Seeds For Spring

Winter melting into spring will not be happening any time soon here in the Pacific Northwest as we are headed into cold 20 degree temperatures. On the farm, we love to see a hard frost come for at least a week. Frost gives a sense of dormancy many plants require to begin their new season as well as help mitigate unwanted insect populations. These colder quieter days will afford us time to sit down and evaluate our planting plan for 2020. Many favorite crops will remain at the top of the list, especially in the Brassica family, as we get to decide on amounts and new varieties. The new varieties are often very old heirloom varieties that we have not had the chance to cultivate but would like to experiment within smaller numbers.

Seed Savers Exchange is one of my favorite places to learn, explore and shop. There are two seeds in particular I have had my eye on, the Dragon carrot and Crystal apple cucumber originating from Sydney, Australia. This one might be good for home gardens or preservationists due to many older Australian seeds that have been destroyed by fire. Seed Savers Exchange is a fantastic organization, and I would recommend if you have more quiet time in these winter months to peruse their site. This clip taken from their site has amazing stories of some of the seed collectors and it is well worth your time:

“With help from The 1772 Foundation, we were able to spend a year preserving some of their stories. This group of gardening masterminds comes from all backgrounds—farmers, yes, but also artists, teachers, factory workers, lawyers, and homesteaders. In their spare time they have tracked down, stewarded—and sometimes saved entirely—exceedingly rare varieties. Some started out of curiosity, some out of frugality, some in search of the best-tasting tomato. We hope their stories will leave you excited and inspired to get your hands into your garden soil.”

As for us on the farm, we will take this peaceful snowy time in January to contemplate, analyze, do the field metrics and, as always, dream of delicious veggies. We hope to continue in this path of strengthening biodiversity and food security as always organic and true.

Make sure to find us on Instagram @fullcirclefarms.