Farm School: Intro to Seed Saving - Sept 27
Farm School: Intro to Seed Saving
Cost: Sliding scale pricing
at Swallowtail Farmstead
Sept 27, 10 am -12 noon
with Ryan Gauvin from Tiny Monster Garden
- workshop fee is a suggested donation of $25
- at time of registration choose a price based on your self-assessed income
It is estimated that 75% of vegetable varieties have become extinct over the last hundred years, and that 97% of vegetable seeds currently sold in Canada are imported. On the ground, these dire statistics represent a wholesale decline in both food security and in locally adapted vegetable varieties that will thrive in Manitoba’s short and sometimes-harsh growing season. There is no better time to start saving your own vegetable seeds, and it is not difficult - after all, the plant is trying to produce seed, we simply need to recognize its needs and guide the process.
This workshop, using a hands-on, repeatable approach, will demystify the process of saving your own garden seeds. Topics covered will include the various seed types and seed-saving philosophies, the difference between in-breeding and out-breed plants, how to prevent unwanted crosses, seed fermentation, the stabilizing of hybrids, etc. Every gardener will have different goals and every plant will have different needs. We will work to identify both, and by the end of the workshop gardeners will have the confidence to successfully build a program to save their own vegetable seeds.
Hands-on components will be included in the workshop and participants will get to take home some seeds at the end.
Family-friendly workshop. Please inform us if you are bringing kids so we can keep track of numbers.
This is an outdoor workshop so please dress for the weather.