How Terroir Seeds came to be, with an heirloom seed growing home gardening background, Stephen and Cindy purchased Underwood Gardens and moved forward.
Heirloom seeds, along with heirloom herbs and flowers have seen a tremendous growth in the past few years. Why do heirloom seeds matter?
Cindy and I decided to start our seed company in June/July of 2008. I had left my job at the dealership, and Cindy was looking to move to something else from her job as an outreach coordinator at the non-profit natural history center. We had been growing our own vegetables for about 14 years at that point and wanted to move into something bigger. One of the biggest factors in starting our own seed business was the loss of diversity that has occurred since 1900. If one were to compare what was commercially available in 1900 (vegetables, herbs and flowers) to what was available in 2000- there has been a 97% DECREASE in the varieties offered for sale! This was a huge wake-up call for us…
We looked at the total seed market, from the smallest one person businesses to the giants of Monsanto, etc. Then we looked at the open pollinated and heirloom seed companies, who were engaged in what we feel is the most important work- that of keeping genetic diversity alive and well. We saw the heirloom/open pollinated market as the best one, for a multitude of reasons. Heirlooms are becoming known more in the mainstream world, as people are tired of the poor performance of the hybridized varieties of seeds and plants that they buy at the local garden centers. Nutrition is a growing concern, as people are starting to realize that they CAN grow a significant amount of food in their backyards, reducing their food budget and providing better taste and health for their families. People are looking at the current economic situation and are trying to find ways to gain more control of their lives, and lessen their cash outlays; thus reducing their income needs and exposure to the current economic climate.
The term Terroir means soil in French. The French have always paid close attention to the flavor as well as the origins of food, unlike most Americans. It matters to the French where a food comes from, because they understand that place matters. It is interesting to note that the French government has subsidized food production, like America. The difference is that the French have subsidized the local farmer instead of supporting the corporate business of farming, as in America. The difference in approach is startling, as there are multitudes of benefits to the localized agriculture that is the norm in France, instead of the exception. Health – both of the soil and of the people- is one, as there are fewer chemicals in the food chain. Nutrition is another, as the localized food production encourages organic and wholesome approaches to food production. There is a longer history of food production in Europe than America, so people have had to learn how to grow food without destroying the soil. This is something that we as Americans are realizing is important. We felt that this term exemplified what we wanted to accomplish with our business. It closed the circle, as I showed in my last blog- Terroir Seeds means soil seeds or soil and seeds.
We have tried to “grow” our soil for the entire time we have been growing food, and have discovered many things- one of the biggest is that the fertilizers are for the plants, not the soil. One must pay attention to the soil in order to have successful, long term food production. We wanted to pay attention to the soil in our business as well.
When we found Underwood Gardens for sale, we realized that it would be a perfect fit for what we wanted to accomplish. The direction of Underwood Gardens was very close to what we wanted with the diversity of the seeds. We saw that we could add the soil aspect to the business and move forward, combining the qualities of the heirloom seeds with building the best soil possible to achieve the best of both worlds- great flavor and nutrition with healthy soil that will sustain people for a long time. Expanding the selection of offerings and increasing the depth of knowledge presented, both for the soils and the seeds is our primary goal. We are finding “new” heirloom varieties in all areas- vegetables, herbs and flowers, as well as new information on their history and uses, both culinary and medicinal. Several influential people have given us resources to find these offerings, and we will bring them to you as we get them grown out and tested.
This is an incredibly exciting time for all of us in many respects. There are changes on the horizon, some that we will make, some that we will have to adapt to in order to move forward. Many feel that we are at the “tipping point” in many areas- economic, agricultural, energy supply, social and environmental. Some of these choices we make are becoming easier, as we gain knowledge of the results of our choices. Some are going to be difficult to get used to, as habits are hard to change, even on a personal scale and especially on a social scale. We feel that the time of the community garden or small farm is upon us- it is one of the fastest growing segments in agriculture today. It is what has sustained us for the total amount of recorded history. In the words of Small Farmers Journal founder Lynn Miller- it is time for the Farmer Pirate; one who refuses to be drawn into the wizadry of modern chemical agribusiness and recognizes that in some things, the old ways truly are the best. We want to be with you for the journey of growing, whether it is the first time you’ve planted something, or the first time you’re planting heirloom seeds, we want to share the growing with all of our community. There are some incredible people in this community, many of whom are willing to share their experiences with all of us that need it- Cindy and myself included. Please join us as we begin this part of the journey.
Many people have started to learn about Heirloom vegetables, with the tomato being the main introduction. Heirloom seeds, along with heirloom herbs and flowers have seen a tremendous growth in the past few years. There is a mindset that heirlooms are delicate, fragile varieties that need lots of love and the perfect conditions to grow and thrive. That’s just not right! This fallacy comes from a couple of places- one is the conventional seed companies that have a vested interest in selling the “seed du jour”, which is most often a hybrid or has some GM trickery to it. Hybridization is not terrible in some cases, if you know what you’re getting yourself into. GM or genetically modified seeds are the closest thing to kissing the devil as most of us will get. Another place is garden centers, again where they sell commercially available strains of vegetables, and have the financial interest in selling you THEIR stock, not some back-woods variety that they know nothing about. Where does the plant knowledge in most garden centers come from? Why, the suppliers of course! Why would the suppliers give their garden center customers information about a plant/seed that they don’t carry?
So just what is an Heirloom seed/plant/variety anyway, and why should the average gardener care, much less an apartment/duplex/city dweller? The standard definition of “heirloom seed” is one that has been saved by multiple generations, generally accepted as being older than 50 years. Now the question arises- if an heirloom variety is fragile and demanding, how in the world did it survive for 50 years, much less hundreds or thousands, as some of our varieties have? The answer is obvious- they aren’t fragile at all! They have been saved by generous people looking to keep the variety alive and pass it on to new generations. The seeds that we have today are the result of careful selection for the earliest, hardiest, juiciest, best tasting, most healthy and heat/cold/disease tolerant varieties that were grown. They have had the luxury of time to adapt, and to fine tune the adaptive qualities that the hybridized and engineered varieties just don’t have. If an heirloom plant doesn’t do so well the first year- SAVE THE SEED! Plant it next year and you will be surprised at the difference in performance. This is the adaptive quality that can’t be bred for or engineered into a species. It takes years, sometimes hundreds to fully develop this trait.
As hybrid and genetically modified seeds take over the marketplace and our gardens, we may enjoy a few benefits such as a new color or improved, short-run disease resistance, supposedly improvements on the original plant. But to “improve” a plant in one way usually requires the subtraction of an original characteristic. Generally hybridized versions sacrifice fragrance in flowers, flavor in vegetables, and potency in herbs. What do you think happens to the nutritional qualities when they are developed to be shipped over 1200 miles to market? Why does the most basic back yard tomato beat the pants off of the fancy supermarket ones in looks and taste?
We don’t agree with this trade-off! In many cases the original varieties were far superior in looks, flavor and long-term disease resistance.
More benefits of the heirloom plant community are the diversity, the wonderful variations in color, shape, size and most importantly- TASTE! A lot of gardeners that try heirloom seeds find that the taste is the most compelling reason to continue and expand their plantings. They are amazed to find that different tomato varieties actually taste different, unlike the seedlings that they have gotten in the past. This opens up a new world of gardening- one of planting for the kitchen, and planning menus around the garden. This is one of the focal points that we want to develop- the synergy and symbiosis of the garden and kitchen, no matter the size of either. A small window box planting can greatly improve the flavor of the food with fresh herbs and a vegetable or two. As the size of the garden increases, the opportunities to be more creative also expand exponentially! We will be delving into this and more!
Another focal point is the soil that everything is grown in. We see that the symbiosis of the best seeds and the best soil will result in the best produce- whether vegetable, herb or flower. One part of the equation is the seed. This has been addressed with the heirloom, open pollinated and organic stock that we use and sell. The other part of the equation is the soil. Once we start growing or building the soil, then magic can REALLY happen! By improving the quality and health of the soil, we improve the quality and health of everything that follows. We find that the produce has higher nutrient content, thus improving our own health and well being. This starts a circle of improvements that branch outward in many areas. We will also look at this more in depth in upcoming blog posts.
We’ve had a lot of questions on the meaning of the funny name we chose for our company- Terroir Seeds. What is Terroir? In its most basic form, it means soil, or the place where something is grown. Terroir is a term used by the American wine community for a decade or so, but it really dates back to the 1850’s in France. It was originally used to mean the taste of the place where the crops were grown. This makes perfect sense to us, as we want to close the seed/soil circle and bring focus to the soil part of the equation. Terroir Seeds… Soil Seeds… Soil/Seeds. Make sense now?
Please let us know what you think- leave a comment here, visit our website, or send us an email. We would love to hear from you, as we want to open a conversation with our customers and create a community of growers that are all trying to make this a better, tastier world to live in!
What is Terroir Seeds and how does it relate to Underwood Gardens?
How Terroir Seeds came to be, with an heirloom seed growing home gardening background, Stephen and Cindy purchased Underwood Gardens and moved forward.
Why Heirlooms Seeds Matter
Heirloom seeds, along with heirloom herbs and flowers have seen a tremendous growth in the past few years. Why do heirloom seeds matter?