It’s a busy spring for OSA in California. As part of our long-term plan for California, and in response to comments gathered at two California seed stakeholder meetings held at EcoFarm and our Organic Seed Growers Conference, we are undertaking a number of projects in 2014 to help California seed growers connect and succeed. These projects include:
1. An expanded California organic seed growers listserve with more members and regular activities to help seed growers learn from each other and collaborate on work.
2. A seed equipment wiki where OSA staff, producers, and other experts can create detailed information on crop and scale-appropriate [delete comma] seed production, processing, and cleaning equipment.
3. A larger California organic variety trial network, including trials that OSA is directly managing, as well as on-farm trials that we are supporting through consultations. Right now we have carrot, beets, spinach, and wheat trials in the ground, with pepper and onion trials being planted in the next month.
4. A California organic seed growers symposium to be held this winter. This will be an in-depth meeting where producers can share and learn from each other and from experts in the field of organic seed production.
If you grow or buy seed in California and want to get involved with our work this year, contact Jared Zystro, our California Research and Education Specialist.
