2008 planting plans in the market garden.
The following is a rough planting plan for the year, though details always change with conditions. Additional produce & crops are being grown elsewhere, though this area is the heart of our production. In 2009 we plan to move our primary growing into our larger field, adapting this garden for a variety of uses including isolation for seed saving, perennial crops such as strawberries, and small-batch testing of new varieties. Beds are 4'x16', lined with cedar logs and irrigated with drip line. Many beds will grow more than one crop over the course of the growing season, as spring, summer, and fall varieties are rotated. For example, the garlic which overwintered from 2007 in C1-3,6-7 will be replaced by fall greens in late summer. Not all of these rotations are listed here.

Not all varieties or produce listed below are intended for sale. Our primary food source year-round is our produce, and we do not yet have the room, time, or interest to grow some things at a commercial scale. We include all our varieties here to show the diversity possible among heirloom produce, and to emphasize the homestead structure of our farm.

2008 varieties (not complete)
Our primary seed sources are Seed Savers Exchange (IA), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (MO), Sandhill Preservation Center (IA), Johnny's Selected Seeds (ME), and Territorial Seeds (OR)  The first three, in particular, do an excellent job locating, preserving, and promoting heirloom varieties from around the world, while we have found that Johhny's and Territorial provide consistently high-quality and reliable seed.

About heirloom and hybrid varieties
Any kind of fruit or vegetable has many variations (think of apples). Hybrid varieties are those in which two different varieties have been intentionally crossed to gain some advantage; Open-pollinated varieties are those which naturally reproduce themselves. Hybrids must be recreated by a breeder every year, as their seeds do not breed true, while the seed from open-pollinated varieties can be saved, collected, and reused year after year if the plants are isolated from other varieties (to avoid accidental hybridization). The exact definition of Heirloom varies, but the term basically refers to open-pollinated varieties whose seed has been consistently preserved and passed along for many years, usually within a population such as families, ethnic groups, or geographic regions.

Heirloom varieties, from which seeds can be saved, represent the vast majority of human agricultural history until the advent of large commercial seed companies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Collectively they preserve a wealth of genetic and cultural diversity from around the world, but many have died out or become rare due to the increasing homogenization of agriculture and gardening. Compare the uniformity of a grocery store tomato display with the hundreds of colors, shapes, textures, and tastes of tomatoes present in the Seed Savers or Baker Creek collections, and the difference becomes obvious. Heirlooms have also been discouraged through the influence of corporate and industrial agriculture, which emphasizes uniformity and shipping ability over diversity and taste. In an especially egregious example, Monsanto has actually sued farmers for saving seed, which until recently was a fundamental principle of farming. We grow heirlooms partly as a resistance to the industrialization of farming, and to decrease our dependence on corporate interests for our seeds.

Preserving and growing heirloom varieties carries many benefits. The genetic diversity among heirloom populations helps keep agriculture more resistant to pests and diseases, while the increasing monoculture among industrial agriculture raises its vulnerability. The variety of tastes and appearances among heirlooms provides better culinary opportunities, along with the ability to prepare more authentic ethnic dishes. Also, we simply enjoy being part of a continuous chain of farmers growing and preserving these varieties; some of our favorites were grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and these are far from the oldest known heirlooms. We find the world of heirloom vegetables simply fascinating from a culinary, scientific, historical, and agricultural perspective.

Hybrids are not evil or bad, and  we certainly grow them alongside our heirlooms. Heirlooms can be unpredictable and quite variable within a single growing season, due to their natural genetic variation; the uniformity and predictability of hybrid varieties is an important consideration for market growers, especially at larger scales. In some cases, we have not found an heirloom with the qualities of a hybrid (such as Zephyr squash), and so we grow the hybrid. Fundamentally, however, we feel that heirloom varieties best fulfill the principles by which we farm and live, and so we emphasize their presence in our growing and marketing plans.