Farm Report: February 2006
by Erica Renaud

While La Niña has taken the form of excess rains on the West Coast, and unprecedented warm winter days are delighting those in the north, we in the southwest are crying a river about the lack of moisture reaching our soils. After our typical late fall activity of cover cropping all our open fields, neither rains nor snow followed, leaving the fields well-cultivated and seeded with no biomass growing. This has not all gone for naught, however, as the farm has been home to over 50 cranes since December. In all the confusion of the undulating temperatures and dryness, it seems that the cranes decided that northern New Mexico was actually northern Mexico (their usual winter destination). They have found appropriate privacy and food (in the form of our cover crop seed) in the fields, and water in the Rio Grande only a few hundred feet away—a short distance for this magnificently wing-spanned creature.

Observing these birds, which are reminiscent of something prehistoric, reminds us that the days are narrowing between seed cleaning and fieldwork. Our last big shipment of seed for cleaning recently arrived and what a shipment it was! Emily Skelton and Jay Bost are pleased to acknowledge that over 25,000 lbs. of clean seed have moved from the farm to our seed packing and distribution facility in Santa Fe, NM this year. The last shipment of Poppy Joe's Basil, a fusarium-resistant basil developed by Rutgers University, went through its second year of production in 2005, bringing to Seeds of Change over 100 lbs. of seed for this high-quality Italian large-leaf basil. Poppy Joe's is one of the few fusarium-resistant basils available on the marketplace. However, this variety's distinction lies not only in the fact that it is disease-resistant and has outstanding field performance, but that it also possesses an excellent aromatic profile. Unlike many of the other fusarium-resistant basils that tend to possess a more licorice-like aroma, Poppy Joe's has the traditional sweet, Italian basil aroma without the excessive cinnamon and licorice overtones found in some sweet basils. We believe that this is the best-performing variety available for sweet basil production, especially for growers who bunch or process this summer favorite. We are proud to be the sole supplier of it.

Eager to get into the field, Kelle Carter sowed several varieties of poppies this last week—always the first seeds to reach the soil in our annual production cycle and always the first cut flower to reach our vases. Kelle has been working diligently at the computer on our annual field plan to ensure proper space allocation and rotation between crops, so she was happy for the opportunity to work outdoors and get her hands in the soil. Simultaneously, Emily Gatch has begun greenhouse propagation, beginning with long-season onions, flowers, and herbs that require pre-treatments. Some species such as Lobelia spp. require long stratification periods (cold, moist exposure of seed in a moisture-holding medium such as sand) for up to 60 days. This exposure aids the seed in breaking down its seed coat and allowing the embryo to develop, thus allowing germination. Emily has been developing experiments with different propagation methods to improve germination rates for all Seeds of Change varieties. The data she collects is being added to our catalogs, seed packs, and web site each year. See Emily's article entitled Germination Techniques for Herbs and Flowers in the Digging in the Dirt Section of our website.

A previously hidden room within our seed cleaning and variety evaluation building is undergoing transformation through the handywork of Joe Martinez and Erazmo Marquez. Once home to an extensive collection of vintage motorcycles, it will soon be the "new" Seed Health Testing and Varietal Evaluation Lab. For over 10 years, varietal evaluations from the field have shared space in the off season with seed cleaning, while seed health testing has been contracted out to third-party laboratories to test germination, purity, GMO contamination and pathology issues. To meet our quality expectations and to provide you with better quality seeds, we will perform in-house testing for seed borne diseases and preliminary germination testing to augment the third-party lab analysis. This will aid us in tracking and addressing all areas of seed quality. It will also decrease the turn-around time for third-party testing as we will be able to identify any issues before the seed lots reach the lab.

Through all of this preparation for the 2006 farming and trialing season, Mary Romero is carefully collating our 2005 trial results, while Steve Peters and I evaluate the results and lay out the 2006 on-farm trials and stockseed and breeding programs. We are pleased to see exciting new directions in red lettuces, Green French filet beans, rhizoctonia resistant beet varieties and a plethora of new cut flowers for you to enjoy in your gardens, on your tables, and in your farmers market stalls. We look forward to sharing more with you about our new, upcoming varietal offerings and 2006 trial program in our next Farm Report!

Happy propagating,

From Erica Renaud, Research & Farm Manager,
and the staff of the Seeds of Change Research Farm