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Written by Penn Parmenter shortly after her and Cord's return from Seed School. Early October 2010
Seed School:
2010 1st ever –
history is made…
Cord and I attended Seed School held by Bill McDorman of
Seeds Trust in Cornville, Arizona. For
me it was a life changing experience not only because I learned so much but
also because it proved to me that we can save the world. We are saving the world. Yes – you got it – one seed at a time.
Seed is life. Seed is
food – without it we die. I am a new and
everlasting champion of the seed and shall protect it’s right to be here with
all my might.
The school was an 8-day adventure complete with encounters
with Javelina’s, raccoons, hikes, early morning yoga, hot tubbing, hands-on,
wild crafting, field trips and of course lots of class time. Genetics, pollination, selection, history,
biology, (basically our brains exploded) - was covered daily. High-level discussions followed each class
by 14 people who had come from all over the country to learn together. If the world’s seed is being threatened we
gardeners have to save our own seed.
This is how we save the world in our own backyards.
Although I have always saved seed naturally I just didn’t
think I knew what I was doing and ended up not really trusting the seed I had
saved. Too bad for me – at least I know
better now. I still have much of this
unknown seed and thankfully, I’m sure a lot of it is still traceable – either
by scribbles on the bags or annual vegetable records from the garden drawings –
no matter - I will be cleaning it as if it is pure gold. As Bill reminds us – no matter what it is
that you’ve saved – if it isn’t ‘true’, if it’s crossed and you are unsure – at
the very least - it’s still food.
Harvest time is both the harvesting of the food and of the choicest
specimens to save the seed from. Save
the seed from the biggest, earliest, best, tastiest, all-around perfect fruit –
to carry on those characteristics you like year to year. Always select the best – then eat the rest.
At Seed School we field tripped our way to ThunderfooT – a
tall, wild desert man who is growing seed in the harshest conditions. His passion is genetic diversity and the
color magenta. Everywhere you look seed
and magenta rules. Morning glories,
Cosmos, Amaranth, Magenta Spreen Lamb’s Quarter’s, Carnations, Elderberry seed,
the most beautiful corn in the world, a beans mix to die for and carnival
carrots which included a soft magenta color.
The possibilities were endless – he served us magenta colored cactus
flower-bud juice. It was refreshing and
sweet – crispy too. We sat in chairs in
101 degrees to listen to him talk genetics and wild food plants accompanied by
the most endearing giggle. Magenta gives him such happiness. He is a brilliant seedsman and a true steward
of the earth and it was a thrill to meet him and see how and what he grew in
the high desert.
Like him my passion is food and medicine and I see them by
way of seed more and more. This year I
held back some chokecherries to save as seed, beetberries too. We saved seed of local apricots, Concord
grapes, apples and crabapples.
I see seed everywhere now– such bounty, even
though so much has been lost. Seeing ThunderfooT growing for seed made me
realize the abundance I have just by accident.
My neglected but abundant garden needs to be harvested before the seed
flies. I have ripe seed for Integrata de
Wild lettuce, Beans, Pole Beans, Nicotiana, Silene – Rose Pink Campion, Ebony
Shoo-fly, Wild Aster, Mizuna, Beetberry, Papaver, Elecampane, Rose Mallow,
Morning Glory, Parsley, Fennel, Dill, Penstemon, Radish, Orach, Motherwort,
Aquilegia, and lots and lots of tomatoes.
We’ve collected the hard green fruit a potato plant bears – and saved
the seed via the wet method. This will
introduce much diversity - bounding through the beds.
Cord has successfully isolated and harvested Squash and Pumpkin seed
this year – a huge success! He
hand-pollinated squash flowers in the morning right after they opened and taped
them up before the bees woke up.
We saved a wonderful harvest of Beets and Carrots. The best of the crop will be chilled and
replanted and then they will flower. It
takes two years for these biennial roots to produce seed.
In the wild of our property there are fields of Castilleja integra,
(Paintbrush), Linum lewisii, (Blue Flax), Bahia dissecta, Liatris, Gayfeather)
and Thelosperma, (Navajo Tea) – all ripe with seed.
In the garden there is still Dianthus seed, Delphinium, even Sedum
and Sempervivum to collect. When Hen’s
and Chicks give freely their babies why should I bother with seed? Because now I understand that diversity lies
within the seed. A seed carries with it
a rich history as well as its ability to adapt.
A seed is more seeds and more and more.
The earth with all its wonders - is a perfect system made up of many
perfect systems.
Adapting seed to my world is a new perspective I am happily
incorporating into everything I do. Seed
grown in harsh, high, cold, wild conditions will be more able to survive the
wild mountain climate and the unexpected.
No matter what happens, I will have my Rocky Mountain adapted seed ready
and able to withstand whatever the high country of Colorado can throw at
it. And you can too.
Siberia and Russia have cold, high mountains
very similar to the Rockies. The amazing
gardeners of the Altai have developed some of the best tasting tomatoes in the
world – all by saving seed. Besides
that, they are also as cold hardy as a tomato can be and early, early, early. This seed makes it possible for me to get
ripe tomatoes in the mountains. Thank
you Siberian and Russian gardeners – thank you.
This year I will grow many more tomato varieties from Seeds Trust’s
line – why haven’t I tried them all? I
shall begin to adapt them to my 8,120 ft. mountain in the dry Wet Mountains.
Today I will save the seeds from a year of outstanding
success with tomatoes. My hoop is bursting with ripeness and glory and I will
make my observations as I go (and taste).
The tomato carcasses will become the sauce of the century and go in the
freezer. There is a continuing feeling
of connection to the earth as I perform this ritual. Saving seed is something we can all do – we
shouldn’t have to think about it.
Out I will march armed with a scissors and brown paper lunch
bags and a Sharpie. Bill likes to use
plastic bags and I do too sometimes but I like knowing the seed or stems will
continue to dry in the paper whether I remember to prop open the plastic for
drying when I get home or not.
Fermenting the seed in the wet process – as for tomatoes -
is also a satisfying event. The tomato
shows us once again a perfect system in nature.
The ripe tomato needs to fall (splat!) on the ground and fester
(ferment) for a few days (3 at least), so the fungus eats away at the
protective coating surrounding the tomato seed (the gel), thereby releasing it
for germination. Without this system the
seed won’t germinate – as inside of the tomato it is held suspended. Once it goes through this process it is
ready. I love this system. There are no chemicals needed or wanted to
simulate this. Here’s how:
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Save Tomato Seeds
Cut tomatoes through
the equator and squeeze the seeds and goo into a jar. If it is only a small amount of seed – add
enough water to last at least three days.
We like to cover the
jar with a coffee filter and a rubber band for protection against fruit flies
and bugs. If bugs do get in – no
worries; they will be washed away.
Label the jar and the
filter.
Set the jar out of
direct light and wait 3 days.
If you think of it –
give the jar a stir or a shake every now and then. White mold will form on top of the water and
most of the seeds will be at the bottom.
After 3 days take off the coffee filter and fill the jar with water –
you can stir it too – to break up the seed and pulp.
Set the jar down and
let the seed settle. Once again the seed
will be at the bottom and the goo will be at the top. Pour the water off the top carefully but stop
before any seeds fall out with it.
Repeat this many times
until there is nothing in the bottom of the jar but clean seed and water.
We pour the clean
seeds and water through a small sieve and then smack the wad of seed onto the
labeled coffee filter. We fold the seeds
up in the labeled filter and let it dry on a paper plate. You can use a paper towel as well.
You will have a ball
or cake of tomato seed when it is dry.
The seeds will fall apart easily.
Note: Since we saved
so many jars-full and I didn’t want to waste water I caught the tomatoey water
in a bucket and poured it on my compost pile.
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Saving seed for tomatoes is not hard to do at all and it
works every single time. So adapt tomato
seed to your harsh climate – no matter what it is – too much sun? High winds?
Fluctuating temps? Save and adapt
the seed – year after year, garden after garden and contribute to tomorrow in a
way that will last much longer than you ever dreamed.
I will make a map of my tomato hoop to make sure I keep
things straight. I will go one plant at
a time probably – with pictures too. Some
of the tomatoes in there are downright huge!
One plant is fully loaded – and tipped over. This is a year to remember – we are still in
the garden well into October – ripening tomatoes at our leisure – wow. But there is talk of a proper freeze in the air
– next week I hear – I have to move fast - this extra time has been a gift
while we were away and we still have time to harvest! Run!
Hurry! Off I go…ready to squeeze
tomatoes into jars and tip seed heads into brown paper lunch bags, all in an
attempt to save the world.
By Penn Parmenter
Copyright 2010