“The Citizen Seed Trial is a public science program that helps to engage gardeners and growers in the process of variety trials, seed saving, and seed breeding,” says Siri van Gruen as we discuss the seed trials offered by Farm Folk, City Folk in Vancouver, BC. Siri encourages you to take part in Citizen Science right in your own back yard by participating in the ongoing seed trials or by following the Seedlinked seed database online.

Armed with her own home garden, a plant science degree and the FarmFolk CityFolk trial farm in Abbotsford, BC, van Gruen is looking for the best seeds for home gardeners and to preserve seeds for the future.

“So basically, back in 2017, the BC organic carrot growers identified a need for an open pollinated Nantes carrot to replace Bolero, which is a hybrid variety. [Bolero is a] very dependable and super uniform storage carrot, but the seed is only produced by a multinational company based in France,” says van Gruen.

Growers, worried that at any time this carrot and many other seeds might become unavailable, are using Citizen Seed Trials to find an open pollinated replacement for Bolero. This year, they are comparing two alternative open pollinated carrots against Bolero and are looking for feedback in an open-sourced way.

The Citizen Seed Trial is an opportunity to get directly involved with food security. The Seedlinked system tracks records, comments and success. Anyone who is interested in food and long term food security will want to check out their online program.