Stellar Seeds / Kootenay Joe Farm
Colleen O'Brien and Patrick Steiner operate Stellar Seeds and produce many of the companies' seeds at their own certified organic farm on the slopes of the Purcell mountains in Johnson's Landing, BC. Beyond producing seeds, they also produce fresh vegetables for sale at the Kaslo farmers market. You can meet Colleen and Patrick at many Seedy Saturday events across BC throughout February and March. They have been producing high quality organic seeds for over ten years.
Notch Hill Organics
Sue Moore has been an organic farmer for over 25 years, and an old neighbour to Stellar Seeds when we farmed in Sorrento, BC. She has been growing seeds for us for over 5 years and is a big contributor to the diversity of seeds we sell. Steph Warr works with Sue in harvesting and cleaning seeds, especially flowers and herbs. Steph is also with Notch Hill Organics, which is on its way to converting into a co-operative farm. Notch Hill Organics is a major vegetable producer in the Shuswap region of BC, selling their produce from Sorrento to Kelowna to Vancouver.
Cherry Meadows Farm
Suzanne Miller, and her partner Patrick Boundy, have operated Cherry Meadow Farm in South Slocan, BC since 1986. It is an old Dukhobor homestead that they have turned into an excellent seedgrowing location, among other things. Suzanne has been fascinated with seeds since she was a toddler, learning about their particular magic from her grandmother. As well as selling through Stellar Seeds you can find Suzanne sharing and selling her seeds at Seedy Saturday events throughout the West Kootenays.
Sweethaven Farm
Keith Boulter and Naomi Silver operate this certified organic, mixed livestock and crop farm in Tappen, BC. Keith has been involved in agriculture all his life, growing up on a small, mixed prairie farm in Alberta. As well as growing seeds, Keith produces grain and beef on about 55 acres and clover blossoms for the specialty medicinal herbs market.
Sorrento Centre Farm
Dave Wides has been farming for 12 years. He is the Farm Manager for Sorrento Centre Farm in Sorrento B.C. Dave studied seed saving under John Navasio at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The Sorrento Centre Farm is a diversified vegetable and fruit farm that conducts education workshops and grows food for charity. The Sorrento Centre farm is committed to growing crops and producing seeds without using any snythetic fertilizers, herbicides or other synthetic products.
Saanich Organics
Saanich Organics is an organic vegetable marketing partnership run by Robin Tunnicliffe, Heather Stretch, and Rachel Fisher. They each have their own certified organic farms on the Saanich Peninsula, near Victoria BC, and have been working cooperatively since 2002. They have recently embraced seed saving due to the dire need for high quality, organically grown, locally produced, heirloom seed. Thanks to the good work of seed managers Melanie Sylvestre and Lisa Willott they have some varieties to offer Stellar Seeds this year.
The Homestead Organic Farm
Jordan Marr and Vanessa Samur have been growing vegetables and seeds together for five years. They recently relocated from Vancouver Island to The Homestead Organic Farm in Peachland, BC. They produce seeds for Stellar Seeds, sell produce at the Peachland farmers' market, and operate a 30 member veggie box program.