You'll soon be noticing a new label on our seed packages, here's the scoop!
The Atlantic Grown Seed label was developed by ACORN in 2018 as a way to distinguish seed grown here on the East Coast. For further reading, check out ACORN's Seed Security Program.
Among Canadian seed companies, even the small heirloom ones, the prevailing business model is to repackage seed purchased in bulk from commercial suppliers. We're one of Canada's only seed companies to grow 100% of our own seed!
There are certainly good reasons why repackaging has become the standard practice. It's hard to grow many types of seeds in Canada, and our damp climate in the Maritimes isn't very conducive to large scale seed production. Seed grown in the western US or overseas will likely always be cheaper for seed companies to source compared to seeds grown here.
For example, Oregon is North America's biggest seed producing region; because they have reliably dry summers it's where a huge amount of commercial vegetable seeds are grown. But seed grown in the sunny Willamette Valley isn't being selected to thrive in Nova Scotia's humid coastal gardens (with our occasional June frosts).
I've found seeds to be very fluid and adaptable beings, and they acclimatize from one climate to another. But the best seeds are almost always those grown in your own region.
So keep an eye out for this label at Seedy Saturdays and among some East Coast seed companies. Get to know where your seeds are grown!
Growing good seeds here in the Maritimes is challenging work, thanks for supporting those who do it!
