Seed companies are not all the same. And so we’re especially proud to team up with High Mowing Organic Seeds in this year’s seed sale fund-raiser.
Why? The Vermont company’s focus on providing seeds with the best prospects of doing well in our organic gardens in the Northeast. As Mother Earth News explains in a recent issue, “The crops that will do best in your garden are those grown with high-quality seeds that have been carefully maintained and that match your growing conditions.”
Unlike many seed companies, High Mowing tells us quite a bit about where its seeds come from. And largely they are grown in conditions much like our own.
Tom Stearns, High Mowing’s founder, explains in the Mother Earth News article that the same variety of the same vegetable sold by two different seed companies may produce different outcomes. “A tomato’s final flavor is 60 percent genetics, 40 percent environment,” Stearns says. “If it was bred and selected for the environment you’re growing it in, then you can get to the pinnacle of that variety’s taste. But if it’s a Florida-produced variety, for instance, and you grow it in the Northeast, the marriage of that seed’s genetics and your environment won’t result in the realization of that crop’s ultimate potential.”
Want to know much more about sourcing quality seeds? Read here.
And that seed sale of ours? Your purchases support school gardening in Albany and get you ready for the spring that is on its way. Please order by March 20.
—Bill Stoneman
