Vigorous, well-adapted seed is one of the cornerstones of a successful farm, and is a vital component of a strong regional and national agricultural network. The OFS believes that it is crucial for farmers-in-training to develop an appreciation for seeds’ central role in farming, and to acquire knowledge and skills in seed production and breeding.
Toward that end, the Organic Farm School grows over 20 species of vegetable and flower seed on contract with six seed companies:
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During the seven-month intensive program, students receive classroom instruction on the botanical aspects and crop planning considerations of growing good seed crops. Equipped with that knowledge, students then get hands-on training in all the practical aspects of seed production, including seeding, transplanting, irrigation, selection, crop maintenance, harvesting, and cleaning. This work is done on a spectrum of scales – everything from small volumes of seed cleaned with hand screens, up to combine-harvested cover crop seed processed with a large cleaning machine.
The OFS is also conducting a handful of vegetable breeding projects, both independently (a lettuce and a spinach breeding project) as well as in collaboration with industry and research partners (overwintering sprouting broccoli with Johnny’s Selected Seeds and a short-season sweet corn with the Organic Seed Alliance).
Seed production and breeding is part of the work OFS does because they recognize that farmers’ current role with seeds is an important part of a much larger story. Every crop we grow today is here for us to utilize because thousands of years of farmers grew, selected, bred, traded, and saved them for us. These crops are our collective agricultural inheritance, and the OFS views it as every farmers’ responsibility to help steward these varieties in a forward-thinking manner so that we may have many more thousands of years of farmers to utilize them.
