Our work with seeds is focused on three primary objectives—preservation, adaptation, and diversification.

We grow seeds that are adapted to our region and resilient in the face of increased weather, disease, and pest pressure as a result of climate change. We believe that seed access and knowledge is critical for the future of food security and sovereignty, and accordingly that educational programming and community- and coalition-building is critical in those efforts. We care for seeds and participate in the dispersal of open-pollinated, patent-free seeds using myriad strategies with the end goal of seeds embedding themselves in communities that will continue to grow and care for them.

 

  • The cultural value of historical seed varieties cannot be overstated, nor can the importance of preserving these seeds and their stories. The survival of a variety depends on the seed being cared for and grown out regularly, and there are countless varieties on the precipice of being lost and forgotten. Our preservation efforts are concerned largely with seeds lacking someone to carry them on, with who will be the next generation of growers and stewards for these varieties, and with being an intermediary home with the capacity to accept and care for seeds and their stories until they are rooted again in community.

  • Modern seed breeding prioritizes generalization over specification. Varieties are developed for widespread distribution, in conditions that may be entirely unlike those in which they will by grown for crop. In this context, seeds are ideally as generalized in their traits as possible, in that they will to well enough in a wide variety of climates and conditions. Often they are grown in high input systems that are heavily watered, amended, and cultivated.

    In contrast, seeds adapted to the place in which they will be grown will be more resilient in the specific conditions of that location. Adaptation is synonomous with survival, and our own survival is inextricably linked with the strength of our foodways. We count ourselves among a growing global effort to increase the resilience and place-based specificity of seeds, which involves a mosaic of different approaches. For us, this looks like

    growing seeds in low input systems, and growing them out frequently so that they have as much opportunity to adapt to their environment and its stressors as possible.

  • 90% of the genetic diversity of our food crops has disappeared over just the last 100 years. Much of what remains is restricted by intellectual property rights and patents. The more diverse the genetics of a particular variety, the more capacity it has to change and evolve, and the more diverse the spectrum of varieties, the more capacity for specialization exists! As such, our efforts towards diversification are two-fold: maintaining inherent diversity within varieties, which lends itself towards both a good constitution and the capacity for adaption; and increasing the varieties available to farmers and growers.