Deep Learning Food Challenge - Heirloom Gardening
I've planted and harvested a personal garden as well as one with students at the school for a few years in a row now. I am planning on taking my interest in food to the next level by exploring heirloom seeds and seed saving.
Growing up on a farm, I've always been connected to my food. We were a mixed grain and bison farm and my mother always grew a garden. Lots of our food came from the garden and the majority of our meat was from our bison. I wanted to find a way to build a deeper connection with food than I already have. |
Why Heirloom Seed Saving?
My seed saving idea started when I was challenged to change my food habits in a sustainable way that I had not tried before. Sustainable food habits are something I am passionate about and therefor I've tried a few things both personally and with my students:
- Vegetarianism - I ate vegetarian for a year in an attempt to reduce my energy and water usage. I also taught my grade 7 home economics class using a vegetarian unit where they learned about different types of vegetarians and we cooked a bunch a vegetarian recipes.
- Local Food - I sourced most of my meat products locally for a year and taught students in the home economics class a unit about local food culminating in a dish made from only locally sourced foods.
- Growing a garden - This coming year will be my third season growing my own garden. It is also the third season that I am in charge of our school gardening program.
What is Heirloom Gardening and Seed Saving?
Heirloom seeds are different than commercial seeds. These are seeds that have been passed down by families and neighbors for more than 50 years and have never been bought or sold. (Nazarea, 2005). Some of the benefits of heirloom gardening:
- True-Breeding: Heirloom seeds can be saved and replanted, unlike many hybrids that do not produce seeds that are reflective of the parent plant.
- Food Autonomy: Seed saving puts control of the seed supply in the hands of individuals instead of large agricultural companies. Gardeners decide which varieties of seeds are the best suited for regional adaptions. (Bailey, 2012)
- Genetic Diversity: the most crucial benefit of heirloom gardening is its contribution to the preservation of genetic diversity. In this manner, heirloom gardening is invariably linked with sustainability. (Winskie & Murray, 2013)
My family and neighbors garden, but none of them are seed savers or heirloom gardeners. This was an important caveat that I needed to navigate, so I found some new “neighbors.” I went to Winnipeg’s Seedy Saturday; a yearly local heirloom seed swapping get-together. Without any seeds to swap, my partner and I were welcomed with open arms and given our choice of three free seed varieties with one stipulation: when we harvested the seeds, we needed to bring some back to swap for some new ones. What a deal! We also bought a few packets of seeds from Prairie Garden Seeds, an heirloom seed saving company from Humboldt, Sask.
After talking with a few of the many vendors at Seedy Saturday, it was time for the big screening: a documentary on seed saving and heirloom gardening entitled Open Sesame - The Story of Seeds (2014). The documentary was a really great way to learn more about the culture of seed saving. In the video, they interview a number of seed savers and take us to seed school: a place where people from all different walks of life come to learn how to save seeds.
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Now that I know my reasons for seed saving and I have my seeds, I need to learn how to actually save the seeds. Without a seed school of my own, this is going to be a self-directed learning task with many mistakes and learning opportunities along the way. If you want to know how my journey is going, check back throughout the summer and fall. If you want to start your own seed saving journey, here are some great resources that might help you get started:
salt spring seeds
heritage harvest seeds
howtosaveseeds.com
www.opensesamemovie.com/
salt spring seeds
heritage harvest seeds
howtosaveseeds.com
www.opensesamemovie.com/
Bailey, R. (2012). Saving seeds: 7 reasons why and dozens of tips for how. Mother Earth News, (255), 38-44.
Nazarea, V. (2005). Heirloom seeds and their keepers. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Winskie, Jonathan and Murray, Jessica (2013) "Heirloom Seed & Story Keepers: Growing Community & Sustainability through ArtsBased Research," Papers & Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2, Article 10. Available at: http://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/papersandpubs/vol2/iss1/10
Nazarea, V. (2005). Heirloom seeds and their keepers. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Winskie, Jonathan and Murray, Jessica (2013) "Heirloom Seed & Story Keepers: Growing Community & Sustainability through ArtsBased Research," Papers & Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2, Article 10. Available at: http://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/papersandpubs/vol2/iss1/10