32 SEED production challenging


in local site conditions. Thoreau showed visitors the UBC Seed Hub, a planting of several species designed to illustrate how seed production could be part of a working farm. Typically a challenging endeavour, Thoreau said many growers also find seed production alluring. “People are really drawn to


seed production,” he said. “Once they get it into their blood, they can’t get rid of it.” While seed production is big business in Washington state, Thoreau would like to increase opportunities for BC growers. Ideally, he would like to see BC pursue seed sovereignty with the same enthusiasm directed towards food sovereignty. His own zeal isn’t in question: flies are pollinators of carrots and rather than source maggots from the US, Thoreau placed hunks of raw meat in the isolation structure built to protect seed-yielding carrot plants from potential cross-pollination by their cousin, Queen Anne’s Lace. The meat gave rise to a far larger fly population than he ever expected. But if fly production is easy,


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seed production for commercial vegetable producers is not. Selecting viable seeds for the local climate is the first step; ramping up production is quite another. The sheer scale of production required to produce millions of tiny seeds for growers requires hundreds of acres, not the fractions currently used for the trial program. “I think it’s a little more than people expected,” he conceded.


This means commercial


growers will be dependent on the big supply companies for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, organic


nfrom page 31


growers like Lydia Ryall of Cropthorne Farm in Delta sees value in the trials. She sources her seed


commercially, simply because sources of BC-tailored seed are non-existent. She hasn’t had the choice to date but having seed suited to local conditions has its advantages. “Sometimes our seed is


grown in one specific place in the world or one specific farm and if there are issues, then some years we don’t have access to a certain variety,” Ryall said. “So, if there’s more places that are growing some of these mainstay varieties that market farms use, then that’s a positive.”


Lumberjack is thriving in BC conditions. PETER MITHAM PHOTO by PETER MITHAM


ABBOTSFORD – There’s a new hop available to brewers and it’s been selected for local growing conditions. Lumberjack is a new


proprietary hop variety which BC Hop Co. Ltd. in Abbotsford has licensed and began offering to brewers this spring. The first five-acre planting yielded about 10,000 pounds of the aromatic bud, which was quickly snapped by brewers at home and in the US. It was featured in a pale ale Trading Post Brewing Co. of Fort Langley produced in partnership with the Fort Langley National Historic Site to mark Canada’s 150th birthday. “This is a hop that I think


does really well in pilsners or lagers or saisons,” said Dwayne Stewart, general manager of BC Hop. “Any beer that’s trying to feature hops in a more subtle way. … It wouldn’t be described as a big citrus bomb, which is how you might describe a Citra or a Mosaic.” The official description


credits it with “notes of melon, sweet citrus and spices like cloves and allspice.”


The hop variety was


bred elsewhere but the selection was trialled and embraced here in BC, Stewart explained. “We were pleased with


its performance agronomically,” Stewart said. “The crop this year is looking quite spectacular.” It was a good match for local conditions because of its resistance to mold and mildew. Yields are above what other varieties tend to produce, averaging 2,000 pounds an acre. Most other varieties produce between 1,600 and 1,800 pounds an acre. Production this year will expand to 15 acres and Stewart is keen on expanding the hop’s reach. While developing new varieties of any crop is expensive, Lumberjack was funded in part by a $50,000 grant from Abbotsford’s Agricultural Enhancement Fund. Contributions to the fund come from local developments which pay into the fund as part of the city’s efforts to offset the loss of farmland. Grants are available to cover half a project’s costs, to a maximum of $50,000. BC Hop used its grant to


cover hopyard renovation, trial plantings, the variety registration process and marketing.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2017 New hop debuts


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