by Andrew Martin

 WOLCOTT – Local seed distribution business, High Mowing Organic Seeds, held an open house tour of their test gardens in Wolcott on Wednesday, June 30. The tour was held from 4 until 6 p.m. and was free to anyone who wished to attend. This crop walk, which is one of several the company has scheduled for the summer, focused on lettuces, brassicas, and herbs. Nearly 20 gardeners, farmers, and community members were in attendance as the High Mowing Organic Seeds staff led the tour through the green “trials” houses and fields where over 800 different types of vegetables are being grown and monitored.

The High Mowing staff began the tour by showing the community members in attendance through the two greenhouses maintained at their testing fields. The first greenhouse was full of tomatoes and cucumbers being raised in a controlled environment. The tour guides directed our attention to a specific technique used in the greenhouse that involved tying the two major stems of the tomato plants to a bar overhead in order to encourage the plant to spread apart more and facilitate better growth. The second greenhouse shown by the staff was one that serves as a seed production center. The plants housed in that controlled greenhouse are used by the company to produce the maximum amount of organic seeds that are then used to grow the plants that produce the seeds meant for mass sale.

After showing the tour group the two greenhouses, the guides began the tour of the actual fields. In the fields, the staff showed us many different types of lettuce and brassicas that were busily growing. They also explained that the testing gardens serve as a site where the company can determine which kinds of a vegetable grow well in Vermont during particular seasons. For this reason every kind of vegetable they grow is planted three times in separate rows, so that one row will come to maturity in the spring, one in the summer, and one in the early fall. This helps the staff determine if they want to market a type of seed for a particular season and what time of year is best to harvest its bounty.

The tour guides also explained that the test gardens help the staff determine which variety of a certain vegetable will do well in certain soil types and which do well in hot, cold, or wet weather. The gardens also help the staff to determine which types of a vegetable are more resistant to disease and pests. The staff even stated that they take no steps to prevent disease to their produce in the testing garden since any disease that strikes – helps the company better inform the customers who are buying the seeds.

During the tours of the lettuce and herbs the staff allowed the group to taste samples from certain varieties of the produce. A type of lettuce known as Butterhead lettuce was passed around to the group, and a Japanese herb called Shungiku was also a popular favorite among those who tried it. During the snack break the staff explained that all of the produce grown in the test garden is either taken home by the employees or donated to the local food bank.

During the tour the guides pointed out several techniques used at the test gardens that other gardeners might find useful. One such technique was the use of raised rows for almost all of the produce grown at the gardens. The staff explained that these raised beds are useful for a variety of reasons and can even help the plants reach maturity up to 10 days faster. Reasons given for the better performance included that they retain more moisture, that the soil in raised beds heats up more quickly (which is healthier for the plants), and that the raised rows allow more air to reach the plants than normal planting.

Another technique used at the test gardens was the use of plastic to cover the produce in the early stages of its development. This plastic is similar to the plastic used to encase greenhouses, and according to the staff it is meant to keep parasites and insects from harming the plants in the earliest stages of their development. An example used was how cucumbers can to be covered by the plastic until a certain point in the maturity of the plant in order to keep cucumber bugs from eating them. The staff also explained that the plastic can help protect the plants from frost and serve as a greenhouse to aid in growing. However, they said, some plants require hoops that hold the plastic up in order to keep it from directly touching the plant while other types of produce can simply have the plastic lying on top of the young plants. The staff also listed off different types of the greenhouse plastic that can be used in different situations depending on need and time of year. They also recommended using black plastic around the young plants in these mini-greenhouses since weeds will grow wild in such an environment unless restrained.

The tour of the gardens concluded after one staff member had finished explaining the crossbreeding program used at the testing grounds. The tour guide explained the breeding program by saying that the staff at High Mowing identifies holes in the market where a certain type of a vegetable is desired but not available and then attempts to use crossbreeding to make that type of plant available. Following his explanation of the breeding program used at the testing garden, all of us were invited to take a free head of lettuce home.

High Mowing Organic Seeds will be holding additional crop walks on July 21, August 22, and September 22. Each of the tours on the various days will be focusing on different crops. The July date will focus on cucumbers, beets, carrots, cabbages, and more. The August date will focus on summer crops, including summer squash, melons, watermelons, tomatoes, and peppers. The final date in September will focus on winter squash, beets, leeks, onions, and root crops. Anyone with any questions about the future crop walks can visit the High Mowing Organic Seeds website at www.highmowingseeds.com/visiting-our-farm.html or by calling the number 472-6174.