Working Together To Build The California Seed Network

Please note: the list of our seeds for sale is on the blog entry made just before this one, entitled 2015 Seed List. Most varieties are still available.

Working Together To Build The California Seed Network

Seed rEvolution Now and Organic Seed Alliance make a great team! A lot of work has been happening over the past year, as we empower farmers and educate people about open-pollinated seeds. Here are some of the highlights of that effort. You'll see that Steve and his allies have been very busy!

EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar

This past January, at the EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar in Carmel, California, Steve had the opportunity to put together a presentation to lay out his dream of a coordinated network of organic seed growers.

Steve Peters of Organic Seed Alliance and Seed rEvolution Now

The Pre-Conference, entitled Cultivating Organic Seed Stewardship, was well attended, and the participants hungry for information. The expert panel was happy to oblige.

Jared Zystro of the Organic Seed Alliance

Rowen White of the Sierra Seed Cooperative

Tim Van Wagner of First Rain Farm

Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds and Family Farmers Seed Cooperative

Aaron Dinwoodie of Tunitas Creek Ranch

Permaculturist Benjamin Fahrer

Our friend Benjamin served as scribe for the meeting.

The day sped by, as the group delved deep into the complex issues around protecting, preserving, and improving our genetic crop heritage.

Even the breaks were filled with lively discussions!

We are so grateful to our dear friend Ken Dickerson (at left, with Benjamin Fahrer). As Executive Director of the Ecological Farming Association, which presents the EcoFarm Conference each year, his encouragement and support of the seed work is invaluable. Everything comes down to the people who get the vision and do the work!

During the Conference, Steve was interviewed by Greenhorns; another opportunity to get the message out. 

Later during the three-day conference, OSA presented a California Seed Stakeholders meeting, attended by folks both new to and old hands at seed saving. 

Jared Zystro organized the meeting to maximize participation, with each person placing post-its of their main concerns in different areas. Yes, that's eco-warrior Gary Nabhan in attendance. He has a long history of involvement with traditional seeds, and was one of the founders of Native Seeds/SEARCH.

California Seed Summit in Sacramento

Continuing the momentum from EcoFarm, in February OSA organized the first California Organic Seed Summit. This event was organized by Jared Zystro, Steve Peters, Rowen White, Kalan Redwood, Benjamin Fahrer, and Leyla Cabugos.

This was a two day gathering of over 30 seed enthusiasts, growers and small seed companies, sharing their common passion for seed with the intention of strengthening our local and diverse seed systems. 

Held at the beautiful Rudolf Steiner College near Sacramento, the venue helped to inspire a successful meeting. Wonderful participants inspire hope for a fertile future! The take-home action points include:

1) Creating a crop and seed database

2) Marketing with an emphasis on education

3) Developing a code of ethics, including transparency

4) Establishing connections, including field days

Sierra Seed Seva Workshops on San Juan Ridge

Dynamic seedster Rowen White has created a model of bioregional seed sovereignty with the Sierra Seed Cooperative. Steve was invited to bring some of his experience to the budding seed sevas. It is always wonderful to help inspire young, energetic farmers...they inspire us!

Fundamentals of On-Farm Seed Production in Sebastapol

Steve and Jared taught a class on seed production in Sebastapol which was very enthusiastically received. This was an all-day, somewhat more advanced workshop. A group there, headed by Sara McCamant, maintains a seed garden on the grounds of a local church. This is the town where Luther Burbank did his seed work, and folks there still understand how important it is to maintain the legacy.

Beet Seed Security in Pescadero  

Stripping seed from mature beet plants, done over 1/4" hardware screen for rough cleaning.

When our friends at Fifth Crow Farm couldn't find seed for their favorite beet variety, Steve helped them learn to use their last harvest to produce fresh seed.

Seed drying in greenhouse after preliminary field cleaning (scalping).

 Seventy-five roots produced about 60 lbs. of clean seed; enough to market as well as plant. Now they know how to have seed forever!

Corn Freedom in Solano County

 Restauranteur Matthew Engelhart contracted Steve to find a suitable corn for making tortillas and tamales for his successful Gracias Madres restaurant in San Francisco. He grows much of the produce used in the Cafe Gratitude chain of vegan eateries owned by his wife Terces and him.

Along with this photo, Matthew sent an urgent text message: "Houston, we have a problem!" Happily, the plants' ascent peaked at 15 feet. They produced abundant ears of large white kernels prized by the Mexican chefs.

Now Be Love Farm can produce their own great corn for Gracias Madres' great tamales...and over time, select for the attributes that make it even better suited to their specific needs.

Trialing Carrots in Gilroy

Nash and Patty Huber, long-time organic seed growers from the Olympic Peninsula, were in California for the EcoFarm Conference. While here they visited one of Ronald Welten's fields to see (and taste!) how their Rumba carrot stacks up against other Nantes varieties in an OSA trial Steve and Jared ran.

Comparing Colored Carrots in Panoche

Seedsman Grant Brians at his family's farm in Hollister. Grant owns Gourmet Seeds International, as well as running an organic produce business. He also farms acreage in the Panoche Valley, in the wilds of southern San Benito County.

USDA carrot breeder Phil Simon was thrilled to see how his varieties of orange, yellow, purple and red carrots performed in an OSA trial held at this isolated commercial vegetable farm. 

More Carrot Trials in Panoche

Carrots thrive in sandy loams like this, but hot, dry, and windy conditions can be challenging. The combination makes this an ideal place to run a trial. Plants that do well here exhibit the qualities farmers will need to cope with climate change.

Seed Grow-Outs in From the Coast

Commercial cauliflower seed production, snap pea seed increase, and a garbanzo trial are being conducted by enterprising farmer Ryan Casey and his good dog Lucky of Blue House Farm in the lovely Pescadero Valley. Steve is trying to find growers within about 100 miles of San Francisco with whom he can work. The range of climates within that area is staggering!

Sharing Seeds in Sunol

Krysten, a farmer at the Ag Park at the Sunol Water Temple, will be making a seed selection for heat tolerance of Steve's Tender Early Green Broccoli. She can still use it as a market crop, which makes the project doable for this small-scale grower.

Preserving Heirlooms in Corralitos

Steve shows off valued open-pollinated seeds to Zea Sonnabend and Shane Murphy of Fruitilicious Farm. They will be growing rare snap beans for evaluation and seed increase, and trialing several bunching carrot varieties.

Trials, Multiplication, and Commercial Production in Aromas

Farmer Robert Brunet is an enthusiastic seedsman who worked for the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association in Monterey County (ALBA) before starting his own farm. He's growing broccoli seed to sell, Swiss chard and snap peas to increase seed stocks, and trialing snap beans and various brassicas.

Extensive Trials and Seed increase at Sunol

Seedsman Aaron Dinwoodie will be growing out and fresh-marketing almost the entire Seed rEvolution Now inventory (please see our previous post for the list). He's growing these along with other rare, yet promising, open-pollinated crop varieties at the Ag Park. The warmer conditions in Sunol will give us an idea of how these crops perform away from the coast. It is also an ideal place to increase okra and beans.

Breeding For Climate Change in Shively

Hidden away behind the Redwood Curtain, a fortuitous bend in the Eel River has created the fertile Shively Flats. Farmer Bill Reynolds settled here over thirty years ago.

 Bill has worked with OSA plant breeders and with seedsman Steve Peters for much of that time, developing plant varieties which must have strong root systems in order to thrive on his unirrigated land. Dark Star Zucchini, which he bred, clearly demonstrates the value of a keen eye and careful stewardship in mass selections.

 At Full Belly Farm, Steve brings seed grower Bill Reynolds together with farmers to discuss how their agronomic needs  may be met.

Steve and Bill have been working on plant breeding together for well over twenty year. With several successful projects already accomplished (see our earlier blog entries on Shiraz Tall-Top Beet and Dark Star Zucchini for more details), they are looking ahead to make new selections of stronger, more drought tolerant crops to help organic famers thrive in an uncertain climatic future.

For more information about any of these on-going projects, or to learn about how you might work with Seed rEvolution Now, please call Steve Peters at 505-660-3933, or email him at stevegrows@gmail.com

Shiraz Tall Top Beet Breeding Project

Seed Revolution Now! is all about promoting crop breeding for organic conditions. This installment is the tale of a successful breeding project in which we were involved.

As we've stated, open-pollinated (OP) traditional breeding holds the key to a broad spectrum of genetic traits, including improved flavor and nutrition, storage ability,  resistance to diseases and pests and other valuable characteristics. What is missing is a concerted breeding effort to carefully select for these attributes.

In the early 2000's Steve Peters was involved in a breeding project that drew together crop scientists from the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA), organic seed growers, and seed retailers in an effort to create a better table beet for organic cultivation. The goal of the group was to develop a genetically elastic phenotype displaying heterotic vigor, good performance under organic conditions, and acceptance in the marketplace. The picture above shows the result after about five years of breeding: Shiraz Tall Top.

One of the main concerns of beet growers is Rhizoctonia solani, or Rhizoctonia dry rot, a fungal disease. The photo above shows the typical rough, pocked skin of an infected beet, rendered unsalable by the disease. One of the goals of this breeding project was to develop genetic resistance to this common pathogen.

Before the collaborative effort began, OSA plant breeder Dr. John Navazio spent several seasons developing the base population of a new beet variety by cross-pollinating three genetically distinct heirloom beet varieties, each of which held certain desirable traits. His familiarity with many varieties made his contribution particularly valuable.

Beets are in the Amaranthaceae family, related to spinach and chard. This root crop is a biennial, and requires two growing seasons in the ground to go to seed. Roots may be pulled after the first season for evaluation, and the best ones stored over the winter in a cool (32-35 F) and moist (90% RH) environment.

The next step was to grow this promising OP population side-by-side with another high-quality OP beet and the leading commercial F1 hybrid variety, for a comparison trial. The field used was deliberately chosen because it was already infested with Rhizoctonia. Each variety planting was replicated four times across the plot to eliminate field effects from soil and water variation. Over 3000 plants of each variety were grown.

The beets were pulled at market-size maturity, and laid out for observation. Traits evaluated included root smoothness (Rhizoctonia-resistance), root shape, and tops quality and vigor. Here, left to right, John Navazio, farmer Randy Carey, and farmer Tim Franklin, with researcher Micaela Colley (photographer), and seed company representative Steve Peters not shown.

To the left is the standard table beet, Red Ace, an F1 hybrid variety. On the right is an early generation of the Shiraz project. Note the extra length of the Shiraz tops and the nice smooth skin and rounded shape, making it an excellent dual-purpose vegetable. 

Micaela Colley taking detailed notes on field trials; an often under-appreciated, yet essential component for making genetic improvements.

Here are the three varieties that were trialed. From left to right: Red Ace F1 Hybrid, Pronto, and the breeding population that was to become Shiraz. It was determined that the Shiraz was potentially a superior beet to existing commercial varieties, and was worth developing.

From the original 3000+ roots of Shiraz, the very best 500 (16%) individual roots were chosen to be placed in cold storage and replanted the following spring in a different location. The roots were replanted in a disease-free field on the same farm, to ensure the best possible outcome for seed production. The resultant seed was harvested that fall.

Farmer Randy Carey discusses beet selection for Shiraz grow-outs with seed technician and researcher Emily Skelton at his Oregon farm.

In this early generation of Shiraz, notice that we have good healthy tops and smooth-skinned roots, but the form is more heart-shaped than round. This was improved in subsequent generations.

The following summer, we repeated the process, planting the newest generation of seed on disease-infested ground once again, for yet another hard selection. Ten thousand roots were grown, and only 700 (7%) were saved to be replanted. The following year seed was collected from the replanted selected roots.

Each generation was compared to Red Ace for quality evaluation. While root shape uniformity was a little better in Red Ace, Shiraz had significantly smoother roots and larger and more vigorous tops. At this point it was deemed ready for production.

After the original selection process was completed to the satisfaction of the collaborators,   it was sent to anther certified organic seed grower, farmer Bill Reynolds in Northern California (left, shown with John Navazio), to multiply the seed to commercial quantities.

As an open-pollinated strain, Shiraz offers the opportunity for continued selection for further improvements. These might include adaptations to local bioregions, more disease resistance, improved interior color, or higher sugar content. For anyone interested in pursuing crop breeding and vegetable seed production, Dr. Navazio's recent book, The Organic Seed Grower is an invaluable resource.

For observation of interior characteristics, a vertical wedge may be sliced from a beet root (not a horizontal slice as shown above!), and a beet showing the desired traits can still be stored and replanted successfully.

After flowering and going to seed, plants are allowed to dry before cutting. It is important, however, to harvest before the seed "shatters" and is lost to the ground. Harvest just before fully dry, and finish drying on a tarp. 

Beet seed may be hand-threshed from the chaff, and cleaned with simple winnowing and screening in a small-scale production. Seed should be stored in a dark, cool and dry environment. It should remain viable for at least five years.

Shiraz Tall Top Beet is a valuable new cultivar for organic gardeners and farmers. It is a good example of how OP breeding can be accomplished by anyone willing to put in the effort.

The recipe for success in OP crop breeding includes:

• A knowledge of available genetic resources containing desired traits
• Farmer participation in the selection process
• A sufficiently large population to allow for strict selection criteria
• Growth under intense disease pressure to allow selection of the best adapted plants

Certified Organically grown Shiraz Tall Top Beet seed is available through Seed Revolution Now! Contact Steve Peters at stevegrows@gmail.com for quantities up to ten pounds, and the Family Farmers Seed Cooperative for one ounce to one pound.