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Cranston farmer saves seeds from scratch for local market [The Providence Journal, R.I. :: ](Providence Journal (RI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 23--CRANSTON, R.I. -- When Katie Miller looks at a seed, she sees not just a tiny living thing she can lovingly grow into a single plant but the future of naturally grown, diverse crops. While putting her lifelong green thumb into agriculture at little Scratch Farm in Cranston, Miller and her partner, Ben Torpey, are planting a new business -- Small State Seeds. They are saving seeds from some of their most popular crops and offering them for sale -- or to trade for other seeds. All free of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilizer, they include red Russian kale, Brandy Boy tomatoes and Painted Mountain flour corn, among others. Scratch Farm recently won a $9,975 grant from the state Department of Environmental Management to expand production and marketing of its vegetable, herb and flower seeds. "I'm a real plant person. I love plants. I've always been interested in being able to seed something from the very beginning to the very end and having some creative control over the whole process," says Miller, 32, a Brown University graduate and native of Newport News, Va. "So seed saving was the obvious next step in the process. It's fun. It's beautiful. It's interesting," she says. "We're hoping to sell seed other Rhode Island farmers grow, too." Scratch Farm is not alone in local efforts to save seeds, a traditional practice with a new imperative brought about by large-scale farming and genetic engineering. Rich Pederson, steward at the Southside Community Land Trust's City Farm in Providence, has been saving seeds for 13 years to cultivate starter herbs and vegetables for annual plant sales. Meanwhile, William Hall Library in Cranston started a lending program for seeds. It "loans" seeds donated by Small State, High Mowing Seeds and the Open Source Seed Initiative. "Borrowers" are asked to return seeds from the plants they grow. Cluck! in Providence is selling local seeds. Miller sees what she's doing on a few levels. Mostly, it's about the creativity and science of identifying individual plants that prosper in Rhode Island -- the ones that are the most cold hardy and disease resistant -- and saving their seeds to produce future crops. Sometimes that involves taking advantage of natural cross-pollination among varieties. As a result, not all crops are cultivated for their produce. Some are reserved for harvesting seeds, both for reuse at the farm and for sale. While the Pacific Northwest has plenty of small seed businesses, "in the Northeast there aren't that many," Miller says. "A barrier might be that not that many people know how to do it." Miller is aware, too, of the global mission of some larger organizations to preserve heirloom seeds at a time when their diversity is narrowing and when genetically modified plants have become increasingly common, even threatening to send pollen drifting toward natural crops such as hers. Mostly, however, Miller just likes to think small -- like a seed -- instead of globally. "I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't love doing it. I like to be self-reliant," she says. "I don't like to go shopping. Interacting with large institutions is difficult for me. We plan to limit [Small State] to Rhode Island farmers." ___ (c)2014 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) at www.projo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |