The Future Heirlooms
Seedbank is Open! James Christie-Fougere and Sharon Coombs were 2016 EA interns, and are co-directors of The Kootenay Society for Sustainable Living and Future Heirlooms Mini-Farm in British Columbia, Canada. They are focused on GROW BIOINTENSIVE agricultural methods, earthen building practices, food storing, and beekeeping. "Seed is the source of life and the first link in the food chain." -Vandana Shiva Hey all, we wanted to share that the Future Heirlooms Seed Bank is officially open!!! We’re online at growsustainability.org/seed-bank Flat rate shipping Canada-wide is $5, and $10 for the USA. Everywhere else in the world: $15. We’re prioritizing the preservation and proliferation of rare varieties over income generation; therefore, the Future Heirlooms Seed Bank operates by donation. People who are in the East Kootenay region can opt for local pickup during checkout. Because we are a small education/research based non-profit with low inventory, we ask you to please limit seed orders to 5 packets per household per year. There is no minimum donation required, so simply please donate what you can when you can to help us keep the Future Heirlooms Seed Bank available to everyone!
Future Heirlooms is located near Kimberley British Columbia, nestled in the Columbia valley between the Purcell and Canadian Rocky Mountain ranges. Our gardens reach a 4,000 foot elevation and are situated just under the 50th parallel. We have a cold, short growing season in a semi-arid overall climate in the region. Our micro-climate is particularly cold, The Future Heirlooms Seedbank is Open! From Kootenay Society For Sustainable Living with roughly a 3-month main growing season, and 2 very frosty months on either side. We have no frost-free growing months even in summer, with a typical summer day reaching 30°C (86°F) during the day and 5°C (41°F) overnight. Our soil is a sandy loam with moderately low soil organic matter and an alkaline pH of 8-8.5. Through rigorous variety trials and selective seed saving, we’ve begun to acclimatize these varieties to our unique micro-climate; selecting the strongest, fastest, highest yielding plants which also acclimatizes them to our unique micro-climate conditions. As a result, all the seeds we are sharing with you are very cold tolerant, frost tolerant, adapted to extreme temperature shifts between day/night, and overall acclimatized to our dry climate, dry sandy soil, and high pH. If you have a different micro-climate, fear not! These open-pollinated seeds are capable of acclimatizing to your micro-climate as well! Simply save your own seed, and you’ll quickly see your own yields increase as your plants grow and adapt to your growing conditions. Seed grow out participation and seed donation forms coming soon! If you have any questions about a particular variety, we're happy to share more information and data. Happy growing!
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All of the seeds found in the Future Heirlooms Seed Bank were grown with love, by hand, at our Grow Biointensive Research, Education and Demonstration Mini-Farm. All seeds are open-pollinated, grown organically, transplanted, and harvested by hand, with care. We’ve focused our research on rare and endangered varieties that are highly adaptable in order to facilitate acclimatization to micro-climates, and preserve these valuable and increasingly endangered genetics. As a result, you’ll find many Heirloom, Landrace and Heritage varieties! 