Tucked into the Spring 2010 issue of the magazine [1] Vermont’s Local Banquet is a short piece on a local-ish seed company, Solstice Seeds. What began with neighbors sharing with neighbors through the [2] Clay Hill Collective CSA, is now being made available to a wider community circle. Add Solstice Seeds to the growing [3] list of regionally-produced seeds:

New Seed Catalogue Offers Locally Grown Varieties

Vermont gardeners face particular challenges—a short growing season and increasingly wet summers are just two examples. But a gardener’s chances for success are greatly increased if they plant varieties that have been grown out right here in Vermont for several years, a process that allows the seed to adapt to Vermont’s unique conditions. Locally grown seed allows gardeners to preserve varieties that might otherwise disappear from commercial sources, as well as varieties that have personal, cultural, or historic meaning. This seed also tends to have more vigor and a better germination rate than seed grown in distant places. And it produces vegetables that are more resistant to disease and store well in root cellars, helping us extend the growing season.

With these benefits in mind, Hartland seed saver Sylvia Davatz recently started a small seed company aimed at offering a selection of local vegetable seeds to gardeners. The [4] Solstice Seed Catalogue, now in its second year, includes roughly 80 open-pollinated varieties of everything from amaranth to watermelon. Originally collected from both near and distant sources, all have been grown and trialed in Hartland. Each variety is grown organically and evaluated according to several criteria, and the seed is stored under ideal conditions. Seed packets are sized for the home gardener.

For more information or a .pdf of the 2010 catalogue,  email Sylvia Davatz at sdav@valley.net. Thank-you to [5] Hanover Community Gardens for making the catalog available online.