Local gardeners passionate about produce are ecstatic that Southold’s Invincible Summer Farms is now selling their local seeds online — and at the Riverhead Farmers’ Market.
According to Steph Gaylor, who partners with Cheryl Frey Richards in the business, located on Youngs Avenue, although they’ve been producing heirloom seeds for a long time, for the first time, they are selling them online at Salt of the Earth Seed Company.
Offering local seeds nurtures, Gaylor said. “We hope to bring back diversity and the community aspect of seed saving,” she said.
Locally grown seeds offer benefits, she added. “Locally grown seeds offer everyone a chance to grow something different from everyone else and that may be a favorite for them. Oftentimes new ‘old heirlooms’ can be a favorite; you’d be surprised. Also open-ollinated or heirloom seeds and plants that are adapted to our climate are more robust than things that are not adapted.”
Currently, Gaylor said, Invincible Summer Farms sells mainly vegetable, herb and some small grains seeds, but they “are in the process of loading more onto the site every week.”
Local gardeners eagerly embrace the local seeds and customers flock to the farmstand; Gaylor explained what makes them special. “Most of the vegetables we grow are not commercially produced or offered for sale, plus they are adapted and do very well here, as a general rule.”
Gayor said one of the most fulfilling parts of her work is watching the reaction of those who love what they’ve so carefully cultivated. “It’s an incredible feeling; working with other seed savers and folks who are passionate about local food.”
The community shares seeds and ideas, she said. To that end, the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium will host a seed swap on February 7 at Suffolk County Community College, Riverhead Campus, in the Shinnecock Science Building from 2 to 4 p.m. For additional information, click here.
Local gardeners are enthusiastic about homegrown seeds. “It’s very exciting to be able to buy varieties that are proven successful in our Long Island climate,” Amy Davidson of Riverhead said.
The seeds, Davidson, are non-GMO, or genetically modified organisms. “Not that all GMOs are bad but without labeling you can’t know what has been spliced into a plant’s DNA. Is a GMO seed ’roundup ready’? Has it had an insecticide spliced into its genes or is it just enhanced with the ability to produce more of a certain vitamin? We have no way of knowing because GMO seeds are not labeled.”
Most important, Davidson said, seeds grown in the local climate bring advantages. “Like any region we face our own unique climate and weather challenges here on Long Island. If a seed grower is here on Long Island they are testing vegetable varieties in the same conditions that I’m going to grow them in as a home gardener. This is huge. For example, they have tested plants in our hot and humid August and will pick the varieties that do best under those conditions,” she said.
And Davidson added, knowing a local farmer provides unique opportunities. “I can walk to the Riverhead Farmers’ Market on the weekend or go to their Southold farm and talk with my farmer about the seeds. This produces fabulous feedback, where the farmer can take his or her own experience and add it to the home gardener’s experience. It’s like having field testers, where all the experiences can be compiled, providing even better selections for the Long Island/maritime grower.”
Gaylor said the seeds are available at the Riverhead Farmers’ Market on Saturdays or can be ordered by clicking here.
