In the High Mowing Organic Seeds' trials field, we spend our time trialing and evaluating varieties to determine how they perform compared with each other, as well as to gain knowledge about their characteristics to determine whether we would like to carry a new variety. In addition to this, we often do custom trials for other growers or organizations.  One of the exciting trials that we conducted this past summer was for True Potato Seed (TPS), which is potato plants grown from seed, not from tubers.  One of our seed vendors, Bejo Seeds, Inc., has a potato breeder who has been researching and trialing TPS for over 20 years.  They asked us to do the first organic trial of these potatoes grown from seed, simply to see if it was even possible to grown in organic conditions.  It was successful! Working on this trial has provided us with valuable information for possible future cultivation of organic true potato seeds - how nice would it be to receive a packet of true potato seeds in the mail instead of a big bulky bag of seed potatoes? Stay tuned for further developments in our True Potato Seed trials! Check out what the trial looked like along the way:
True potato seeds (with an organic coating to make it easier to plant)
Tiny potato seedlings in our greenhouse. These little seeds need cool, moist temperatures to germinate.
 
Hilling the potatoes in our Trials Field.
Beautiful, genetically diverse, gourmet-sized potatoes of different colors!