Landrace gardening is adapting crops to your land and climate, and then saving seeds, while also selecting for the best flavor, color, and pest and disease resistance.
Joseph Lofthouse lives in the high mountains of Utah – a mountain valley with cold air coming down out of the mountains, yet sun almost every day in the Summer, and low humidity. He grows for the farmers market and for himself and friends, and with a shorter season and these conditions he had difficulty growing warm weather crops.
This product has a 4.5 out of 5 rating as of Jan-2024.
Seeds have a memory
Seeds have a memory and they “remember” where the plants grew and the seed was saved.
Heirloom crops did not grow for Joseph because the seed was from far away and not grown in his climate. Hybrids had low germination rates and did not thrive because they did not like the conditions and the plants that they were saved from were used to lots of inputs.
He saw 80% of the crops that he planted die. He saved the seeds from the ones that survived and planted the next generation. And it only takes about three generations for the crops to get really happy about growing at his place.
“It only takes about three generations for the crops to get really happy about growing at my place.”
Joseph Lofthouse
Listen to an interview with Joseph on Thriving the Future Podcast Ep. 122 – Food Security through Landrace Gardening with Joseph Lofthouse.
Selecting for flavor and color
He next selected for flavor and color, and even selected plants that were raccoon resistant (!). He selects for squash, and even watermelon, that have a lot of orange, meaning that they are higher in beta carotene. They taste the best to him.
Joseph might take 10 varieties, put them all in a field and allow them to cross pollinate, however they will. And the offspring tend to have traits that are halfway in between the traits of the parents. “And so if I start with great parents, I get great offspring.”
He doesn’t fight pests and predators – he lets them eat the crops and then he saves the ones that were resistant.
We also talk about farming vacant lots in town.
Get Joseph’s Landrace Gardening book here:
