How much seed can a seed farmer save?

by Ken Greene

We're finishing up our annual seed weigh-in to see how much seed we grew on the farm this year.

Emily winnowing Ashworth Sweet Corn seed saved from hurricane Irene. Emily winnowing Ashworth Sweet Corn seed saved from hurricane Irene.

We're one of the few farms growing seed in the Northeast and one of even fewer growing on a small, sustainable scale and processing seed entirely by hand. Growing seed in our area is labor intensive, climatically challenging and more important than ever. We've had to learn how to be self-reliant, agriculturally innovative , and down right stubborn. We've also learned how to ask for help when we need it! This year's farm intern has been a superstar in the field. She helped us gracefully weather a season of less than graceful whether. Although her internship is coming to a close, we're looking forward to continuing to support her own seedy pursuits. When you get your seeds we hope you'll think of Emily!

Amazingly, despite the hurricanes, flooding, and generally wet, cool summer, we produced more seed this year than ever before, over 60 lbs of little tiny seeds, and that's not even including all the beans!

Here the breakdown:

Blau Gruner Leeks    14.4 oz
All American Parsnip    1 lb 2.8 oz
Schoon's Hardshell American Melon    1 lb 5 oz
Fox Cherry Tomato    1 lb 9 oz
King of the North Pepper    1 lb 9.4 oz
Purple Tomatillo    1 lb 10 oz
Matchbox Pepper    1 lb 12.1 oz
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry    2 lb 9.5 oz
Early Fortune Cucumber    3 lb 14 oz
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon    4 lb 6 oz
Komatsuna    4 lb 7 oz
Mayfair Shell Pea    4 lb 11 oz
Ashworth Sweet Corn    20 lb
Rose de Berne Tomato    1 oz
Garden Cress    1.2 oz
Polish Linguisa Tomato    2.5 oz
Cilantro    2.6 oz
Love In a Mist    2.8 oz
Prizehead Lettuce    3 oz
Ox Heart Tomato    3.2 oz
Garland Shungiku Chrysanthemum    3.6 oz
Goldie Tomato    4.1 oz
Cherokee Purple Tomato    4.2 oz
Mortgage Lifter Tomato    4.2 oz
Blue Beech Tomato    4.7 oz
Ulster Germaid Tomato    4.7 oz
Flashy Butter Lettuce    5 oz
Glacier Tomato    5.1 oz
Mama Leone Tomato    5.4 oz
Striped German Tomato    6 oz
North Pole Lettuce    6.2 oz
Blushed Lettuce    7.8 oz
Cape Cod Rutabaga    7.9 oz
Bridge to Paris Pepper    8.4 oz
Green Zebra Tomato    8.8 oz
Yugoslavian Red Lettuce    9.4 oz
Calendula    9.7 oz
Ping Tung Eggplant    10.4 oz
Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Pepper    10.6 oz
Frank's Iranian Tomato    10.7 oz
Cosmonaut Volkov Tomato    11.7 oz
Joe's Round Hot Pepper    11.9 oz
Gift Zinnia    13.4 oz
Italienischer Lettuce    13.6 oz
Chocolate Pepper    15.2 oz
Sweet Salad Pepper    15.7 oz