How Are We Different From Other Seed Companies?

  • Only urban seed producer

  • Grow, process and sell organic local seed

  • Collaborate with local seed savers

  • Collect data on micro-climate specific variety trials

  • Educate community on seed issues and processing procedures

  • Encourage gardening as a part of healthier communities

  • Represent an example of successful urban farm

Brijette Peña of San Diego Seed Company gives her Seed Saving 101 class.

Why Local Seeds Production Matters

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Increase diversity

Save varieties from going extinct

As seed banks are destroyed we lose precious genetic material.

Create regionally adapted varieties

Create “flow” of local, fresh seeds

Economic, cultural and social benefits

Small scale seed production is beneficial

Small scale production allows for chemical free seeds

Educate farmers, growers, gardeners

Seed Industry History

150 years ago, seed industry as we know it today did not exist. In fact, in 1850 the United States Department of Agriculture started a massive seed sharing to encourage population growth and access to food. This policy gave way to huge population growth and  helped fuel the movement west in search of new land. During this time farmers became selecting their crops for the best qualities and crossing them to produce the first wave of hybrids.  This gleeful time of free seeds would not last forever.

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A New Kind Of Seed Company

Here at San Diego Seed Company, we believe everyone should have access to seeds and to growing their own healthy food. We want to play an important part in that.

Seed Terms

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Conventional

Generic seed term used to categorize non-hybrid seeds

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Heirloom

Seeds with a historical significance, particularly before WWll

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Open-pollinated

Seed that is pollinated by natural factors like wind or insect

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Hybrid

First step in artificial pollination

  • the offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a mule (a hybrid of a donkey and a horse)

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GMO

Is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques

  • Common example: corn with herbicide resistance

What To Know To Become a Seed Saver

  • Cross pollination

  • Population sizes

  • Plant selection

  • Proper seed processing

  • Proper seed drying

  • Proper seed storage

Crosspollination

  • Not always a bad thing, advent of hybridization
  • Open-pollinated varieties more susceptible
  • Avoid crosspollination for pure seed
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