Tuesday, February 22

high mowing seeds

Seeds are on the (largely unsung) battleground of agriculture. Below, learn about Tom Stearns and High Mowing Seeds in Vermont; the videos get you in easy but the 90 minute keynote is the heart of it. This is isn't hippiedippiebullshit, rather serious business with extinction of varieties at stake, and a growing economic force.
Stearns founded High Mowing Seeds in 1996 and since then his Wolcott, Vermont-based company has grown by leaps and bounds and is now one of the few companies in the United States offering 100 percent certified organic seeds.

The name “High Mowing” is a reference to the old hill farms of New Hampshire and Vermont. The hay fields were called “mowings” and the hill top fields were called “high mowings.” “It is an old, regionally specific, agricultural term that I liked the sound of,” said Stearns.
via Seeds Of Success






EcoFarm Conference January 2011.
Can You Imagine a Better Food System.
Keynote speech by Tom Stearns, speaking about the need to re-imagine and revitalize local food-sheds. He highlights Hardwick, Vermont where many food-based businesses share resources and have garnered community support which has resulted in new jobs, a strengthened local economy, and local food networks.