“If we’re doing breeding work, we’re not just producing a bulk commodity, we’re producing information, knowledge and progress in one form of genetic material.” Seeds of Change Grower Don Tipping, from Grower Interview, eNewsletter #64

Dear Organic Gardeners,

It is a cold drizzly day here in Maine as I write this—much like the day a year ago when I had the good fortune to tour the Seven Seeds Farm with Don Tipping. Don and his wife Kimberly farm about ten acres in Southern Oregon, tucked against the foothills of the Siskyous. They have developed one of the most sustainability-minded and low-input farming operations I’ve seen over my many years of visiting Seeds of Change seed growers. Don has built his strategy around both his extensive permaculture experience and his knowledge of biodynamic agriculture. Despite the weather, we were able to trek through his fields where row crops mingle with various perennial food, fodder and nitrogen fixing plants and integrate with flocks of chickens, geese and sheep. The only weak link I could see in the true sustainability of the operation was that he still had to run his small combustion engine-driven tractor to accomplish a lot of the work around the farm.

After a morning of walking, talking and photographing, the rain abated and we settled in to thresh some leek seeds that were still embedded in their beautiful spherical flower tops that were now dried and brittle. Having spent years threshing seed by hand, Don was eager to show me his recently purchased PTO- (“power take-off” from a tractor) driven thresher that would make quick work of the VW Bug-sized pile. After a few photographs I helped Don and his son Wally feed the machine, stopping occasionally for more pictures as the threshed seeds emerged. While we worked away on the pile of seed-laden flowers I began to develop an appetite spurred on by the smell of food cooking nearby (we were just a few yards away from the house). With the thought of a hearty farm-house lunch in my head we worked away at the pile.

It took a few minutes to realize that, no, Kimberly had not returned to cook us lunch, but rather I was smelling the used cooking oil that Don burns in his tractor in lieu of fossil fuel. So much for the “weak link” in his sustainability strategy! My interview with Don and accompanying photo-essay is below. After spreading the seeds on screens for a final drying we sat down for a delicious homegrown lunch of beans and cornbread.

I’ve been a committed organic gardener and supporter of organic farming for decades, but recently I’ve come to realize that organic is only the beginning of how we need to focus our agricultural enterprises to be as sustainable and environmentally conscious as they can be. Two of the great issues of our day surrounding agriculture are inter-related: carbon emissions and localizing our food supply. In addition to our regular Farm Report and News & Views, this edition of the Cutting Edge examines these two issues in some depth. First time Cutting Edge writer Wade Collins delves into how farming can work to sequester carbon in soil, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming.

	Grower Interview Scott Vlaun sits down with Don Tipping, the fourth in a series... Read More >
	Urban Agriculture A Glimpse into New York City’s Organic Farming Movement... Read More >
	News & Views Seeds of Change Research Farm to host Permaculture Design Workshop... Read More >

Growing food close to home is of course another way to fight global warming by keeping fossil fuel-guzzling, carbon spewing, refrigerated tractor-trailers off the highways. Kelle Carter reports on a trip that she and I took to visit New York City’s burgeoning urban farming movement that provides fresh, flavorful, culturally appropriate food (and a host of other benefits) to communities where it is needed most.

As you slide out of the gardening season and into the days of garden dreaming and planning, I hope you find some inspiration in these words and pictures. The time has come to move beyond organics and work together to develop gardening and farming practices that are an integral part of a sustainable food future

Enjoy, Dream, and Act,

Scott Vlaun
Editor

Photo caption: Seeds of Change grower Don Tipping with his son Wally.

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eNewsletter #64
Text only, 208 kb, 13 pages.

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