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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 5, 2021
Deep Harvest Farm focuses on seed preservation
WHIDBEY
ISLAND,
Wash. — Having grown up on
a seven-acre farm, Nathaniel
Talbot always had in the back
of his mind that farming was
what he wanted to do. He was
living in Portland as a musi-
cian and environmental edu-
cator working through non-
profits, but it didn’t feel right
for him.
That was when Talbot and
his now wife Annie Jesperson
took classes in organic gar-
dening, seed saving and urban
farming.
In 2010 they took the
plunge and interned at an
organic farm school on Whid-
bey Island, Wash.
“We decided we’d try (the
internship) for a year and if we
didn’t like it we could always
go back to our normal jobs
in Portland,” he said. “After
a few months we decided we
loved it.”
In 2015, they bought a
Amos Morgan
Nathaniel Talbot and Annie Jesper-
son own Deep Harvest Farm on Whid-
bey Island, Wash. They moved from
Portland in 2010 to pursue an agricul-
tural internship and in 2015 bought a
seed farm.
small farm they could call
their own: Deep Harvest
Farm.
Deep Harvest Farm car-
ries over 120 varieties of cer-
tified organic, open-pollinated
and non-GMO vegetable and
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some agricultural diversity in
the past century.
“I’ve been inspired and a
fan of other seed companies
that focus on preservation,” he
said. “Seeing how people who
are the sole caretaker of doz-
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flower seed on its 10 acres
spread across three isolation
plots.
Talbot said he has always
been interested in the pres-
ervation of biological diver-
sity, especially with the loss of
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He said it’s been “amaz-
ing” and “hopeful” to see.
One of the biggest chal-
lenges they have faced is
learning the hard way with
seed production, birds and
weather.
“We made a lot of mis-
takes,” he said. “It was trial by
fire.”
In retrospect, Talbot
said they would have saved
a headache if they took
another year to work on
a seed farm, but the busi-
ness side of the farm ran
smoothly.
Last year they got their
first employee to help out
with seed packing, which
helps because Talbot said
they were both getting
burned out shoveling seeds
into packets.
At this point they have
been focusing on saving
high quality seed and getting
more creative with breed-
ing varieties to have a more
diverse farm.
They also diversified in
selling their flowers and pro-
duce in Community Sup-
ported Agriculture (CSAs)
and are bringing in sheep,
chickens and more fruit trees
so they can manage the farm
as an ecosystem.
Talbot said they owe
their knowledge and suc-
cess to other regional seed
companies.
He also said he wants to
diversify with more varieties
of seeds, especially for shut-in
customers buying seed for their
gardens during the COVID-19
pandemic.
“We’re just doing this
because we love it and hearing
from people who love what
we’re doing and are excited to
have regionally adapted vari-
eties that are organic. People
have been surprised and grate-
ful for the product and that’s
been wonderful to have,”
he said.
Beyond the feedback, the
most amazing part for Tal-
bot is “seeing the full feel of
everything flowering.”
“In June when all the seed
plants are flowering, it’s peak
seed season, and all the pol-
linators are buzzing around,
it’s one of the more beauti-
ful sights that I’ve ever wit-
nessed,” he said.
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ens of very rare varieties and
just the stress and weight of
responsibility. I thought they
could use help in that vector.”
Talbot said they believe
small, regional seed com-
panies that offer diverse,
open-pollinated crops play
a crucial role in building a
healthy and dynamic seed
industry.
By ALIYA HALL
For the Capital Press