The Original How-to Magazine of Alternative and Traditional Crops, Livestock, and Direct Marketing—Established 1984
Editorials...
From the Ridge:
Mar/Apr 2008: Water, Water...
Jan/Feb 2008: Keeping the Fire Going
Sep/Dec 2007: A Look Back, and Moving On
Jul/Oct 2007: The Truth: An Irate Editorial
May/Jun 2007: Carbon Credits
Mar/Apr 2007: A New Year
Jul-Oct 2006: Say No to NAIS
May/Jun 2006: Planning Ahead
Jan/Feb 2006: Reading This Magazine
Nov/Dec 2005: Show Lessons
Sep/Oct 2005: A Farm by any Other Name...
Jul/Aug 2005: Poor Planning: Patenting Life and Preemptive Laws
May/Jun 2005: The Best Show in the Country
Mar/Apr 2005: Our Connection to the Earth
Jan/Feb 2005: Pricing Your Product
Nov/Dec 2004: Better Than Ever
Sep/Oct 2004: A Risky Business
Jul/Aug 2004: Sustainable Ag in Danger in Missouri
May/Jun 2004: Spring Renewal
Mar/Apr 2004: A Mostly Happy Anniversary to Us
Jan/Feb 2004: What Are Your Plans?
Nov/Dec 2003: Ramblings From the Ridge
Sep/Oct 2003: Some Risks You Have to Take
Jul/Aug 2003: Problems with the Farm Problem—Technology is Not the Answer
May/Jun 2003: Planning for the Show
Mar/Apr 2003: Old Breeds and Old Seeds
Jan/Feb 2003: A New Year, A New Cycle
Dec 2002: Start Planning Now! The New Year Brings New Opportunities!
Sep/Oct/Nov 2002: The Show is Here! Ten Years and Still Growing!
Jul/Aug 2002: Saving Seeds Makes Your Farm More Sustainable
May/Jun 2002: 10,000 for the 10th Show
Mar/Apr 2002: Biotechnology is NOT Saving the World
Jan/Feb 2002: Farm Numbers Dwindling? They Don't Have To.
Nov/Dec 2001: The Farm Program. Yes or No? or Why?
Sep/Oct 2001: Nothing is Inevitable
Jul/Aug 2001: A Problem With Soybeans
May/Jun 2001: Changes in Current Farming (and an apology)
Mar/Apr 2001: Trade Show Talk
Jan/Feb 2001: Changing Our Thinking
Nov/Dec 2000: Good Life, Good Money
Sep/Oct 2000: The GM Blues
Jul/Aug 2000: Eurofarming
May/Jun 2000: Doom and Gloom and Optimism
Mar/Apr 2000: Opportunity Knocks
Jan/Feb 2000: 2000 and Beyond
Oct/Nov/Dec 1999: Choosing the Right Solutions
Aug/Sep 1999: Attitude for Success
Jun/Jul 1999: Sex in the Field–and in the Laboratory
Apr/May 1999: The More Things Change...
Feb/Mar 1999: Protecting the Future
Contents:
Home
About Us
Content / Subscriptions
Country Store Books™
Books / Back Issues
Advertising
Writers’ Guidelines
For the Farm
(new and used products
for your farm)
Calendar
Online Resources (links)
16th National Small Farm
Trade Show & Conference™
November 6-8, 2008
• Schedule of Events
• Audio tapes from past seminars & short courses
about Small Farm Today
3903 W Ridge Trail Rd
Clark MO 65243-9525
573-687-3525
(call for fax number)
800-633-2535
smallfarm@socket.net
www.smallfarmtoday.com
Rebecca DeCourley
ChaosDesignArt
Feedback on our web site
Saving Seeds Makes Your Farm More Sustainable
Editorial from the July/August 2002 issue of Small Farm Today® magazine.
As I write this editorial I wonder what is a "normal life". My days in the spring, summer, and fall frequently start between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning, and I spend about two hours before my day job (the magazine), working on the farm.
This year, I have five varieties of open pollinated corn, about 18 kinds of tomatoes, two of lettuce, about six kinds of melons, seven kinds of bush and pole beans, two types of gourds, and two squash varieties.
I spent only $50 buying some new varieties—all the rest were from seeds that I had saved and then grew in the basement for transplanting in the garden.
A simple four-shelf storage rack (discount store special) will hold three flats of 72 plants per shelf or 216 per shelf and 864 plants total. Light is furnished by two plain fluorescent lights per shelf. Boards under the flats can be taken out, and as you take some plants outside, you can replace them, giving you a capacity of 1,200-1,600 plants, depending on weather and timing.
The Ecology Action Self Teaching Mini Series #13, "Growing to Seed," by Peter Donelan, is an excellent 45-page booklet on saving seed. It comes complete with charts and diagrams showing what will cross with what and so on. Peter states that on average, only 3% of additional area is needed to produce enough seed for all of next year's garden and beyond.
Besides the independence of having your own seed and not having to buy it each year, your seed and plants become adapted to your weather, your soil, and your management, making your farm more sustainable.
In addition to saving money, you can always trade or barter your seed for other seed plants, products, or services.
It is also just plain fun. When I plant my Missouri Gold Melons, or Missouri Wandering Pole Beans, I think about how this melon is from Southern Missouri and how it has been in a family since the Civil War days, when farmers used to plant their pole beans in their corn fields, using the corn as poles.
These seeds are truly living antiques. I raise 10 breeds of heirloom chickens for the same reason: preserving genetics, supplying food for the family, and, of course, to make some money.
I have been saving seeds for 38 years—it just becomes part of your farm cycle. It is not that hard to do it, and it is fun and profitable.
Do not forget to pass the word that the 10th National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference™ wants 10,000 small farmers to show up. Have you registered yet?
Happy and Profitable Farming,
Ron Macher
Publisher/Farmer