Feral Farm

Jacksonville, OR (Zone 9a)

Farm Facts

• The seed farm was established in 2017
• 3.00 acres in production
• 119 varieties for sale
• Feral Farm joined the SeedWise marketplace in March of 2020.
• The farm is located in a County that has banned GMO crops.

About the Seed Farm

Cacia Hubb owns and operates Feral Farm with the help of neighbors along Thompson Creek. Cacia fell in love with seeds twelve years ago as an intern on a permaculture farm. After her time as an intern, she left her office job to apprentice on a teaching farm on Whidbey Island in Washington. Here, she learned how to grow seed on a commercial scale. Cacia moved to Oregon in 2016 and began working with local seed and farming mentors. Meanwhile, she began work on her own seed farm. Feral Farm, established in 2017, supports itself from small scale seed contracts for local companies to large lots of 100 to 750 seeds.

Feral Farm’s Growing Practices

The growing practices used by Feral Farm go beyond the USDA organic standard.  They are committed to low impact and clean growing practices. For example, they strive to use preventative pest control practices rather than spraying organic-approved pesticides. In addition, the soil is farmed with minimal tillage, cover-cropping, and yearly soil testing/ammending with locally sourced inputs.

Seed Farmer Commitment to Quality Seeds

As a result of Feral Farm’s growing practices, the farm produces and harvests only the highest quality seed that is subject to testing for:

• germination rate,
• mold,
• GMO contamination, etc.

The seed farm selects seeds for:

• vigor,
• pest and disease resistance,
• cold and heat tolerance,
• morphological characteristics,
• early bolting, ect.

The seed that Feral Farm’s produces has become more regionally adapted over time. Southern Oregon has hot summers and mild winters, so the varieties thrive in this climate.

Seed Varieties Available

Some of the varieties available on SeedWise are:

Greta Basil

Classic sweet Italian basil flavor with gorgeous variegated purple and green leaves and dark purple flowers.

 Winter Wonderland Romaine

A large, dark green romaine lettuce named for its ability to thrive in cold weather, Winter Wonderland does just as well in the heat of summer. Heads are attractively uniform and slow to bolt.

 Italia Pepper

Sweet Italian ‘corno di toro’ (bull’s horn) type pepper with 6-8″ long, medium-walled, triangular fruits that are great for roasting or snacking. Peppers have wide shoulders and a curved tip and ripen to a beautiful deep red. Plants grow to 30 inches. Early maturing at 80 days from transplant.

Here at SeedWise we have three ways seed farmers can describe their seeds: 1) Heirloom seeds, 2) Open-pollinated seeds, and 3) Certified organic seeds. In this post we are going to talk about certified organic seeds.

What are certified organic seeds?

Certified organic seeds are grown according to specific rules required by the law. In 1990, the National Organic Program (NOP) was created by Congress within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). For example, under the NOP, accredited third party organizations are responsible for certifying that participating farmers and businesses are meeting organic planting, growing, and harvesting standards. This level of oversight is important. As a result, home gardeners and farmers can be confident in seeds that are labeled and sold as organic.

How to farm organic seeds?

To receive the label for certified organic seeds, farmers must meet specific rules in three areas. These three areas are:

1. Soil
2. Farming practices
3. Production practices

Soil

Firstly, the seeds must be grown in soil without using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. For example, no substances prohibited by the USDA can be used on land where the seeds are grown for three years prior to harvest. As a result, this guarantees the soil is natural and pure.

Farming practices

Secondly, the farming methods used to care for the plants must be natural. For example, herbicides and other man-made sprays that prevent weeds and pests are not allowed. The seedlings and young plants must be cared for with natural, biologically-based products only.

Production practices

And thirdly, when plants are fully grown, they must be picked and handled organically. According to Inspired Organics, this means no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors are allowed.

Why are certified organic seeds important?

The examples described above grow healthy vegetables and fruits, free from chemicals. 

Certified Organic seeds are healthier for humans. As a result, the rules used in organic farming are better for the planet than conventional farming. 

According to Seed Savers Exchange, certified organic seeds promote ecological balance and biodiversity. Therefore, the lack of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically engineered seeds all help to protect the natural world. 

What’s the difference between organic seeds and conventional seeds?

Seeds from a certified organic farmer are not exposed to chemicals. Because of the USDA, organic seeds are grown in a natural environment. Most importantly, these seeds are organic from planting, to growing, to harvesting!

Not all conventional seeds are sprayed with chemicals. However, there is no way of knowing if chemicals were used. This is because there are no rules for conventional seeds. 

In conclusion, buying certified organic seeds from our farmers is good for your health, and the health of the planet. Happy growing!

Here at SeedWise we have three ways seed farmers can use to describe their seeds: 1) Heirloom seeds, 2) Open-pollinated, and 3) Certified Organic. In this post we are going to talk about open-pollinated seeds. For more information on the other three types, check out our other posts in the links above!

What are Open-pollinated seeds?

Open-pollinated varieties are seeds that result from pollination by insects, wind, self-pollination, or other natural forms of pollination. Open-pollinated varieties of seeds breed true or are true to type. This means that if you plant, grow and save these seeds, then plant them again, you will get the same genetic characteristics as the parent plant in future generations. Farmers can save these seeds from open-pollinated plants and do not have to purchase new seeds every year. 

What does Growing “true to seed” or “true to type” Mean?

True to seed or true to type refers to plants whose seed will grow the same type of plant as the original plant or parent plant. With care to prevent cross-pollination, open-pollinated plants will almost always grow true to seed.

What does Cross-pollination Mean?

Cross-pollination refers to a plant that can be pollinated by another plant of a different variety, but the same species. For example, if you are growing “Brandywine” tomatoes and the Brandywine cross pollinates with a nearby “Green Zebra” tomato, the resulting seeds will be an interesting variety of tomatoes that has traits from both plants. However, pollen from a daisy or an apple tree can not cross-pollinate with a rose to create new rose seeds.

In addition, when farmers produce new seed varieties by cross-pollinating, they save the seeds from the most desirable plants, or the plants with the most desirable traits. Seed saved from cross-pollination will not always grow true to type. 

What does Open-Pollinated Mean to the Gardner?

The big draw for open-pollinated seeds is that they can be saved from mature plants and re-sown every year. These seeds will grow into a plant with the same traits you know and love. If you grow a variety you enjoy or that does well in your garden, you can save seeds from the same plant to plant next season! It saves you money and time in the long run. Also, it helps you to maintain your plants and future plants.

Keep in mind that both the wind and insects will pollinate different open-pollinated plants. Therefore, with some common home garden plants, notably squash and pumpkins, saving seed can be a gamble. Remember, unless different varieties are separated by specified distances, they may exchange pollen or “cross-pollinate” each other. Check out all of our open-pollinated varieties! You can talk with the farmer about  any seed questions you have!

Breaking news from The Guardian last month, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) internal emails show that US government scientist have detected weed-killer linked to cancer in commonly consumed foods. When I say common I mean honey, crackers, granola, cornmeal, oatmeal, baby food, and corn. The FDA just this year began testing American food for traces of glyphosate. Glyphosate is a chemical that has been used for over 40 years in food production. Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular Roundup brand, which was labeled as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2015. This article will discuss the problems with Glyphosate and the benefits of organic seeds.

So, maybe you just read that and now you’re freaking out a little bit. I did. I mean, I don’t think anyone really wants to eat food that can cause cancer. So, how can we avoid eating foods with glyphosate in them? It’s a good bet that plants exposed to Roundup will have glyphosate in them and so will their seeds. I can argue that the corn we eat is technically a seed and they’ve found the glyphosate in corn. But, there is no research currently looking at seeds. Now that we all are aware of this terrible news, what can we do about it?

Well, good news, there are a few different ways farmers grow seeds. There’s organic, conventional, and now, thanks to good ol’ technology, genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We’re going to cover all three.

What is GMO Seeds?

First, we know GMO seeds are not available to the public for gardening. However, understanding what GMO’s are is still important in understanding how we currently produce food. So, let’s identify what we mean by GMO. It’s true, throughout history, humans have selectively grown and bred plants. I’m sure, in high school, you were taught the fundamentals of genetics. Gregor Mendel, the “Father of Modern Genetics,” crossbred pea plants with different characteristics. The difference between selectively growing the plants of the past and current GMO production is simple. GMO plants cannot, ever, be produced using natural methods.

 How do we make GMO’s?

GMO plants are created by inserting genes, sometimes from other species, into the genetic DNA of a plant. They are developed in a lab, at the cellular level. According to the Genetic Literacy Project, the Big Six (Bayer, BASF, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta), use the term “innate” to reference genetically modified varieties. These varieties that do not contain genetic material from other species, but use other genetic modifiers to produce the seed. Again, these seeds are still only and can ever only be produced in a lab [1]. By the way, together, these companies account for a little more than half the sales of seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers around the world [2].

What is Conventional Seeds?

Conventional seeds are available pretty much everywhere. The seeds you find in your grocery store or hardware store, are conventional seeds unless labeled organic. Conventional really means ‘unspecified.’ Unspecified means the seed producers do not have to disclose what chemicals, process or growing methods were used to produce the seed [3]. These seeds are sold by large corporations, usually the Big Six. Conventional seed production is one of the most chemically intensive types of agriculture. This is because the seed crops themselves are not meant for human consumption. Therefore, pesticide regulations are less strict for these crops allowing for higher doses of harmful chemicals, like the lovely aforementioned Roundup (You caught the sarcasm right?) [4].

What is Organic Seeds?

Now let’s look at what we mean by organic. Organic seed is seed that is produced by organic gardening/farming methods and processes as defined by the USDA’s National Organic program (for the USA) or other organic certifiers. This process prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, as well as genetically engineered seeds and materials [5]. Basically, organic seeds means the seeds are grown and produced much more naturally than conventional or GMO seeds. This includes the “old school” ways of crossbreeding plants to produce organic seeds with desired traits, just like our Father of Modern Genetics.

So, why should we care again?

Well, here are 3 big reasons why we should care if we grow seeds or eat produce made from organic seeds as opposed to GMO or conventional seeds.

Reason 1

First, and this is the BIG ONE, organic seed farmers cannot to use synthetic herbicides or fertilizer when growing their seeds. This means, organic seeds will NOT have glyphosate in them. Also, as long as organic food is grown with organic seeds, no glyphosate can be in those foods either. Conventional seed on the other hand can be blasted with as much herbicide as the seed farmer wants/needs. Unlike their organic counterparts, conventional seeds are dripping in synthetic pesticides and herbicides (like glyphosate). And what is worse, evidence from independent, FDA-registered food testing laboratories have found high levels of herbicide glyphosate in human urine, breast milk and blood [8]. Cool, I’m sure glyphosate is a great thing for me to give to my infant. Score one for organic! So, by buying organic seeds and growing them or buying organic food, you can avoid getting cancer or giving your children cancer just from eating food. You’re welcome. 

Reason 2

Second, GMO’s are not a good choice, organic is better by far and here’s why. The FDA does NOT test whether GMOs are safe nor does the FDA require independent pre-market testing for GMOs. This means, literally, that the Big Six submit their own studies as proof of GMOs safety. They don’t even have to submit the full and complete information about these studies either [7]. The issue here is that there are no checks to make sure that the information they are providing is accurate. Anyone remember those cigarette ads claiming tobacco is good for your health? Literally, no testing is required for the safety of genetically modified or engineered seeds and plants. The result, the American people have become one big science experiment.

Reason 3

Third, is seed diversity. Now this isn’t something that you would necessarily relate to conventional, GMO or organic seed arguments. However it is related and it’s one of the main reasons we created SeedWise as an organic and non-gmo seed marketplace. Seed diversity is critical to our ability to provide enough food for the planet because individual varietals that are monocropped (meaning the same plant is grown in large quantities over many acres) and overly popular can get easily wiped out by disease and climate change. In addition, GMO seeds are the intellectual property of the companies that sell them, requiring farmers to purchase new seed every year rather than plant the seeds the plants naturally produce [10]. The National Geographic put out this infographic by John Tomanio, providing a stark visual for the loss of seed variety. Between 1903 and 1983, the United States alone lost 83% of the unique seed strands from the most popular produce.

A little more about the FDA and Glyphosate

So, just to make you a little bit more angry, the United States Government Accountability Office (GOA) wrote a report in 2014. The report states from 1970 to 2007, hundreds of millions of pounds of pesticides were applied to U.S. food crops. First paragraph of that report is worth a read. FDA emails show that one of their lab’s found glyphosate in numerous samples of honey and oatmeal products. After which, the FDA temporarily suspended testing and reassigned the lab to other programs. The US Department of Agriculture, set to start its own testing of foods for glyphosate residue in 2017, dropped the plan. The FDA has a “legal limit” for glyphosate in food. Cool. Thank you federal government for letting lobbyists make it OK for me to ingest herbicide. One of the corn samples the FDA was testing found glyphosate significantly over the legal limit set by the EPA. The emails show that the chemists asked what to do. The FDA responded by saying that corn was not an “official sample” and will be ignored.

If you’re not convinced about our arguments, we invite you to check out our sources, dig deeper, and inform yourself. If you ARE convinced, we invite you to review the seeds for sale on our marketplace! Check out the farmers here at SeedWise who lovingly and carefully grow organic seeds and non-gmo seeds. We’ve got a wonderfully diverse selection from across the United States and Canada. Make the right choice to protect your health and the health of your family. Buy organic seeds and non-gmo seeds from SeedWise. Know your farmer, know your seed.

Here at SeedWise we have three ways seed farmers use to describe their seeds – 1) Heirloom seeds, 2) Open-pollinated seeds, and 3) Certified Organic seeds. In this post we are going to talk about Heirloom Seeds.

I’m sure you’re wondering, what exactly is an heirloom seed? Why should you buy them? Why should you grow them?

Heirloom Seed History

These seeds are pretty cool because of their history. Heirloom seeds are what we consider our are old-time varieties, saved and handed down through multiple generations of families. The term “heirloom” defines a seed that has a documented heritage of passing the seed down from generation to generation within a family or community. Due to this ability, the variety of vegetable, fruit, or flower seed must be:

1. Open pollinated 
2. Breed true

“Open pollinated” means seeds pollinated by insects, birds, wind or other natural means. The term “breed true” means that the seeds can retain their original traits from one generation to the next. As a result of these traits, heirlooms have lasted a very long time.

Heirloom Seeds Value

The value of an heirloom seed could lie in its flavor, productivity, hardiness or adaptability. Heirlooms are grown, saved, and passed down for hundreds of years, hence their value has been realized by many generations for an extremely long time. So the key thing here is, these seeds allow you to grow plants that you can harvest for their seeds and are true to their traits.  As a result, you can collect seeds from one year that will produce plants with the characteristics of the plant from the previous year. This is great because it is how generations of people have shared heirloom seeds.

According to EcoWatch, heirloom fruits and vegetables are the better seed choice to grow because they are generally known to produce better taste and flavor. Heirloom seeds are more nutritious and less expensive over the long haul.

So, why buy and grow heirloom seeds? Apart from the reasons already listed, heirloom seeds, most of all, constitute a critical part of our agricultural heritage and help ensure genetic diversity of plant species. SeedWise currently boasts a large selection of vegetable, fruit, and flower heirloom seeds. Check out all of our heirloom seed varieties and talk with the farmer about the history of the seed, I’m sure it’s a great one!

Join humanities agricultural heritage and grow some heirloom seeds!