Old Varieties Take Hold On Saskatchewan Farm

Old Varieties Take Hold On Saskatchewan Farm CROPS Miscellaneous Jim Ternier can help you plant a 400-year-old variety of carrots fava beans and lettuce from the 1700’s or a variety of squash that Native Americans planted for hundreds of years before Europeans entered the picture His catalog lists 102 varieties of small grains from all over the world 50 of which are wheat Some stretch back hundreds if not thousands of years The einkorn wheat he grows is thought to be the oldest wheat still in existence dating back 10 000 years “Most of what we sell are old varieties bred commercially in the 1800’s and early 1900’s ” says Ternier “Some varieties came from customers who’ve had them in their families for generations ” Ternier readily admits to stumbling into the seed business A market gardener some 35 years ago he started saving seeds from his favorite open-pollinated varieties and selling them during the off season He put out his first catalog in 1986 “Seed sales proved more interesting than growing so I expanded until I was able to stop selling vegetables ” says Ternier “At first I sold to the local market The majority of our sales are still to surrounding provinces However we also sell to the U S and have started selling to Europe More recently we’ve sent seeds to Japan and Australia ” With 30 to 35 fava and broad bean varieties Ternier has what he thinks may be the largest private collection While others may have more grains what Ternier offers is impressive Like his vegetable seed business it developed by accident “A wheat weaver asked for some durum varieties She said they were the best for weaving due to their long strong stems and pretty beards ” recalls Ternier “I grew some offered them in my catalog and they proved popular I added more It took me a decade to realize that some customers were growing them for a food crop not for decorations ” One of Ternier’s early and most decorative varieties is Utrecht Blue It is classified as an emmer wheat the preferred pasta wheat in Italy It has gunmetal blue heads and black beards that bend over when mature He has been growing it for more than 30 years He received the first grains while visiting the Netherlands where his wife was born “I spent a day in Utrecht with a large private seed collector looking at seed He gave me some samples ” recalls Ternier “I planted them and they grew well I put them in the catalog and they sold well I don’t think they were available in North America before then “I use a push seeder to place seeds every couple inches ” says Ternier “I snip the heads by hand as they ripen and place them in paper bags When dry enough I thresh with my hands or feet and then winnow and screen by hand ” Ternier grows out around 20 varieties of grain each year including poppy amaranth teff quinoa and others He also grows out about a quarter of his other seed offerings each year Every 3 to 4 years the entire collection is renewed It’s a job that doesn’t get any easier Last year heavy fall rains resulted in sprouting of about 50 percent of the wheat while in the field Other plots never germinated due to a dry spring New additions add to the workload “I have more than 15 new samples from Australia and France this year ” says Ternier who also serves on the board of Seeds of Diversity Canada a national seed saving organization “It is already almost more work than I can handle with what I already have ” Luckily for Ternier his customers and his seed collection his daughter Rachelle has joined the business She and his sister Judy live on the family farm Between them and Jim they raise about 95 percent of all the seeds offered in the catalog Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jim Ternier and Rachelle Ternier Box 2758 Humboldt Sask Canada S0K 2A0 ph 306 682-1475; info@prairiegardenseeds ca; www prairiegardenseeds ca

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