A Living Seed Bank is not only about providing proper storage. It involves growing seeds out either on a rotating basis or yearly. This ensures the plants may continue to adapt to our rapidly changing environment.
Sustainable growing goes one step further than standard organic methods. When you keep the natural environment as undisturbed as possible it provides habitat for all manner of beneficial insects, birds, butterflies and earthworms.
Inputs or additives are different in a sustainable space. We wouldn't consider using blood meal or bone meal as the source is questionable and involves inhumane slaughter practices. Providing spaces for snakes and lizards using rock walls and leaving some wild spaces keeps the slugs under control.
Saving maple leaves, which are pure alkaline, keeps our use of garden lime to a minimum. It has to be shipped by rail thousands of miles.
Our irrigation pond has a solar pump so there is no worry of a gas leak. The pond is loved by frogs that inhale mosquito larva and provides the nesting site for our amazing population of dragonflies. They are nature's vacuum cleaners for damaging insects.
The woods around our farm create a perfect shelter from winds and are so full of birds it is a delight to the senses.
We have not used a rototiller here in years to keep the earthworms safe. By building soil over decades it is a joy to work with. Our mulching is continuous year round using Canary Reed Grass. It is long-lasting and grown a few blocks from our farm.
We maintain permanent grass pathways around our raised beds so there is no compaction of the soil. Then it is easy to practice crop rotations to ensure plant health.
All together, we are creating an inviting space that works the way Mother Nature intended.