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A seed of a notion

Saving and planting seeds may be one of the sweetest deals around
food_glenda1

The virus is called Chung-Li. It starts in China, wiping out rice crops. All rice crops.

Despite assurances by leaders in the U.S. and Europe that hybrids able to resist the virus can be developed in time and food stores can bridge shortfalls, Chung-Li spreads more quickly than anticipated, decimating wheat, rye, oats and every other member of the grass family around the world, including grasses that cattle and other domesticated animals eat.

But in a small, narrow valley protected by mountains — this one in England — one farmer has been planting non-grass crops like potatoes that can feed people and animals, like pigs.

In The Death of Grass, the wrath of Chung-Li virus and the fallout — in a nod to morality plays — posits what would any of us do facing a world without food, where we've been the collective greedy bastards wrecking the land for selfish gain. This eerily prescient sci-fi gem, named a top 10 out-of-print book on one list or another a few years back, was written in 1956 by Samuel Youd under the pseudonym, John Christopher.

John also happens to be the name of the book's protagonist. His brother, David, who saves pretty much everyone's bacon, at least everyone's worth saving, is a potato farmer in that protected mountain valley. If that doesn't send everyone living in Pemberton to their local library or Amazon to order it, I don't know what will.

Besides all the Pembie seed potato farmers — who you can bet your bottom potato on don't view themselves in the same heroic cast as the novel's David, but could — one of the first to hunker down with The Death of Grass may be Jesse Fromowitz.

Jesse, who's known in Sea to Sky's farming circles as the No. 1 seed saver, has been fascinated by plants and the idea of growing things that you eat to stay healthy since he read Nicholas Culpeper's 17th century Complete Herbal, and dug up a corner of his parents' backyard near Toronto when he was 14.

Now Jesse runs Goodfield Farms from several sites around Pemberton, using super-healthy farming methods to supply beautiful fresh veggies from leeks to zucchinis to restaurants like Araxi and Bearfoot Bistro as well as eager customers at the Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton farmers' markets.

Although Jesse wouldn't be driven by a sense of heroism, either, given his passion for saving seeds and sharing them, The Death of Grass would be right up his curiosity alley.

"My vision is to pass on seeds to everyone," says Jesse, who named his farm for his mom's serendipitous surname, Goodfield.

"It's a passion of mine to collect seeds — I've always found it interesting how amazing a seed is. You can take this tiny little thing and plant it into the soil, and it grows into this giant plant. It's fascinating!"

I agree 100 per cent. So every year around this time, even though I have no idea what I'm doing, I shake bunches of seeds from fading flowers and veggies into little baggies and envelopes. These sometimes get cast into empty urban fields and ditches in a guerilla gardener sort of gesture, and sometimes they get planted back into next spring's garden. Success varies.

As vain as my attempts sometimes are, they're done in the right spirit, for I think that even people who love to garden — never mind the millions who don't even think about growing food, let alone saving seeds — have come to rely on bedding plants. It's like this line a neighbour once wryly said as she planted lettuce: "Seeds work, ya know."

Since I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to saving seeds, this year I decided to check in with people who do, like Jesse and the Butler brothers, who run Good Time Farming, an intensive urban farm that also uses healthy biodynamic practices in the Squamish area.

"I usually always do tomatoes, especially when a variety is working out. But lately I've been trying to do carrots a lot, " says Stefan Butler, who, with his brother, Nicholas, runs Good Time Farming.

When it comes to seeds, everyone has different needs, Stefan says — and that will determine what works for you. It could be your soil and growing conditions that are determinants: Remember, a plant that's done really well in your garden or patio pot this year has already adapted itself to local living, so its seeds will likely produce new plants that will be as happy, hearty and productive, if not more so.

Other determining factors could be your preference for flavour, appearance, or even rarity for lately, as Stefan notes, certain seeds seem to be disappearing from seed catalogues left, right and centre as fewer varieties fulfill commercial needs. For Good Time Farming, right now it's Amarillo and Jeune Obtuse that are carrot seed-makers of choice.

But the best place to start saving seed, if you're a neophyte like me, is tomatoes. They're easy to save and everybody loves homegrown tomatoes. So I'll let the seed expert, Jesse, take it from here since he's been saving most of his seeds from tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, lettuce, salad greens, and root veggies — but not potatoes, because you can't save seed potatoes in Pemberton Valley unless you're certified to do so.

How to save tomato seeds, Jesse's way:

Choose a tomato you like that's overripe — one too soft to eat, but not rotted or mouldy. Squeeze out the seeds and wash them well using water and a strainer like a sieve. Each seed will have its own little gel around it; many farmers think this will interrupt the sprouting process, but Jesse says it won't. Shake off the water and spread the seeds into a single layer, not touching, on a sheet of paper like one from a printer (don't use paper towel). The paper will absorb the gel. Leave the seeds to dry on the paper for a day or so on your kitchen counter. Once dry, store them on the paper or pick them off and store them in a plastic bag or other container. Label your seeds with the date, name and any info you want to remember, like their characteristics. If you want a certain variety to stay true, make sure you prevent those tomatoes from being pollinated by other varieties. Best to use your seed fresh next spring, but Jesse's had tomato seed last 10 years, and sprout fine — reassuring to know in case a Chung-Li-type virus rears its head one day.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who will now have success with her tomato seeds.