By Michael Hill
ACCORD, N.Y.—Drying corn stalks wilt in late summer sun as Ken Greene tours his crops. Calendula flowers are past bloom and brown. Melon leaves lay crinkled by the dirt. Plants have, literally, gone to seed.
A perfect picture for an organic seed harvest.
“It looks like hell now, but it’s actually good for the seeds,” said Greene, co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library.
The small business 70 miles north of New York City makes seeds the old fashioned way. They are largely plucked, winnowed and packed by hand. They sell only heirloom seeds or varieties naturally pollinated by the wind, insects or birds — about 400 choices like Red Russian Kale, Thai Basil and Flashy Butter Oak Lettuce.
Essentially, the Hudson Valley Seed Library is an organic seed business cross-pollinated with a mission to preserve agricultural diversity.
