Sowing Strength: It all Starts with The Seed
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | 9am -4pm
Hosted by: EcoFarm and the Organic Seed Alliance
Seeds are so powerful! From a tiny kernel, they germinate, grow, blossom, produce food, and then reproduce themselves. In an immersive day about seed, we will focus on the details of this reproduction with segments about how to produce the highest quality organic seed in the context of a farm or garden of any scale.
Issues around resilience to climate change, sharing seed in community seed banks and importance of seed production for reducing risk and preserving diversity will also be covered by presenters with decades of experience and multi-faceted perspectives on this vibrant and fundamental topic.
What to Expect
-
9 - 9:45 a.m.
Led by Zea Sonnabend, EcoFarm Planning Committee, Watsonville, CA.
-
9 - 9:45 a.m.
Speaker: Emigdio Ballon, formerly manager of Tesuque Pueblo farm, New Mexico
-
9:45 - 10:15 a.m.
Speaker: Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance, Arcata, CA
-
10:15 - 10:45 a.m.
Speaker: Steve Peters, Seed rEvolution Now, Oregon
-
10:45 - 11:30 a.m.
Speakers:
Rosie Reynolds, Eel River Produce, Eureka, CA
Steve Sprinkel, The Farmer and the Cook, Ojai, CA
TBA
-
11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Speakers:
Rosie Reynolds, Eel River Produce, Eureka, CA
Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance, Arcata, CA
-
1:15 - 2:00 p.m.
Speakers:
Val Davis, California Certified Organic Farmers, Santa Cruz, CA
Andrew Still, Adaptive Seed, Sweet Home, OR
TBA
-
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Speakers:
Rosie Reynolds, Eel River Produce, Eureka, CA
Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance
-
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Speakers:
Aaron Varadi, High Mowing Seed, Vermont
Steve Sprinkel, The Farmer and the Cook, Ojai, CA
Andrew Still, Adaptive Seed, Sweet Home, OR
TBA
-
4:00 - 4:45 p.m.
Speakers:
Lauren Buffaloe Muscatine, Napa County Seed Library, Napa, CA
Rebecca Newburn, Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library, Richmond, CA
