It starts with the seed.

Therein is the blueprint for life.

As a mother, this makes perfect sense to me.  When I was pregnant with my daughter, I considered everything I’d done up until the moment of conception-- the ways that I had taken care of myself, or not.  I pondered my family history of health concerns.  I reflected on my age.  My body became the soil for the seed, but I also created part of that seed by generating the egg through my own life force. 

It’s really not too different for plants.  There’s a story behind where our seeds come from--we can consider the nutrients of the soil in which they were grown.  Were they grown with chemicals inputs?  Were they tended by hand with love and care?  We can ponder the history of their lineage.  Who were their parents?  What’s their genetic make-up?  We can reflect on their vitality.  Is this a flower that will be healthy, disease-resistant, and less vulnerable to pests?  Will I want to save my own seed and grow this variety again? 

My commercial focus is on growing flowers:  cut flowers and flower seed.  I grow medicinal herbs and food crops too, but I orient myself towards the flowers because they are food for my soul.  As such, I make the choice to tend my crops organically and practice the arts of biodynamic farming.  

When I begin to dream every fall of what I’ll grow next season, I begin with seed.  I scour catalogs for interesting and new varieties.  Since I am also a floral designer, floral trends and plant diversity are important to me.  But, there is a painful lack of organic flower seed available in the market.  Also, it’s really hard to tell who grew the seed that major seed houses offer.  I like to support other small-scale growers like myself.  So, this season, I’ve teamed up with the Siskiyou Seeds team to help curate their flower collection.  We hope you’ll be excited by some of our new introductions and we look forward to suggestions from gardeners and farmers about these and future offerings.  Beauty and integrity are the goal!

May the lyrics adapted from this Navajo prayer color the path:  “Now I walk in beauty, beauty is before me, beauty is behind me, above and below me.”

Stacey Denton

Flora Farm