapidly expanding ‘big box’ stores, they needed to make more off each packet.

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