Apprenticeship Program

Article: Seeds

by Cara Corbin

This season I have been thinking a lot about seeds. This is due in part to my responsibility for taking notes on the trials the farm is conducting for Seeds of Change. You may have seen Seeds of Change salsas in the grocery store. They are a company that has recently gotten into marketing organic seeds. It has been very interesting to participate in the trials that we are growing here on the farm. This season we grew celery, chard, spinach, melons, cucumbers, lettuce, and a few other veggies. We took notes on when they were planted, transplanted, harvested, as well as flavor, size, appearance, etc. Being a part of this has made me pay close attention to the plants.

There is so much you can learn by observing the natural world. Micaela Colley, the Seeds of Change representative has been coming out to the farm at least once a month to check on the progress of the trials. She and I have talked about breeding plants for certain characteristics, adapting varieties to different climates, and many other aspects of plant breeding, including seed saving.

Here at Horton Road seed saving is more of a pastime than an integrated part of the crop plan, but there are some farms whose sole purpose is to grow and save seeds for seed companies. Many farmers and gardeners save seeds from their favorite open pollinated varieties to plant next year. This practice over time naturally adapts the variety to your area’s microclimate. Some say that if you save your favorite tomato seeds, the tomatoes will get tastier and tastier each year you replant. Seed saving also leads us to a more intimate relationship with our plants and food.

It is possible to have favorite veggie or fruit and not even know what the plant looks like or what kind of flowers it makes to reproduce itself. Saving seeds may sound mysterious or complicated. While there is a certain amount of magic involved, anyone can do it. You don’t have to be a botanist. I am figuring things out as I go.

All you have to do is let your plants go to seed. (although you may or may not want them to cross pollinate with other nearby plants in the same family) It goes against many tidy gardeners’ aesthetics, but it can be fascinating to see the different flower sizes, colors, and shapes, not to mention the seeds. Watch the flowers form and mature and then poke around inside for some seeds. Collect a good handful and store them in a labeled envelope in a cool, dark and dry place.

So far this year, I have saved seeds from Mediterranean Sage and Sungold tomatoes. I plan to save seeds from the beautiful poppies that grew this year in the barn’s herb garden. I am not sure if the sage will be as happy in Arkansas as it is in Oregon, but I am going to give it a try. Sungolds are a hybrid variety, so when I plant them next year, I will get several types of tomatoes- the ones that were crossed to form the Sungold. It will be a surprise.

Though it is a slow process, I am enjoying learning about seeds. Plants are good teachers and seeds are certainly metaphors. I am sure that a person could also learn something by watching traffic for a period of time, but I am happier being a student of the tomato, of the chard, and especially of the zucchini.

*Cara Corbin comes to us by way of Austin, Texas where she was involved in beginning a Farmer’s Market through VISTA. She’s worked on farms and traveled abroad for years and hopes to use what she has learned here by starting her own farm in her home state, Arkansas, one day.