THUNDER BAY — A member of a local collective of growers says gardeners often get a great feeling of accomplishment after successfully cultivating plants from seed.
Ayano Dempsey is a member of Superior Seed Producers. The organization promotes the distribution of plant seeds that are locally adapted and grow reliably in the Thunder Bay area’s climate.
Dempsey, who started gardening shortly after moving to Thunder Bay just over a decade ago, said it can be a challenge, given the relatively cool growing zone the region is in, but the local community is succeeding in producing seed varieties that survive and thrive here.
“Usually, they're grown in the States where … conditions are very different,” Dempsey said. “The thing about seeds is if you produce them over several generations and sort of pick and choose what performs well for you, then you get like a locally-adapted version of that seed, even if it's an heirloom seed.”
Few commercial seed producers sell products that reliably grow in the region, she added.
Superior Seed Producers is holding its annual Seedy Saturday event on February 22, scheduled to take place at Roots Community Food Centre.
A popular part of the event, Dempsey said, is the seed swap table, where people can take as many packages of seeds as they donate, giving growers a chance to expand their seed catalogues.
“As long as you've got something to donate, then it's free and you get to experiment with different things that you might otherwise not have,” she said.
The event is also scheduled to feature other vendors and exhibitors, including local agricultural businesses and not-for-profits, like the Thunder Bay and District Master Gardeners and the Adelaide Butterfly Garden.
Dempsey, who is from Japan, said she’s had success cultivating Japanese vegetables that she can’t find here, like some varieties of peppers. While they sometimes struggle in the first year or so, she said that with perseverance, the yield does increase as time goes on.
“I get more peppers out of one plant every year that I continue to cycle,” she said. “At this point, I'm really happy with where the peppers are — I think they are well adapted to Thunder Bay.”
And while Dempsey said that gardeners and growers will have different reasons for experimenting with seed growing, she said it can be a great way to produce one’s own food. She said she’s got about 500 square feet of space in her yard in Thunder Bay dedicated to her vegetable garden and that last year, she harvested more than 500 pounds of food.
“It's a significant chunk of our groceries for the year,” she said.
