Shealagh Crowley Shealagh Crowley

Beginning Seed Saving

Beginning Seed Saving

Humans have a long history of stewarding seeds. With limitations that come with modern seed patenting practices, many farmers do not have the rights to the seeds they grow.  These restrictive intellectual property rights stifle the farmer’s hand in shaping their seeds, as well as diminishing the genetic diversity in our food system. Seeds have been fundamental in what foods we eat, what medicine we take, the fibers we wear, and so many other components of our lives. We are just as shaped by our seeds as much as we shape them. When we lose a seed, we lose thousands of years of stewardship, history, biodiversity, flavor, culture, and connection. Seed saving is a gateway to our past as much as our future.

In order to get started with seed saving, The Seed Savers Exchange is the best first introduction. Their Seed Saving section is the best place to start learning how to save the seeds you grow, with articles and instructional videos for a variety of plants, with a breakdown of steps in the seed-saving process. The Exchange is also a great place to start collecting openly pollinated seeds through an online seed swap for growers across the world.

MOFGA has a great brief introduction to seed saving, which goes over the different steps in the process. To learn more about saving seeds for specific plants, UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County has a breakdown for a variety of vegetable and flower seeds.

Saving Our Seeds has publications based on region, plant, and techniques. Topics include isolation distances, organic seed processing and storage, and bean, brassica, cucurbit, pepper, and tomato seed production.  They have a great established collection of resources from seed-saving experts and programs.

If you want to share the seeds you save with your local community, The Seed Library Network is a great place to learn how to build local seed networks. Seed Saving in a Time of Change is a video they published about being part of the solution to limiting the genetic diversity crisis, as well as actionable steps you can take to create local seed networks. They also have a great collection of established seed libraries and other seed-saving resources.

Organic Seed Alliance does education, research, and advocacy to promote the organic seed supply. They have organic seed production courses, as well as resources for education and documentation.  For a condensed version of their resources, check out the A Seed Saving Guide for Gardeners and Farmers.

To be a seed saver is to grow climate-resilient, genetically diverse, and culturally significant seeds for the prosperity of your farm and the farmers of the future.

For more reading and information, visit:

For information on seed rights and intellectual property:

https://seedalliance.org/publications/a-guide-to-seed-intellectual-property-rights/ 

MOFGA’s collection of seed-saving resources:

https://www.mofga.org/trainings/gardening/seed-saving/

Lexicon of Sustainability video on seeds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?source_ve_path=Mjg2NjQsMTY0NTAz&v=edu9lfgMt28&feature=youtu.be

Southern Seed Exchange Blogs:

https://blog.southernexposure.com/

This resource was funded in partnership with the Transition to Organic Partnership Program

Read More
Shealagh Crowley Shealagh Crowley

Cover Crops

Cover Crops for Organic Production

Cover Crops for Organic Production: Building Soil and Boosting Resilience 

In organic agriculture, the soil is more than a medium for plant roots—it's a living system that forms the foundation of healthy crop production. One of the most effective tools organic growers can use to enhance that foundation is the cover crop. From fixing nitrogen to improving water infiltration and reducing erosion, cover crops offer a broad range of benefits that align perfectly with organic farming principles. 

Cover crops, sometimes referred to as green manures, are plants grown primarily to improve soil health rather than for harvest. Depending on the species, they may fix nitrogen, scavenge nutrients, suppress weeds, break up compacted soil, or increase organic matter. Selecting the right cover crop depends on the farmer's goals, the season and thinking ahead to terminating the crop. 

Growers looking to dive deeper into cover crop selection can explore the Cover Crop Type Information Document, which helps match species to farm needs. The Soil Building Cover Crops guide, Building Soils for Better Crops - SARE   from SARE Northeast also outlines species performance based on season, region, and function. Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations to improve soil and farm management from SARE can provide valuable information. The 2017 National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health is available online from SARE.

For new and transitioning organic farmers, cover crops can feel like an investment that doesn’t yield immediate results. However, long-term studies have consistently shown improvements in soil health, yield stability, and resilience to weather extremes. The Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures from ATTRA provides a thorough introduction to how cover crops fit into organic production systems using ATTRA’s five soil principles: reducing disturbance, keeping the soil covered, maintaining living roots year-round, increasing diversity, and incorporating livestock grazing.

One area gaining momentum is the integration of cover crops with livestock through managed grazing. The Miller Farm Case Study demonstrates how strategically grazing cover crops can accelerate soil restoration and improve forage quality. Farmers interested in dual-purpose systems should explore Pasture Cropping: Planting Summer Cover Crops in Cool-Season Perennial Pastures. 

Cover crops also play a key role in reducing the need for tillage in organic systems—an ongoing challenge given weed management pressures without herbicides. The ATTRA guide on Reducing Tillage Intensity in Organic Production outlines how cover crops contribute to soil structure and fertility while reducing soil disturbance. 

Beyond their physical impacts on the soil, cover crops can influence microbial activity and overall soil biology. In the ATTRA publication Cover Crops, Green Manures, Pre- and Probiotics: Soil Amendments, Fertilizers, or Both?, researchers explore how cover crops support microbial communities that are essential for nutrient cycling and disease suppression. 

Farmers interested in the broader impacts of cover cropping can tune into ATTRA’s podcast episode 243, which discusses how these practices affect both soil health and crop productivity. 

For more in-depth training and region-specific recommendations, SARE’s Northeast Cover Crop Resources and the ATTRA Cover Crop Topics Page offer research-based tools and practical tips to help farmers design systems that are regenerative, resilient, and rooted in healthy soil. 

Read More
Shealagh Crowley Shealagh Crowley

On-Farm Compost

It all begins with an idea.

Composting is a fundamental part of organic systems. This natural process, in which organic material is broken down, is critical to cycling nutrients back into the soil. For farmers, having the ability to craft compost for their lands and crops enables a stronger growing foundation. Each compost is as diverse as every farming operation, and as with any tool, compost is shaped by the hands that create it. On-farm composting simplifies the process of compost procurement, cutting costs and creating a more circular system. This blog brings together resources to start to understand different on-farm compost methods, as well as an introduction to the process compost requires to meet organic certification.

Making and Using Compost for Organic Farming is a great starting point in the introduction to the benefits of creating a compost system. The article goes over the accepted materials in an organic system as well as production methods you can use.  You will also learn about the regulations on compost application, including the timeline for manure-based compost application onto crops.

In No-Till Grower’s Composting for Beginners - A Market Gardener's Guide, you are guided through a simple compost recipe. This is a great first video to get started on your composting journey. It breaks down the different tools and materials you will need to start, location selection, and ratios required to get started.

If you are interested in windrows, which is the design of composting in long, narrow rows, On Farm Composting in Pennsylvania: Turned Windrows is a great resource. It explores the practice of composting in windrows with multiple example farms composting with different recipes.

If you want a low-maintenance method, check out static aerated compost. A Simple Composting System for Small Farms explores this system of compost used by a New York farm, which is mainly manure-based. Static Aerated Composting System for Organic Farms is a video explaining the no-turn compost system that fits into the organic regulations.

On Farm Compost - Will it Work On My Farm? answers questions you might be having about the practicality of implementing compost onto your farm. The article also includes other recommended resources on farm organic composting.

These resources are only the start of what you can accomplish with an on-farm composting system. It will take trial and error to decide which method of composting works best for you and your farm. There is much to be gained from having a hand in the compost you grow with.

Read More