Author: Cate Henderson

Proper storage of seeds

People often ask “how should I store my seeds?”, which is an excellent question.  The question itself recognizes that we need to take care of the seeds when we aren’t using them, and that seeds are not lifeless items that can be stored any old way we want, but rather are living things that require specific conditions to prolong their life, without which they will die.  Seeds are baby plants, and when we know the time is right to grow them, we will plant them in warm soil, water them, and make sure they have adequate light when they germinate.  Knowing this effectively tells us what conditions we need to provide them in storage:  the opposite conditions!  So cool-cold temperatures, no soil or organic matter, very dry/no water, and preferably low light or even darkness.  Of these, the most important factor is DRY.  As you clean and thresh your seeds, you should be able to ensure that no insects are hiding out amongst them:  that’s clean enough!  Then make sure they are dry and keep them consistently cool and out of direct sunlight.

So, how should I store my seeds?  In order of importance, dry and clean are tops!  Then cool and dark as you are able.  For instance, if you have to choose between storing your clean seeds in a damp dark cool basement OR a dry, but light and room temperature shelf:  go for the shelf.

Glass jars are great for keeping seeds safe, as long as you open the lid to give them air occasionally.  Putting the seeds in a paper envelope inside the jar allows you to label the envelope with their name and the year you grew those seeds.  Always label your seeds somehow!  In general, paper envelopes work very well, but they can be chewed open by mice, so if you have mice in your house (or other chewing pests who might eat seeds), use a glass jar.  Plastic may work for short-term storage, but remember that plastic breaks down over time, which could contaminate your seeds.  And it is also chewable.

If this all sounds complicated, don’t worry.  Seeds are very resilient, and the most important thing is to stay in touch with them, to make a connection with them.  Once you are connected with a variety, you will find that you intuitively care for those seeds in the way they need (although you may make some mistakes along the way:  so always keep a back-up)!

Congratulations and thanks to one of our fearless leaders!  Jennifer Brant released a wonderful album entitled “Resilience “, and kindly donated some of the proceeds to the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre!  Nyawen:kowa, Yoyanare!

Her beautiful work can be heard here: https://jenniferbrantmusic.com/music

The community of Tyendinaga is so supportive of this important work of keeping seeds, our food crop relatives, safe, healthy and available. We are blessed!

In our lives, there always seem to be things we’d rather just leave behind.  Bad habits that we continue to do, even though we know they harm us, states of mind that keep us negative, words that come out despite the hurt they cause to those we love.  I like to think about this as I thresh the seed crops.  Threshing is about separating the seeds from anything that is not seeds:  stems, dried-up leaves, bugs, roots, etc.  We want to keep the beautiful, useful seeds, and protect them for future plantings, so we need to get rid of the rest of the plant that’s now dead, and keep only what’s alive and good.  To do this, you need to know the difference between the seed and the not-a-seed, which is easier said than done!  We need to distinguish the bad habits from the good ones, the negative states of mind from the positive, peaceful states.  As I take the dead plant bits to the compost, I think:  It’s time to let this habit go now.  And as I put the seeds safely in their labelled glass jar, I think:  I choose to keep and safeguard my peaceful, good mind😊

At this time of year, after the Fall Equinox and before the Winter Solstice, I always feel very low energy.  The days are getting progressively shorter, it’s colder, it’s often too wet to work in the gardens, even if there was much to do, which hopefully there isn’t any more.  I’m definitely in hibernation mode and I feel myself sinking into slumber…But of course, in our modern times, there’s no allowance for this seasonal shift, there’s no time to rest!  Deadlines continue, students are diligently attending school, appointments must be made, etc.  So I take my Vitamin D3, shake my head and do my best to keep up (but maybe I go to bed just a bit earlier).  For me, surrounded by annual and biennial plants as my companions, it only seems natural to “die back” a little, to sink energy into my roots and rest there for a time.  After all, spring will demand a huge outburst of energy, and it will come soon enough.  Surely I must rest while I can so that I’m ready to spring into action when the days start to lengthen again!  Just as there are lunar cycles each month, there are seasonal cycles through the year.  True seasonal autumn (as opposed to the pumpkin-spice latte season) feels like the waning time, like just before the New Moon.  I love it, I don’t feel depressed by it!  But I wish I could honour it properly by going back to bed!

We have just brought in the last of the peppers, not all of which will ripen for seed. Most importantly, the corn is in, drying down under cover. This year, we grew the Oronya Nikanenstoten, which has been grown in the community by at least one grower for many years. It is a beauty! Many other crops were very successful in the dry fall we experienced this year: beans dried down perfectly on their stalks, lettuces had lots of time to produce seed, and our carrot, leek and beet seeds all came in perfectly ripe and dry. We grew the Buffalo Creek squash for the first time using seed from one of our Board members, and it seems happy. We were able to share tomatoes and ground cherries with the community Good Food box program and still got lots of seeds as well!

This Saturday October 14, weather permitting, will be our final volunteer workbee, from 10-noon in the gardens. Hope you can join us – we will have the fire going this time and enjoy some corn silk tea together. If it is raining, this event will be cancelled, so please check!

-Cate