Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule

May 4, 2022

Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule is situated in Manseau, Quebec (zone 4B). She grows certified organic seed with draft horses, which she sells exclusively on seed contracts. She talks about why, after working with both vegetables and seeds, she chose to go "all in" on seed production, how and why she came to farm with horses having little previous experience, what considerations go into her choice of seed crops, and the technical details of growing two acres of cucurbits. Hint: there is a log-splitter and shop-vac involved. She concludes with how to finish legume seed crops in a wet-Fall climate and the joy/worry of scaling to enter the US market.

 

Mentioned in the show...

The Winnow Wizard, one of the machines she uses to process seeds

The Millet Wet Seed Extractor, another seed processing machine she uses

Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram

Check out Dan's blog Going to Seed

See where Dan farms cooperatively at Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm

The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by...

The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org

The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada.

and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon.