Whenever I’ve planted seeds directly into the soil I’ve had a very low success rate. As we started contemplating farming, I worried that lacking this pretty basic skill could be a minor problem! I’ve since learned that most small-scale farms start their seeds in a greenhouse where conditions are friendlier and plants can get a head start when it’s still cold outside. Using hearty transplants (a la Singing Frogs Farms) also means that the plants have a good chance of shading out their weed competitors.

In March we bought a three tiered grow light system from Craigslist and quickly started planting our tomato and zucchini seeds. We’ve had so much fun watching these plants thrive in our nursery (a.k.a. living room). We transplanted them to the garden in April and picked our cherry tomatoes and zucchini before the Fourth of July!

We’ve also gotten to learn about 21 Acre’s seed starting process and greenhouse management. The farm manager at 21 Acres strongly advocated for seed saving. Many of the seeds we started while volunteering had been saved from previous years.

On a rainy day at the end of June all of the volunteers at 21 Acres felt a little tired. In a tone reminiscent of a camp counselor trying to rally a group for an indoor activity the farm manager suggested that we do some seed saving. He directed us to a patch of sorrel and we picked the dried tops that had hard seed.

We then set up a very DIY threshing (i.e., handing rubbing) and winnowing (i.e., gently removing the seed covering with a leaf blower) operation. It was hilarious and quite effective!

Seed saving is not on our go-first list. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to occupy our days as we focus on producing great vegetables, dialing in our processes, and figuring out our sales strategies. But eventually we’d love to collect seeds from plants that do particularly well in our conditions so that the following year’s crop has an even better chance of success.