Local Alberta-Grown, Short Season Open-Pollinated and Heirloom Seeds
Your Government is siding with Big Business
There is a new bill before the house of Commons that threatens seed savers and farmers across the land. It is linked to big corps. that want to control your right to food. Please review this website, and consider organizing a signed petition and sending to your MP. We need a strong voice on this one to stop Monsanto and the likes from walking all over our food.
I get asked a lot just what we are about and who we are…. so here is my reply to one lady who asked if the seeds she ordered were sourced elsewhere and if I knew the growers…
96% of the seeds I have I have grown myself.
I am a 5th generation farmer and still on the land my Great-grandparents farmed. We use no synthetic fertilizers, all our own manure from our own cattle which are not given antibiotics unless they need it, are not given hormones, or other injections without dire need (vet purposes).
And the cattle are fed feed we grow ourselves including grain and other things. We do not use sprays or pesticides, no insecticides and we are at the end of a dead end road with a giant natural Alberta lake borders us to the North. Our nearest neighbors are on the other side of the lake and my mom owns all the other land around us. We farm naturally and with the same practices of soil cultivation, crop rotation, summer fallowing and the like that my great-grandpa did in 1910. He was the Oat King of North America at the Chicago fair in 1959. He was proud of his farming abilities and instilled in my mother and grandmother the way to keep things clean and pure.
I am proud to provide quality seeds to people in a challenging growing environment and if I source any seeds it is ones I know cannot grow myself, and cannot be genetically modified out there. I check out my sources very carefully, and because even I am not always sure I can trust anyone but myself with this guarantee, I have decided after this year I will not be outsourcing anything. If I cannot grow it myself or form a partnership with others in the area that are sound growers like me, I will not be carrying that seed anymore.
I would like to also mention that I am thinking of making corn my specialty as it is being largely threatened by GMO’s. It is truly hard to find a corn that ripens in Alberta conditions, and I believe there is a great opportunity to reintroduce some short season sweet corns here. I will keep you abreast of my developments on the website.
Since I am not able to grow everything myself, I often rely on new seed sources from others that are seed savers. I am open to people who want to grow naturally and possibly be sources of some of my seeds and get paid for it. Things that are easy to grow which I would be looking for are lettuces, peas, beans, spinach and some kinds of tomatoes. If you are interested, please let me know,
Good growing, Denise
Hello everyone who follows my web blog and thanks for all your support over the years. I have been busy working out this year but will continue to do my best to supply new and specialized heritage varieties to the list of our offerings.
News for this year: I will be teaching at the Master Organic Gardener’s course offered through the Stony Plain Multicultural center in Stony Plain Alberta in February and in September. I am very excited about being asked and love to present to groups whenever I can.
I will be adding the new seed varieties when I can. I have a few more kinds of tomatoes and many potatoes, so keep checking back over the next month for those. I salvaged as much garlic as I could from the crop failures of 2012 and 13 and hope to offer it again in the fall or next year. We see 2014 as a great garlic year.
I want to start a discussion on CSA’s and see if anyone is interested in that option. I would look at the program as a viable option for our farm if there is enough interest. A CSA is a Community Supported Agriculture program that runs like a share option for farm produce. We have mulled it over for a few years. We are interested in biodynamic farming as well and would love your feedback on your needs and interests. Please comment below.
Again, thank you to everyone who has expressed interest and supported our seed business. We look forward to a great year and wish you all the best.
Look what grew in our Alberta Garden in 2013!
Hi there;
Thanks to all who received tomatoes and herbs. They are now either all gone or planted. I wish you all an abundant year.
I will be conducting a few mushroom hunts around Lac Ste. Anne County organized through the Darwell Public Library, June 18, 20, 25 and 27 from 7-9 p.m. in the evenings. We will meet and hunt, learn and grow. Anyone interested can contact them directly at 780-892-3746 or 3743 or email Sandra at adarlibrary@yrl.ab.ca
We are busy working on the garlic weeding patch and helping our daughter complete her off-grid home. See dependenceday.wordpress.com for updates and pics. Take care this summer and be sure to reap what you sow!
Denise
Hi there everyone;
I have a few of each of these if anyone is looking for varieties this year. I will be trialing them this year and you can too.
Crnkovik Yugoslavian, large beefsteak, red, high yielding
Berkley Tie Dye – multicolored streaked 5″ beefsteak type
Bali – large brainlike fruits, all colors
Early Latah – small-med. early red plum tomato
Wentzell – dense fleshed, big productive beefsteak
Azoychka – large yellow slicer, productive
Mennonite orange – people say the best flavored of the orange beefsteaks, 5″
Garden Peach – small to med. sized, fuzzy peach colored fruits
Tasmanian chocolate – brown and green ribbed large beefsteak
Colossus – incredibly large productive plants, red beefsteak type
Andy Buckflat’s Wonder – red, early productive, resistant to late frosts
Mountain Princess – large round, red 4″ fruits
Cole – small to med. red fruit, early
Bearclaw – large flattish huge pink fruits
Pineapple – golden yellow marbled large fruity taste
Green Grape – best tasting grape tomato, ripens green
Anick’s Grandpere Rouge – red, 2.5″ round beefsteak, good keeper
Longkeeper – round, red, keeping tomato
And there might be a few others in there!
Let me know if you are interested. They are $2.50 each.
Denise
Hi all,
I was out in the garden today and cultivated the other day. Looking pretty good. Things have dried up considerably.
I was out scouting for early Morels today and found a few, just poking their heads out of the duff. So if you know what you are looking for, they are around.
Helped Mom with transplanting tomatoes, we did 125. That took care of most of them. She was doing corn and cucumbers and also has many musk melons that sprouted which she does not know what she is going to do with. So if you are after melons or cukes or corn, let me know.
I took some photos and will do uploading tomorrow.
Talk to you all later,
Denise
Canadian list of Heirloom, Heritage and Rare Vegetable Varieties.
For a complete list of Canadian Companies supplying seed, plant stock and other rare plants/seeds.
Hi Everyone;
Well, I have just gotten out of the garden and can see Mr. Fluet Onions, Multipliers, Egyptian onions and Dutch onions (like Multiplier). As well, I have some Red Sun Shallots still in the ground, and some evergreen bunching onions. I will part with some chives if anyone has need of them also. Just email me at smileyo at xplornet dot com.
Also I have these as rootstock – Comfrey (Russian), catnip, spearmint and peppermint, lungwort and Pink mungwort. If you want some they are $3 for each.
Also of course horseradish root to plant or use, Rhubarb roots to plant and dandelion root for those who want to cut and dry their own for use as a medicinal.
These are the seed potato varieties we have available. Prices are listed on the site: Egyptian, Oma’s White, All Blue, All Red, Nooksack, Chieftain, Yukon Gold, Green Mountain, Red Pontiac, Cherry Red, Sangre, Bintje, Agria, Caribe, and Norland.
The garlic is coming up and so are the lilies which is great to see. I will have some extra fresh herbs this spring to sell closer to planting time as well. We will have thyme, sage, savory, rosemary and oregano for sure, and perhaps a few others. There should be tomato plants of our famously unusual and tasty kinds as well.
I can distribute Raspberry canes to those who want and can get a hold of an excellent black currant variety from a homesteader farmyard, brought here from Germany during immigration in the 1940’s. It is very hardy for the prairies and an excellent producer.
I also have 3 kinds of Jerusalem Artichokes if anyone is interested, and one is Beaver Valley purple, one Carmen Heirloom white and one red(from the George Pegg Botanical Gardens in Gunn, Alberta). Prices are as for onion sets.
Thanks for all your orders and interest in Heritage seeds.
Denise
Hello to all;
Thanks to those who are following the posts, ordered seed or saw us at Seedy Sunday. Last week I planted the carrots and beets that are for seed this year as well as some turnip, cabbage and onions. Hoping for a great year to grow if we can ever see the soil for all the snow!!
As all things happen in their own time and all timing is perfect, I have been thanking the gods that I did not have the time to get all the garlic out of the beds last fall. Turns out it would never have gotten in the ground by April 1st and so I will see it all as divinely inspired and know that the year will allow for me to transplant the sprouts into new beds in May. All will be well.
Anyone still wanting seed is encouraged to email ahead as we sold out on many things.
Also, please keep in mind that my quest to find open-pollinated seeds that will grow and thrive here in Northern Alberta continues. I visited the Monsanto site the other day and was boggled at how many seed companies they have and under how many guises they pose to unsuspecting farmers and gardeners alike. It seems there are many farmers in the states and Canada looking for canola, soybeans, corn and wheat that is not a Monsanto product, but the quantities they are looking for are either not available or un-affordable. That is the dilemna and it continues to spark debate. If I had the land base I could begin to provide slowly to those that need.
If you have vast quantities of seed, let me know. Maybe we can begin to pool resources to service this need and ultimately help farmers that are looking. It will be an uphill battle with the government, but well worth the fight as more and more people are reacting to gluten grains and corn and I think it is due to genetic modifications.
Also, if you have seed that is from an ‘old’ gardener or dates back generations, please let me know. I am happy to trade and swap. Thanks so much,
Denise
A'Bunadh Seeds (A-Boo-Nar)
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