About our Seeds
All seed listed in our Store has been produced on our farm.
Some varieties which I carry since I first joined Seeds of Diversity in 2004, some other ones are recent introductions that grew well in our variety trials.
We give all the information we know about the origin (geographical if it's a landrace/heirloom - or breeder if it'a recent introduction) of each variety and when we know it, its more detailed history or whatever else seemed interesting to tell about it!
Our position: seed freedom
- No GMOs
- No Patents
Savable, Safe, definitely local
Winter squashes and gourds from our 2018 harvest. I began developing winter squashes as a population about 3 years ago, in a more northern site with short summers (Lanaudière mid-north). There's still some selection work to do!
Traceable Seeds
Our seed farm comprises two distinct sites located in Bellechasse, QC. First one is the farm site itself (in St-Lazare), a small piece of mixed forest surrounding our garden, in cultivation since 2018. The second one is our homestead (in St-Nazaire) a young growth forest and a few small gardens in their early days.
The site where seeds were produced from is indicated on the Regular packet. It may change from year to year. All our seeds are grown from one of these sites (or both).
No "sow by" or "best before" date.
Seeds do not expire at any precise moment (expiry dates are most probably a good marketing tool!).
Germination rates decrease gradually. We indicate the year of production on the package so you can estimate the seed longevity depending on your own storage conditions (room temperature vs fridge).
As a general rule, most seeds last about 3-5 years at room temperature, about 10 times longer in cold storage!
The exception is the parsnip: it expires generally after 1 year at room temperature thus we recommend you refrigerate them (cold & dry) to get best results even within 1 year. More on the topic of seed longevity here!
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‘On-Farm Breeding’ Tag
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See the fruits of our efforts in selecting varieties that do well on our farm and are bred by ’traditional’ means (hand pollination or insect pollination) followed by selection. These varieties are distinct from their parentage.
Right now, it includes population/landrace-type mixes. Coming "soon", I may introduce stable breeding lines as named varieties. ‘Soon’ means about 2-3 years+ from now! Patience and observation are two important factors in plant breeding!
Number of seeds per packet
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Packets are filled by weight. Number of seeds per packet means the actual number of viable seeds. We adjust according to the % germination. The estimated number of seeds is indicated in the variety description.
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% germination
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Our "most recent" germination tests : are performed each year in December/January after the year's harvest is extracted and dried naturally.
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Do you have this...
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As you can see, our available seeds for sale still " lack " some major species, like cabbage, rutabaga and some others. In most cases, variety trials are still undergoing until we choose which one(s) to propagate. Sometimes it’s also because I am developing and selecting new varieties at the farm and cannot grow other ones in the meantime or they would cross (unintentionnally).
So more species will likely become available in coming years!
To read more...
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OSSI-Pledged Variety -

What does it mean?
OSSI, for Open Source Seed Initiative, means that the varieties registered are intended to be «freed»: free of intellectual property (patent) that may restrict their use in breeding or their propagation (seed saving). Open source seed is also meant to respect four seed freedoms, described as the following:
«1. The freedom to save or grow seed for replanting or for any other purpose.
2. The freedom to share, trade, or sell seed to others.
3. The freedom to trial and study seed and to share or publish information about it.
4. The freedom to select or adapt the seed, make crosses with it, or use it to breed new lines and varieties.» *
*www.osseeds.org
Background:
In the last decades, the bulk of seed sales and seed production has come to be mostly owned by a few major seed producers. The point is - they have patented many varieties. And this often completely blocks the information about the variety (parentage etc) for the researchers and breeders - it may only slow down the process in both private and public plant breeding.
Last but not least, it also quite often restricts farmers from growing their own seeds from such lines, so they come to buy it again and again - and they become dependent until the day the company stops selling it, then what happens? In agriculture, finding a good well-adapted replacement is not that easy at all. It then comes down to food security questions.
The «free the seed» movement was born with the access to seed for present and future generations in mind.
It also encourages the development of such ethically produced seeds. Plant breeders who developed and OSSI-pledged their varieties are acknowledged in a way similar to giving credit to an author/artist for an image or any artwork, published (offered for free) under the commons license.
This breeder credit and information must «follow» the seeds (like on the variety description on our online seed store), as well as the Pledge:
OSSI Pledge
You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose.
In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this Pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.
As a partner seed company, we are happy to offer you from now on a growing selection of OSSI-Pledged varieties!
Learn more about the OSSI Pledge at osseeds.org
