It is the most exciting time of year at our Research and Education Seed Farm. The crops we have carefully tended and weeded for months are ready to be harvested. Our first seed crops this year included white winter kale sprouts, fava beans, mizuna, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, and rutabaga.
The rutabaga seeds we saved were grown last year as part of the CANOVI project. We selected a mixture of different rutabaga varieties, stored the roots overwinter in a fridge, and replanted them this spring. We weeded, watered, and trellised the plants and as they started to mature, we covered them with netting to protect the drying seed pods from hungry birds.