—Fruition Seeds—
A Finger Lakes Seed Company

Dateline: 11 December 2016

Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann, co-owners of Fruition Seeds in Canandaigua, New York.

In the Resources chapter of Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening I discovered a small seed company that is, regionally speaking, practically in my backyard. I wasted no time in going to the Fruition Seeds web site, and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. 

Here is Will's description...


A new small self-owned company in the Finger Lakes Region. A modest but excellent assortment of varieties, all non-GMO, all organic, no hybrids; they produce most (70 percent) of their own seeds.


These young folks are part of a movement to decentralize and localize seed production. And in a world of so much bad news, this is very good news. I am so pleased to see this!

If you are interested in gardening, you must check out the YouTube channel for Fruition Seeds. Even if a movie title doesn't interest you at first, watch it anyway. They are short, and well done, and you might learn something new. Like, for example, This Clip that shows how they harvest zucchini seeds using a log splitter. Or This Clip that tells how to turn your bathroom into a dehydrator.

I placed a seed order with Fruition Seeds tonight. In addition to some of the typical seeds, I am going to try growing Duborskian Rice (no paddy needed), Pineapple Ground Cherry, and Northern Hardy Valencia Peanut. I've never grown any of those things in my garden. 

One item that I have grown for a few years (and recommend without reservation) is the Gold Rush Bush Bean. My Gold Rush bean plants look just like the ones grown at Fruition Seeds...



6 comments:

  1. Ground cherries are grown somewhat like tomatoes, being in the same family. In my experience, they take longer to germinate, and are slow getting going as seedlings. I've taken to starting them a week or two before I start the tomato seedlings. They grow considerably wider than tall.
    The best use of ground cherries, in my opinion is in a pie. Here is my mom's recipe:

    Ground Cherry Pie
    1/3 cup cream
    1 cup sugar
    dash of salt
    1/3 cup flour
    3 cups ground cherries.
    double crust for 9 inch pie

    Mix flour and sugar, then add cream. Fold in the ground cherries. Pour into a 9 inch unbaked pie crust. Put on top crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Can be frozen after cooking.

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    1. Thanks so much for the best-use advice and recipe!

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  2. Elizabeth L. Johnson said, Hi, Herrick! Since we're on the subject, kinda, of moving towards the season to plant, a side-bar: do you have experience pruning orchard trees? I have to learn and take over that yearly project from the hubby. My trees have just about lost all their leaves, making them just about ready for pruning. I have 30, and must get on it!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Elizabeth,

      I'm sorry to say that I'm far from an expert at pruning apple trees! Wish I was. Check out YouTube.....

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  3. Thanks for sharing this site with us, I love small family businesses. One that I can recommend is SeedTreasures.com It is owned by Jackie Clay and her husband. They homesteaded on 120 acres in Northern Minnesota. They have all heirloom and non GMO seeds. Thanks for your blog, you live in a beautiful area.

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  4. Grandma Zee,

    Excellent. I'll check out seedtreasures.com for sure. Thank you.

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