To Biennial or Not to Biennial?

Biennial seed crops are those that take 2 years to fully mature into a productive seed crop. In the first year there is a great deal of vegetative growth and there is an opportunity for selecting leaf shape, disease and root size. Temperatures drop in the winter bewteen the 2 growing season where the plant is subject to vernalization, a critical stage in promoting the the initiation of flowering in the following season. In the second year of growth there is a physical transformation into the flowering and seed production phase.

Why grow biennial seed crops?

They are tasty! They include crops like beets, carrots, kale, leeks, onions, parsnips, parsley and cabbage.

Why to not grow biennials?

Harder and more time consuming. As well as a risk of the crop being killed in the field if using a seed to seed method.

Will I be growing biennial seed crops this year?

No. I am not sure what next year will bring and I don't yet own my own property. To start, I will practice growing annual seed crops well and slowly increase the difficulty of seed crops.

Seed Crop Plan: Step 1 - Seed Crop Choices

The types of seed crops that will do best in South Burnaby are ones with small isolation distances (self pollinating) due to small plots of land. The climate offers a long season with cool and moist springs, hot and dry summers and long autumns with increasing precipitation in late fall. South Burnaby is protected in a valley so wind is low and temperatures can become quite hot. The water table is also really high in the spring. This climate is conducive to "warm-season, dry-seeded crops." The conditions can also tolerate "cool-season, dry-seeded crops" if planted early enough in the spring. 

        

See seed crops choices below! Enjoy reading and thank you for following my blog!

Fava Beans

Family: Fabaceae 

Species: Vicia faba L. 

Cultivar: Vroma 

Life Cycle: Annual
Mating System: Mixed Selfing and Crossing
Favourable Temp Range for Pollination/ Seed Formation: 16-23C
Seasonal Reproductive Cycle: Late Spring Through Late Summer or Fall (4-5months)
Isolation Distance: 100ft Away from Vegetable Crops and Neighbours

Climactic Conditions: These seed crops typically do well in low humidity, clear, warm and sunny days; and cool nights. My growing area is conducive to these conditions. South Burnaby is very hot, dry, clear, sunny and has low humidity in the summer. As well as being in a valley and close to the Fraser River the evenings will be much cooler than the days. The Vroma cultivar is more heat tolerant than the most common variety of fava (Windsor)
Soil Conditions: Fava beans tolerate high acidity and water logging more effectively than other bean varieties.
Other Benefits: Small isolation distances conducive to small amount of land, nitrogen fixing ability to replenish some of the lost N on farm and can eat the seed as food if needed.

Garden Peas

Family: Fabaceae 

Species: Pisum sativum L. 

Cultivar: Maxigolt

Life Cycle: Annual
Mating System: Primarily Selfing
Favourable Temp Range for Pollination/ Seed Formation: 16-23C
Seasonal Reproductive Cycle: Late Spring Through Late Summer or Fall (4-5months)
Isolation Distance: 100ft Away from Vegetable Crops and Neighbours

Climactic Conditions: Do well in cool and moist springs with gradually warming into summer!  Perfect for the Lower Mainland. They can be sensitive to temperatures above 29C during anthesis, fertilization, and early endosperm development. So it is key to get this crop planted as soon as possible in the spring for the seed to set before the really hot summer days. Dry conditions are favourable for peas. Again perfect for the Lower Mainland in the summer. Hopefully no drought this year though.
Soil Conditions: Can grow in a wide variety of soil textures and fertility, however good drainage is key. They also cannot tolerate excess nitrogen. Since my soil is N deficient this will not be a problem (will still need to apply some N). Good drainage will need to be established by raising the beds and planting water loving cover such as watercress and some cat tails (lots in the area that can be transplanted) around the perimeter of the pea seed growing area.
Other Benefits: Small isolation distances conducive to small amount of land, nitrogen fixing ability (must ensure to inoculate with Rhizobium the first year) to replenish some of the lost N on farm and can eat the seed as food if needed. Peas are sensitive to frost in the spring, not a problem here on the west coast!
The Maxigolt variety is a late variety pea so has a longer window for growth: May be beneficial to this land since we are still waiting for the water table to lower in order to plant. Maxigolt is dwarfing and may not need to be staked which will reduce the cost and maintenance of growth.

Lettuce 

Family: Asteraceae  

Species: Lactuca sativa L.

Cultivar: Coastal Star

Life Cycle: Annual
Mating System: Highly Self Pollinating
Favourable Temp Range for Pollination/ Seed Formation: 16-23C
Seasonal Reproductive Cycle: Late Spring Through Late Summer or Fall (4-5months)
Isolation Distance: 50ft Away from Vegetable Crops and Neighbours. No Problem!

Climactic Conditions: Great dry seeded crop that specifically grows well in the Pacific Northwest! Can handle hotter summers which is good for seed production of lettuce.
Soil Conditions: Likes heavier soils (clay to silt). Does not like excessive N. Likes plentiful amounts of phosphorous. The last soil report indicates heavy textured soil, low N and optimum to excessive P: Perfect! Likes moist soil but still needs to be well drained, raising the beds up in the spring is crucial.
Other Benefits: Delicious and popular! Romaine likes moist soils - in our soils, likely will not need irrigating until July.

Photos Retrieved from; http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Factors to Address in Growing Organic Seed

Featured Seed Crop! Carrot! 

Pictured above, sourced from www.thehomesteadsurvival.com

Carrot (Dacus carota) is a biennial crop that can be quite challenging to grow in this region due to the presence and abundance of the weed Queen's Anne Lace (Dacus carota). Since carrot and this weed are the same species they can easily cross pollinate and produce a seed that is not viable for vegetable production. Other challenges involve the long life cycle and the fact they are a root crop and we have very wet winters here. However, it is possible! I am working on the BC Seed Trials project to increase farmer knowledge of nantes carrot cultivars that perform best in BC and I am helping FarmFolk CityFolk  with their research project on establishing good methodology on how to achieve viable carrot seed in BC! Long live the carrot in BC! 

Specific Growing Environment for my Seed Crops

Space: 0.75 acres 

Orientation and Climate: North West facing growing area within an 8b hardiness zone. However, South Burnaby is significantly warmer than North Burnaby perhaps due to being located lower down in a valley with quite a lot of protection from wind. The seed crop climate can be described as Warm-Season Dry-Seeded Crops. The Lower Mainland generally has considerably dryer and hotter summers than winters, with quite long spring and autumn seasons. 

Water: City of Burnaby water, rain and rain barrel irrigated through drip irrigation. The city water reported to have a pH of 7.9, a chlorine level of 0.2mg/L, the metal levels are within safe parameters for drinking and the zinc in the water is negligible (however some present) - the city considers the water to be of high quality. Not too much information is available on how the quality of the drinking water translates into the quality of the water for irrigating. In the future, it will be good to investigate how levels of chlorine and dissolved metals affect the crops. 

Soil: Clay loam with very high organic matter (~50%), poorly drained (high water table) and acidic. The soil originates from undecomposed accumulations of sphagnum and hypnum mosses. The soil is within the Trigg's series which is said to be very infertile, however the soil report from last year shows very high organic matter and sufficient to optimal levels of essential nutrients, except deficient in nitrogen and excessive in zinc. 

Factors to Address

Climate and Small Isolation Distances: Crops that will do well in the aforementioned climate with small isolation distances will be beans, peas and lettuce. Self pollinating crops will be the best choice since it is hard to know what exactly the neighbours are growing all the time. 

High Acidity: Grow crops that favour acidic conditions. Lime the soil to bring the pH up. Fava beans may be a good choice for high acidity, appropriate for the climate as well as less sensitive to water-logging.

Poor Drainage: Keep a good eye on the weather forecast as to not over irrigate. Grow in raised beds, plant crops that tolerate wet roots. Build up soil level over the years and dig drainage pits around the perimeters. Plant water loving perennials around the edges to provide a consistent uptake of water. 

Low Nitrogen: Grow N fixing crops, fertilize with compost and organic fertilizers 

Excessive Zinc: Liming the soil for acidity control may help balance the zinc levels. Make sure no zinc is being applied. 

Timing: Once the most appropriate crops have been chosen the time to seed will be chosen to ensure enough growing days are reached. Seed crops tend to be more dependent on temperature, so fingers crossed for conducive temperatures for seed growing. 

Spacing: Spacing won't be a problem as most of the land won't be in production as myself and the owners are just getting started in converting the land into a fully productive plot. I can plant the seed crops off to the side from the vegetable crops and the plan is to keep the seed crops centered on the land to maximize isolation distance from the neighbours. Again, the focus will be on self-pollinating crops with isolation distances of 5ft to 20ft which won't be a problem. 

Pest Management: A diversity of plants will be grown on the property to decrease the likely hood of host specific pests. There will be plenty of flowers and natural habitat on the land to promote natural insect predators. Good cultural practices will be practiced to minimize transfer of pathogens. The compost is kept a good distance away from the crops to discourage insect transfer. We are currently struggling with a cooch grass problem, but are having a work party tomorrow to dig out the plants - once those have been removed by hand the whole property will be roto-tilled and mostly covered in a clover cover crop. The vegetable growing area will be intercropped with clover and chickpeas for nitrogen fixation, soil protection and weed suppression. 

Cash Flow and Risk: This land is being cultivated for the passion of growing and to provide supplemental food to our families. Of course, we would like to see the crops be as productive as possible and make sure we break even for operating costs and to see a return on the work put in but nothing is intended to be sold at the moment.