The wait is over! Glass Gem, one of the world's most beautiful corn varieties, is now on sale to the general public through our online store. Sorry, no phone or mail orders will be accepted. One packet of seed per customer please. Only a limited amount will be available. If you live in the Tucson area, we also have Glass Gem available at our local retail store located at 3061 North Campbell Avenue.
A ground-breaking collaboration of farmers and organizations in southern Arizona has been awarded a two-year, $50,000 grant by the Western SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) program to revive the production, milling, distribution, and marketing of the oldest extant grain varieties adapted to the arid Southwest: White Sonora soft bread wheat and Chapalote flint corn.
Native Seeds/SEARCH, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Hayden Flour Mills, Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance, Cultivate Santa Cruz, Tubac Historical Society, Amado Farms Joint Venture, and Avalon Organic Gardens and EcoVillage will work with small-scale beginning farmers as well as low-income tortilla makers and bakers in the proposed Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area to increase our region’s food diversity and food security in the face of climate change and an evolving agricultural landscape.
This just in! Acres U.S.A., one of the leading magazines for sustainable agriculture, has just published a feature article by Native Seeds/SEARCH Executive Director Bill McDorman and Development Assistant Stephen Thomas. Titled "Sowing Revolution", the piece explores the burgeoning seed library movement from its roots over 10 years ago in the pioneering Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL) to the recent explosion of community seed libraries like Richmond Grows, started by Seed School graduate Rebecca Newburn. It's quite the captivating read... dig in!
Click the image to download the PDF.