Nature’s Crossroads
Earth-Friendly Seeds for Midwest Gardeners
Living Our Mission in 2010
A LETTER FROM NATURE’S CROSSROADS Dear Gardening Community, What a year! 2010 was an amazing year of growth and learning here at Nature’s Crossroads. We have enjoyed meeting many of you and want to offer our sincere thanks and appreciation for your kind words and unbelievable support for our Sustainable Plus mission. We worked hard this year to be “that” company. That company who lives up to the ideals of building our community and preserving and healing the Earth. And all the while doing this working toward economic sustainability as well. Great progress is being made! We invite you to take a look through this report. It is our first attempt at sharing a year with you all and we would love to have your feedback. We’ve captured some of the highlights of our year and what we have been doing to live up to our mission and the expectations of our supporters. You will find tales of education in the schools, incredible work rebuilding the local seed supply, donations to dozens of local garden projects and a family of employees that believes in making our world a better place. I want to close by thanking the team and partners that have been pulling the load. LIFE Certified Organic Farm has been incredible…a huge thanks to Jeff and his expertise and enthusiasm for seeds. We can do this! Bobbi and Grant for their flexibility and hard work crossing the lines between the worlds of LIFE and NC. Our interns over the year including Abby, Marah, Karen Danny and Brandi. Candice for her expertise and never ending support despite our challenging ways. Gwen for her amazing art work that adorns our packaging, promotional and educational materials. And the two rocks of the company, Laura and Maggie. Laura for her development of our top quality educational fundraising efforts and relentless pursuit of clearing up and solidifying our administrative side. Maggie for…well, for really making it work. And finally, a huge thanks to YOU. We need your support. We can’t make it happen without you. We need you to spread the word, tell your gardening tales and let us know how we can do even better. Your support matters. Our best to you all, Art Sherwood General Manager and Co-Owner Nature’s Crossroads Earth-Friendly Seeds
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Purpose & Mission
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Local Seed Supply
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Local Seed Supporter Program
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Partnership with LIFE Farm
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Behind the Scenes: Saving Seeds at LIFE Farm
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Current Seeds
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Seed Varieties
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Customers
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Seed Giveaways
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Educating The Community
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Art Packet Contest
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Midwest Natural Gardening Guide and the NC blog
www.naturescrossroads.com
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PURPOSE AND MISSION
N
ature’s Crossroads is a family owned local business with a “Sustainable Plus” mission, meaning that we aim to be a
company that’s good for the community, good for the Earth, as well as economically viable. The “plus” aspect of being sustainable means that we strive to be regenerative or healing in the areas that have need. Our aim is to promote organic growing throughout the state of Indiana and we do this through providing products and education including organic fertilizers, seed, and supplies. We believe that gardening is a great way to improve the environment, beautify our homes, get some exercise, and play in the dirt while providing healthy food for our families.
Our vision is simple: let’s source as sustainably as possible. Buy locally grown seeds and locally produced fertilizer and soil amendments when possible. Work with our community to provide education about growing in Earth-friendly ways, eating healthy food, and taking back control of our food system. So this is what we have begun to do!
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LOCAL SEED SUPPLY One of our biggest goals is rebuliding
adapted strains of favorite heirlooms,
the local seed supply to reduce the
and sustainably produce seeds for our
environmental impact of transporting
catalog. Currently, we have 5 gardeners
seeds across the country, to create
saving seeds through this program.
locally-adapted strains that thrive in
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Midwest gardens, and to celebrate our
This all started when we asked ourselves
regional heritage. In 2010, we launched
how we could begin building a seed
our “Backyard Seed Saver Program� to
bank in Indiana that was sustainable
create a network of seed savers (farmers
both economically, environmentally,
and gardeners) who will help preserve
and with the community. We know
existing local varieties, develop locally-
gardeners want local, sustainable seeds
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but right now they are hard to find. We wanted to create that seed bank but it sounded very challenging to do it all ourselves! Then the idea arose that we could work with backyard gardeners in our own communities. You are out there growing with organic methods and are likely saving lots of cool seeds. That takes care of environmental and community sustainability. Now, how about that
Receive $1 per seed packet sold. We do all of the selling!
economic part? We have the ability to sell the seeds through our web store, our retail seed racks, our school educational fundraisers and
directly through shows. We do all the selling of your seeds and you will receive $1 per pack. Simple as that!
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LOCAL SEED SUPPORTER PROGRAM
O
ur Local Seed Supporter Program is a community supported agriculture (CSA) program for seeds. Annual member dues
from seed supporters help us build a network of local seed suppliers and increase the availability of Midwest-adapted strains of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs. Members purchase a $20 seed share in the fall and then pick out their choice of 7 seed packets in the Spring. Through this program, we hope to build a stronger connection between the growers who produce the seeds and the gardeners who plant them the next spring.
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PARTNERSHIP WITH LIFE FARM
O
ur seed company could not be successful without the partnership of our sister business, LIFE Certified Organic
Farm. Located in Morgan County, Indiana, the farm has about 14 acres under production with a focus on delicious fresh vegetables for their CSA program. LIFE also serves as a trial garden for our seeds and has begun producing locally grown, Midwest-adapted seeds for our catalog. The seed saving program started small, with 12 varieties for the 2010 catalog, but has expanded to include more than 90 varieties of LIFE certified organic seeds in the 2011 catalog. Through the process of saving seeds for our seed catalog, LIFE has also helped us develop procedures and techniques to share with our back yard seed savers, including suggestions on preserving natural habitat on the farm and restoring soil quality through careful stewardship and crop rotations. Everyone on the farm works hard to produce healthy food and seeds while also giving back to the Earth.
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BEHIND THE SCENES Jeff Evard, the manager of LIFE Farm, has been busy developing seedsaving techniques and guidelines that are appropriate for medium-scale seed production that can be done alongside vegetable production for a CSA or farmers’ market. Saving seeds and developing locally-adapted strains is a long process that requires a fair amount of patience and elbow grease but the concepts are very simple: Isolate your variety/strain to avoid cross-pollination. Tomatoes, lettuces, and beans generally self-pollinate while corn, melons, and cabbages require careful separation. This year LIFE Farm built isolation cages for growing very rare chile peppers from seedstock provided by the Chile Woman. Isolation cages are basically boxes made of thin fabric that lets sunlight and water through but keeps out bees, butterflies, and other sources of foreign pollen. This meant that Farmer Jeff got to play the role of the pollinator, carefully opening each cage long enough to spread pollen between the plants of the same variety using a sterile paintbrush. Other crops can be isolated either by physical distance or by maturity timing.
Ensure good pollination within your desired plants for optimum seed production. LIFE Farm has been working for many years to enhance the natural habitat of the farm to encourage a diverse population of bees, butterflies, wasps, and other pollinators. This is also a big part of the reason the farm is committed to organic growing techniques and staying away from harsh pesticides.
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SAVING SEEDS AT LIFE FARM Collect seeds from several different plants that show the characteristics you want. Maintaining a pure strain involves saving seeds from plants that look, taste, and feel like the ideal specimen, whether it’s an ox-heart shaped pink and orange swirled Orange Russian tomato or a pear-shaped chocolate brown Japanese Black Trifele tomato. Farmers can also select for disease resistance or other more subtle characteristics.
Process the seeds appropriately before storage. With many plants, processing seeds is as simple as threshing and drying. However, others (like tomatoes) need special handling. At LIFE Farm, tomatoes from a particular variety all get run through a large blender and dumped into a bucket or drum where they are allowed to ferment for a week or two. This fermentation process removes a jelly-like coating present on all tomato seeds that inhibits germination. When the jelly is removed, the seeds are rinsed, dried, and ready to be packed. LIFE also has a series of drying racks for different kinds of seeds as they are collected from the field.
As we continue to grow, all of us at LIFE Farm and Nature’s Crossroads look forward to sharing these techniques with other seedsavers and working with other growers to continually refine our knowledge. We feel this information is key to rebuilding the local seed supply and preserving high quality locally-adapted strains.
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CURRENT SEEDS
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e are committed to rebuilding the local seed supply and to providing our customers with seed varieties that will
thrive in Midwest gardens. Last year we offered 165 varieties, of which 12 were locally grown by LIFE Farm. This year we have over 250 varieties of seeds available, over 90 of which were locally grown by LIFE Farm and our network of back yard seed savers. Our goal is to constantly increase our local seed offerings and expand the availability of Midwest heirlooms like the Trusty tomato.
Within the next 7 years, we plan on having 70% of our seeds to be locally grown.
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LOCALLY GROWN SEEDS FROM 2010 CATALOG TRUSTY TOMATO Trusty is a Nature’s Crossroads exclusive. This is the real deal. In 2006, a Morgan county gentleman by the name of Emory Trusty entrusted to us his heirloom tomato. He had been growing this variety for 70 years. An old German type, it is nearly seedless and full of hearty beefsteak tomato flavor. In 2009, the Trusty tomatoes at LIFE Certified Organic Farm produced lots fruit that ranged from 5oz all the way to a pound and a half! Emory claimed that one year he grew a five pounder by pinching out all the fruit but one. Fruit is bright red with green shoulders. Certified organic seeds grown in Indiana on LIFE Certified Organic Farm. 80 days to maturity, Indeterminate. PURPLE CALABASH TOMATO Deep purple fruit is flattened with deep pleating (think flat with ruffles). High yielding and vigourous for an heirloom. Fruits are about 3” in diameter with intense sweet and tart flavor. Best for fresh slicing. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 85 days to maturity, heirloom. PINEAPPLE TOMATO Full flavored, sweet and fruity. This yellow beefsteak type can grow quite large. Perfect sliced and eaten on its own. Deep golden yellow, punctuated with red swirls throughout. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 85 days to maturity, indeterminate. RED PEAR TOMATO Small saladette tomato (think cherry tomato with a pear-shape). Deep, robust flavor and high yields. Very vigorous indeterminate vines require staking or caging and produce all season. Very prolific. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 80 days to maturity.
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GREEN ZEBRA TOMATO Green when fully ripe, makes a great addition to any tomato salad. Fruit is tangy with distinctive tiger stripes. Indeterminate vines are productive through the entire season. Flesh is very rich tasting and a favorite of many chefs. Fruits average about 3 ounces. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 75 days to maturity, heirloom. TIGERELLA TOMATO This red fruit is distinctive with orange tiger stripes and great flavor. The small fruit (2” diameter) grow in large clusters. Very vigorous and prolific indeterminate vines. Tolerates cool summers well, perhaps due to its origination in England. Good disease resistance. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 60-75 days to maturity, heirloom. ORANGE RUSSIAN TOMATO Orange Russian is the only ox-heart-shaped tomato that has been discovered with stripes. Our plants produced multiple tomatoes that weighed over a pound, but half-pound fruit were much more common. The solid fruit has a very small seed cavity and just excellent flavor. The strawberry swirls on top of an orange base translate through the entire fruit, making it one of the most beautiful (serve it in Caprese salads). Certified organic seeds grown in Indiana on LIFE Certified Organic Farm. 80 days to maturity, Indeterminate.
COSTOLUTO GENOVESE TOMATO A large and solid tomato. Excellent flavor. Smooth skin with very fine texture. Deep crimson, with shades of gold near the shoulder. Certified organic seeds grown by LIFE Farm in Indiana. 85 days to maturity, indeterminate.
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LOCALLY GROWN SEEDS FROM 2010 CATALOG EVERGREEN TOMATO Evergreen is a tangy green tomato that makes for a great slicer. Included with red, yellow, and purple tomatoes this variety will stand out in a tomato salad or platter. The fruits averge about 10 oz in size and will turn just the slightest tinge of amber near the blossom scar when ready to harvest. The interior will occasionally show pink mottling. Seeds grown in Indiana on LIFE Certified Organic Farm, certified organic, 80 days to maturity, Indeterminate.
JAPANESE BLACK TRUFFLE TOMATO Despite its name, the Japanese Black Truffle (or Trifele) is said to originate in Russia. This pearshaped fruit moves from greenish yellow shoulders
Trusty
Purple Calabash
to a chocolate brown fruit and finally to a deep red at the blossom scar. Produced loads of fruit for us in a cold and overcast summer. The flavor is deep and smokey like most black tomatoes. Seeds grown in Indiana on LIFE Certified Organic Farm, certified organic, 75 days to maturity, Indeterminate. BUTTERNUT SQUASH A classic winter squash featuring deep orange, fine grained flesh with excellent flavor. Each vine bears 3-5 fruit that weigh 2-5 lbs each. Excellent storage ability; will keep into spring. Let squash ripen on vine until fully mature for best keeping qualities. Locally grown seeds, certified organic, 85 days to maturity.
Pineapple
Green Zebra
Red Pear Tomato
Small saladette tomato (think cherry tomato with a pear-shape). Deep, robust flavor and high yields. Very vigorous indeterminate vines require staking or caging and produce all season. Very prolific. Seeds grown in Indiana, certified organic, 80 days to maturity. Contains at least 50 seeds per packet. Tigerella
Japanese Black Truffle
Orange Russian
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Butternut
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CUSTOMERS PEOPLE.
We work
to meet the needs of gardeners across the board, whether they are experienced gardeners interested in changing to organic methods or novices who are just looking to start a garden.
Nature’s Crossroads is involved in gardening collaborations, fundraisers, and support of the local farm scene.
Nature’s Crossroads
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wants to instill the
RETAILERS.
passion for promoting
Earth-friendly values
Nature’s Crossroads
gardening and green
that gardening is good
also works with select
living. We offer several
for everybody! It’s a
retail stores to carry our
sizes of seed racks and
great way to improve the
certified organic garden
different purchasing
environment, beautify
seeds. We are excited to
programs to meet the
our homes, get some
work with a variety of
needs of every retailer.
exercise, and play in
cooperative groceries,
LIFE Farm grew over
the dirt while providing
independent garden
15% of the seeds for our
healthy food for our
centers, and health food
2011 retail racks, and we
families.
stores that share our
are going to continue to
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increase the percentage
showcased great gift
to approximately 100
of local seeds grown for
ideas from local,
families by sending
the racks each year.
independent businesses
a backpack of food
in Bloomington, Indiana.
home with low-income
PARTNERSHIPS.
The guide can be seen at:
children at 5 elementary
We’re very involved with
http://www.
schools. The Local
the community and have
localfirstindiana.org/
Growers Guild received
collaborated with a variety
holiday-gift-guide/
a grant from the Indiana State Department of
of organizations, including Local First Indiana, the
Natures Crossroads
Agriculture to include
Local Growers Guild, and
participated in the
some sort of locally
People’s University
“Backpack Buddies”
produced food item
program, run through
every other week along
This year, Nature’s
the Community Kitchen
with a kid-focused
Crossroads partnered
of Monroe County,
newsletter that provides
with Local First Indiana,
where we collaborated
easy-to-read information
an organization that
with the Local Growers
about sustainable
supports locally owned
Guild and helped
farming, what fruits
and operated businesses
introduce local foods and
and vegetables are in
in south central Indiana.
planting instructions to
season, why local food
We collaborated with
low-income children and
is important, and a kid-
them on a holiday
their families.
friendly recipe.
gift promoting local
This program distributes
products. The guide
weekend food supplies
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continued on next page...
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People's University is a
Art taught a class on
sustainability. The
program through the
fall soil amendments.
College Themester is an
City of Bloomington
We will be teaching
initiative to engage the
where anyone in the
more classes in 2011,
collective knowledge
community can offer
including sessions on
and creativity of the IU
a class to help teach
starting your own seeds.
faculty and to involve
something to their fellow community members.
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undergraduate students In October, Art shared
in the exploration
information as a panelist
of ideas across the
This past summer, Jeff
on our Sustainable
disciplines. The
taught a class about seed
“Plus” company mission
themester topic for the
saving, Maggie taught
at the film screening
Fall 2010 semester was
a class about creating a
of the 11th Hour for
“sustain•ability: Thriving
pollinator garden, and
IU’s themester on
on a Small Planet.”
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FUNDRAISERS.
We also provide a
additional information
Nature's Crossroads is
strong educational
distributed through
committed to getting
program with each of
our website. We love
kids in the garden and
our fundraisers that
working with students
one of the ways we do
is designed to get kids
and offer an optional
this is by offering school
excited about gardening
in-classroom educational
fundraiser programs.
and to help them learn
experience for students
The products offered
more about where
in the Bloomington area.
through our fundraisers
food comes from,
Each semester we offer
are useful gardening
how plants grow, why
a different gardening
supplies instead of a
local economies are
theme such as “The Art
bunch of stuff you don't
important, and how to
of Botany” “Insects in
need, but might buy
take the things they've
the Garden: Friend or
because a child you
learned in school and
Foe?” and “The Life
care about is doing a
apply them to growing
Cycle of Bulbs.
fundraiser. These kits
fabulous fruits, flowers,
and seeds are sourced
herbs, and vegetables.
locally where possible
Our educational
and completely packed
programming includes a
by local labor (ours!).
"Gardening Guys" DVD
Even the prizes for
made by our educational
students come from
specialists, handouts for
local businesses to keep
students, supplementary
money circulating in our
educational materials
community.
for teachers, and
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Our fundraisers help students learn more about where food comes from, how plants grow, and why local economies are important. 17
We are now starting our
Past themes include:
Schools that have previously participated in our
fifth season of offering garden education to over
Fall 2010 “The Art of Bot-
fundraisers include the
a thousand elementary
any,” looked at drawing as
following:
students in 8 different
a way to study and under-
schools in Monroe and
stand the parts of plants
• Northpoint Homeschool
surrounding
counties.
and bulbs. We also held
• Marlin Elementary
Each season we focus on
an art contest for the stu-
a specific theme, helping
dents to design two labels
• The Project School
kids use gardens to con-
for our new, kid themed
• Arlington Heights
nect with their families,
spring 2011 collections,
their health, and their
the Rainbow Flower Gar-
• Clear Creek Elementary
communities.
den and the Super Veggie
• Lakeview Elementary
Garden.
• Pinnacle School
raiser theme is “Pioneer
Spring 2010 “Garden In-
More information about
Gardens in Indiana” and
sects: the Good, the Bad,
our Earth-Friendly Fun-
we’re excited to teach kids
and the Ugly,” explored
draiser program can be
about how the early set-
the different types of ben-
found at our website,
tlers relied on their gar-
eficial insects and pests
www.earthfriendlyseeds.
dens for food, clothing,
and the importance of
com or by contacting
and medicine for them-
keeping the ecosystem in
Laura Brown-Cano at
selves and their livestock.
balance.
812-360-6206.
Nature Club
Elementary
Our Spring 2011 fund-
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For more information about our fundraisers, visit www. earthfriendlyseeds.com
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SEED GIVEAWAYS Do you work with a gardening project that helps teach people how to garden, grow food for the hungry, or revitalize urban areas? At Natures Crossroads, we love supporting garden projects around the Midwest through our Community Partners Program. We offer several forms of assistance to our Community Partners, including the donation of up to 30 packets of seeds from last year's back stock. In 2010, Natures Crossroads donated over $2,000 in seeds to more than 30 garden projects, including: 15000 Farmers Louisville, KY Centro Hispano Madison, WI City Sprouts Cambridge, MA Cob Connection Chicago, IL Community CROPS Lincoln, NE Community Heights Indianapolis, IN Don Moyers Boys/Girls Club Champaign, IL Dream of Wild Health Hugo, MN Elkhart Local Food Alliance Elkhart, IN Exodus House Anderson, IN Feed the Fort Fort Wayne, IN Felege Hiywot Center Indianapolis, IN
Garden Angels Fort Wayne, IN Growing Hope Ypsilanti, MI Harvest Hill Garden Liberty, MO High School for Public Service Brooklyn, NY Hinkle Garton Farm Bloomington, IN Hoosier Hills Food Bank Garden Bloomington, IN Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture Kansas City, KS Little Flower Farms Indianapolis, IN Louisville Grows Louisville, KY Lutheran Social Services of New England Worcester, MA
Maple City Market and Boys and Girls Club of Goshen Goshen, IN My Place to Be Newark, OH North Point Home School Fishers, IN Small Ville Learning Farm Detroit, MI SPROUTS Bloomington, IN Sycamore Services and Hendricks County Master Gardeners Danville, IN The Talking Farm Evanston, IL Toledo GROWs Toledo, OH Unity Gardens South Bend, IN Victory Garden Initiative Milwaukee, WI
Detailed information about these gardening projects is in our May 10, 2010 blog post.
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We also donated seeds and planting calendars for conferences and special events. In 2010, some of the events that we
Nature’s Crossroads dontated over $2,000 in seeds to more than 30 garden projects.
donated to include: The Forecastle Festival: Based in Louisville, Kentucky, this festival is a celebration and symposium of sights, sounds, and environmental cognizance; it connects the progressive Midwest. The seeds that we donated were featured in the children’s area, where they were encouraged to play in the dirt & learn about gardening.
Southwest Indiana Master Gardeners Conference: The Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association (SWIMGA) is a group of trained volunteers who participate in a wide variety of community gardening projects. SWIMGA is administered through Purdue University and its Extension Services. In 2010, the Master Gardeners Conference had over 300 attendees.
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Honeybee Awareness Day: Started by a young man in Terre Haute, Indiana with an interest in bee keeping. We donated lemonqueen sunflower seeds and worked with a graduate student, Alex Smith who put together a guide of native Indiana bees. In addition to the sunflower seeds, we also donated planting guides to help promote our pollinators.
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EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY We love sharing information on how to garden with everyone - from kids who are just learning to garden to experienced master gardeners who want to learn proper seed saving techniques. In the past year, Natures Crossroads has been actively engaged in educating the community about seed saving, soil amendments, how to create a garden, and much more. Below is a list of events that NC employees participated in 2010:
• Jeff did a presentation for Brightpoint on Earth Day, April 22, 2010 • Maggie taught a class on creating a pollinator garden through People’s University on June 2, 2010 • Jeff conducted a class on seed saving through People’s University on June 24, 2010 • Jeff did a presentation to Monroe County Master Gardeners on seed saving on August 19, 2010
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• Jeff also did a presentation to Morgan County Master Gardeners on seed saving on October 13, 2010 • Art taught a class regarding fall soil amendments called “Putting Your Garden to Bed,” through People’s University on September 22, 2010. • On October 18, 2010 Art shared information on our Sustainable “Plus” company mission as a panelist for IU’s themester on sustainability.
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GARDENING GUYS
Another educational
planting guide provides
piece that we offer
the planting dates for
to our customers is
most of the Nature’s
planting charts, which
Crossroads seeds and
provide a strategy for
will help to en-
getting the most out
sure cus-
of your garden over
tomers
the entirety of the sea-
have a
son. This means not
boun-
only planting well in
tiful
the spring, but also
season.
throughout the year
In 2010,
with succession crops
we gave out
and another big plant-
over 2,000 of these
ing in the fall. The
planting charts.
In addition to class presentations, Art and Nelson also created the “Gardening Guys” videos, which are educational and entertaining videos for children to learn more about various gardening activities.
Check out our Gardening Guys videos @ youtube.com/user/ naturescrossroads
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THANK YOU LETTERS
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CREATIVE KID’S ART CONTEST In 2010, Natures Crossroads group created a a label for hosted a Creative Kid’s Art
the Super Veggie Collection. Garden Collection and
Contest for local elmentary
Supper Veggie Collection),
schools. There were two
The grand prize winners
both of which were created
categories of students:
received a $25 gift card to
with kids in mind. We had
grades K-3 and 4-6. The
a local business of their
over 125 entrants from 6
K-3 group created a label
choice and will havetheir
schools participate in the
for the Rainbow Garden
drawing featured on the
competition!
Collection and the 4-6
new labels for the two
Rainbow Garden Collection Riley F. of Project School
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collections (Rainbow
Super Veggie Collection Natalie K. of Project School
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MIDWEST NATURAL GARDENING GUIDE Our Midwest Natural Gardening Guide (MNGG) is sent out every 2 weeks to give gardeners knowledge that they can use to be a successful gardener. The MNGG gives advice the old-fashioned, serial style way while using e-mail to empower your gardening. Each issue includes one handson project that you can try right away and one small glimpse at the "why" behind our gardening techniques.
At NC we also have a blog, which we started to share ideas and suggestions for how to garden well, how to get kids excited about gardening, and how to support the local food economy in general. Check it out at: www.blog.earthfriendlyseeds.com.
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Our future... In the next year, we plan to expand to reach organic gardeners across the entire state of Indiana and into neighboring states through select retail stores, elementary schools, and our webstore. •
• In the next 7 years, we plan to source over 70% of our seeds from local growers in Indiana and neighboring states. • Throughout our future, we will continue to follow our sustainable plus mission by running a company that is good for the community, good for the Earth, economically viable, and regenerative to our world.