In the face of climate change, Hayes Farm touts benefits of open-pollinated seeds

Hayes Farm, a community-run urban farm in the heart of Fredericton's north side, invited community members to learn more about open-pollinated local seeds on Saturday.

The farm hosted a workshop focused on the benefits of the seeds that pollinate naturally and germinate each year. About a dozen people attended.

"The more we don't protect open-pollinated seeds, the more we lose our right to save and grow our own food," said Lorna McMaster, a retired farmer who developed some of the seed varieties growingat Hayes Farm.

"So, that's why we became really involved with trying to grow open-pollinated varieties that can adapt to Maritime growing conditions."

McMaster and her husband farmed for many years in P.E.I. They now have a homestead in St. Stephen, N.B.

McMaster said that while she sells seeds that she develops, she often hopes she will never sell the same type of seed to a grower twice.

She said it is part of a grower's job when dealing with open-pollinated plants is to go through them and save seeds, but only from the plants that producewell.

"Over time, the plants begin to adapt to those particular things that you're selecting for," said McMaster. "And it makes a stronger plant that'll grow every single year in that location."

McMastersaid it doesn't always make financial sense for commercial growers to rely on open-pollinated seed, or even small farmers with their already tight profit margins,but that's where home growers can play a role.

"Wereally see backyard gardeners as just an absolute beautiful source for good seed growing in the future," McMaster said.

Meanwhile the garden beds and hoop houseat Hayes Farm featurestomatoes, kale, eggplant, lettuceand many other seasonal favourites, many grown from seeds from New Brunswickand around the Atlantic region.

Those local seed crops are part of a project called the Atlantic Grown Seed Showcase.

Matthew Golding, thecommunity farm co-ordinator at Hayes Farm,said many of the local seed varieties have a lot of local history behind them.

"They have a little bit of a backstory to it, whether they've been grown for the past 10 years, 20 years," theysaid. "We even have a rhubarb variety in the field that has been in the family for 200 years."

According to Golding, having regionally developedvarieties definitely lends well to climate adaptation, something that theysaid will likely have to become a priority for growers.

Desire Jans, the project manager for the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network, travelled from Tatamagouche, N.S., to represent the network at the event.

She said the organization doesn't deal with seed directly, but hasan interest in locally adapted seed in support of organic and ecological farmers.

She said they have been talking to farmers who are seeing drought in the summer when they have never seen drought before, or farmers getting rained out or flooded.

"The adoption of plants for climate change is becoming a really big issue," she said. "And without folks looking at how plants are growing in their local environments, we're going to be at a shortage for seed that does well here in Atlantic Canada, I feel."