Somebody Has To Save Them
“Seeds. We save them, we plant them, and we eat them. Virtually every food we eat comes from a seed – but from where do all of the seeds come?” This is the question the BC Farm Museum’s current exhibition on Seeds is trying to answer.
Kate Petrusa, a volunteer at the museum and the curator of the Seeds exhibit, tells me that the idea to hold the exhibition was first put forward by local seed saver and co-owner of Glorious Organics Co-op, Susan Davidson, and focuses on the regional agricultural history and local stories of Langley, where the museum is located.
According the Petrusa, “There are a lot of people who are still around here who have memories of using these machines, or who remember their fathers or grandfathers using them.” While seed saving is becoming more popular these days, Petrusa reflects that the exhibit is a reminder that seed saving used to be commonplace. Farmers and gardeners saved seed to feed themselves and plant their gardens, to feed their animals, and to trade and barter with their neighbours.
The exhibit features a number of old farm machines from the museum’s collection. One of these is an old fanning mill, a large machine that was used to clean seeds. The seeds were put on belts that sent them over a number of screens of different sizes, separating them from any chaff, stones and dirt. While fanning mills are rarely used on farms these days, Petrusa wonders if seeing it featured at the museum will inspire seed savers to consider the potential of revamping old machinery.
Retired Langley farmer Bill Berry, who is featured in the exhibition, remembers his father regularly using the fanning mill that now sits at the back of his barn. Bill grew up on a dairy farm his grandfather purchased in the late 1800s. Before it became common to use silage corn as feed for cows, Bill’s family grew oats to feed their herd, along with several acres of potatoes, turnips, beets, clover and grasses. Unsurprisingly, Bill and his father Harold saved their own seed to plant out the following year.
The exhibit also features a collection of old seed catalogues from the days when farmers first started selling seeds instead of just trading them. One of the oldest catalogues is from 1888, and was put together by William Steves, a seed grower on Lulu Island. Steves’ grandson, Harold Steves, still farms in Richmond, BC, where he raises grass-fed beef, saves seed, and is a longstanding advocate for the preservation of BC’s farmland. The exhibit also has a number of seed catalogues from the 1920s and 1930s, from Penticton, Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island and other parts of BC.
And of course, no story of seeds is complete without a look at the present. Touching on some of the issues with our current seed system, and showcasing local, open-pollinated seed growers like Cedar Isle Farm and Glorious Organics, the exhibit reminds visitors that “seeds remain at the heart of farming and agriculture in Langley and beyond.” The message of the exhibition is applicable beyond Langley. “It's a very regional history of seed saving,” says Petrusa, “which we hope is translatable to many other regions.”
The BCFM’s exhibition on Seeds opened on May 1st, and runs until October 13th. Find out more about the exhibition.
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