The Art of Seed-Saving: Growing & Saving Quality Seed – Part 4

In The Field. In the field at Golden Rule Garden and other sites on the ranch. This would be a hands-on session covering decisions during the growing season and in the field. Culling, roguing, breeding, trueness-to-type, selection criteria, adequate breeding populations, pest control, assessment, etc.

Seed is a great crop for small and subsistence farmers. Even very small gardens can produce seed that is salable to seed companies, if it is the right variety and produced correctly. Saving seed allows the gardener or farmer to quickly adapt their crops to local conditions, to grow specialty varieties, and to save money. For farmers, seed production can be a significant income stream or niche market. It is a good match for low-input systems because most of the crop biomass stays on-farm, available for composting, mulch, bedding, etc.

This course will teach gardeners and farmers how to plan, grow, select, harvest, clean, and market annual and biennial seed crops, from several pots on the porch to farm scale.

Site:  Ridgewood Ranch, School of Adaptive Agriculture and Golden Rule Garden

Instructor: Jamie Chevalier of Quail Seeds

Cost: $100 for entire course -or- $20/day