Back in 2012 the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) threatened to abolish the longstanding canola exclusionary zone in the Willamette Valley. We fought back, with your help, to get legislation passed by the state which funded additional research and included a sunset clause on the canola restrictions in the valley. Here’s a good summary of why canola is problematic for specialty seed production and where we stood in the winter of 2013 from Oregon’s Agricultural Progress by Gail Wells, Canola In The Valley.
HB2427
Oregon HB2427 was passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2013 and the resulting research conducted by Oregon State University (OSU) was presented in 2017. It’s a whooping 105 pages and you can read the whole thing if you like here (the Executive Summary and Recommendations are pages 6-11 of the PDF). In the interest of getting to the point, here are the highlights.
Is canola uniquely problematic? OSU says No.
OSU researchers determined that under current cultural practices in the Willamette Valley there were no unique disease, pests, weed, or cross pollination problems associated with canola. Meaning that turnip and radish have just as many problems as canola and since we don’t currently regulate those crops, why would we limit or regulate canola specifically.
Over 35 people turned out for the 6th annual Winter Cropping Workshop at Food for Lane County’s (FFLC) Youth Farm in Springfield.
Workshop presenters Ted Purdy, FFLC farmer; Andrew Still of the Seed Ambassadors Project; and Nick Routledge provided a wealth of information about the right conditions for growing good tasting and fresh vegetables—roots and greens—all winter long. The three fielded questions from the audience about growing regionally appropriate varieties that provide enough calories for gardeners to feed themselves on a 100 mile diet even throughout the April/May hunger gap.
After the workshop a lively seed swap provided excellent varieties for getting a winter garden started.
Andrew Still (looking at the camera) gives away seeds
Yesterday was the Eugene Permaculture Guild’s annual Spring Seed Swap. Every year, hundreds of gardeners and seed savers convene for a few hours on a Saturday to share seeds, plants, and a potluck meal. The event is more than the free gifting of seeds, though, and has become a pivotal community event for the local gardening scene.
This year was the Seed Ambassadors Project’s first appearance at the spring seed swap, and we brought two grocery bags filled with seed that we have saved in the past few seasons. By the end of the day these bags were whittled down to one tenth of their original quantity. It is so great to think of so many local gardeners growing locally saved seeds! Of course, we did not come away empty handed, as we gathered samples of some locally saved tomatoes, orach, mustard, a gourd, a salsify, a parsley, a root parsley, and a blue flat leafed kale that we are really excited about.
We believe that it is essential that home gardeners and farmers save seed to preserve genetic diversity. It is apparent that even small seed companies are unable and/or unwilling to do so, as they must respond to the forces of the market and whims of the large seed companies. Locally stewarded seed is of course optimal, though national seed saving networks, such as the Seed Saver’s Exchange, are also very excellent in this regard. One of the goals of the Seed Ambassadors Project is to encourage local seed saving. Each time a variety of vegetable is saved in a particular bioregion (or microclimate or garden), it adapts to the specific conditions of that place. Ultimately, food sovereignty begins with seed sovereignty.
As we have mentioned in previous posts, our seed quest last winter resulted in the collection of more than seven hundred varieties of seed, many not available in the United States. Added to this amount are the fifty or so varieties we collected this year in Romania, and a few dozen other varieties collected by other friends Seed Ambassadorizing in Mexico and Italy. While we are doing everything we can to grow out as many of these varieties as possible in our own large seed garden, isolation distances required by many biennial outbreeders (beets and chard, brassicas, onions and leeks, parsnips and carrots) severely limit the amounts of these species we can grow out to seed in any given season.
Sarah and John Herberg with some onions, Russian Hunger Gap Kale, Alison Kinney with Sutherlin Kale
Last year we grew several of each of these species, not quite knowing how we would isolate them this year for flowering and seed production. Several people have contacted us through our website and offered to help (thank you!), and we are trying to plug these people in as much as possible.
After four months of traveling though nine countries in Europe, Andrew and I are back in Oregon for a season of farming at Hayhurst Valley Organic Farm and Nursery, one hour south of Eugene in the Coast Range. Here we hope to do grow-outs of many of the 700-plus varieties of food plants we collected on our travels. Seven hundred varieties is a bit much for the two of us to handle, and we are seeking out people in the greater Eugene area to participate in the Seed Ambassadors Project by growing one or several of our accessions to seed. Please contact us if you are interested!
Greenhouses at Hayhurst Valley Organic Farm and Nursery, Danish Marigold, Sunset
Already we have sown several dozen varieites of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, peas, and grains, and hope to get some lettuces, brassicas, and herbs in the ground shortly. We hope to post photos and reviews of our progress over the course of the season. Continue reading
Part Two: Harvesting lunch. A stopover at local cafe on the way to the Kapuler’s home for lunch to check out an exhibit of ‘Shrume’s art. Luncheon. Checking out the seedroom. Travelling-home.
Stopping in at one of two local cafes currently showing ‘Shrume’s art.
Breaking bread at Casa Kapuler.
Into the seed room, home to between 10,000 and 15,000 different varieties of plants. .
‘Shrume’s major breeding focii just now are tomatoes, peas, marigolds and brassicas although his breeding activities have spanned an enormous range of foodplants. Among his major breeding successes can be listed: Nutribud broccol; Supreme Mix and China Cat mix sunflowers; Sugaree, Opal Creek and Green Beauty vine peas; Domatsu Snap pole and Gaia Snap bush beans; Rainbow Inca Sweet, Painted Mountain Sweet, Double Red Sweet, Martian Jewels Sweet, and Red Miracle Sweet corns; Golden Sar, Apakler, Red Metamorph, Frances’ Choice, China Cat Mix and La Ribera marigolds; Newberg onions; Red Centiflor, Red Clusterpear and Yellow Centiflor tomatoes.
In the greenhouse at ‘Shrume and Linda’s home.
Among the stacks in the Kapuler’s voluminous botanical library.
Nick is returned to the back of the truck, with trophies for the ride home.
Dr. Alan Kapuler’s reputation extends globally – you’ll stumble across deep seedgeeks paying homage to his work and example in everything from French seed catalogs to Chinese websites.
His worldwide influence finds its genesis in the local – as it happens, just an hour north of Eugene-Springfield in the harmonic chaostrophy of “Brown’s Garden”, a 3-acre plot on the outskirts of Corvallis. It is here that ‘Mushroom’ or ‘Shrume’, as he is affectionately known to family and friends, and his wife Linda, tend an astonishing array of plants alongside their extensive, constantly-evolving food-plant breeding efforts.
Here’s a record of the friendship call that Sarah, Andrew, Nick and Nori (a botany geek lurking as an Americorps volunteer at the FFLC youth farm) made to garden on Saturday, September 16, 2006, and the delightful time we shared together, in the dirt, around the table, for peace.
Part I: Road trip, shucking corn for seed, scientific developments update, harvesting zucchini seed, touring the garden and greenhouse.
Part II: Harvesting lunch. A stopover at local cafe on the way to the Kapuler’s home for lunch to check out an exhibit of ‘Shrume’s art. Luncheon. Checking out the seedroom. Travelling-home.
The Kapuler Papers: Most of ‘Shrume’s musings have been hand-circulated through the years. Here we present, for the first time, are some of his key papers, webbed.
Headed in with Andrew at the wheel, and Sarah and Nori riding shotgun. And Nick, holding the camera, relegated to the bed of the truck. Where’s respect for your elders, I ask ya!
First shared task of the day. Collecting, then shucking corn for seed
Musrhoom was trained as a scientist. Indeed, he graduated top of his class at Yale at age 19, then went on to claim a Ph.D in Life Science; Molecular Biology and Nucleic Acid Biochemistry. ‘Nature’ magazine is a constant companion, as is the library at nearby OSU. Mushroom’s passion for science affords him an unusual role within the organics movement – an ability to interpret the latest advances in scientific understanding and determine how they relate to the life of the soil, in a language comprehensible to gardeners. A new paper demystifies. Here are some recent Kapuler Papers.
More seed saving. This time of a zucchini.
The first of many walks around the garden, this day.
‘Shrume has a long and speciated history with sunflowers. Here he shows us a sunflower volunteer with a highly unusual structure.
A glaze lacinato. F5.
Inside the greenhouse. A banana in fruit.
Mushroom’s 3-root beet grex.
Digging the Andean food crop, Yacon. ‘Shrume is the de facto U.S. authority on this Andean food plant and has tirelessly educated ag circles to its remarkable qualities. It has been fascinating to witness the introduction of this plant to his garden, the handing on of it to local avant gardeners and farmers, and its follow-on appearance on the shelves of local health food stores – who can’t get enough of it. His paper, Yacon – the Apple of the Earth touches on some of the wherefores.
