Organic & small-scale seed crops

Harvesting seed crops

Here at DBF about half of the farm’s income comes from seed contracts with a number of different seed companies.  I’ll be learning a lot about how to produce organic, open-pollinated seed crops this summer.

Growing seed crops is a bit different than growing food crops because the plant must go through all of its life stages, including pollination and full seed formation.  Then, the seeds must be harvested and cleaned before they are ready to be sold or packed away for next year.  This entire process involves careful planning and observation in order to ensure that the crop has proper conditions to produce healthy seeds.  Like food crops, seed crops require various growing conditions, harvesting methods, and storage conditions.  These traits tend to be similar across plant families.

In the past two weeks I got my first look at harvesting seed crops when we cut the turnip seeds in DBF’s back field.  Turnips are in the brassica family (broccoli, kale, cabbage, radishes, mustard greens, etc) and are more specifically in the brassica rapa species (along with broccoli raab and napa cabbage).  Turnips are an example of a biennial plant, which means it typically takes two seasons to go through its life cycle.  Such a life cycle might look like this: plant growth occurs in the first season, the colder winter follows as a period of energy storage for the plant (in the case of turnips, this would be in the roots), and when it warms up in the second season the plant completes its life cycle with flowering and eventual seed formation.

In a process known as bolting, turnips flower by extending a middle stalk much farther upward than the rest of the plant.  The flowers must be pollinated by insects that carry pollen from one plant to the stigma of another plant.  If all goes well, the pollen will germinate and develop into a viable seed.  In turnips and most other brassicas, this completed seed pod is skinny and oblong (a couple inches in length) with a tough skin. 

Steve planted DBF’s turnip seed crop last October.  It flowered this spring.  We allowed the seed pods to dry in the field so that all of the pods turned from their initial green, tough pod to a dry, tan pod.  We then went into the field to cut the seeds.  

turnip seeds ready for cutting

We trimmed the entire stalk of the plant that has seed pods on it, laying them on big denim sheets, and then carried them up to the barn loft to lay them out for their final curing.

We turned the stalks daily for about one week to help with the drying process.  Once the seed pods were completely dry, we could shatter the pods by walking over them.  The seeds fell to the bottom of the tarp.  Then comes the cleaning process:  removing the chaff (all of the dry plant material like the pod shells that no longer are needed) and any nonviable seeds.  This is a multi-step process which involves sifting the material through a variety of screens of different sizes and using a fan to do the final winnowing.

Steve sifting out chaff

A close-up look at the remaining seed & chaff

These seeds still require a final winnowing.

The end product should be about eight pounds of turnip seeds, which Steve will be selling to Southern Exposure, a seed company based in Virginia.

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Update: In the few days after I wrote this post and before I could upload it, we began cutting the broccoli raab seed crop.  It’s very similar to the turnips because they’re in the same species.  This time we have many seeds to harvest- the big goal is 100 pounds of seed!  Here are some photos to get some perspective.

raab seed pods

We made a nice dent in the field after one day's work.

We will fill the entire barn loft with seed stalks this time.

An introduction to organic agriculture

Agriculture in the United States and other parts of the world became heavily industrialized during the 20^th century.   Some farmers and other conscious individuals formed movements in resistance to what they saw happening because of industrial agriculture.  Perhaps the most famous one is the organic movement.

Dancing Bear Farm is an organic farm.  There is a lot of confusion over the term “organic”, and rightly so because it can mean a lot of different things.  I studied organic agriculture in a number of college classes and thought I had a good understanding of what the term meant and how complicated it was, but it was not until I started interning on certified organic farms that the certification benefits and challenges were really driven home for me.  I am still learning.

Since 2002, the word “organic” has been a certification regulated by the USDA.  In order for a farm to be certified organic, it must follow some basic rules: no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, no genetically modified seeds, and no antibiotics.  After keeping detailed records, passing a yearly inspection by a third party organization (DBF, for example, is certified by Oregon Tilth), and paying a certification fee, a farm can use the organic label.

While the basics of the organic certification are vital to keeping people and the planet as healthy as possible, many proponents of sustainable agriculture think the current organic regulations leave many important factors out.  Organic regulations dictate little about fossil fuel use, animal welfare, or farmworker treatment, which some say were part of the original ideals of the organic movement before it became federally regulated.  Under organic regulations, a farm can still grow in monocultures and substitute synthetic fertilizers and pesticides with organic ones that are approved for use on the National List.  After harvest, they can still ship it across the country and sell it in stores like Wal-Mart, which care little about anything other than profit.

While some organic farms look similar to conventional farms, thousands and thousands of certified organic farms do not.  These farmers are not simply concerned with following the certification rules; they want to farm in a sustainable way that builds the fertility of the land, produces healthy food, and is an enjoyable living.  Most of these farms are very small because it takes a lot more human effort to farm sustainably.  Other methods of fertility and pest control must be utilized such as planting in polycultures, using flowering plants to attract beneficial insects, growing cover crops, mulching, integrating animals into the farm, and of course weeding by hand.

DBF has a variety of flowering plants that attract beneficial insects.

DBF's chickens and ducks eat insect pests,
provide fertility, and make tasty eggs.

Certified organic produce is a good start to making sustainable agriculture more mainstream, but you shouldn’t assume anything with the organic label is 100% wholesome.  There are a number of venues to find delicious, sustainably grown produce: at the farmers market, through a CSA, or at a food cooperative, you will likely find some organic farms represented.  There will also be some farms that use organic and sustainable practices but are not certified organic.  The two main reasons I have heard for forgoing the certification process is that it is very costly (both in terms of time and money) and that the farm’s customers do not care that they have the certification.  Thus, it is really best to simply ask the farmer about their practices.  Unfortunately, often only people with the resources (time, money, and knowledge) can participate in this alternative agriculture movement, but with time I think it is becoming more accessible to a wider group of people.  It must become so in order to be a viable resistance to industrial agriculture.

Such an abundant variety of produce can be grown organically on six acres.
(I'm told to wait until August when we're swimming in summer veggies.)

Poppies!

We're growing these for seed.

New on the farm: two weeks in photos

The new intern, wearing good farmer clothing:

Weeding is one of our main activities.  No Round-Up here (DBF is certified organic):

The first few days we spent weeding onions.

before

after

Harvest days are currently on Fridays for market on Saturday:

three varieties of carrots

duck eggs

fresh Maitake garlic

peas

One intern and Steve go to the Grower's Market in Grants Pass on Saturdays:

This weekend's stand was packed with veggies, plant starts, and seeds.

mustard greens, peas, scapes, and garlic

Farm friends:

Joy and Romeo

Wylie (there is another farm dog, Bea, who is also lovely)

chickens and ducks (they like the tractor)

The DBF team

L to R: Steve, Piper, Leda, Erika (plus photographer/farm mom Patricia)

A post with more photos is on its way soon (I have had very little internet since my arrival).  Apologies for the delay!