BC Seeds

This was an inspiring first week in BC. Thanks to Patrick Steiner at Stellar Seeds and Heather Pritchard at Farm Folk City Folk for planning such a thorough itinerary. Thanks also to everyone who will be sharing their perspective and welcoming me into their businesses, farms and homes. Since arriving last Monday, I have come to understand why I needed three weeks – the winding roads of the BC interior make for long drives! The seed training in Nelson was a great start, and I moved on to fruitful visits with Stellar Seeds, the Kootenay Organic Growers Society, Pacific Agricultural Certification Society, Fieldstone Granary and Sunshine Farm Seeds.

Looking forward to week 2! I’ll make sure to check in from time to time.

It’s great to be here,

Jane

On May 9 Jane Rabinowicz of USC Canada and the Bauta Initiative on Canadian Seed Security kicked off her three week tour of all things seedy in British Columbia with a visit to our farm and seed company (Stellar Seeds) in the Kootenays. After a tour of the farm we shared a meal and talked about what kind of support seed growers need in our work of building a truly local seed system in BC, and as part of a larger effort across Canada. Jane will be meeting with seed producers, market gardeners, grain and legume growers, certification bodies, seed companies, researchers and other stakeholders over the next three weeks. It’s nice to have someone visit who is dedicated to helping support work that is already ongoing in BC around seed issues, and is also looking to support new ideas and visions for increased local seed production. Go Jane! Thanks for visiting our farm.

On May 8 a group of engaged and enthusiastic people from across the West Kootenays and Boundary region met in Nelson for a day long workshop on “best practices” of organic seed production. We talked about the how-to’s of growing seed, and shared tips and advice to help make our seed saving practices the best they can be. The assembled group consisted of experienced seed savers and farmers to members of community groups involved in food security issues around the region. Some comments from the day: “Seed Saving knowledge may be more important than access to seeds”, “UPOV 91 – How I hope that does not become legislation!”, “I will start saving seeds from way more crops from my farm and hopefully start a seed co-op with friends”, “It IS possible to clean carrot seed!”

This month we will be hosting a number of “Train the Trainers” workshops in Southern British Columbia. The first will be in Nelson on May 7, 2012, then we will be in Lilooet on May 16 and on Central Vancouver Island on May 26.