Alive in the Possibility of Seeds

A poem, the value of seeds, and a list of my favorite vegetable varieties

To Make A Meal

We began this meal
with seed catalogs and tea,
dreaming nourishment

Spring came: rain and mud
You bent in the greenhouse, you
a moving prayer

Summer: crops vining
blooming, ripening. Roots hold
to soil as we weed

This is what they don’t
tell you: how much you’ll pull out—
how much space growth needs.

Wheelbarrows of weeds!
So onions can bulb, so we
Can chop and sauté

And now the harvest
Another prayer: thank you
roots, leaves, fruits, flowers

And now the table:
barely room to place a glass,
we finally eat

---

microgreens, some cotyledons still holding their seed coats

So much of farming and gardening is dreaming.  

Leafing through seed catalogs, sketching out maps, seeing where each crop will fit even as the fields are covered with snow.  Seeing abundance months before the harvest.  Creating space for the seeds and dreams take root.

For a long time, I wanted to rush past the seed stage.  

I put all the value in the bloom, the fruit, the harvest.  

I was impatient.  

But over the last couple of years, I felt a shift.  

When winter came, I didn’t want to rush past it.  Like a seed, I wanted to feel held in the dark of the soil.  So today, I celebrate the seeds.  How they’re tiny encapsulations of possibility.  How being in possibility is a wonder in itself.   

Years ago, when I was feeling stuck, I wrote about needing the persistence of a seed to get to roots and blooms.  

A farmer friend named Carl Russell responded, saying:

"I have learned to try to embrace it.  More than patience, or waiting, just an acceptance of lack of action. There is a season, and all that. We convince ourselves that it is all about activity, but for every flow there is an ebb, and every state of being has an unexplained, undefinably eloquent genius.

I don't believe that the seed finds its value in roots and stems, or the possibility of blooms. The seed is the seed. At that place and time, a seed, with little distinction from its surroundings...and that is enough. The same is actually true of the blooming plant, but we choose to differentiate. The value and beauty of the seed is not the bloom. It is in the silent inactivity.  Quiet your soul and mind, and embrace yourself with the cool moist soil of rest. Rejuvenation will come in its own time..."

Carl unexpectedly passed away in June 2022, but his words come back to me every time I feel the impatient push towards productivity.  Just as seeds eventually sprout and grow and turn to seeds once more, even productivity is cyclical.

Now, here on this bright February day, I feel alive in the possibility of seeds.  

It’s our first winter in nearly 10 years that we actually took a break from growing (even through my personal fallow season, Edge continued farming), and started the year as a seed: quiet, resting in the dark months.  

This pause now brings a heightened excitement to seed catalogs.  Right now, we have a box in our kitchen that contains an entire season of flowers.  More seeds are on their way: ones dreaming of tomatoes and lettuce and sweet carrots.  It’s not quite time to tuck them into soil.  We’re still in our own seed time, resting, dreaming, making space for growth.  Soon, though, very soon, we’ll begin to soften the resting shell and sprout again.

Are you in seedtime, too?  Dreaming next to a wood stove with a cup of tea?  What possibilities are you holding?  What seeds are you ordering?

---

Here are some of my constant favorites that we plant year after year:

BEAN: Strike

Similar to Provider, but with a more concentrated fruit set, making harvesting fast. Strike has slender, stringless pods great for eating raw and processing.

BEET: Boro F1

The Sweetest beet! Boro F1 is ready to harvest in just 55 days, making it one of the earliest beets to grow. I love its smooth skin and deep red color. Can be grown for baby beets ok for storage, and the flavor only sweetens in storage.

CABBAGE: Caraflex F1

A “sweetheart”cabbage, this cone-shaped cabbage has incredibly tender and sweet leaves, making it perfect for fresh eating.

CARROT: Napoli

An early carrot that can be harvested at a baby size in just 45 days, and grows to full size in 55 days. We plantthis variety in succession spring through fall, and it sweetens considerably in the fall after a few light frosts.

ONION: New York Early

A fantastic early yellow storage onion with a deep bronze skin. Grows well in cool,short seasons. We’ve had firm NewYork Early onions storage through into April (and they’d likely have lasted longer if hadn't eaten them!)

PEA: Cascadia

A sweet snap pea that produces well without the need for 6 feet of trellising! The plants top out around 3’, but are super productive and delicious.

TOMATO: Rose de Berne

If I could only grow one tomato, Rose de Berne would be it! A rosy pink heirloom slicer, it’s meaty and sweet, with a touch of tang. Great For slicing and eating raw, but meaty enough to add into sauces and salsas.

ZUCCHINI: Midnight Lightning

I’ve harvested a lot of zucchini, from my time working in the trials field at High Mowing Organic Seeds to my years running a CSA. And while I don't find much of a difference in taste between varieties, I do find a big difference in ease of harvest, which is why I love Midnight Lightning. Its stems grow wide, making it easy to see the fruit, but most importantly, it’s practically spineless, which means you won't scratch up your arms when you’re harvesting bucket loads of this high-yielding zuke.

What are some of your favorite varieties?