Farm Report: November 2003

Though it can't slow the passing of time, taking part in culturing a yearly garden has a way of making you more conscious of the world around you as time passes by. A garden urges you to slow down, pay attention, partake in its creation and care, and enjoy what unfolds before your eyes. As another season in the fields here at the Seeds of Change Research Farm has wound down, I am both excited to reflect on all that I have learned and reminded how much still remains to be discovered. The first killing frost came the morning of October 14, nearly two weeks later than last year. We experienced unusually moist and mild weather last month, enabling us generous time to continue cover cropping newly empty beds, harvest seed from frost-sensitive crops, and plant two pounds each of twelve gorgeous garlic varieties (five softnecks and seven hardnecks).

The 'Three Sisters' tomato crop grown in the pollination/isolation tent this year has been wet processed, properly fermented to break down the gelatinous coating surrounding the seeds, rinsed thoroughly, and dried on screens. The seed looks beautiful, and we are pleased with the yield we received from 120 plants. This new open-pollinated variety has been an on-going project for several years. Each year, as we continue to select for the "perfect" medium-sized, red salad tomato, we are seeing less and less of the two other distinct types (hence the name 'Three Sisters') in the population. A breeding project in progress, 'Three Sisters' tomato is available in the Garden Seed catalog for those interested in participating in the selection process in your own backyard. We were amazed at how these tomatoes performed inside the pollination isolation tent. In an environment that diffused the intense New Mexico sunlight and isolated the plants from the various insect pests problematic in this area (notably the leafhopper and tomato hornworm moth), the tomato plants inside thrived to impressive dimensions and were heavily laden with unblemished fruits. The contrast in survival rates, vigor, and production between the 'Three Sisters' tomato plants and those in our outside trials was remarkable.

In addition to the 'Three Sisters' seed crop, we harvested seed from our bed of 'Greek' oregano, 'Oxheart' carrot (a variety of which we are 'truing up' the genetics), and 'Golden' amaranth (simply because the staff loves to add the tiny, nutritious grain to homemade bread and granola). We also dug up and made preliminary selections on two varieties of carrots grown in our trials this year. We are storing them through the winter in the controlled environment of our newly completed cold storage units. In the spring, we will plant them back in the ground in order to collect seed (carrots, a biennial crop, produce seed on umbels that initiate in the second year).

A few, cold-hardy crops remain in the field for our observation and enjoyment. The winter leeks are beautiful–'Giant Musselburg' has shanks at least three inches thick. Aptly named for being a fall leek, 'Falltime' produced shanks that were two feet long at the time of harvest. Spinach, mache, parsley, radishes, carrots, and radicchio also remain strong performers here in the cold month of November.

Seed from our growers has begun to arrive here at the Research Farm once again, undeniably marking the transition from fieldwork to seed cleaning. This time of year also brings the task of collating all the research and observations gathered on the thousand or so plant varieties grown on our farm and in cooperating trials grown in various bio-regions across the continent.

Greetings from all of us,
Jordan Rainwater, Research Associate
and the entire staff at the Seeds of Change Research Farm