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Seedy Sunday in Rossland brings out seed lovers

Rossland Real Food and the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture welcomed local seed growers to the annual Seedy Sunday event.
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Elizabeth and Jeremy Lack stand behind the seeds from Mad Dog Farms near Castlegar during Seedy Sunday

Rossland Real Food and the Rossland Council for Arts and Culture welcomed some of the best local seed growers in the West Kootenay to Rossland’s annual Seedy Sunday at the Miners’ Hall.

The event brought together local organic seed and produce growers from around the area. Mountain Seeds, Seed Basket, Stellar Seeds and Cherry Meadow Farms were all at the event with their unique locally adapted seeds and heirloom varieties.

One of the featured events was a a presentation by Mad Dog Farms’ Jeremy Lack on how to get the best results in growing potatoes.

There was also dinner and movie to round out the afternoon, with a bowl of vegetarian chilli on the menu and the documentary Queen of the Sun being shown.

Sarah Flood, one of the Rossland Real Food members, said that the seed swap offers residents a chance to purchase local seeds that are more suited to this area, something that store bought seeds are not.

“Local seeds are adapted to the area so they’re used to our weather conditions and  they’re usually fresh,” Flood said, adding that the seed growers are selling high quality goods, which are mostly last years seeds, as opposed to older ones.

She also said that it’s important to support seed growers in general because, “without seeds, we don’t have vegetables.”

The seeds are organic and free from genetic modifications.

Flood has her own garden and says she loves to grow potatoes.

“A lot of people wonder why you’d grow potatoes when they’re so cheap at the store,” she said. “But you can get these crazy colours and all kinds of different flavours. Things you never imagined, and they just taste so good.”

She also enjoys fresh lettuce and tomatoes, things that can taste much different form the store bought variety.

Rossland Real Foods is in the process of becoming a society.

This was the second annual seed swap and Flood said that there were quite a few new vendors this year. Flower seeds and other things were also available,  including hats and books on gardening.

The presentation by Mad Dog Farms’ Jeremy Lack was intently listened to by the seed enthusiasts at the event.

Lack detailed the methods that his farm uses to maximize potato output including chitting the potatoes before burying, which is allowing the sprouts to grow in the  open air prior to burying, and building up mounds around the potato plants to keep better temperature regulation in the soil.

The afternoon’s events finished off with a bowl of vegetarian chilli and a showing of the movie Queen of the Sun, a documentary about the global bee crisis.