A Seed Saver's Garden

[jbosmith]

What? You live in Canada and have never experienced that snapping & crackling when pulling off a sweater in December? I suppose you'll tell me you never shuffled your feet on carpet in Winter to "zap" someone either. I zap myself frequently, when I've built up a static charge & accidentally touch one of the screws near a light switch.

Or you pull a fuzzy blanket off yourself in the dark and it looks like there's a rave happening in your bed!

 

[heirloomgal]

What? You live in Canada and have never experienced that snapping & crackling when pulling off a sweater in December? I suppose you'll tell me you never shuffled your feet on carpet in Winter to "zap" someone either. I zap myself frequently, when I've built up a static charge & accidentally touch one of the screws near a light switch.

Oh! I get it now! Never heard that expression...

 

[heirloomgal]

Should probably post this in the appropriate thread of price increases and shortages but here I am so I'll put it in here, since it's all sort of related. Found out tonight that 3 more of Canada's long-time OP seed companies are calling it quits. I just can't believe how many we have lost even in the short time I've been saving seeds, about 5 years. It seems there's 2 reasons why this is happening; the first that most of them started up 30 years ago or more. They are entering their retirement years at this point, and seeds are a lot of work even on a relatively small scale. Compounding this, the last years spike in seed sales is beyond what many can comfortably manage even as a retirement hobby. With limitations in staff and land to grow the seed, the writing is on the wall. The sad thing to me is there are not many companies out there to begin with, just a handful. So losing these longtime 3 is significant, especially combined with the many others before them. It's like a generation of people, the gardening generation, are disappearing and a hole is left not just in seeds but more so the significant contribution to culture they make. These people were not just keepers of an important knowledge, they lived it.

While there is an uptick in gardening right now, it's remains evident that my generation is not a generation of gardeners. There are many spokes to that wheel of why, but food has become the near exclusive job of industry. I am so sad to see the end of my parents, and grandparents culture. The winds of change are sweeping it all away. Even in my town, always driven by mining, we had a mining community magazine for decades, with gardens and gardeners always prominently featured. Heck, they even gardened in the mines themselves, a huge greenhouse was set up underground when I was a small child and the man running it became somewhat of a local celebrity for growing tree seedlings and various things in there as well as being on the radio regularly. It is truly the end of an era.

We'll see what the future holds. Talk of inflation is rampant, fuel just shot up to 154.9/litre. Butter is now $6 a pound. Coffee at Costco has gone up quite a bit. The medicine I need to keep my dog alive went up 30% over the last 2 months. I'm not feeling confident right now about where things are headed, but you don't know until you know. I imagine Canadians will have to begin seeking out US seed sources and cover the exchange rate, as well as find companies willing to ship over the border as not all of them are.

 

[jbosmith]

An old seed savers group friend of mine started the seed company, Solstice Seeds in east-central Vermont. She was looking to retire and the young family who live next to her stepped in and took over the business. She still works with them as an advisor and seed grower, and they've added some of their own varieties as well.

High Mowing Seeds, another Vermont company, was started by Tom Stearns who is probably in his 40s now. He still works closely and leads the company but it's transitioning to employee ownership so that it will hopefully outlive all of us.

Just a couple of bright spots for you. Who are the companies that are going out of business?

 

[heirloomgal]

Prairie Garden is one, though she says she will be thinking on it as she shuts down for the next year. Greta's Organic Garden announced she is retiring, as well as my friend Mandy that I mentioned to you in a PM once. They all had wonderfully diverse and extensive collections and a real passion for the seeds and the vegetables. I think Greta is handing her seeds off to a new company that gardens on her land, so there may be some potential there. But from what I've seen since I started ordering seeds online, those pass overs just never seem to be the same - if they succeed. I guess it's good to be optimistic and I should be, I've just been surprised by how many have folded. We lost The Cottage Gardener a few years back, and Upper Canada Seeds, and we had a wonderful tomato seed company in BC who held thousands of varieties but she's been closed now for a few years. She may open back up this year, so I'm crossing fingers for that one. I ordered from her for years.

That said there are some new seed vendors on the horizon it seems, but at a glance, it looks like teeny little operations springing up to get into a suddenly lucrative market, at least compared to previous years. The economic shifts of the last year are shaking things up I think, and we'll see where the chips fall.

 

[jbosmith]

Mandy's website is a treasure trove of info. I spent quite a while reading about peas there after you mentioned it (thanks!).

Tania from BC was definitely growing a lot of tomatoes this year, so I hope she intends to sell again. Her site is another that is easy to get lost on

 

[heirloomgal]

Love them both! Learned so much from them!

 

[baymule]

Here is a wild idea. What about you doing a buy out and taking up the company? There is a huge demand for seeds, this is in your wheelhouse. I can think of no one better for the position of seed company owner than you.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Mandy's website is a treasure trove of info. I spent quite a while reading about peas there after you mentioned it (thanks!).

Mandy became one of my Little Easy Bean Network growers this year. So looks like she is still going to enjoy gardening in her retirement. She'll probably grow most seeds that she used too. Just on a smaller scale. Looks like she's even collecting more beans anyway.

 

[heirloomgal]

Little okra seed harvest today. The seeds let go from the pods amazingly well. Much easier than I expected.

Last of the 'Purple Dragon' carrots. Was surprised to see the colour does not wash out when cooked, at all.

Little fall display with pumpkins. I don't much enjoy the very cold temps setting in, but I sure do love everything else about this time of year.