Lisa Kitt - Seed Plan

Daucus Carota Yellowstone Carrots require an isolation distance of 0.5-2 miles.   Spinacia Oleracea Bloomsdale Spinach requires an isolation distance of 0.5-3 miles. Beta Vulgaris Golden Beets require an isolation distance of 0.5-10 miles. Carrots, Spinach, and Beets generally have the same minimum isolation distance of 0.5 miles.   Beets and spinach are wind pollinated and are both very light seeds to the isolation distance becomes larger if there aren’t any barriers in between us and the neighbors or neighboring crops of the same species.   Beets are susceptible to crossing with genetically modified sugar beets therefore, there is a minimum distance of 10 miles where GMO sugar beets are involved.   All three of these species cross-pollinate very easily by insects or wind.    We are situated in a very isolated area.   To the West of us is a half a mile of thick forest, followed by pasture and grazing lease.   I am still wor...

For some crazy reason I have decided to attempt to grow two biennials!   Luckily carrots and beets have similar storage requirements and are from a different species, so I don’t have to worry about any cross-pollination. Both carrots and beets require 3 months of cool temperatures around 1-3 degrees Celsius and a high humidity around 90-95 percent. I have a root cellar that cools to 4 degrees around the beginning of October when I need to have the root crops out of the ground due to snow.   It quickly drops to 1-3 degrees within a couple of weeks after harvest.   The humidity hovers around 95 percent so I have to worry about too much humidity at times.   My preferred method for storing carrots and beets is in the heavy plastic bags with holes punched in them.   One main difference between the seed carrots and market carrots is that I won’t be washing the seed carrots to preserve the beneficial microbes in the soil intact. I am going to try throwing in a few...

What plants grow good in our area and what plants I really want to grow for seed?  That is the question! We live in a cooler short season climate.  After looking at the different climatic zones that Navazio outlines I think that we fall somewhere between Cold Season - Dry Seeded Crop and Warm Season - Dry Seeded Crop, depending on the weather year to year.  Our average summer day in 21-26 degrees.  Our really hot days are weekends of 30-33.  We are lucky to get a few of these and they tend to come in a few day clusters.  Again, every year here is very different.  One thing that remains the same is that we live in a dry climate with low humidity.  It can freeze up until about May 25th and then again around the end of August and beginning of September. I really want to try growing Golden Beets, Yellowstone Carrots, and Bloomsdale Spinach.  These are all open-pollinated varieties.  Golden Beets and Bloomsdale Spinach are very expensive or...

We live in a remote area of northern Alberta, surrounded by other organic and organically managed farms. We do need to address one field that may be, as the crow flies, within 4 miles and has in the past grown canola. We also have a short growing season and so need to learn what we can and cannot grow for seed in our growing zone, or add season extensions for crops that require more heat units or growing days. Because of our short season, we need to learn how, and which, species of crops we can stagger the plantings in order to maximize the varieties of crops we can grow for seed production. We intend to mix vegetable production with seed production. We will thin crops with the intention of selling the harvest, and leave the best for seed. We will maintain a completely separate market garden specifically for vegetable production in order to avoid timing and irrigation conflicts.   Our land base alone will not be large enough to meet the required buffe...