West Coast Seeds Field Trip

Belcarra Garden Club
BC, Canada

West Coast Seeds Field Trip

I’m sure you have often purchased seeds from West Coast Seeds, so it was a treat to visit their business in Delta. The newly renovated retail store, located on their 10-acre farm, includes seeds (of course!), gardening supplies, unique gifts, and beekeeping products and equipment. “Urban Bee” has an aviary on the grounds.

Production manager, Rebecca and her co-worker Ian gave us a full tour with lots of information. The company gears itself toward small commercial and home growers, and its mission is to empower communities. Sustainable gardening practices are a keynote. WCS donated 130,000 seeds last year to schools, organizations, remote communities, and 40 countries worldwide, as well as raising $250,000 through their specialty packages. Kudos to them!

Rebecca explained that WCS does not grow the seeds themselves but does rigorous testing. WCS tests seeds from various producers for 2 years before including them in its catalogue, monitoring them for quality, desirable attributes, and diversity. Researchers monitor new varieties carefully. The team takes notes on the plants and sends the results to the providers and breeding communities.

One resource for them is the All-American Selection (AAS) organization, which conducts very prestigious judging. AAS uses blind trials to compare old and new varieties, so winners will almost certainly perform well in North America. The Pacific Agricultural Certification Society (PACS) has stringent standards and provides organic certifications for those seeds labelled as “organic”.

Sometimes it is difficult to get certificates for seeds from the USA, so Rebecca must search out trustworthy companies. Saving seeds from only the best plants maintains the line.
Certain varieties of seeds may no longer be available, so they must fill “holes in the catalogue” with new ones. Rebecca looks for unique attributes such as flavour, colour, a 70-day to maturity instead of 80 days, or being easier to grow. The goal is to only add varieties you are sure of. All the test plants need to be photographed at different stages for the record.

We began our walk at the “alternatives to lawn” garden plots. These included beautiful blends of wildflowers (such as a cut flower blend and a PNW blend), clover (which is good for the soil), and alyssum as an edging. We learned that in the “Canada 1 Standard for Seeds,” only 1 or 2 clover seeds or weeds per 100 grams or number of seeds can result in rejection! This isn’t such a problem with the larger seeds in many veggies, but it is very difficult to maintain for flowers with small seeds.

The heated greenhouse can hold 6000 seedlings. They sell these afterwards, but without profit. Produce goes to the staff but also to food banks. We learned about the difference between open pollinator and hybrid growers. The reason hybrids are more expensive is that the growers have to keep making the crosses. Heirloom, for example, is an open pollinator, and it is also open-sourced. It is a favourite for both colour and flavour. Some companies have seeds that are so special that they prevent other companies from reproducing them.

Next year, Rebecca hopes to add more ornamental pumpkins and fun veggies. She is also investigating new opportunities, such as fast-growing dahlias from seed and plants especially suited to containers.

It was certainly a most enjoyable field trip, thanks to Rebecca and Ian. We finished it off with a lovely picnic on the grounds. One last visit to the gift shop, and we headed back home with lots of new ideas and some WCS seed packets as well!

Here is a PDF with lots more photos!

photo collage

Belcarra Garden Club BC, Canada

West Coast Seeds Field Trip

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Belcarra Garden Club
BC, Canada