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In this issue...

• Dear Organic Gardeners
• Farm Report: Autumn on the Research Farm
• World Trade Center Greenmarket Farmers
• Harvest Party Menu
• Make Your Own Tortillas
• Jerzy Boyz: More Great Apples
• Garlic Reminder!
• New Garden Products
• Soil Fertility Basics #4: Getting to Know Your Soil
• Saving Seeds
• Book Review: Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
• Green Prints: Saving Seed by Kathy Kieth
• Photo Tips for Gardeners: Depth of Field
• Letters to the Editor

It's been a hard few weeks. All of us at Seeds of Change send our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the September 11 tragedy and to all those innocents who suffer from senseless violence throughout the world. During this time many of us have looked to our gardens for more than the usual harvest. We've gone there looking for some truth and peace among the corn, beans and squash - truths that fly in the face of the uncertainty that clouds our future. A few people have written us with comments on how their gardens, or just being gardeners, have helped see them through these times. We've included those comments in our letters section. Thank you to all who wrote.

As we look forward, many are discovering the hopefulness and joy in the act of collecting and saving seeds to insure future harvests. A review of Suzanne Ashworth's inspiring book, "Seed to Seed" is included in this issue along with a special combination offer with our popular seed-saving kit. This month's Farm Report updates our activities at the research farm, including our annual harvest party and information about a relief fund for the many farmers who were working at the farmers' market at the World Trade Center during the attack. These Farmers, while escaping with their lives, saw much of their livelihoods destroyed.

In this issue, Steve Peters continues his series on soil with a discussion on soil texture. Emily Skelton returns with a story on how to make fresh tortillas from your home-grown flour corn. Our regular feature from Greenprints magazine this month is a poem by Kathy Kieth called "Saving Seed."

One final note: On September 23rd Indian author and activist Vandana Shiva delivered the keynote address at this year's Common Ground Fair in Maine. She spoke passionately about the necessity of truly sustainable, locally based agriculture in our quest for a peaceful world. Her words were inspiration for us to continue working toward that goal.

In Peace,
Scott Vlaun,
Editor

Photo: The Research Farm crew with their winter squash harvest on October 3rd.

The first frost of fall has arrived at Rancho la Paz and the changing season brings reflection on another summer gone by. The recent disharmony in the world has made it a somber season, yet we continue to plant and grow. As tragedy often does, it has reminded us of the importance of friends and family and of people coming together. The collapse of the World Trade Center directly affected the lives of many people, including several farming families. The day of the event there was a farmer's market on the World Trade Center plaza. All the farmers made it out alive, but had to leave behind their equipment, farm stands, and vehicles. In addition, for many of those farmers, the downtown Manhattan market was their largest, most lucrative market. For information about offering support for our fellow farmers touched by this experience please see below.

As our last data of the season is gathered and many crops begin to fade, we are pulling out this years plants in time to sow our fall cover crops. Our standard mixture for winter cover in areas we want to plant next spring consists of vetch, Austrian winter peas, and either winter rye, fescue, or oats. The grains come up quickly in the fall and provide good soil coverage, fix carbon, and take up any excess nitrogen in the soil, which would otherwise leach through the soil with fall rains. The legumes sprout in the fall, but remain fairly small throughout the winter. The grains provide shelter and some frost protection for the legumes, which then begin to grow in the spring when soil temperatures warm up. This is ideal timing because, as the spring legumes begin to grow, they fix atmospheric nitrogen, which in turn will be available to spring-planted crops once the cover crop is mowed and incorporated in the soil. This year we are also planting some beds with Crimson Clover and Berseem Clover, which are two good nitrogen-fixing, winter annual clovers. We have found that in our area, mid-September is the ideal time for planting cover crops. Check with your local extension service to find out the best timing in your area and then get those finished garden beds covered. Your investment now will certainly pay off in next summer's bountiful garden.

With fall comes seed harvesting time. Oxheart Carrots and True Gold Corn were our two major seed growouts this year. Corn is left on the plant until the kernels begin to dry and shrivel. Then it is picked, shucked, and allowed to dry on the cob. For carrot seed, the whole plant is harvested and dried to allow any immature seed to mature on the plant. In general, if a plant is still green there is often enough life in it to continue development after cutting. The key is to harvest when the maximum amount of mature seed is in the seed head. If you harvest too late the plant may have dropped, or "shattered", much of its seed. If you harvest too early there may be too many immature, underdeveloped seeds. Our greenhouse, now full of carrot plants and corncobs, has the wonderful sweet aroma of drying carrot seed.

Seed is also an important life lesson for our children. Recently we had several 3-5 year old visitors who were amazed at holding a carrot seed in their hand, then picking a carrot from the garden and realizing the seed was next year's carrots. Now is also the time to wander around the garden and collect seeds from any desirable plants finishing their cycle. We recommend Suzanne Ashworth's book Seed to Seed, (see review below) for recommendations on collecting seed from fruit and vegetable crops. Keep in mind that if there are several varieties of a crop species flowering at once, they may have crossed. Sometimes that's OK Ð it's interesting to see what mixing genes will produce. I find many ornamental and herbaceous plants which are one of a kind, so harvesting seed from them and preserving the variety is easy. What is going to seed in your garden or neighborhood?

As the days shorten and the nights grow cool we recently gathered at our fall harvest party to celebrate the results of our hard work and to say good-bye to another summer. The party was a chance for all of us at Seeds of Change to experience our research farm in its bounty and see our Seeds of Change varieties growing in the field. We spent several days preparing food from the garden. Eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and much more were all in the peak of production. At this time of year, I try to find a recipe for whatever is harvested that day, instead of first finding a recipe and then looking for ingredients to fill it. Our harvest party was also a good-bye to Lisa, our summer field research worker. She is an amazing cook and a great inspiration in getting creative with our farm harvest. She inspired much of our harvest party menu, but we'll miss her for more than her culinary expertise.

Micaela Colley
Research Farm Manager, Seeds of Change

Photos: (1) Joe Martinez harvesting Oxheart carrot seed.
(2) Lee Gearheart shucking our True Gold sweetcorn seedcrop.
(3) Oxheart Carrot seed head.
(4) Corn and Carrots on the drying racks.

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The tragedy that befell our nation on Tuesday, September 11th is one that is felt by all Americans. It happened not just to New York City residents, but also to our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles. No one has gone untouched by this horrific act.

Farmers too have been hard hit by the World Trade Center attacks and collapse. The New York City Greenmarket opened its regular Tuesday morning farmers market at the World Trade Center on that ill-fated day. At last word to come out of Manhattan, all farmers made it out of harms way without injury. However, their trucks, canopies, tables, supplies and produce are all buried in the rubble of the twin towers. All is lost and insurance will not be picking up this loss because it was an "act of terrorism or war". Now they must bear the financial burden of the loss of these vital needs, but they also must bear this cost without the benefit of having this market to earn their income.

When one man is down, no one comes to their aid more than an American farmer. And so we turn to each of you to help the farmers who lost so much at the World Trade Center Greenmarket on Tuesday, September 11th. The Farmers' Market Federation of New York has established a "Fund for WTC Greenmarket Farmers". Contributions and donations can be made to this fund at any time and all proceeds will be distributed to those farmers affected by the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Please see Steve Bennett, Diane Eggert or the CNY Regional Market office staff to make your contribution to benefit the World Trade Center Greenmarket farmers who have lost so much.

Send your donations to:
Fund for WTC Greenmarket Farmers
C/O Farmers' Market Federation of NY
2100 Park Street
Syracuse, NY 13208

Baba Ganoush
- One large eggplant, any variety will work. One of our favorites for this recipe is the Imperial Black Beauty because of its large size and soft flesh. - About 1 cup tahini (I prefer roasted, but raw works too) - About 1 bulb of garlic (just an estimate, depends on your garlic palate) - Juice of 2 lemons

Roast the eggplant in the oven by cutting in half and coating the insides with olive oil, then baking in a pan face down at 350f. for about 40 minutes or until really soft. Let the eggplant cool. Once cooled, mix in a blender or Cuisinart: garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and scooped out insides of eggplant. Adjust recipe to taste. Serve with fresh sliced veggies from the garden or with crackers. This spread is also delicious as a topping for almost anything else you cook. I enjoyed it spread over Howard's roasted potatoes. (see recipe below)

Handmade Anasazi and Oaxacan Green Dent corn tortillas: See Emily's essay below.

Stuffed Tomatoes
We used a mixture of varieties for this recipe. The best are small to medium size with a fairly thick wall and skin to contain the ingredients. Some of our favorites were Tigerella, Super Sioux, Zapotec Pleated, and Yellow Ruffled. We chose a cheese-based filling, but in the past we have made delicious, vegan, stuffed tomatoes with a rice or tofu based filling and fresh herbs. Use your imagination.

Ingredients
- Tomatoes
- Homemade goat cheese
- Fresh basil
- Roasted garlic
- Nuts, we used pinion nuts and almonds

Mix the cheese, basil, roasted garlic, and nuts together in large bowl. Wash tomatoes and then cut a circular opening in the top around the stem. Remove top of tomato and then scoop out inside seeds and pulp of tomato. Stuff tomatoes with cheese mixture and bake in oven at 350 for about 25 minutes or until tomatoes begin sinking in at the shoulder. Serve warm as appetizer or a side dish.

Lisa's Jalapeno (and other assorted peppers) Poppers:
This simple recipe works well with either green or colored peppers. We used a variety of peppers including Jalapeno, Rio Grande, Czech Black, Espanola Improved, and Rellenos. Jalapenos are a favorite classic, but the Rio Grande, when turning orange and red, are a sweet alternative with less heat than the Jalapeno. The Czech Black has a good flavor, succulent texture, and heat a less heat than the Jalapeno. Espanola Improved is a larger pepper, developed here in the Espanola Valley. They have about the same heat as the Jalapeno, but a nice succulent texture. The classic Chile relleno are a favorite with those who shy away from heat and just want a tasty-mild stuffed chile without the heat.

Ingredients
- Peppers
- Cheese, again, fresh goat cheese is best but any soft cheese will work.
- Flour
- Egg
- Beer

Slit chiles open down the side and scoop out seeds and midrib. Wear gloves for this part if chiles are hot varieties (we warned you). Roast chiles: Place in oven on either a double broiler or cookie sheet. Broil at 500, turning peppers frequently until slightly browned and soft. A well-ventilated kitchen is needed to prevent hot chile scent from becoming overwhelming. Alternatively, roasting on an outdoor grill works well. Once roasted, stuff chiles with cheese. Mix 3 eggs and a cup beer in bowl, dip chiles in mixture and roll in flour. Fry in greased skillet until breading is slightly browned and serve immediately.

Howard's Roasted Potatoes
This recipe was brought back from a dinner Howard Shapiro, Vice President of Agriculture, had with the European Seeds of Change Group in Denmark this summer.

Ingredients
- Fingerling Potatoes, our favorite varieties are Banana, French, Kipfel, and Peanut.
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt

Coat potatoes in olive oil then roll in sea salt. Bake in oven at 475 until golden brown. Roll potatoes around in pan a couple times to ensure all sides cook evenly.

Roasted Corn
This recipe (technique) comes from Nancy Shapiro, our Seed Donation Program Coordinator.

Ingredients
- Fresh picked sweet corn; we used some of our favorites: Rainbow Inca, Hookers, Triple Play, and True Gold.

Lightly coat corn in olive oil and roast in cast iron skillet rolling corn back and forth across pan until slightly browned. Then, if desired, sprinkle lightly with salt and/or chile powder. The roasting retains the great hearty corn taste, which is sometimes lost by boiling. This is also a great way to fix sweet corn that has gone a little starchy as the roasting breaks the starch down and gives a nice flavor and texture.

Eggplant and Zucchini Enchiladas

Ingredients:
- 2 cups diced eggplant
- 2 cups zucchini; we mixed the Yellow Crookneck, Black Beauty, Caserta, and Cocozelle together.
- 1 cup Sliced almonds
- 2 cups ricotta or cottagecheese
- Half a bulb of garlic
- 1 onion, we used a Newburg onion
- Corn tortillas, we used our hand-made ones, which gave them a wonderful texture
- Smoked mozzarella, shredded

Cut up the eggplant and zucchini into inch-size pieces, kept separate. Dice the onion and garlic. SautŽ onion, garlic and eggplant until the eggplant begins to soften. Add in zucchini and almonds, continue to sautŽ for 3-5 minutes. In large bowl combine the sautŽ mix and cheese. In a baking dish alternately layer corn tortillas and the cheese/sautŽ mix. We left the tortillas flat rather than rolled because they were too thick to roll. Bake in oven at 350 for 25 minutes. Then sprinkle the shredded smoked mozzarella over top and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Corn Diversity

Flour corn has been around for thousands of years. The seeds have been handed down through Native American (North and South) families for generations, traded between tribes, carried across thousands of miles, planted and replanted. By growing these corn varieties, we continue a long and venerable history. I am grateful to the ones who developed these corns from the ancient wild grain called Teosinte. I am grateful we still have many of these very special varieties with names like Oaxacan Green Dent, Anasazi, Apache Red, Hopi Pink, Hopi Purple, and Mandan Red. By planting these traditional varieties in our home gardens, isolated from other corn varieties, we help preserve the past and ensure the future. Since corn is wind pollinated, some say a corn plant must be at least a half-mile away from another corn variety to avoid cross-pollination. By starting with organic seed, and growing it away from commercial cornfields, you avoid the controversial issue of GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

In much of rural Mexico, corn still accounts for about two thirds of a persons diet. For instance, at any given meal people will eat up to a dozen tortillas. Now that I have grown my own organic flour corn and made tortillas with my own two hands, I understand how easily one can eat a dozen fresh tortillas in one sitting. They are soft on the inside, gently crunchy on the outside. Their heavenly, sweet, toasty aroma is reminiscent of freshly-popped popcorn. The taste, and thick, chewy texture is like nothing else. Eaten hot off the griddle, these are nothing like store-bought tortillas and could never be packaged and sold commercially.

We grew all six of our flour corn varieties of at the Seeds of Change Research Farm last year. We then made tortillas by hand with the Anasazi, Hopi Pink, and Oaxacan Green Dent. All three had excellent texture and taste even after being stored for a year.

Grow some corn
To make your own tortillas, the first step is growing the corn. Flour corn is grown exactly the way sweet corn is grown. You get from one to three ears from each plant (don't forget to account for ears eaten by critters). From 40 to 50 ears, we ended up with approximately 10 pounds of kernels. Let the ears dry on the plant if you can, so that the kernels can fully mature, and achieve maximum nutritional value.

Shuck and Dry
After you remove the ears from the plant, shuck and dry them on a wire rack or hang them to allow adequate air circulation. We borrowed an old fashioned hand crank corn sheller from a friend, but you can remove the kernels from the cob by rubbing two cobs together. Next, remove the small papery skins (pericarp) that come off the kernels by using an ordinary home box type fan: drop the kernels in front of the fan into a bucket and allow the skins to blow away. This can also be accomplished outside on a windy day.

Make the Masa
We used two cups of kernels to make about twenty, 4 1/2-inch diameter tortillas. In a large pot combine five cups water, the corn and two tablespoons of slaked lime, which comes in a powder form (some people use wood ashes). We purchased our lime at a local feed and home-hardware store. You may be able to purchase it at your local grocer. Stir and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let the solution soak for at least 10 hours. This loosens more of the skins, which float to the top of the water. In addition, this alkaline solution releases niacin, an important nutrient found in the corn endosperm.

With your hands, stir and wash the naked kernels (now consisting mostly of pure starch and embryos in which most of the oil is concentrated), rubbing off any remaining skins. Rinse in a strainer and discard the water and skins. Grind the wet kernels in a grinder on a very fine setting. We purchased our hand grinder (see picture) at the local feed store. Some people still use stone grinders and pestles called Ômetate'. Electric grinders such as a Food Mill work well for larger quantities. (Keep an eye on our website, as we will be offering a hand grinder in the near future.)

Now you have masa. To the masa add water to create the perfect consistency and salt to taste. Salt is one of the things that helps make the tortillas taste really good, so don't be stingy here. Although not traditionally done, we added a little oil to reduce sticking. The mix should be stiff but pliable.

Form the tortillas
This is where practice and time makes a good tortilla maker. In Mexico, girls start at a very young age. They are surrounded by master tortilla makers whom they watch and emulate. As an anglo-american of the toaster waffle generation, I am at a distinct disadvantage here. Needless to say, my tortillas looked funny and stuck to my hands and just about everything else until I got the hang of it. Once you have masa with good consistency (it holds together and does not stick to your hands), form small round balls. Place the masa balls on a plastic bag or plastic wrap. We flattened the balls into tortilla rounds by pressing them down on the plastic with a pot. In Mexico, the indigenous women form the tortillas entirely in their hands using no flat surface. This confounds me, as my tortillas fell apart and stuck to my hands. Hence, the plastic bag method.

Once you have flattened the tortilla, Hold it on the plastic in one hand and peel off the tortilla with the other hand. Practice is required to keep the tortilla perfectly round without tearing it. Don't be too hard on yourself --they taste the same no matter what they look like. You can avoid this entire step by obtaining a tortilla press, which has two round metal plates that you press together with a lever. Flop the tortilla into a greased, hot cast iron pan or other skillet. Cook for one to several minutes on each side (depending on how thin you were able to get your tortillas) until the corn is cooked through. If your tortilla is too dry it will fall apart and burn, if it is too wet it will be mushy and fall apart. If your tortilla is the right thickness (pretty thin) it should start to plump up, or rise a little. This makes the tortilla very soft, delicately chewy, and slightly crunchy on the outside.

Enjoy
Now you have before you an ancient delicacy and staple enjoyed for thousands of years around the world. Bite into this amazing, simple, pure bit of heaven, and you are instantly connected to people throughout the ages.

Emily Skelton
Research Farm Staff, Seeds of Change

Photos: (1) Hopi Purple corn, Hopi Pink, Anasazi, Oaxacan Green Dent.
(2) Oaxacan Green Dent Corn for for tortilla making.
(3) John Santiago and Emily Skelton shelling flour corn.
(4) Emily grinding corn by hand.
(5) Micaela Colley fanning the corn to remove the skins.

If you liked the Ginger Golds you're going to love the fresh crop of Gala's from the Jerzy Boyz Organic Orchards and Seeds of Change. (See eNewsletter 22 for the Jerzy Boyz Story)

Our mouthwatering Galas are sweet, with just the right hint of tartness. The fruit is juicy and fine textured, with firm yellow white flesh and a rich bouquet. Derived from a cross between the Golden Delicious and Cox's Orange Pippin, the Gala matures to a bright overall red color, with bold red stripes over a yellow background. This apple is a great keeper with a shelf life of up to six months. So whether it's gift boxes for your friends, or a winter's worth for your family, this is simply the finest fruit available.

Garlic planting time is upon us.
Our Certified Organic Seed Garlic is going fast and we're shipping more every day, but we still have ample supplies of the following varieties. Order yours now for immediate planting in most areas.

And don't forget to check out "Growing Great Garlic," by Ron Engeland for great information on how to cultivate this culinary and medicinal wonder.

Hardneck Varieties

Purple Italian Easy Peel Rocambole An extremely vigorous strain which averages 4 bulbs per pound when grown well. The large cloves peel easily, making it a pleasure to cook with. Has a spicy, yet pleasant, sweet flavor.

Chesnok Red Purple Stripe This colorful strain has a rich aroma and lingering, medium-hot flavor. The nicely-shaped, maroon-skinned bulbs average 8-10 cloves and retain their flavor when cooked.

Music Pink Rocambole Chester Aaron, northern California's Garlic Guru, desribes Music Pink as "one of the heartiest, largest, and tastiest varieties." Large cloves and rich flavor make this variety ideal for roasting. This pale-pink skinned strain keeps 5-8 months.

Softneck Varieties

Mother of Pearl Silverskin This distinct strain features a pearl white outer skin with pinkish inner layers. Highly potent and spicy flavor makes this a favorite for adding heat to any cuisine. An exceptionally long storing variety, lasting up to a year from harvest.

Chilean Silver Silverskin A luminous, pure white garlic which is consistently large and uniform. Has a robust, balanced, but spicy flavor. Keeps up to twelve months.

Tipatilla Silverskin Thick outer skin is white with a rosy blush. Pinkish skinned cloves have a high oil content. With excellent, well-balanced, medium-hot flavor. This strain can be stored for almost a year.

Soil Texture
As gardeners and stewards of the earth it is critical for us to gain an understanding of our soil, yet much of our knowledge is annoyingly abstract because we can't actually see, hear, feel, or taste what is going on beneath our feet. There is, however, one soil characteristic that we can use our physical senses to analyze; this is the soil texture. Soil texture indicates the relative proportion of mineral particles of various sizes in soil. A meaningful approximation of this quality can be determined quickly with a simple "feel" test as follows.

Take a moist ball of soil in your hand and add water until the soil binds together. If the soil continues to crumble in your hand, regardless of the amount of water added, then you have a sand. All other, less coarse soil types will exhibit some sort of plasticity. i.e., upon wetting they will form a continuous ribbon when rubbed between your thumb and fingers. Once you form a ribbon of soil, measure its length. Then add more water until you have a soupy mud. Rub the mud between your hands. Determine if it feels smooth, gritty, or is a combination of both. The following table from The Soul Of The Soil, by Grace Gershuny and Joe Smilie, summarizes soil textural classes using this technique.

A simple visual test is also instructive. Take a quart mason jar and fill it half full with soil. Then fill the remainder of the jar with water and shake vigorously. Allow the soil-water mix to settle for 12 to 24 hours and observe the layering. The sand particles will settle quickly at the bottom of the jar, while the very fine clay particles will remain in suspension for many hours and settle out last. For most soils, you will be able to detect distinct layering, because the different textural classes are slightly different in color. You can also see the varying degrees of fineness and coarseness in each layer.

The diversity of soils in the world is staggering, and every particle size, ranging from very fine to very coarse, can be found. Soil scientists, for ease of communication among themselves, have grouped these various sizes into three basic categories Ð sand, silt, and clay. According to the International Society of Soil Science, sand particles are between .06 and 2 mm in diameter, silt is between .002 and .06 mm in diameter, and clay is less than .002 mm in diameter. A soil is considered having a "clay" texture if it contains at least 40% clay particles by weight, whereas a soil is considered having a "sand" texture if it contains greater than 70% sand particles by weight. The other important general textural class is "loam," which contains a relatively evenly distributed mixture of sand, silt, and clay particles.

Soil texture is an extremely significant soil quality because it gives us clues about drainage, aeration, water holding capacity, availability of soil nitrogen and other plant-essential nutrients, organic matter levels, the effects of tillage on the soil, and several other factors.

Sand particles (and silt particles) are irregularly shaped and more often jagged and blocky rather than smooth and flat. This results in large spaces between individual particles, and hence, rapid water percolation, good aeration, and low water holding capacity. In contrast, clay particles which are generally smooth and plate-like, have small spaces between individual particles. Consequently, they have slow water percolation, limited aeration, and a high water holding capacity. A fine clay particle can have 10,000 times the surface area of a coarse sand particle. This characteristic is the primary reason clay soils, having far more negatively-charged surfaces, have a vastly greater ability to retain cation nutrients (potassium, magnesium, calcium, ammonium-nitrogen) than do sandy soils. Clay soils also tend to have greater organic matter content because the limited aeration slows down the oxidation (loss) of organic compounds. This leads to an even greater nutrient supply in clay soils.

A word of caution is in order, however, regarding clay soils. If soils become too clayey, they become extremely sticky when wet, or solidify like a rock when they are dry. Therefore, when you till a high clay soil, the moisture content has to be at a very specific level (i.e., not too wet or dry). In particular, if you work soil of this kind when it is too wet, you could destroy its ability to grow healthy plants for many years, by greatly reducing soil aeration.

The most desirable soil textures are usually loams, because they represent a reasonable balance between good aeration and drainage (sands) on one hand, and good water holding capacity and nutrient retention (clays) on the other. Loam soils are not only easy to till, but are also the best soils for supporting a highly diverse and active community of beneficial soil organisms ranging from microorganisms to beetles and earthworms.

Soil texture is a basic property that cannot realistically be altered, unless you are amending a very small area with enormous amounts of compost or sand. Therefore, you must adapt to the soil texture you have, but most soils can be managed to produce healthy, vigorous plants. Cover crops are an excellent way to improve aeration and drainage on heavy, clay soils, while mature compost is the best amendment for light, nutrient-poor sandy soils.

Photos: (1) Sandy Loam soil from our Northeast Trial Garden.
(2) Ribbon Test shows the sandy nature of the soil.

Even though we are a company that grows and sells seeds as our business, we encourage everyone to learn to the art of seed saving. Of the many facets involved with the growing, nurturing and gathering of plants, the raising and collecting of seeds for future generations is a reverent act. Collecting the seed of any plant, whether a vegetable, flower, herb, tree or shrub, completes a cycle begun when the initial seed was placed in the earth. By growing and collecting seeds, we connect with ancient practices that have played a critical role over generations in the preservation of food, medicinal, fiber, fuel and ornamental plants. Furthermore, saving seeds and replanting them in your garden from year to year allows succeeding generations of plants to adapt to your particular location.

The process described here is what we do at Seeds of Change to bring you organically grown seeds. Unlike many other seed companies who buy their seeds on the vast commercial markets, already selected and cleaned, we do this work ourselves on our Research Farm in New Mexico and in conjunction with our network of family farmers.

Click here to learn more about collecting and saving seeds.

For those of us wishing to take our gardening to the next level, Susanne Ashworth's "Seed to Seed" has the inspiration and the information we need. This book not only reminds us of the importance of preserving genetic diversity within the cultivars grown by home gardeners, but gives us the necessary tools to do so.

"Seed to Seed" is a complete guide to saving seeds from 160 varieties within twenty different food producing plant families. It contains detailed information on each species including botanical classification, flower structure and pollination methods, isolation distances, caging and hand pollination techniques, as well as time tested methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing seeds. Whether we're first time gardeners or lifelong growers, we can all begin to discover the joys of creating a truly self-perpetuating garden and sharing our seeds with our neighbors and friends.

Green Prints Magazine, The Weeder's Digest, is published and edited by Pat Stone, and his family in Fairview, North Carolina Copyright © Green Prints. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission by GreenPrints.

When doing close-up photography in the garden, depth of field becomes a critical issue. As most single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras view with the aperature (f-stop) wide open, (the smallest numbered f-stop) you will be seeing the potential picture with the least possible depth of field. This means that the least amount (near to far) appears in focus. For close-ups, sometimes shallow depth of field can be desirable as it blurs distracting background information.

Unfortunately for the unaware, the camera will close down the aperature when the exposure is taken, rendering far more sharpness in the background than desired, making the final image difficult to read. Depending on the kind of camera you have, you may be able to view in a "stopped down" mode. (aperature closed to the actual setting) This control is called a depth of field preview. (The image will appear darker in the view finder, but this won't affect the final result.) If you have no preview button you might want to try a couple of different exposures using different f-stops to see which one will render your beautiful flower or fruit in the most pleasing way. If you aren't using an auto exposure camera, be sure to adjust the shutter speed to maintain the correct exposure. Good luck.
   S.V.

Flowers and weeds

Dear Gardener,
I have appreciated your catalog and seed offers for some time. Two of your recent newsletters have included precious stories...#20 and #21 both had such touching stories in them. I am a nurse for a hospice locally and I stick my copy in my bag and if I have any moment at all while a patient is sleeping, I read the newsletter, of course with many interruptions. I really enjoy reading true personal stories of how plants affect our lives, for they do in tremendous ways. Besides the obvious meeting of nutritional needs they meet emotional needs in amazing ways.

I have flowers, vegetables and herbs growing in our yard and really enjoy cutting especially small bunches of blossoms to place in a vase and take them to a very ill patient who is still alert and watch their face light up upon receiving the gift. When a person is at that point in their life, near the end, life is then measured in moments. There is a great joy in knowing that such a simple and small pleasure can be so significant in a person's day. I keep my eyes peeled for small jars and vases to "recycle" as vessels of joy. It cost so little money, time or effort and provides such pleasure. Sometimes tiny blooms of low growing weeds are the loveliest. ...just maybe, if our society did not use so much weed killer we would be able to give flowers to one another on much happier occasions and there would be a lot less cancer. Of course there would be a lot more weeds too. I believe we are paying a high price for less weeds. Just yesterday I looked out of my window to see a very large jackrabbit sprawled out in our backyard. He actually appeared to be smiling, as he was very relaxed, lying amidst the clover, grass, ground ivy and plantain. Well, I suppose he had reason to be content from eating in such a yard. We are the only folks who do not use lawn kill in the area! We have more birds, butterflies, fireflies and rabbits. We have two Jack Russels and two children still at home, numerous other children from around and we have learned to share the yard with nature around us. We did construct a lid for our compost bin to deter the local groundhog from visiting. We have squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, opossums, great horned owls, occasional red tailed hawk, many birds, and I can hear on occasion a pack of coyotes howling nearby at night. We live in a town that is suburbia near a large city. Our town used to be all farms 30 years ago. Thank you for the newsletter. I look forward to each issue.
Sincerely, Susan

Aftermath

Dear editor,
I don't know about you, but I am choosing to lay low and remain in my own personal garden for the duration. To do my day, I had to face my classes....and as I entered the garden at Cabrillo College, everything shifted....it was unreal. I knew I was safe, and here was the key. This nurturing environment was the antidote to terrorism, to unbonded, unloved sons and their to acceptance of cult like beliefs. It was unmistakably clear. Our incredibly nurturing planet, is our garden, if we choose to notice, and it will meet our needs, if we give it a chance. It is our time to turn toward our Mother, once again. I pray that you all remain safe, and that you are able to continue on with the important work you are doing.
Yours truly, Kat Flores

Dear All:
I am a letter carrier. The day of the bombing as I walked my residential streets. I heard a strange silence. As I put a letter in a box I could hear tv or radio at each home. I noticed that it was almost like a Sunday though I don't deliver on a Sunday. People were home inside. It was quiet. The traffic seemed less. What was there was our earth. She was still going. I wanted to touch her. Finally I grabbed a leaf on a tree and put it in my pocket. Comfort? The ghostly quiet day finally ended.... All I could think to do was to touch my ground... to turn my soil.... to give love back in the only way I know how. I felt guilty that I wasn't listening to the news. but I felt a pull that the ground needed us.... The next day I bought flowers after work. I always do seeds... I planted violet and white petunias... with a few marigolds.... When I stepped back I saw the love and power that is ours... to take what we use and give it back. Not waste. To be thoughtful and careful with what we are doing to our earth. ÊI admit it is easier and much more healing to me than words to people. Some people pray to the sky heaven... I pray with the dirt and the sky.... I did not buy a flag. I am proud to be an American. I instead prayed and pray for peace. I abhor the thought of more blood loss.... Because like in NY I know that it will involve innocent people. The people behind these horrible things are not on the front lines. They are giving the orders. They are creating the terror... I am not afraid to stand up and do what I feel is right. But we need to be careful and treat each other with gentleness... ÊI guess that's to me where it all comes together. The garden. A wild world that you have to tend and nurture. The insects and birds, reptiles, animals... All in such an amazing balance. Why cant we do that??? Just take care of our earth and it will take care of us. Good food, clean air, water. I believe that is the answer for all of us. When you have that you have peace... to steal someone's phrase... visualize peace.
A garden with everything,
Diane

From Our Garden Help Forum:

Hey Everyone,
Just figured while I had a moment I would offer up some info on my SoC varieties from this year. I'm growing in southern New Jersey (that's right, there is plenty of room in NJ for organic farms) and so far everything's been pretty good this summer, with some extensive hand watering that is. the tomatoes are superb, as usual for jersey, the Arkansas Travelers, Brandywines, and Yellow Pear Cherries are producing exceptionally well. Celebration Celery is right on track. the Yukon Golds and Blues are in the cellar already (go SoC double certified potatoes!). The Hale's Best muskmelons have been super sweet, as well as the Moon and Stars Watermelons (although too many seeds). And we've just got our kale, chard, lettuces, mustards, and spinach in the ground for fall. Hope everyone is as busy and thankful as we are. The sauce is in the freezer, herbs and onions hanging around the house, and we can't wait for the sweet potatoes and squash in another month! isn't this the greatest time of year? (for vegetarians especially!!!) The grapes and hops are ready as well!! Almost time for brewing and stomping season! Enjoy it while it lasts!
Bradway BC

Greetings from the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mex.
We are the Sexto Sol Center, http://www.sextosol.org, an NGO that runs La Esquela de Agro-Ecologia y Permacultura Tierra Linda to teach permaculture and organic farming. We have some of your seeds in the ground here. A friend just sent me your enewsletter, which was great. In there is reference in a letter from a reader to the editor to her having made comments to the USDA on GMOs. How can I do this? Hopefully electronically? Our organization is actively working against the introduction of GMO seed (especially corn) here through education of campesino farmers. Georgia Pacific contacted us to request help getting a list of commercial greenhouses. We instead let them know of our stand on bio-tech. Could you please send me a copy of enewsletter #19? Thank you so very much. Please look at our site. F.Y.I. This is a head's up for the organic foods industry. We also work on behalf of small-scale coffee growers to help them get a fair price for their coffee. The issue of organic coffee is very complicated and requires a further coming together of the health food industry, people like us who have extended experience in these places and growers so that first world ideas do not plow over the growers who live in entrenched poverty. Currently the way organic coffee is imported from our region makes it easy for large organizations to pull the wool over the health food industry's collective eyes in order to amass huge profits at the expense of growers. The Fair Trade organization, TransFair has not helped bring economic justice here. Thought you would be interested to know. Anyway, thanks for the vital info in your newsletter. I will be incorporating it into the education program we provide at our school. By the way, we have some pretty amazing bugs here! Iridescent and exotic. Even our cabbage moth worms are a bit more colorful.
Peace,
Tamara Brennan

Dear Seeds of Change,
My first newsletter came today and I enjoyed it so much. The story from Greenprints, Naked in the Garden, took me back to my grandparent's farm and their beautiful garden and the wonderful food that was harvested from it. They are long gone and their land has been sold and I will never see it again.
Thank you so much,
Debbie

Dear Seeds,
I heartily concur with the statement "Rodale has dropped the ball" when it comes to remaining faithful to organic ways. They have fallen for a philosophy instead of facts and results, although their research farm may be doing some things right, if they are lucky, is my impression. They publish so much glamour and huge glossy books that are very expensive and contain few helpful facts and much paradise for fools. I just received a new publication from them this week called Organic Style - such hog wash. All about "natural" clothing, food, females, life style in general, with eastern meditational religion thrown in. They are becoming snake oil purveyors, at the least. Hooray for the wholesome and truthful Naked in the Garden. Sorry to sound like a nut, but my personal perspective on organic gardening goes back to my grandfather teaching me and showing me the organic way in his own garden, as he was was putting it into practice after studying Sir Albert Howard, Rodale and other pioneers in the late 40's and early 50's. He retired from being an organic chemist during that time, having done research in sugar refining, and for the government on adding vitamins to refined sugars, an idea that never did come to fruition as a real product. During his later life he wrote several books about organic gardening, including Make Friends with Your Land , and Gardening with Nature, which was published both here and in England. His mentoring me instilled a basic respect for land, nature, and good food. I am only beginning, now in my late 50's, to understand the wisdom and pleasure of gardening using natural, organic methods, as I begin to study myself and gain more understanding of the reasons for the goodness of these methods. Now if I could only get the weather to cooperate and plant my winter salads! It's too wet today and I will have to weed and mulch instead. Thank you for this newsletter, I particularly find the soil analysis information interesting and informative. I am presently using gypsum and compost, with mulches, to keep my loamy-clay soil in good condition. If it smells good and is light, it must be good.
Astrid Churchill
Cliff, New Mexico
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