Mountain Grove Seed Company

Jeff Green | Mar 12, 2014

'Small-scale seed producer' is not listed as one of the top 10, or top 100 career choice options in the post-modern, post-manufacturing, post-agricultural economy, but don't tell that to Dawn Morden.

A passion for vegetable gardening led Dawn to an interest in saving seed, and one thing led to another. Five years ago she founded the Mountain Grove Seed Company, and while sales were small at the start they have increased steadily ever since.

Currently, she has three different garden plots on the go, all located within a short distance of the house her husband Rob recently built. The couple have two children, Sarah and Bayley.

The current property is pretty well surrounded by woods, which makes growing difficult, but although some day Dawn would like to consolidate everything on one sun-lit property, there are some advantages to having garden plots separated by some distance.

“Isolation distances are very important for plants to avoid cross-pollination. Before selling any seed, I need to be sure they will reproduce true to form,” she said.

Some vegetables, such as corn, need to be located at least three kilometres away from any other variety, whereas a separation of a few roads is sufficient for tomatoes.

“I grow seed for at least two years before selling it, to make sure it reproduces true to form, and to make sure the taste is what I expect,” she said.

The process involves a lot of gardening, a lot of care in selecting the best fruits from the most successful plants, and carefully drying the seeds out. Every vegetable and flower is different, so there is a lot of research and trial and error involved before seeds are added to the company's catalogue.

The seeds are mostly heirloom varieties, and only organic gardening techniques are used in the garden. The Mordens keep bees and chickens for pollination and fertilization.

Among the vegetables and flowers they have available are 28 varieties of tomatoes, 10 kinds of beans, and all the other common vegetables. The limited selection of flowers includes many of the flowers that would have been found in the gardens of the family farms that dotted the landscape around MacLean Road, Parham, and Mountain Grove 125 years ago: Hollyhocks and Cosmos, Sunflowers, Sweet William, Sweet Pea and others. A few of the varieties can be traced back to Dawn's great grandparents, Jean and Melvin Scott.

Much of the marketing that the Mountain Grove Seed Company does at this time of the year, which is coming up on high season for garden seed, is done through Seedy events in Eastern Ontario. They will be one of the seed vendors at the Seedy Saturday event, which will be held at the Oso Hall, 9 am to 1 pm in Sharbot Lake on March 22.

The event, which includes a farmers' market, seed exchange and vendor booths, is free. The morning will also include a workshop by Cate Henderson from the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary, for which the fee is $10. To register please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dawn Morden has been travelling to Almonte, Perth, and beyond to Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events over the years. Aside from being good markets for her heirloom seeds, they are great opportunities to talk about local growing conditions, the upcoming season, and to share seeds. “I always put seed into the exchange and I like to see what other people bring,” she said.

As far as battling for a share of the market with other small seed companies at the events, the relationship is more collegial than competitive. “We all love seeds and gardening, and the interesting thing is, we all seem to have different varieties for sale,” she said.

To reach the Mountain Grove Seed Company call 876-8383 or go to Mountaingroveseed.com. All seed packets sell for $2; corn & garlic $3.