When there was little or no frost in the ground and maple syrup weather in January, it was hard to tell what was going to happen when the real season would arrive in early March. But since there was plenty of water last summer and fall, and the frost set in during February, even a frost free week in early March did not seem to deter the trees from producing sap over the past three weeks.

Gary Gorr, who runs a syrup operation near Harrowsmith, reported this week that he expects to equal or better his production from last year, which was a very good run.

“I have had some darker sap, making for more amber syrup this year,” Gorr said “but the flavour is very good. The quantity is excellent. I think the season could end within a week or so, unless we get some cold weather.”

On Tuesday of this week, Gorr had enough sap in this holding tank to boil all day and beyond.

“I’m expecting a short sleep tonight,” he said.

Further north, the sap has been clearer and the syrup lighter, and reports are that the quantity is high again this year, perhaps higher than last year as well.

“We made syrup for 11 days straight from March 9 all the way to the 20th,” said Darlene Conboy of Bell Line Road, north of Sharbot Lake. “And the sap is running again, maybe even faster than we can boil it into syrup in a day.”

Syrup producers are getting used to a new grading system that will be fully in place next year. The old system, which includes extra light, light, medium, amber, and dark is being replaced by a less refined, international system; golden, amber, dark, very dark.

The new system is coming in so Ontario syrup is graded the same way that syrup from Quebec and Vermont are, and partly as a reflection of market forces. Whereas ten years ago, producers and syrup lovers alike prized subtle extra light syrup, consumers now more commonly seek after stronger flavoured amber syrup.

What used to called Extra Light will now be called Golden, and the old light and medium are lumped together in the new amber category. What used to be labeled amber syrup is now likely to be labeled as dark, and the old dark is now extra dark.

For long time syrup producers, such as the Conboy's and Gorr's, the change will be confusing at first. But as long as they can get sap runs like 2015 and 2016, they can live with the new labels.

Farmers gathered November 9 at Long Road Eco Farm near Harrowsmith for a year-end farm tour, with a cooking class, potluck lunch and open stage variety show. The event wrapped up the eastern Ontario CRAFT's (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) season of on-farm educational opportunities, which included tours as far north as Maberly (Ravenfield farm), with visits to farms in Inverary (Edible Forest), Battersea (Patchwork Gardens) and into Kingston Township (Farewell Farm), among others.

The CRAFT chapter is seated in Kingston, but welcomes farmers from as far as are willing to travel to a given tour. Monday's event drew farmers from as far west as Prince Edward County, and as far north as Jasper, as well as the many more that came from within the Kingston area.

Ontario currently has two chapters: one in eastern Ontario and another serving mainly the southwest. While the latter has focused its efforts towards facilitating internship opportunities in its network of farms, the east has focused more on education in the form of farm tours and workshops. Farmers benefit from learning from other farmers with similar challenges and values (most member farmers are either organic or ecologically-focused).

The season-ending party coincided with a slowing workload on many farms as field production wanes for the season. Around 20 people attended, and participants learned how to make Chinese dumplings and steamed buns in a workshop led by local farmer and food vendor Xiaobing Shen. After a late-morning tour of the farm, attendees enjoyed lunch and music by several talented farmers, as well as guest performance by Kingston-based singer-songwriter David Parker, who performed songs from his most recent CD release, "Calm Me Down".

While most gardeners are satisfied if they grow at least one pumpkin big enough to make into a Jack O'Lantern for Halloween, Ashley Hickey is more ambitious .

The 13-year-old farm girl, who lives in the Cole Lake area between Parham and Godfrey and attends St. Patrick's School in Harrowsmith, is a member of the GVGO (Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario), whose members have grown 100 plus pound cabbages and 1400 plus pound Hubbard squashes.

Giant pumpkins are Ashley's specialty, and the weigh-in at the Prince Edward County Pumpkinfest in Wellington is the moment of truth for her every year.

Last year her pumpkin came in 4th place at 877 pounds, and it was larger than any of the pumpkins grown in Prince Edward County and vicinity. The three larger pumpkins in the competition were grown in Eganville, Shawville and Pembroke.

“This year I wanted to get over the 1,000 pound mark,” said Ashley who grew her pumpkin from a seed from her 2014 pumpkin.

When it came time to bring her pumpkin to the festival this year, the family tractor was not big enough to lift it onto a pickup, and a special harness had to be used to ease it onto the truck.

The result – 1,011 pounds. The competition has grown so fierce at the Wellington Pumpkinfest however, that Ashley only received a 7th place ribbon this year, but again all the pumpkins that were larger had traveled a long way. The winner, at 1654 pounds, came from Ormstown, Quebec and used seeds that came from a 1,873 pound pumpkin.

To put Ashley's pumpkin into local context, the largest pumpkin from Prince Edward County came in at 784 pounds.

Incredibly, the Hickey pumpkin patch is a small plot of land, maybe 30 feet by 10 feet, with black, rich soil from all the manure and compost that they use to enrich it. Ashley starts her large pumpkins indoors in late April and puts out only the strongest plant, but she does not cull off all the other pumpkins aside from the one that establishes itself as the largest one.

“I like to bring 300 pound pumpkins to the Perth Fair with my friend,” she said, “that's also a lot of fun.”

She was pretty nervous when it came time for the weigh-in in Wellington because, “Although I knew it was close, or I hoped it was close to 1,000 pounds, I did not know for sure it was going to make it. I was pretty happy that it was that heavy,” she said.

Ashley started growing large pumpkins about three years ago, with encouragement from her parents, learning about what seeds to use, how much water to add, how much to fertilize, all of the ins and outs of growing giant pumpkins.

“The people I have met at Pumpkinfest have all been nice about sharing ideas about how to grow,” she said.

The giant pumpkins do not have a massive amount of seed, and Ashley said that she gives 100 seeds to the GVGO for their archive, and saves enough for herself. Although she was willing to share the growing techniques she used, that did not necessary mean she was prepared to hand over any of her spare seeds.

“It's not just the seed, anyway; it's also about how much water and how much fertilizer and what the weather is like during the summer. Also there is the problem of frost in the spring and the fall. I noticed, when we went to Wellington on October 17, that closer to Lake Ontario, they have had no frost at all.”

Her goal next year?

“1,500 pounds.”

I was disappointed to read in your paper (Frontenac County Budget, Oct 22/15) that Anne Marie Young is looking for county money to do away with our scrub lands and farms and replace them with "a tourism and recreation economy". As a farmer and a scrub land owner, I do not want the county to hire an "Economic Development Coordinator" who thinks in terms of "only farms". I would prefer if the county spent at least part of the $210,000 it is being asked for to do something to develop farms instead; for example, to help set up an egg grading station.

There are no egg grading stations for farmers in Frontenac County. That means that no farmer in Frontenac County can legally sell their eggs anywhere but at their farm gate without leaving here and coming back. Our farmers cannot advertise eggs for sale in newspapers, stock local stores or restaurants, put "eggs for sale" signs up pointing to their farms or even sell their eggs at a farmers markets. An egg grading station would change all that. Since a grading station is basically a sink, a bright light and a scale it would only cost a small fraction of the one quarter million dollars being asked for.

Graded eggs can be sold anywhere. With an egg grading station here, more people in Frontenac County could have fresher eggs while supporting their local farms. The egg marketing board won't tell me but I'd guess that a ton of money leaves Frontenac County in the form of egg sales at the grocery stores. Most of that would stay here in farmers' pockets.

In deference to people who wanted to replace our farms with a tourist economy, we could have signs printed up advertising "Frontenac County Laid Eggs". That would give the recreational tourists a warmer feeling about their visits here, not to mention that a fresh, local egg from a hen free-ranged on "scrub lands" is incomparably better than an egg that came on a truck from Toronto. We could show them that too.

This article is prepared by X.B. Shen of Long Road Ecological Farm and is a part of its “Farm Sum” series. www.facebook.com/farmsum.

We invite friends over to our farm from time to time and usually we make a Chinese peasant-style meal with abundant vegetables from our garden. Impressed by how delicious the food is, our friends may still not dare to make their own, even though I tell them stir-frying is really simple. I hope this article will uncover the myths of Chinese peasant-style stir-fry; it turns out there is no mystery at all – no complex sauces or hard-to-master technique.

Chinese peasant-style stir-fry requires very little preparation and few ingredients. Besides what's available in the garden, you only need a bit of oil, salt, and water (yes, water). Garlic, green onion, soy sauce are a plus, but not necessary. Each vegetable has its own pleasant flavour, and Chinese peasants like to preserve this flavour by not using too much or too strong spices and seasonings.

Here is a recipe for a delicious stir-fry potato dish:

• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (or any vegetable oil)
• 2 large chieftain potatoes (red skin, crunchy), sliced to sticks, like french fries, thickness varies, the thinner the better and less cooking time. Keep skin if organically-grown
• 1 bell pepper, or two hot peppers, seeds removed, cut to sticks
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1/3 teaspoon of salt or less

Optional:

• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce

1. Heat the frying pan, add oil and garlic, stir a few seconds, and then add peppers, stir the pepper and cook for about half a minute

2. Add potatoes. Stir and add salt, and a few tablespoons of water to avoid burning at the bottom.

3. Cover with lid and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Add a bit more water if it drys up.

4. Add green onion and soya sauce, and give it a good mixing before putting it in a plate or large bowl.

Eat with rice or as a replacement for salad/mashed potato in a steak meal. The key to this dish is that you want to keep the crunchiness of the potato by not overcooking it.

A variation of this dish is to add a bit of chopped pork. You will need to prepare the pork first. Chop the pork into small pieces, fry it with cooking oil and thinly-sliced ginger. Once the colour of the pork changes, add salt, continue to stir for a minute or two, and then remove from pan and put in a lidded container.

We usually prepare one pound of pork every time. When we make a vegetable dish, we add some of the pre-cooked pork when the vegetable is about half done. One pound of pork can last for a few days. You

will appreciate the pork from a good source. When pork is good, it is juicy and flavourful even if you don't add any sauce. Bad pork is dry and flavourless, and loses water when being stir-fried.

You can apply the same method to cooking fresh beans, zucchini, summer squash, celery, daikon radish, the stems of greens (such as bok choy, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, etc). The cooking time varies with different vegetables.

Early Sunday morning Ayla Fenton meets the van from Roots Down Organic Farm at the busy Memorial Centre Farmers Market in Kingston, where she will set up and vend produce into the afternoon. She is an energetic presence; you rarely see her standing idly, waiting.

Fenton is what one might call a new-generation farmer: little in the way of knowledge and social support has been handed down to her from a previous generation and so she, like many, is forging new trails.

Fenton is into her third year of interning. She began at Roots Down, was farm manager there in her second season, and still does Sunday sales for them. She currently spends the work week at Root Radical on Howe Island and is also active with NFU Youth as national vice president. In this role, she brings her ongoing education on the social and environmental effects of our food system, as well as the needs of younger farmers, to both the public and policymakers.

NFU Youth is currently working on an initiative called the National New Farmer Coalition, inspired by the National Young Farmers Coalition in the U.S. The latter organization, which began a mere five years ago, has networked thousands of farmers and gained some unexpected political wins, including essentially writing a section of most recent farm bill, adopted by congress, which saw millions of subsidies shifted from big agriculture interests to young start-ups.

Meanwhile, NFU Youth has conducted a survey of over 1,500 young farmers from across the country, the results of which will be compiled and analyzed, giving a picture of this generation's opportunities and challenges. What is already known and being communicated to politicians is that 70% of new farmers are not from farming backgrounds. Fenton notes that this means policy directions need to shift toward training and land access, and she senses that politicians are willing to listen.

What is harder to shift is export-driven policies, such as those promoted through deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “Most policy is not about farming, but trade,” says Fenton. She has noticed that government is less willing to listen to diverse voices when it comes to international trade agreements, which is concerning, given the changing demographics and focuses of agriculture in Canada. “The NFU has shown that farmers are not advantaged by export-driven policy, contrary to what was expected,” says Fenton.

While this shift towards the smaller, locally-focused economic model that younger farmers favour is slow to take hold in countries like Canada, where industrial-scale, export-focused economics have long been tied to stability and growth, it has fast taken on momentum in other parts of the world.

Fenton had the opportunity to attend conferences held by Via Campesina, an organization that advocates for small-scale, sustainable agriculture in its many forms, first in Florida in 2014, where she learned about the conditions of migrant farm workers in the U.S. from the workers themselves, and again this past winter in Mali, where the focus was on defining agroecology.

Meeting people from Mali and across Africa, she became more aware of how the urgency of poverty and land degradation has prompted more hastened agricultural change there. “They have seen their land go from being half a desert to a full desert,” says Fenton, noting that in selling crops for export at low prices, farmers then have to buy food, generally not winning out in the equation.

Closer to home, Fenton helped organize a mixer held in Parham last fall for Young Agriarians, an organization focused on creating networking opportunities for young farmers. She will also be organizing a number of workshops in the region this fall for the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, as well as continuing to learn the trade through on-farm work.

Suzanne Clarke has been raising goats for about half a decade, which may not seem like a long time. And yet, from the first pair of Nubian does she acquired in 2009, she has carved out a niche market in the Frontenac region for her breeding stock. With multiple births common for the Nubian breed, a herd can grow quickly, and she currently keeps a couple dozen goats at her farm, called Heron's Pass, near Godfrey.

For a small hobby farm, Clarke's herd is sizable, but small compared with commercial goat operations, which can number into the hundreds. As such, her customer base is comprised mostly of small farms and homesteads, particularly younger people looking for a couple of does to provide a trusted dairy option for themselves.

The goats are classified by the Canadian Goat Society, which means they have been evaluated for characteristics that are associated with good milk production and general good health in comparison with breed standards. They are also raised under organic guidelines, which include a diet of certified organic grains and minerals on top of the nutrition they gain from browsing.

She notes that her interest in high-quality breeding stems from the initial motivation for high-quality milk. “I always have the milk, whatever I'm investing,” she says, stressing that the hobby comes before the commercial enterprise.

Clarke is also an accomplished hobby cheesemaker, and with a cheese making facility on the farm, cheese sales would seem like a natural extension to the breeding stock sales. But this is trickier than it seems at first glance.

Many small farms of Clarke's scope seek creative ways to market their goods outside of traditional supply chains. This can work well for, say, fruit and vegetables, where a farm stand by the roadside can be set up with minimal investment and little or no red tape. Even meats can be sold on farm as long as they have been slaughtered in a government-inspected facility (though this can also cause major logistical headaches – just ask a small-scale chicken farmer in the county), but dairy involves a series of major commitments.

While goat milk is not a supply-managed commodity (and no quota is needed to sell it legally) a prospective venture has to gain a license to sell milk; then invest in a bulk tank and have its facility inspected; and, finally, find a buyer and a licensed shipper. This generally only makes sense for large herds, and means milking year-round to meet continuous market demand.

Clarke points out that a commercial goat dairy takes a certain kind of person. “You need to be really productive, and knowledgeable and manage animals really well.”

Having been raised on a farm where raw milk was a mainstay, she stresses the importance of a healthy, tested goat herd, and awareness of potential diseases associated with raw milk. And while she does not sell the milk and its products, she is a local resource for anyone wanting to enter the steep learning curve of keeping dairy goats of their own.

The gardens and greenhouse at Sydenham's Grace Centre are doing well, with leafy greens covering much of the greenhouse floor, and volunteers in a flurry of planting in the outdoor beds as the summer approaches.

Coordinated by Janette Haase, the project has been supplying produce to food bank users over the past two years, filling a much-needed gap in the Sydenham-area’s nutrition picture. But its effect on the community, and on food security matters, has gone beyond the immediate task of feeding people in need.

One such success is the opportunity that grade 7 and 8 students in Sydenham have had to learn about food production and contribute to better food security.

The students, who attend Loughborough Public School, have been active in a number of ongoing projects, including an inter-generational exchange of knowledge and mentorship with seniors who volunteer, sharing their experience and wisdom.

Haase sees a new generation gaining an understanding of the merits of self-sufficiency, as well as a hobby that is healthy and productive. She notes, “More and more of the kids go home and have a garden with their families.”

With many of the start-up projects out of the way, such as establishing beds, building compost spaces, and setting up irrigation lines, Haase anticipates a greater focus on education going forward.

The north section of the greenhouse, which is less exposed to direct sunlight, and so is suitable as a work area for seedling preparations, and also a potential field classroom setting. A whiteboard is already up and there is floor space for an audience.

Students have already taken in volunteer-led discussions on topics such as beekeeping, seed saving, and gardening knowledge, and, as Haase sees it, these talks could be expanded upon and formalized into a curriculum, giving students further opportunity to learn about the many facets of food.

All of this is a big change from the way thing

Loughborough teacher Alan MacDonald has been introducing concepts around food to the students currently involved in the greenhouse activities. He leads them in a challenge curriculum, designed to foster curiosity on concepts like the complex web of environmental, technological, historical and social factors that create our food system.

MacDonald's interest in these issues has aligned with Haase's vision for the Grace Centre's garden space.

He notes that the learning that happens at the gardens complements core subjects such as the natural sciences and plant physiology, physics and design as they pertain to a greenhouse's structure, and socio-economic forces that create the commercial food system and the inequalities that create a need for food banks.

Students also have opportunities back at school to learn from guests about cooking and budgeting for nutritious, balanced meals, and as well, for site visits to local farms to better understand farming as a livelihood.

MacDonald recognizes the importance of educating students on the realities of their generation: rising obesity; declining food security; and the overall social and environmental impacts of our choices.

There are many daunting challenges ahead, yet MacDonald notes that there is much around food that remains fundamentally positive. “I want to share the simple joy of growing and harvesting and cooking food with my students,” he says.

By Dawn Morden, Mountain Grove Seed Cpompany

SOME DEFINITIONS:

Heirloom - Very old, usually more than 50 years, usually passed down through generations. Are open pollinated.

Open pollinated - The ability to breed, with offspring being the exact replica of the parents.

Hybrid - A mix of two or more open pollinated varieties. The first generation of offspring usually displays all dominant genes. They are usually all the same, e.g. all tall, red tomatoes. However, in subsequent generations of growth, many recessive genes are displayed as well. Almost all of the plants are different. If you want to breed your own seed, pick the plants with traits you like from the second (mixed) generation of offspring, and remove the other ones. Save the seed, then replant the following year, doing the same thing. Continue for as many years as it takes for all of the plants to be the same. There are some varieties that have inconsistency as a characteristic; they are called landraces. Beans may have multicoloured pods, or dried white beans may include 5-10% of yellow or brown beans.

Annual - A plant that produces seed in one growing season. Annual vegetables include tomatoes, beans, peppers, peas, lettuce, rapini, mustards, all squash, corn, broccoli, radish, eggplant, and rapini.

Biennial - Plants that require two years of growing to produce seed. They require vernalization to flower (a period of cold). Plants can be overwintered in the garden under a thick mulch of hay, or stored in the root cellar and replanted in the spring. Biennials include onions, beets, other brassicas, parsnip, carrots and celery. Do not collect seed from plants that flower the first year.

Self-pollinating plants - Are in-breeding. Flowers are “perfect” that is, they each have both male and female parts. One flower, with no bees or wind, can produce fruit. They do mix a little. To maintain genetic diversity it is advisable to grow about 25 plants when saving seed. Self pollinated vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, peas and beans.

Cross-pollinating plants - Are out-breeding. Plants have separate male and female flowers, or need male parts (pollen) from one plant and female (the stamen) parts of a different plant. To maintain genetic diversity, it is advisable to grow about 100 plants, but as few as 20 can be used (corn requires at least 100). Cross-pollinated vegetables include brassicas, squash, onions, spinach, beets, carrots, corn and parsnip.

Inbreeding depression - Deterioration of size, vigour, and yield due to inbreeding. Never use only one or two plants for seed saving, especially cross-pollinating ones.

Clonal - Cloning. Potatoes, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes. These plants will produce seed, but take multiple years to grow to full size. Cloning produces full size plants in one year.

PLANTING YOUR GARDEN FOR SEED

Basic plant biology - plant>families>genus>species>

varieties

Through pollination by insects or the wind, varieties in the same species will mix with one another.

To prevent cross-pollination, options are maintaining an isolation distance, hand-pollinating (caging, bagging, taping techniques), or timing of flowering. The level of adherence to these guidelines is related to the purpose for saving the seed.

For self-pollinating plants, isolation distances can be reduced a little, fairly safely. Bees usually fly up and down rows, but do sometimes skip sections (20-50'). They do not usually go from row to row; they go to the closest flowers.

If there are flowering plants between varieties of the same species, then the risk of cross-pollination is reduced.

Is seed is saved from the center of plots, and middle of rows, then the risk of cross-pollination is reduced.

Allow space between plants to improve airflow. This helps to prevent disease.

Never plant all of your seed in one planting! Bad things can happen. Save some of your valuable seed just in case you need to replant, or do not have success growing it that year. If you have seed saved from multiple years, plant a little from each year. this will increase genetic deversity and strengthen your plants.

SELECTION AND HARVESTING OF SEED

Selection - Select plants for health, strength, timing (early and/or late), quick germination (early to sprout, early to bear), good maturation, disease resistance, heat, drought, rain, and cold tolerance.

Look at the plant as a whole. Look at the shape, colouring, size, durability, and disease resistance of the fruit as well.

Rogueing - Remove plants that do not perform well or are "off" types, ones with poor traits. Do this before and after flowering.

If seed is saved only later in the season, and the early produce used, then it will be selected for lateness. If seed is saved only early in the season and the remaining produce is used, then it will be selected for earliness. Collect seeds throughout the season. Some at each harvest is best.

Try not to select for high yield alone. This diverts the plant's energy to doing that, often compromising sweetness or quality.

Seed plants are still useful. The outer leaves of lettuce plants can be harvested to sell or eat. Off types of tomatoes or peppers can be potted and moved (or replanted) to a location where they will not cross with seeds to be saved. Fruit can be sold or eaten. The flesh of peppers, melon, watermelon, squash, even tomatoes can be used without harming the seeds.

Harvesting - Harvest at proper maturity. Tomatoes, melons, squash and peppers should be ripe. Cucumbers very over-ripe.

Harvest dry seed with low moisture content. Lettuce, brassicas, beets, and spinach should be dry. Harvest when the maximum quantity on the plant is ready. Beans and peas should be dry, but can be harvested when the pods have shrivelled and thinned, and the bulging legumes are prominent.

CLEANING AND STORAGE AND CARING FOR SEED.

Cleaning - Curing seed. Squash needs to sit after it is picked for one month, to allow seeds to ripen properly. Cucumbers, for two weeks. Watermelon and melon can be used when they are ripe.

Dry seeds - Umbel, podded, and clustered seed. Harvest whole limbs. Run thumb and finger up the branch when it's dry to dislodge seeds. Pods can be crushed, and the large debris removed. Winnow what is left. Put seeds in a low-sided container and use a fan, the wind or your breath to carefully blow away what is not seed.

These types of dry seed can be stored at any stage (as long as it's dry), and cleaned later.

Beans and peas should be removed from pods as soon as possible to prevent mold. Spread out to dry until seeds become hard.

Wet seed - There are two methods for cleaning wet seeds (seeds that form inside the vegetable). The first is the simplest and is used for cleaning squash, peppers or watermelon seeds. Remove the seeds from the vegetable when you eat it. Squash and watermelon seeds can be rinsed in a strainer. Spread out on a non-stick surface dry. They are dry when they become hard, breaking instead of bending.

The second method involves fermentation and is used for tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. Fermentation helps reduce seed-borne disease. Do not let seeds sprout. Cut the fruit in half and scoop out the seeds. Put the seeds into a glass jar or yogurt container. Add a very small amount of water. Leave the container on the counter for a few days until there is white mould on top and it smells bad. Then, stir vigorously and add ¼ to ½ cup water. Let it stand for a couple of minutes. Carefully pour off the water (and yucky stuff) from the top of the container. Its okay if there are some seeds in it, these ones are no good. The good seeds are at the bottom. Add more water, let stand a few more minutes and pour the water off

(carefully) again. Repeat until the water is clear and seeds at the bottom of the container are clean.

Spread seeds out on a non stick surface to dry.

Storage - Be certain your seeds are dry before storing. Never heat seeds to dry them. Never dry seeds in the direct sunlight. Never overuse silica powder as a drying agent because if seeds lose all of their moisture, they will die.

Store seeds in a moisture-proof container. Only glass and metal are airtight.

Muslin bags or paper envelopes absorb moisture and are good. Multiple packets can be placed in a canning jar for storage.

Label each packet of seed with the variety name, year grown (location grown on property), and when to re-grow or check germination. Do not mix seed from different years when storing seeds.

Seeds need to be stored somewhere dry, cool and dark. Not in humid or damp environments with fluctuating temperatures. The refrigerator is good. The freezer is great, but only if the seeds are dry enough. Otherwise, seeds will crack when moisture inside them freezes and expands. Cold temperatures slow down the energy consumption of seeds, so lengthens their viability time.

Caring for seed - Check for germination if not growing every year. To germinate, most seeds require 75 degrees F. temperatures (peppers and eggplant 80°, cowpeas 85°).

To test germination, count the seeds that were planted. At the end of the first week, count how many sprouted, and carefully remove them. Do this at the end of weeks two, three and four. Add the total number of sprouted seeds, then calculate the germination percentage.

If there is 20% germination, that means that 20% of the seeds are still alive, but also that 80% of the vigour is gone from all of the seeds.

Seeds should be re-grown when germination is around 70%, to maintain good quality.

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Appendix.

Categorization of vegetables

The AMARYLLICACEAE family (aka liliaceae, or aliuceae)

Species:

i) allium ampeloprasum. LEEKS

ii) allium sativum. GARLIC (no scapes) AND ROCAMBOLE (has scapes)

iii) allium schoenoprasum. CHIVES

iv) allium tuberosum. GARLIC CHIVES

v) allium cepa. ONIONS AND SHALLOTS. Has subspecies.

a) aggregatum. shallots, multiplier onions, potato onions.

b)cepa. onions that produce seed.

c) proliferum. egyptian onions (aka walking onions or tree onions).

Leeks, onions and shallots are biennials. Seed producing alliums have perfect flowers but are outbreeding.

Chives and garlic chives, once established, will provide seed each year. garlic has lost the ability to reproduce sexually so will never cross with itself.

Isolation distance: 1.6km

Life expectancy of seeds: 2 years

The BRASICACEAE family.

Species:

i) brassica napus. RUTABEGA, SIBERIAN KALE, SWEDE TURNIP, FINNISH TURNIP. Has subspecies.

a) napobrassica. rutabegas grown for their roots.

b) pabularia. rutabegas grown for foilage (siberian kale, hanover salad).

c) rapeseed. canola including winter rape kale

ii) brassica rapa. TURNIP, RAPINI, CHINESE MUSTARD

iii) raphanus sativus. RADISH

iv) brassica oleracea. BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER, CABBAGE,

BRUSSEL SPROUTS, KALE, KOHLRABI, COLLARDS

Broccoli, Rapini, chinese mustard, and radishes are annuals. All others are biennials. Brassicacaea flowers are perfect but require insects for pollination. Many varieties are self incompatible (sterile), so multiple plants are required to produce seed. Alternate day caging can be used for seed purity.

Use a knife to cut an x into the cabbage and cauliflower heads, so that the seed stalks can emerge.

Isolation distance: 800m for radish. All else 1.6km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 4-5 years

The CHENOPODIACEAE family.

Species:

i) beta vulgaris. BEET, SWISS CHARD, MANGEL

ii) chenopodium quinoa. QUINOA

iii) spinacia oleracea. SPINACH

Chenopodiaceae are wind pollinated. Beets, swiss chard and mangels are biennials. They will not flower until roots are mature and vernalization has occurred. Beet seeds are clusters of 2-5 seeds each. When growing, thin leaves so that only one leaf stalk grows on each plant. Use at least six plants for seed (beta vulgaris). Quinoa and spinach are annuals. The quinoa grains are the seeds, they form in large heads on stalks. Quinoa is short day sensitive and will develop flowers or seed until late in the season. Spinach is either a male or female plant. At least 4'x4' of spinach plants are needed to grow seed. Plant in plots to aid fertilization. Only the female plants will bear seed.

Isolation distance: minimum 8km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 5-6 years

The COMPOSITAE family.

Species:

i) helianthus annuus. SUNFLOWER

ii) lactuca sativa. LETTUCE

Annuals. Flowers are perfect, most self compatible. Alternate day caging can be used to produce seed. Seed heads may need to be bagged if birds are consuming the seeds. Sunflowers are outbreeding plants. Sunflower seeds are found in the shells that form on the flower head. Remove seeds from the flower heads but leave them in their shells. Lettuce is an inbreeding plant. Lettuce seeds form on flower heads from bolted lettuce. Harvest lettuce seeds when the fluff sticking out of the seed pods becomes dry. Winnowing does not work for lettuce seed. Use your fingers or a screen. Types of lettuce include crisphead, butterhead, cos (romaine), stem (celtuce, asparagus lettuce), leaf and latin. If growing a crisp head variety, heads should be cut down the centre to allow emerging flower stalks to form.

Isolation distance: lettuce 8m. sunflowers 4km.

Life expectancy of seeds: lettuce 3 years,

sunflower 7 years

The CUCURBITACEAE family.

Species:

i) citrullus lanatus. WATERMELON

ii) cucumis melo. MELON. Has seven subspecies cucumis

iii) cucumis sativus. CUCUMBER

v) cucurbita maxima. SQUASH (eg. hubbard, most pumpkins)

vi) cucurbita mixta. SQUASH (eg. cushaw)

vii) cucurbita moschata. SQUASH (eg. butternut)

viii) cucurbita pepo. SQUASH (eg. zuchinni, acorn, spaghetti)

Annuals. Plants have separate male and female flowers. Most require pollen from a different plant. Grow at least 20 plants. Blossom taping is often used to maintain seed purity. In the evening, tape shut blossoms just about to open, or just opened. Tape male and female blossoms. In the morning, after the dew has dried, pick, untape and remove the petals from the male flower. Carefully untape the female flower and pollinate using the male one. Retape the female flower closed. Hand pollination is most successful with the first few blossoms, early in the season. Melons abort about 80% of their blossoms. Cucumbers will abort their blossoms during drought or extreme heat. Harvest only ripe fruit for seeds. Allow cucumbers to turn a dark yellow orange (overripe) before picking. Let cucumbers sit (at room temperature) for two weeks, and squash for a month after picking. Seeds can be removed from melons and watermelon, when fruit is ripe.

Isolation distance: 0.8km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 5-6 years, cucumbers 10 years

The LEGUMINOSEA family. (aka faboideae, caesal piniodeae, mimosoideae)

Species:

i) arachis hypogaea. PEANUT

ii) pisum sativum. PEAS

iii) phaseolus vulgaris. BEANS, BUSH, POLE

iv) phaseolus coccineus. BEANS, RUNNER

v) phaseolus lunatus. BEANS, LIMA

vi) glycine max. BEANS, SOYA

vii) vigna unguiculato. COWPEAS

Annuals. Bagging or caging techniques can be used for seed saving. Peanuts need to be saved overwinter in their shells for replanting in the spring, and need 120 days of hot weather to grow well. Bean and pea seeds are the beans and peas in the pods. Allow to dry on plants before harvesting, or remove entire plant with roots and hang upside down in a warm location until dry.

Isolation distance: peas, bush and pole beans, cow peas 15-20m.

Runner and soya beans 0.8km. Lima beans 1.6km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 3-4 years

The SOLANACEAE family.

Species:

i) capsicum annuum. PEPPERS

ii) lycopersicon lycopersicum. (aka lycopersicon esculentum) TOMATOES, CURRANT TOMATOES

iii) solanum melongena. EGGPLANT

iv) solanum tuberosum. POTATO

v) physalis pubescens. GROUND CHERRY

vi) physalis alkekengi. CHINESE LANTERN

Annuals. Currant tomatoes are ¼” in diameter, red and grow in clusters. Potato leaf varieties of tomatoes tend to cross

pollinate so have a greater isolation distance. Potatoes should be saved overwinter and replanted in the spring.

Isolation distance: Peppers, 165m. Tomatoes at least 5m, potato leaf varieties 50m.

Ground cherries and chinese lanterns 50m.

Eggplant 15-20m.

Life expectancy of seeds: peppers, ground cherries, chinese lanterns 3 years, tomatoes 4-10 years, eggplant 7 years.

The UMBILLEFRAE family.

Species:

i) apium graveolens. CELERY

ii) anethum graveolens. DILL

iii) daucus carota. CARROT AND QUEEN ANNES LACE

iv) pastinace sativa. PARSNIP AND WILD PARSNIP

v) foeniculum vulgare. FENNEL

vi) coriandrum sativa. CILANTRO

vii) petroselinum crispum. PARSLEY

Have umbrella like seed heads. Cilantro, dill and fennel are annuals. Celery, carrots, parsnips and parsley are biennials.

Isolation distance: carrots, fennel 0.8km. Others 1.6km.

Life expectancy of seeds: parsnip 1 year. carrots, parsley, fennel 3 years. dill 5 years. celery 8 years.

The GRAMINEAE family. (aka poeceae)

Species:

i) zea mays. CORN

ii) sorghum bicolor. SORGHUM, BROOM CORN

Annual. Timing of flowering can sometimes be used successfully. Select a mimiature corn that matures quickly, such as tom thumb. Plant around May 15. Select a full size corn, preferably of a different color to plant in early june. Often if cross pollination occurs, the different colour kernels will show on the cobs mixed in. If sweet corn is planted near field

corn, the sweet corn will not be very palatable. Use a 100 yard minimum distance that includes a barrier such as a forest, or field of sorghum. Allow ears to mature or dry on plant. Pick and peel back the husks, remove silks and hang cobs to dry (or lay flat turning once a day). Pick kernels off, the kernels are the seeds.

Isolation distance: 3.2km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 3 years

The LABIATAE family.

Species: olimum basilicum. BASIL

Annual. Isolation distance: 50m.

Life expectancy of seeds: 5 years

The LILIACEAE family.

Species: asparagus officionalis. ASPARAGUS

Seeds form in round pods on tall feathery stalks.

Isolation distance: 3.2km.

Life expectancy of seeds: 5 years

by Dawn Morden, the Mountain Grove Seed Company

Seed saving is an integral part of agriculture. People have been saving seeds for thousands of years. Seeds from wild plants were collected and grown again and again over time. The plants evolved into the foods that we eat today. For example, the wild relative of cabbage evolved to become collards, and then later, cabbage. Cabbage plants then further evolved to form broccoli and cauliflower. Our ancestors saved their seeds; it is how they grew their food. These seeds were special.

Seeds are living organisms, they are alive. They adapt to the external conditions and climate of where they grow. As a result, saving seeds from your garden improves the performance, strength, quality, yield and resilience of your plants. Seeds are disappearing. Today, 19 types of vegetables have 25% fewer varieties than there were in existence 30 years ago. For example, there are now 97 fewer types of cauliflower then there were in 1981. Seed diversity is absolutely necessary for food security. Different varieties of the same vegetable perform differently from each other. The more seed diversity that exists, the better our chances are to grow our food successfully, especially in today's changing and unpredictable environment. Seed extinction is a real threat to our existence. There are over 50,000 species of plants at risk of extinction today.

Fortunately, there is increasing awareness with regards to the importance of seed diversity. Farmers and gardeners everywhere are working together to preserve our seeds, and our heritage. Seed banks, co-ops and libraries are being created by many communities locally, nationally and internationally. These community seed saving initiatives and regional seed systems are critical to food security, seed sovereignty and to our resilience as people on this planet. Locally, the Kingston Area Seed Saving Initiative is working towards creating a sustainable system of locally grown, quality seeds for farmers and gardeners. No single person can save every variety of seed. Collaborative efforts are imperative to the preservation of seed diversity. If each of us saves our seed from one variety of one vegetable each year, together we can save thousands of varieties from extinction. Saving seeds cuts costs of gardening, develops better seed, and allows us to participate in the glorious cycle of life. Seed companies often change the particular seeds they sell, and someday, you may be the only one who has the variety of seeds that you have been saving.

It is important to consider the type of seed you are growing when you are saving seeds. Seeds from heirloom and open pollinated plants will grow new plants exactly like the previous ones. These are the seeds that we need to save. Hybrids are mixes of different kinds of seeds. Seeds saved from hybrids will not grow plants that are the same. Use only heirloom or open pollinated seeds for seed saving.

To learn more about seed saving and how to grow, save, clean and care for your seeds, visit www.mountaingroveseed.com.