Seed Saving and Production

Seed quality is the cornerstone of High Mowing Organic Seeds. Everyone here at High Mowing works in some way to grow, trial, sell, or ship well-adapted organic seed of wide varietal selection that germinates well. Our success depends on clean seed. The seed cleaning process at High Mowing is two-tiered. We clean seed crops in the field before they come...

Many years ago, I was working on a farm, and happened by a group of people who were gathered around for a workshop.  The man giving the workshop, who was about my age, was talking excitedly about plant sex which was enough to make me take pause!  I listened for long enough to learn that they were talking about saving...

This article is a follow-up to the article from last week about High Mowing’s production of dry seed crops, highlighting Ruby Streaks mustard.  The Seed Production Farm grows approximately 26 acres of seed crops each year. What are “Wet Seeded” Crops? The majority of our late season crops are wet seeded.  Wet seeded crops are those that house the seed...

Dry seeded crops are quite easy to grow, clean, and save.  On High Mowing Organic Seed’s Production Farm, we produce multiple species and varieties of dry seeded crops each year.  As always, we are happy to disseminate all information about our seed growing and saving techniques.  To positively impact your community and local food supply, we encourage you to engage in...

Every year, the High Mowing Production Farm reliably produces many varieties of quality seed for tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits and some species of Brassicas. This past year we grew seed for 46 varieties including: Ali Baba watermelon, Long Pie pumpkin, Tom Thumb popcorn, Jack Straw pumpkin, Indigo Rose tomato, and My Fair Lady F1 & Bling F1 sweet corn. Although we...

There is an abundant future out there waiting for us to say yes to it.  It is filled with self-sufficient communities growing their own food and sharing with neighbors.  It is filled with non-genetically engineered seeds.  Seeds that are adapted to the needs of small organic farmers and gardeners.  Seeds that can be shared and saved by anyone; seeds selected...

Update - Jan. 2014 - we were able to source organic parsnip seeds this year! These seeds didn't make it into our catalog, but we have them on the website: Organic Lancer Parsnip Seeds The world of organic seeds is an interesting one.  As you turn the pages of your High Mowing catalog, you may wonder why we have sixteen...

Anyone who has a farm or garden knows that despite our best efforts, things don’t always go according to plan. Now imagine tending a garden with over 600 varieties of vegetables and flowers. The fruit of this garden is the High Mowing Organic Seeds catalog. It seems that the two things that no one wants to hear this time of the...

Ever wondered how long you can save your seeds and have them still be viable? We've created this chart to help you determine the longevity of your seeds. Proper seed storage conditions are cool and dark. The moisture content within the seed greatly affects germination rates. Seeds should be stored in their original packaging in a cool (below 50 degrees...

One of the many seed crops we grow on the High Mowing farm is Ruby Streaks Mustard Greens. Ruby Streaks is a beautiful burgundy mustard green that is mildly spicy and adds a splash of zip and color to salads. This year we started most of our Ruby Streaks in the greenhouse and set them out as transplants in our...