As one of Ontario’s biggest organic seed companies, Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds has been producing seed crops outside of Palmerston, Ontario since 1996, specializing in farm-selected, open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Unlike traditional seed companies, they grow, harvest, process, perform germination tests, package, and distribute seeds all right from their farm.

Kim Delany and Aaron Lyons have accumulated plenty of technical knowledge about growing, cleaning, and sharing seed – and lots of seed cleaning equipment as well! Come in the morning for a field tour, bring a bagged lunch to enjoy on the farm, and stay for an equipment walk through in the afternoon, including an overview of their new winnow wizard. Learning from Hawthorn Farm’s successes and challenges will give new seedkeepers a head start on their seed saving journey, and seasoned growers some new and innovative ideas. You are welcome to join for all or part of the day.

Hawthorn Farm also supports community seed saving projects, are part of an on-farm breeding collective called SeedWorks, and are involved in EFAO’s Farmer-Led Research Program as well as EFAO’s Seed Mentorship Program. This event is not to be missed! This field day is hosted in partnership with the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security.