Background Reading

I gained a bit of notoriety some years ago when Mother Earth News asked me to write a series of articles about landrace gardening. When visiting the page, I recommend sorting by oldest and read the first few articles first to get a better understanding of why I grow the way that I do.

Plant Breeding

Rather than depend on far-away distant mega-companies for seeds, I am working as a traditional farmer. I am breeding genetically diverse landraces of your favorite crops. This allows me to develop farm-specific varieties in which the genetics of the crop interact with our climate and soil to provide optimum taste and reliability. Due to the strange economic conditions this year I am not selling seeds. Some varieties of my seeds can be obtained from:

Experimental Farm Network
Giving Ground Seeds
Snake River Seed Cooperative
Wild Mountain Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange
High Ground Gardens
Baker Creek Seeds
Miss Penn’s Mountain Seeds
Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds

If I missed anyone please let me know, and I’ll add you to this list.

For other varieties, I may be willing to gift non-tested seeds if you’ll cover postage which is about $5 per shipment. I welcome donations to help with my work of developing new genetically-diverse landrace varieties, and feeding my community. Please communicate with me before requesting seeds. These are being selectively adapted to the growing conditions found in Cache Valley and the Great Basin of Utah. Due to my breeding projects I am able to grow crops that would not otherwise produce a harvest in Cache Valley. The quick maturing varieties have proved useful in high-altitude gardens with short-seasons, and in hot climates where a crop needs to mature quickly before the worst of the summer heat cooks the garden.

“This was the worst year in my lifetime for growing tomatoes in PA. It was the wettest year in recorded history — 25+ inches above normal rainfall. Blight and more blight. I do not spray for this and grow organic. Everything died except S peruvianum, S habrochaites, and the interspecies crosses. I am returning these offspring….” (Satisfied Customer, 2018)

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Landrace Gardening

Food Security Through Biodiversity and Promiscuous Pollination

Food reliability matters more than ever

Joseph Lofthouse taught landrace gardening at conferences hosted by the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, National Heirloom Expo, Organic Seed Alliance, Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA-NY), and Utah Farm & Food Conference. He serves as World Tomato Society ambassador.

    • Do you tire of blaming yourself when purchased seeds fail to thrive?
    • Do you wish that you could save your own seeds without worry about
messing them up?
    • Do you want increased food security and reliability from your garden with
less work?

In this book Joseph describes how he uses biodiversity and promiscuous pollination to simplify gardening and seed saving, while increasing reliability. Read this book to find out how.

Publication expected during spring 2021.

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