Month: May 2021

Excitement is building for our next event  The team is busily packaging up seeds and putting the final touches on our preparations for Seed Up Saturday.

Joseph Lofthouse is as unique an individual as the seeds he stewards. He is especially a fan of “promiscuous pollinators.” Using the word promiscuous may sound provocative (perhaps to entice you to read on.)  The truth is it’s an actual word used in botany. It means parts, elements or individuals of different kinds brought together without order. Or in this case, pollen that transfers via bees, insects and wind.

Joseph is working on a promiscuous tomato-breeding project to coax interesting and diverse characteristics out of our usual domesticated strain of tomatoes by crossing them with wild varieties. He is doing this through hand pollination and a natural process of placing his tomatoes in the right environment to attract the right kind of species interaction. You can learn more about his breeding project and processes in the new book by Joseph Lofthouse, called Landrace Gardening: Food Security through Biodiversity and Promiscuous Pollination.

Joseph gardens outside the box. And if you asked him about this idiom, I am sure he would say, what box? Joseph grows with all his heart and soul and finds great wisdom and solace in the plants he tends. He has a line of landrace seeds he nurtures that have a long history on a 6^th generation family farm. The term landrace describes a variety that has inherent traits of success in its genetic make-up that keep it strong and healthy and able to withstand a series of challenges such as disease, insect infestation and drought.

Says Joseph in the Northeast Organic Farming Association recent newsletter: By growing genetically-diverse landrace varieties I am able to get out of the way and let the intelligence of the plants solve problems that other farmers might be trying to solve using labor or materials.

Joseph isn’t interested in breeding vegetable varieties “true to type.” He is more interested in what works, why it works and the FLAVOR profile of any vegetable he grows, the most important trait.

On Seed Up Saturday, we will be talking with Joseph about his groundbreaking new book, his philosophy and his practices. Hear from Joseph and other exciting seed innovators this Saturday between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm MST. Join in to the conversation by clicking here.

A common language, shared experiences and a deep need to grow inside and out is an accurate way to describe Veterans to Farmers, an important nonprofit dedicated to offering services to a unique group of human beings. These men and women have literally spent time in the trenches and seen things that were difficult to endure. These memories and often the post-traumatic stress that accompanies them, are tough to overcome. Getting their hands in the earth and learning how to grow food becomes a healing salve to veterans and offers a beacon of hope to overcome many unresolved feelings. From protectors to providers is the motto of Veterans to Farmers

At Seed Up Saturday on May 22^nd, Rich Murphy, Executive Director of Veterans to Farmers, will share his journey of supporting those in transition from the front lines of conflict to the front lines of becoming food providers for their families and communities. The unique Veterans to Farmers organization inspires vets to feed their souls and the bellies of those they love with healing local food.

Paraphrased from  the Veterans to Farmers website:

In 2009, Veterans to Farmers Founder and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Buck Adams established Circle Fresh Farms, which grew into a 12 farm collaborative with a total of 5 acres of greenhouse within 3 years. Circle Fresh became the largest organic greenhouse grower in Colorado at that time. In 2011, he established an initiative to train and hire fellow veterans in the greenhouse environment. Word spread. Before he knew it there where many eager veterans willing to learn. The interest from veterans was much greater than anticipated and as a result, Veterans to Farmers (VTF) was formed in 2013.

In 2014 Veterans to Farmers Founding Member and Program Director, Richard Murphy began to work on the development of the VTF training program. Working closely with Buck Adams and partnering with established educators like CSU’s Extension Offices and Denver Botanic Gardens, VTF prepared to plant its first seeds. Hard work and dedication paid off and by the summer of 2014 VTF was training its first veteran farmers! (End paraphrase)

In 2016, Rich attended a Seed School comprehensive seed saving course. The training he received in the ancient tradition of seed saving inspired him to pass the knowledge on to veterans in his farm education programs.

He, like others who become acquainted with the ancient tradition of seed saving, instantly became a passionate advocate and ally of all things seed.

Rich will join Seed Up Saturday to share his fascinating story of learning to love seeds and his aspirations for those returning from the battlefield to their own personal field of dreams.

A seed company producing seed for sale in a 750 square foot urban yard? 

Meet Jillian Bishop, an entrepreneur from Ontario, Canada who decided to put her indigenous & environmental studies degree to work by creating a carefully curated collection of heirloom seeds for her province in Canada. 

Tomatoes are Jill’s passion, but she also grows peppers, grains, greens and beans (seed) as well as other plant starts.

Initially Jill started out as a landless farmer who planted every square inch of her balcony in her apartment in Ontario, and then borrowed land, backyards, and community garden plots to expand her space to grow. In 2016, she purchased her first home. This luxurious space is the perfect size for her one-woman operation and it allows her to stretch out and add things yearly.

What sold her on the idea of seed saving and starting her company Urban Tomato? She loved getting her hands dirty, and after college she interned at a farm focused on tomatoes. It was so easy to save tomato seeds (squish out the seeds and let them cure) that she was blown away more people weren’t doing it.

Then came the Striped Cavern heirloom tomato which sparked her eureka moment. Unlike other varieties from which she had saved seeds, these, when grown out, looked just like the parent tomato. In other words, they grew “true to form,” as they say in the seed business.

Prior to starting her company, she would hear from fellow foodies and gardeners that they had trouble finding seed that would grow well in their particular region. She liked the idea of starting a seed company, and it seemed there may be a niche for her efforts. After hearing about a year-long, community course that would teach her the business side of running her seed company, she jumped in. Having put together a business plan, she tested out her idea at farmers’ markets around Ontario. It was hit and Urban Tomato was born.

In 2015 Jillian attended a week-long Seed School Teacher Training course presented by the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA: a Seed Up Saturday partner). That experience changed her dramatically. First of all, it boosted her confidence in what she already knew as a seed saver. Secondly, she realized that she wasn’t alone in her love and commitment to saving seeds as the basis for any regional food system. She met others with the same kind of passion and thirst for incorporating this fundamental idea into all their growing practices.

She has continued to participate in RMSA events and online courses, recently teaching at the online Seed School Teacher Training, and stands out as someone who through her own ingenuity and initiative did the hard work to follow her passion. Since that Seed School experience in 2015 she continues to teach others to save seeds and also instructs at her local college.

What would Jill have to say to other upstart seed savers wanting to develop their own seed companies? As she shares with her students; You can be landless and still grow seeds!  You are also not alone. This is a global movement and there is help everywhere to move your dreams forward.

Jill will be sharing what she has learned through her journey on Seed Up Saturday, this coming May 22^nd. The workshop runs from 9 :30am to 12:30 pm, Pacific Daylight Time. Listen for Jill and four other presenters who will cover a variety of topics, including how to breed your own varieties, harvesting wild seeds and planting wildflower gardens, the status of plant patents, and landrace gardening.  Participants will also hear from an interesting nonprofit that works with veterans as they move from protectors to providers by learning to grow food and save seeds.  

Reserve your spot at seedupsaturday.com.

There’s something truly special about growing a garden and reaping the benefits of homegrown food and beautiful flowers. There’s nothing quite like the taste of sweet, tender peas fresh out of the pod, savoring a juicy cherry tomato or brushing your hand along the tops of flowers that you grew yourself.

The only thing that could possibly make it better is to garden with someone else. Mother’s Day is right around the corner and spring has us out in our gardens.   It’s the perfect time to create lasting memories with your mother, sharing the mutual joy and satisfaction of making things grow.

Many moms would say that what they want most for Mother’s Day is time spent with their children.  Give her an invitation to garden with you along with a gift basket that includes seeds, cute garden gloves and a few tools.  Ask if she will share her gardening knowledge with you.  Or if you are the experienced gardener, offer to teach her how to grow.

Before the date on which you plan to begin gardening, prepare an area of the garden just for her.  Instead of giving Mom flowers, include planting her favorite flower seeds or bulbs in your gardening plan.  Grow a few vegetables that she particularly likes to eat.  Decorate your plot with some planters in mom’s favorite colors or style.  And if mobility makes gardening down low difficult, create an elevated garden bed that she can cultivate standing up or sitting comfortably on a chair.

Of course, there are times when our mothers are not amenable to gardening.  When that is the case, consider inviting a few women whom you love (friends, neighbors or family) to grow with you.  Seed Up in a Box offers bulk seed packages that you can divide up as gifts for any occasion, along with your invitation to join you in gardening.  Packages provide enough seed to gift up to 10 people with a variety of seeds.  Learn more about seed packages at GreatAmericanSeedUp.org.

If your mother is no longer with you, grow some plants anyway.  A garden can provide a beautiful memorial and serene moments in which to remember her. Mother Earth will always relish the attention and care that you show her by planting seeds.

Tip:  One of the best things you can do for Mother Earth is to plant, grow, save seeds. Seed Up Saturday happens to fall on May 22^nd this year, just after Mother’s Day.  Invite Mom to join you for three hours of free seed education and the interesting stories of a few people who grow them.  Reserve your place at SeedUpSaturday.com