- Sell seed to cooperatives led by farmers in my region such as the BC Eco Seed Co-op.
This market is great to sell seeds locally and in bulk. The small regional cooperatives promote regionally adapted seed, diversity, agroecology, community building, knowledge sharing and support from colleagues. Selling to a co-op is beneficial to take the demand off how many varieties I have to provide for the category below. Selling to seed companies requires yield beyond what I intend to grow in the beginning.
Small Farmers, Market Growers & Home Gardeners
- Sell seed packets at my vegetable market stand and sell to local farmers if interest
This market is a good way to get started when my yields are low and I am just dipping my feet. The packaging and displays can be very basic but quaint. Once I have enough seed to start selling to the co-op I think this outlet would be a matter of surplus seed leftover from selling to the cooperative. I also like the community connection and sharing/selling of seed and food diversity within a smaller community.
Research, Seed Libraries & Barter
- Participate in grow outs to contribute to the Canadian Seed Library with Seeds of Diversity. Farm is paid $300/year for small portion of my seed of 3 varieties.
- Participate in variety trials to contribute to research with projects similar to the BC Seed Trials. Receive a small stipend for my time, free seeds for the trial plus keeping the harvest.
- Barter and trade with local farmers; seed swap, trade seed for produce, honey and meat etc.
These additional streams aid building social capital, seed security, receiving extra income and promote economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Hi Carla - my main comment would be that you have identified a number of target markets here that may have quite different characteristics and, thus, needs. For example, your local market may want certain types of seeds and varieties that are quite different from the needs of SoD Canada or research projects. Also, the types of co-ops that you mention are really a conduit to a target market rather than a target market themselves. Your target market here is home gardeners and perhaps small farmers and the co-op is the means to reach them. Depending on the reach of the co-op, your target market here may be across all of BC or even other parts of Canada. This market would probably have quite different trends than your local community. My advice would be to prioritize your top markets so you can allocate your growing space appropriately.It may be nice to grow 3 different varieties for SoD's seed bank but how much of your growing space does that take up and how does it mesh with growing seed crops for your local market or the co-op? This is a good opportunity to develop enterprise budgets for each project to determine relative importance of each market.
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