BC Seeds: The Research and Education Seed Farm – A Winter Update

We visited the farm after the snow and freezing temperatures we had last month and checked in on a crop of Dazzling Blue Kale. Although some of the kale got hammered by the snow, it looked pretty good overall. The plants that didn’t make it were not winter-hardy enough to be selected for seed, naturally selecting themselves out of the gene pool.

The fields were damp and water pooling in areas. It’s always good to get to know a piece of land over time. It will inform planting plans and bed design. The field looks like a blank canvas, with smatterings of last year’s painting gently washing away and changing, winter and spring weeds filling in the gaps. It also looks like a lot of work. Enjoyable, rewarding, and energizing for sure, but also tiring and requiring lots of human elbow grease.

One of the main purposes of this farm is for education and training. We will be planting a wide selection of seed crops and variety trials, which will give us an opportunity to engage with the public and farmers in various seed growing and saving activities, from variety tastings to seed breeding workshops, to weeding parties. Yes, weeding can be a party! If you think you may be up for some fun and educational farm work parties this season, sign up as a volunteer on our website  (scroll to the bottom of the page to fill out the form) and keep your eyes and ears open for future announcements.