National Colonial Farm presents: The Way of FoodSaturday, July 20, 201312 a.m. - 1 p.m.The National Colonial Farm presents “The Way of Food”- a journey through Maryland’s food traditions. Join us for a kitchen table conversation as we introduce you to the epicurean delights of colonial Marylanders. This month’s theme is “We Go Together,” featuring Sausage and Apples and To Dress a Loin of Pork with Onions. Colonial Summer DaysTuesday, July 30 - Thursday, August 1, 201310 a.m. - 1 p.m.Youth of all ages will enjoy this interactive and fun, self-guided tour while they “Give Ben a Break” with his farm chores. This is an excellent opportunity for youth group and camp leaders, as well as families seeking an outdoor field trip to keep young minds and bodies active this summer!

field notes

Hello CSA Community,

The fruits of summer continue to proliferate the farm, and I am perpetually impressed with how the plants grow and grow! As weapproach high summer, the time when everything is ripe and tender and delicious, I encourage you to savor our harvest, and to visit other members of our farming community. I buy all of my meat from one of the three following local producers: Eileen at Hard Bargain Farm next door, Penelope at Longview Farm a little further down the road, or from Barb and Mike at PA Bowen Farmstead in Aquasco. Feel free to ask us for information about any of these amazing local farmers!

love and itchy arms,Farmer Becky

Ecosystem Farm ManagerRebecca Cecere SewardFarm ApprenticesAlex Binck, Holli ElliottFarm and Garden CoordinatorDaniel MichaelsonVolunteersRosemary Zechman, Amanda Truett, Tom Ellwanger, Mary Lynn Davis, Yvonne Brown, Terrance Murphy, Ethan Carton, Cairna Bode

Volume 18 | Number 3 | July 16 & 19, 2013

upcoming events

EcosystEm Farm at accokEEkwww.accokeekfoundation.org

dragonfliespurple mints waftinggarden buzz

For details on any event, please visit www.accokeekfoundation.org.

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Seeds for the FutureBy Alex Binck

We hear a lot about seeds lately. Genetically modified seeds, heirloom seeds, organic seeds. And rightly so: soil, water, and sun on their own can’t accomplish much. It’s the seed that holds the secrets to transforming these inert ingredients into beautiful and bountiful life. A lot of people are concerned about the safety of the seeds used to grow their food, whether they are genetically modified, or tainted with pesticides. These issues are important, but I want to talk about something I think is even more important.

Today, the vast majority of seeds used to grow our food come from a few centralized distributors, and the vast majority of that is hybrid seed. Hybridization is a natural process that occurs when two distantly related plants produce offspring. These offspring are often healthier and more vigorous than their parents, a trait that has become the norm in today’s agricultural system. Hybrids generally also tend to be extremely homogenous, making mechanized harvest much easier. But there is also downside. Hybrids don’t breed true: that is, if you breed two plants of a hybrid variety together, their offspring will be very different and generally inferior to the parents. Before hybrid seed became the norm, farmers everywhere saved their own seed each year and each farmer’s seed was a little bit different from their neighbor’s. Each farmer’s crops had a slightly different set of environmental tolerances and susceptibility to disease. In a drought, while most farmers might suffer, some who happened to have drought tolerant seed might have a better year and share with their neighbors, who mixed that seed with their own, and so the next year, everyone’s seed was a little better at dealing with drought. The same thing happened with diseases, early frost, and so on. But because saved hybrid seed is inferior, few farmers today save their seed and this entire process breaks down. While crop breeders do great work to breed improved seeds today, a few bright and hardworking individuals cannot replace millions of farmers working by trial and error across the world. I believe this is one reason why, despite many-fold increases in pesticide and fertilizer use, growth in yields has slowed, and damage from pests is rising. Our seeds

are homogenous and stagnant; they have ceased to evolve while changes in our climate and our pests have only accelerated. But the solution is easy! All we have to do is start saving our seed each year, in our gardens and our farms, and share that seed with our friends and neighbors. Because seeds are not just about what we can produce today—seeds are our tomorrow. And without them all the soil, sun and water in the world won’t feed anyone.