The Joy of Seeds

Above is Dr. Gredler sorting some seeds last winter. I could have taken this same shot today as both he and Marianne started going thru our first seed orders. They are verifying complete orders, backorders and separating seeds by collection. We then will hand write color-coded labels for the collections so when the plants come back in flats, we can pull aside and separate all the yellow-tagged, orange-tagged, pink, red, etc. This allows us to quickly group our new plants as our priority quickly becomes planting, not organizing at that point. I will take our organized seeds to our three growers in three weeks or so.


I took my 9 year old daughter on some errands this weekend and of course she was immediately drawn to the colorful seed racks. My wife and I have allowed her a small garden space that she can maintain in the back yard although she picked out enough seed to cover an acre. I just stood back as she picked out all sorts of neat things. She'll start some seeds inside and will sow many outside with her mother this spring. Her enthusiasm, thus far, extends to seed selection, planting and watering. We can't get her excited about weed pulling but that is an "acquired taste". I'm so glad we have volunteers and staff like Kay, Geesje, Glenna, Marianne, etc. that seem to become more energized after they pull their first 100 lbs. of weeds!

Nice image to the left of some eggplants from the 2007 collection. Not everyone enjoys eating eggplant but few can contest the beauty and variability of the fruits. I just finished reading the previously "blog-mentioned" Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg. What an inspiring read. I'd like to share some of the interesting (proven) factoids that he included at the end of the book. These relate to not only to the lawn but agriculture as well. These facts should motivate us to get more involved with "locally grown" edibles, perhaps in our own yards (like the tasty nasturtium below!).


"Homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops"


"Between 1985 and 2000, the price of fresh fruit and vegetables Americans consume increased almost 40 percent."


"The produce in the average American dinner is trucked 1,500 miles to reach our plates and contains ingredients from at least five countries outside of the United States."


"Although five thousand different species of plants have been used as food by humans, the majority of the worlds' population is now fed by less than twenty plant species."