The Organic Seed Grower – A Farmer’s Guide to Vegetable Seed Production by John Navazio

In writing this book review I wish to warn readers that this heavy duty in-depth seed cultivation guide is not for the faint of heart. However, if you are truly serious about producing high quality vegetable seed, this is the book for you. The Organic Seed Grower is a straightforward guide for those who want to learn to prepare vegetables for winter storage and for those who are seeking to understand the nuances and methods of vegetable seed selection. This book is devoted more to seed selection and maintaining the integrity of existing varieties than to breeding new vegetable varieties.

The Organic Seed Grower should be shared with the world (=

As The Organic Seed Grower describes cultivating each vegetable variety, it provides the common name of each variety and includes information on topics such as the crop species, life cycle, mating system, pollination mode, ideal temperature for pollination and seed formation, reproductive cycle, row spacing, the isolation distance required between cultivars of the crop and other crops/plants that will cross with.

Each chapter also details the reproductive biology, the life cycle of the crop in the field, the harvest of seeds, the climatic and geographic requirements, growing of the seed crop including the various growing methods that can be used and the characteristics that can be selected for to maintain and improve the genetic stock of the variety.
 

Healthy carrot foliage leads to healthy carrot roots

Additional sections in this book elaborate on characteristics of biennial seed crops, maintenance of varietal integrity, adequate population size, seed crop climates, seed borne diseases and seed stock basics.

I especially enjoyed reading the sections on melons, carrots, beets, radishes and cucumbers. There is a chapter that includes Asian greens, but there is no chapter about artichokes.

One thing I found interesting in my reading was comparing the differences between carrots and radishes. I found it fascinating that the section on carrots tells how carrots can be selected for forking, shoulder type, cracking, root growth patterns and taste – while radishes can only be selected for root size, shape, color, leaf size, shape and seedling vigor. Perhaps the major problem we have with many of the radish varieties out there is that they are not being selected by taste!

Will we ever find a truly good tasting radish?

While reading The Organic Seed Grower I learned some new terms that I put into my own words. Here are six of the new words I am working to incorporate into my gardening vocabulary:

Cutting a cheek: You can cut off a cheek, or side, of a beet or other root crop to determine root color.

Stecklings: Roots that are stored to produce a seed crop.

By storing, or at least pulling carrot, beets, or other roots out to look at their skin, growth habits, color and taste the gardener can better control the genetic traits of his seed. When using this method, the majority of the vegetative growth (leaves and stems) down to the apical bud are removed to keep the root from transpiring water out of wilting leaves. The carrot (root) itself can then be evaluated and stored over the winter or culled (see below) for specific traits. The remaining carrots can be replanted in the ground even after taste has been determined by cutting and eating the bottom of each carrot.

Genetic Drift: The degree of deviance a population of a specific vegetable variety can experience if routine selection and culling of rouge or undesirable plants takes place.

Cull: To pull out or eliminate plants from a population because of a specific undesirable genetic trait or inferior quality.

Rogue: (verb) To remove inferior or defective plants or seedlings from a crop. This term loosely relates to the rogue plants that are being removed.

Lodging: Lodging refers to the tendency of a stem of a plant falling over. Lodging is an undesirable characteristic because when a plant falls over it can make the harvest unmarketable, if not unusable.
 

As a strong inbreeder, peas require minimal space to maintain

Here are some thoughts I have had since reading this book:

As with any good book, The Organic Seed Grower left me with almost as many questions and thoughts as it provided answers. For example, “could cutting a cheek possibly be done with other vegetable crops, such as spring radishes, to improve taste?” Also, “Using the steckling approach could a farmer use a brix meter to select a sweeter carrot variety?

Another thought I had was that cutting a cheek would not be the best method for determining carrot color because the skin of a carrot can exhibit a very different color than its core. Breeders that are selecting for carrot color would have a lot of work to do in preparing stecklings and tasting the carrots to determine the optimal carrot flavor, texture, and color.

My new found knowledge will definitely aid in my selection of better carrot varieties.

A little Harvest

Winter is the grazing time for gardening in Tucson. Because there is less sun available in the winter the vegetables grow slowly compared to summer gardening. This makes greens perfect because you can pick off the outer leaves of lettuce or spinach over the course of the season, rather than harvesting the crop all at once. My family has been having salads from our Jerico lettuce for a while now and I have been very pleased with how this variety has been producing.

Harvesting a little for a fresh garden salad

Another vegetable I have really come to love this winter has been our Kyoto carrots from Kitazawa seed company. These carrots are fantastic. They are everything a carrot should be: sweet, tender, colorful, and delicious. They do require growing longer period than short varieties (because of their long tap root) and apparently the dark color and sweet flavor develop better when grown over a cold season. Not only does this variety makes a perfect winter carrot, but it makes you wish this was the only carrot you grew.

Kyoto Red Carrots are very pretty...

but sometimes when I take pictures of my vegetables...

in the background I see...

my children growing.

Growing winter vegetables is a lot like growing children. Growth is rarely noticed from one day to another, but as you invest time in them - over time you can see great things.

The Occasional Warm Spell

Every four to five years here in Tucson the winter fails to deliver a very hard freeze. (Now that I have mentioned this a freak weather event could drop the temperature down to 25˚F tonight). For the most part this winter temperatures in Tucson have generally remained in the 70s during the day and 40s at night. The lowest we have dropped was to just below freezing.

This little tomato plant managed to live through a light frost

Though a lack of freezing temperature can be a real pain for the gardener when it comes to next year’s insect pests, an occasional warm spell enables us to enjoy something that few other U.S. gardeners get to indulge in – a fresh January tomato.
 

Even in a warm climate January tomatoes are risky. That's why I have one plant!

Growing tomatoes in January is not for the faint of heart. In planting my solitary tomato plant I knew I would be taking my chances. The plant did sustain some damage from a few slight frosts, but being next to a sun-bathed south-facing wall has greatly enhanced its ability to weather the cold and produce a few delicious tomatoes. So – should you be coming upon winter in a southern climate and be thinking of tossing that young tomato plant – perhaps it can be transplanted into a warmer location to extend its life and your harvest.

Black Spanish Radish

Whilst on a trip in Turkey my parents picked me up a packet of these black Spanish radishes. Having never tried them before, I decided to give them a go. I planted them at the very back of the kids’ garden – where they would be watered least. Despite my best efforts they grew so well that they started crowding out the spinach. Perhaps without much foresight I had the thought to actually pluck one of these little radishes out of the soil for a sample – what a mistake!
 

A Black Spanish radish with its friends growing against the wall

I shared some with my wife – who usually likes radishes. She was a bit taken back by the taste. The taste to me was intensely pungent, so I decided to try sautéing them in oil, then adding seasoning, then more seasoning. Unfortunately the seasoning didn’t help too much. Perhaps these radishes would be good pickled in heavy brine– so that all the taste is removed. 

Cutting up some Black Spanish Radishes for the taste test

Though I do enjoy most veggies I encounter, I have yet to come across a reliably sweet (and not spicy) radish. I almost wonder if this is a genetic trait that cannot be bred into radishes. In any case, the genetic trait of enjoying strong radishes failed to exhibit itself in my taste buds. With this said, I would highly suggest Spanish radishes to be used for one of the most essential components of a healthy garden: compost!

 

Sadly, sauteing this radish did nothing to change the taste. =(

The January Garden

One of the best things I learned when gardening in Tucson is to plant in spring for the hottest days of the summer and to plant in the fall for the coldest days of the winter. As the temperature here rarely goes below 20°F then it is pretty safe to plant brassicas, lettuce and many other greens, onions, peas and some other kinds of beans, beets, chard and cilantro.

A view of my children's winter garden

Digging a trench for composting in my summer garden.



Growing year-round with two separate gardens always presents the problem of competition for space and light. My summer garden often comes into my winter garden, though I have never had the opposite concern.

 

 

With the summer garden put to rest, the winter garden has light

 

 

Jerico Lettuce (which I begrudgingly share with the caterpillars)

 

 

Monstrux De Viroflay Spinach

 

I tend to plant my winter garden very intensively and pull plants as they need the space. Though all plants need light, many of my greens can survive on minimal light until I recognize that they need to be thinned. Conversely, I tend to space my summer plants much wider as each plant requires much more space and any plant that gets crowded out will likely end up being a disease and pest liability, as well as a waste of time and effort to plant.

 

 

Small Black/Purple Carrots



Tavor Artichokes

 

Some of the plants I am growing this winter include Jerico Lettuce (which I plan to save seed from the plants that bolt last), purple/black Turkish carrots, Kyoto red carrots, Spanish black radishes, some small Texas multiplying onions, Viroflay spinach, snap peas, Tavor Artichokes, a lone Celebrity tomato plant and McGregor’s Favorite beets.

 

McGregor's Favorite Beets

 

If you want a minimal maintenance garden in the Southwest then Winter is the prime season to do it. When the weather consistently goes above 75°F then I have to water more than once a week. But if not, then I can usually get away with watering once every 10-12 days. With many of the pests and disease vectors wiped out by the first light frost there is little maintenance required for the winter garden. Truly, the Tucson winter garden is a delightful way to grow and enjoy winter salads, greens, and roots to well into the spring.

 

 

Some tasty Snap Peas