It All Starts With A Single Seed!

By Andrea Yoder

New shipments of seeds for 2023! 

While spring may feel like it is a long ways off, we are only three short weeks away from initiating our first plantings in the greenhouse for our 2023 growing season!  January has been a busy month for us and one of our major tasks has been securing our seed supply for this year.  It doesn’t matter how many growing seasons I’ve been through, I still am in awe of how nature can take a small amount of seed that I can hold in the palm of my hand and turn it into thousands of pounds of food!  As farmers, we hold the utmost respect for the intelligence held within each seed.   Our job is to help each seed obtain its highest level of potential by providing for it and the plant it becomes as it grows and develops into the food we all need to nourish our bodies.  Every year we source seed for over 75 different crops and are able to produce tons of vegetables from our modest 100 tillable acres of land.  While we’re still compiling our production numbers from last year, I can tell you that we produced about 709 tons of produce in 2021!  That is a lot of food! Sourcing the seeds to produce this much food is no small task and usually takes us about two weeks to complete. We finalized our orders earlier this month and the seeds have already started to arrive.  So we thought we’d kick off this year by offering you a little insight into our process for managing our seed purchases and inventory along with some seed stats and a glimpse into some of our plans for the crops we’ll be growing this year!

As certified organic growers,
we do not plant any GMO seed.

We source our seeds from a variety of companies, but as organic growers we focus on those that offer either certified organic seed or untreated seed.  When available, we purchase certified organic seed and undergo a sometimes very extensive seed audit at our annual organic inspection. As we are ordering seeds we document our seed search to demonstrate that we’ve checked with at least three sources and have purchased organic seed as a priority.  We are also required to keep all of our seed tags and have a thorough record of where our seeds come from, when they are being planted, etc.  We maintain all that data in a seed database which comes in handy when our organic inspector hands us a list of 20 different seeds that he wants to review to ensure they meet the standards for organic production.  As organic producers, we never use seeds that are genetically modified or have any type of a chemical seed treatment.  Additionally, most of our suppliers stand behind “The Safe Seed Pledge,” a statement created by a coalition of seed companies that reads as follows:

“Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend.  We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations.  For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants.  The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between generations, families or kingdoms poses great biological risks, as well as economic, political and cultural threats.  We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release.  More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds.  Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately healthy people and communities.”

We purchase our seeds from four main companies along with a handful of other suppliers that offer some unique items and specialty crops.  We have been working with Seedway, Osborne Seeds, High Mowing Organic Seeds and Johnny’s Selected Seeds for many years.  They all have a strong reputation for distributing quality seed that is tested for disease and germination potential.  These are important factors for us as we are looking to source the highest quality seed for the best outcomes!  This month we purchased over $70,000 worth of seeds!  In addition to these purchases, we will plant some of the seed we already have in inventory from previous years.   If stored properly, many seeds will remain viable for several years.  In many cases we like to have a little extra seed on hand just in case something unexpected comes up and we need it in short order.  We also tend to buy a little extra seed for varieties that we highly value and for which there are not suitable substitutes.  From time to time a seed producer may have a crop failure and seed may not be available for 1-2 years.  If that happens, we are covered!

Sugar Ann snap peas have been a customer 
favorite for many years!

Over the years we have trialed a lot of different varieties and have come to know which varieties do best on our farm.  There are some varieties that we plant year after year because they produce a superior product.  Sweet corn is one of these crops. There are literally hundreds of varieties of sweet corn we could grow, but not all varieties will thrive in our region.  We are fortunate to be able to work with Phil Timm from Seedway.  He is our seed rep for the company and is very knowledgeable.  Over the years he has made some excellent recommendations for sweet corn varieties that will do best for us and he has hit the nail on the head with nearly every recommendation!  Every year we order our sweet corn seed early to make sure we can get our favorite varieties with names like “Fantastic” and “Awesome.”  Sugar Ann peas are another variety that are hard to beat and have proven to be a superior Sugar Snap Pea year after year.  We always make sure we order early as this variety has been sold out some years!  

2022 Cilantro Field

Before we make the final purchasing decision, we have to take some time to consider whether we want to duplicate our planting plans from the previous year or if we need or want to make changes.  Once we have an idea of what we want to accomplish, then we evaluate the varieties we’ve been planting.  This is also when we consider availability, take a look at any new varieties on the market and take into account any carryover inventory we may have available from the previous year.   Once we have all this information we can figure out how much seed we need to order.  Every crop is different and has to be figured individually.  For example, cilantro is one of our top three major crops and we plant it weekly starting in the spring for a total of 20-22 plantings per year.  In 2021 we planted 360 pounds of cilantro seed, which is quite a lot of seed.  This is the part of the equation that always amazes me as that 360 pounds of seed produced 53,000 pounds of cilantro!  Baby Bok Choi is another one of our top three crops.  Bok choi seed is very small and while we plant it weekly just like cilantro, we only planted 6.39 pounds of seed to produce 72,656 pounds of bok choi!  Is anyone else amazed by the multiplication potential here?!  

Marmalade Kabocha Squash 
(photo sourced from johnnyseeds.com)

Looking ahead to our upcoming growing season, we have a few fun things we’re planning to plant in addition to our staple items like carrots, broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, sweet corn, etc.  This year we’re planning to plant jicama and lemongrass which are on our list of crops we choose to plant once every few years.  If you have never had freshly harvested jicama, you are in for a treat!  We are also on the search to find a tasty kabocha squash to replace Sunshine, a variety we grew previously.  Sunshine had excellent flavor and sweetness, but it succumbed to disease in challenging growing conditions which subsequently impacted its shelf life.  The last few years we grew it we threw away such a large percentage that went bad and made it hard to justify growing them. This year we’re going to give “Marmalade” a try.  This is a small, coral-colored kabocha variety available from Johnny’s Seed.  They describe it as “….ideal for small family dinners and tucks nicely into CSA boxes….Vibrant color option for late fall, with improved storage life compared to Sunshine.”  Evidently we weren’t the only growers who experienced the shortened shelf life of Sunshine!  We are also trying a cute little green buttercup squash (similar to kabocha) called “Bon Bon.”  It’s described as being “Tasty, uniform and high-yielding,” and weighs in at 4-5 pounds which fits nicely in a CSA box!

Sugar Magnolia Peas
(photo sourced from osborneseed.com)

We are also planning to grow a few new purple vegetables.  We know some of you love purple colored vegetables more than others, but we know that the purple color comes from the presence of a powerful class of plant compounds called anthocyanins.  These compounds function as antioxidants in our bodies and provide a whole host of health benefits.  The first in this class that we hope to share with you is the Sugar Magnolia Pea.  This variety produces dark purple pods with bright green peas that are described as being “…sweet and delicious.  A real stunner!”  The plant for this pea does grow 6-7 feet tall, so we’ll have to trellis the plants to keep them off the ground and make them easier to pick.  We also ordered some “Purple Majesty” potato seed.  We have grown this variety at least one time in the past and our recollection is that it was not only a very tasty potato, but it held its color much better than most purple or blue varieties that turn gray when you cook them.  Lastly, we are trying a new purple sweet potato called “Purple Splendor.”  This looks to be a gorgeous potato with purple skin and dark purple flesh that is described as follows:  “Cooked flesh is on the dry side with notable sweetness.”  We’ve purchased purple sweet potatoes in the grocery store and loved the flavor and sweetness, but have not been able to find plants to grow them.  Hopefully we’ll see favorable outcomes with this variety this year!  

Artemis Cherry Tomatoes
(photo sourced from osborneseeds.com)

Our tomato and pepper line-ups are pretty solid and consistent, but we do have a few new varieties to add to the mix this year.  While we usually focus on grape tomatoes and haven’t grown cherry tomatoes for many years, we were drawn to the “Artemis” cherry tomato from Osborne Seeds.  They are supposed to be bright red and are described as “….Supersweet red cherry consistently our favorite for flavor.”  Sounds like a winner! We are also trying the “Round of Hungary” pimento pepper.  We grew pimento peppers previously, but it’s been awhile.  This is a dark red pepper that has a flattened shape with ribs.  It’s a sweet pepper that is good for stuffing.   

We have our work cut out for us over the next few weeks leading up to our first greenhouse plantings.  We need to give our seed storage cooler its annual “top to bottom” cleaning before we put the new seeds into their storage location.  We will be washing and sterilizing our greenhouse flats, thawing the potting soil and need to take care of a few repair projects before we start preparing the nursery greenhouse.  If you’ve already signed up for your 2023 CSA shares, we thank you and are excited to have you on this year’s journey with us!  If you are yet to sign up for your 2023 CSA shares, I want to remind you to do so before February 28 so you can take advantage of our Early Bird Sign-Up Offer!  We have a great season of vegetables ahead of us and look forward to growing for you and your family this year!