Friday, March 5, 2021
CapitalPress.com
5
Seeds by Design
Patty Buskirk grows 1,000 acres of seed crops.
California seed company runs
gamut from arugula to zucchini
The seeds of inspiration that farmer Patty
Buskirk picked up and nurtured have grown
into a global business three decades later.
“In 1981, I took a summer job as an intern
at a local Northern California vegetable seed
company and I was hooked. I knew that watch-
ing those seeds take root and cultivating them
was what I wanted to do,” she said. “I founded
Seeds by Design and today I manage about
1,000 acres of row crop production and oversee
another 1,200 acres.”
Seeds by Design markets worldwide, mainly
in the home and garden market.
The row crop farm she manages is in Max-
well, Calif. She also contracts with 8 to 10
growers each year for seed production.
Buskirk produces the stock seed. Her cus-
tomers also send stock seed. Stock seed is
an industry term for seed that will be used
for planting a seed crop. Some custom-
ers want to use their seed lots for establish-
ing a seed production crop. A seed crop is
different from a fresh market crop. On aver-
age, the growing season is two to three times
longer.
“The most popular seeds we produce are
summer squash and cucumbers, and the easiest
growers are open pollinated watermelon and
pumpkin,” she said. “Most home garden vari-
eties are open pollinated and not hybrid seed
lots.”
They package their seeds in foil bags and
large tri-wall boxes.
Pests are a constant problem — from pow-
dery and downy mildew to noxious weeds, she
said, adding that rising labor costs and state and
local work regulations are further challenges.
There are not many “beauty contestants” in
the fields, she notes. Some of the gourds have
smelly, hairy leaves, 15-foot vines and weird-
shaped hard fruit, and others show off with
brightly colored soft fruits. Their white and
bright yellow flowers only pollinate in the early
morning.
Asparagus beans are also unique with the
3-foot long pods that look like bowls of spa-
ghetti in the fields.
While Buskirk said she often thinks about
farming methods of the past, she is a fierce
advocate of modern agricultural technology.
“Seed production and decreasing biodiver-
sity are sadly becoming lost arts,” she said.
“I long for days past when I was not a slave
to technology. But do not get me wrong — I
embrace technology and new agricultural
breakthroughs.
“We will never be able to feed the masses
without new farming methods and continued
mechanization,” she said.
- Together we make the world a better place-
(509)665-8349 EquilusCapital.Com
S228938-1
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press