BACK FROM THE BRINK

 

Farmers in Atlantic Canada play an important role in keeping our seed diversity and seed heritage alive. Let's explore some of the once-endangered varieties that     local farmers are bringing back into commercial circulation for gardeners and farmers to grow, enjoy, and share! 

l’Ancienne d’Acadie Summer Savoury

Featured on Slow Food Canada’s Ark of Taste, this unique and fragrant herb holds a special place in Acadian cuisine. This beautiful, cold hardy variety of summer savoury grows as a short, stocky plant, 8-12 inches in height, with delicate leaves and light purple blooms that pollinators love.  According to the Albert County Museum: “the variety has been passed down from generation to generation, and can be traced back to Jean Prudent Robichaud (1867-1958). Robichaud received the seed from a woman from the Esgenoôpetitj First Nation at Burnt Church, NB. His daughter-in-law began saving (and likely sharing) seeds in the 1930s, and passed them onto her daughter, Anita Beattie in 1959.” 

When first added to the Ark of Taste, this variety was grown by just 3 growers in Canada, including Norbert Robichaud (Bathurst, NB) who first introduced it to Seeds of Diversity’s Canadian Seed Library. The Atlantic Canada Regional Seed Bank has since acquired several accessions of Ancienne d’Acadie seed for preservation in its long-term collection, as well as supporting more growers to cultivate and save seed from this variety. This variety is commercially available from Jocelyne Gauvin at Ferme Spirale Farm, NB. 

Dandy Early broccoli

The Atlantic Canada Regional Seed Bank collection began with a donation of seeds from Seeds of Diversity Canada, originally grown out and contributed by growers in Atlantic Canada. Among those seeds was an accession labeled “Dandy Early broccoli”. Unfortunately, when that seed was first distributed for grow-out in 2016, it did not germinate. Knowing that high quality, open-pollinated broccoli varieties were in demand, Regional Coordinator Steph Hughes searched for the seed elsewhere, without much success, until finding the variety in Seed Savers Exchange’s “preservation collection” in 2021.

Ken Byrka volunteered to grow the variety at his farm, Revival Seeds, in Middleton, Nova Scotia, where it performed very well and was added to their annual seed offering. He describes it as “a wonderful variety: easy to grow and very flavourful, fresh or cooked.” It has since sold out of the Revival catalogue two years in a row, and has been distributed from the regional seed bank to other growers looking to explore good OP broccoli varieties. Welcome back, Dandy! This variety is commercially available from Revival Seeds, NS.  

Tancook Island cabbage

According to Yonder Hill Farm – the only seed producer in Canada to offer this variety – “Tancook Island Cabbage was continuously grown on Big Tancook Island in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, since the seeds were first brought there by German settlers in the 1700s.” For generations, this cabbage was the key ingredient in the legendary Tancook Island Sauerkraut, which has earned its place on Slow Food Canada’s Ark of Taste. The sauerkraut was discontinued in 2022 due to financial impacts of Covid-19, but long before that, the cabbage variety itself had been all but left behind. It was in danger of extinction due to a dwindling population of seed-saving kraut crafters and a growing population of deer on the island who feed on the cabbage. 

Chris Sanford of Yonder Hill Farm is working to bring this green head cabbage back from the brink of extinction. She first planted the cabbage seed in 2016 after being gifted a small packet and was struck immediately by its uniqueness. “It’s unlike any other green cabbage I’ve ever grown; stout and sturdy plants with dusky green large leaves and a tight, crisp head”, Sanford says, “I realized how special Tancook Island Cabbage truly is, not just because it’s a local variety, but because it represents a distinct lineage of cabbage genetics that could easily disappear with only a handful of people growing seeds for it.” 

Cabbage is an out-crossing, biennial vegetable which makes it challenging to grow for seed. It requires a large minimum population, plenty of isolation distance, and space to overwinter the first year heads. Chris has worked in partnership with other growers – including Ross Farm Museum and local farmers Cindy and David Rubinfine of Pleasant Hill Farm – to diversify the genetics she’s working with and increase the number of plants she can select from. In the process she’s developing a market for this cabbage variety which sold out of Yonder Hill Farm’s seed catalogue in 2022 and 2023. This variety is commercially available from Yonder Hill Farm, NS.  

Vantage tomato

Developed by Ernie Kerr at the Guelph-based Vineland research station, Vantage tomato was introduced in 1963 and is described by the USDA as “a solid, medium-size fruit. Immune from leaf mold (with) better crack resistance than most greenhouse varieties.” It’s unclear why this variety became popular in Newfoundland particularly, but it was grown and is fondly remembered by many on the island, including retired plant breeder Ross Traverse. Ross recalled the variety in conversation with Regional Coordinator Steph Hughes, in 2015, suggesting that its popularity declined in the 1990s as Newfoundland growers began growing more hybrid tomato varieties from larger companies. 

Ross provided a small amount of seed to Steph at that time, which she promptly sent to Michelle Smith in Cape Breton, NS. Michelle has worked with Seeds of Diversity for years on grow-outs of rare and fragile seeds, and Cape Breton’s climate is similar to Newfoundland’s. Michelle successfully scaled up the volume of seed in one season, sending some back to the Regional Seed Bank. A portion of this seed was frozen for longer term preservation and the rest was distributed to other growers, including Sarah Crocker in Portugal Cove, on the Avalon Peninsula. Sarah devoted growing space to Vantage over the next three seasons to observe and select the variety for consistency and useful traits such as earliness and crack resistance. This variety is commercially available from Seed to Spoon Farm.