The Art of Seed-Saving: Growing & Saving Quality Seed – Part 1

Seed Issues and Choices: Terms, Background, and Biology. What is a hybrid exactly? What is the fuss about heirlooms? What are the real gains and losses for farmers? Reading: The instructor will email class participants a couple of short 1-page articles laying out the terminology and issues so everyone will be able to participate from the start, and have a handy reference.

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

Register here for the entire 5 class course, or RSVP for individual classes to office@adaptiveagriculture.org