How I Became a Plant Breeder « GoodFood World
▻http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2014/04/how-i-became-a-plant-breeder
My agricultural method of the time was an evolving clash between the “do everything” approach of John Jeavons and the Biodynamic-French intensive method (that emphasized planning, extensive soil preparation, and thoughtful plant associations), and the “do nothing” approach of Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural farming system (that emphasized natural reseeding, naturalizing vegetables and fruits, intercropping with white clover and grains, and extensive use of straw mulches).
When these approaches were combined with salad growing, seed saving, plant breeding, and selection, the results were astounding in terms of crop diversity and seasonal salad quality. Volunteers of every kind inhabited the fertile margins, and naturalizing species like chicory and dandelion became part of the leys. The beds were densely (trans)planted with greens for salad, followed by a seed crop from the best plants within each crop. These seeds planted the next year’s crop, and crosses, off-types, and segregating populations could all be used for seasonal salad mixes.
John wanted to talk about kale, and the trials GCS had performed on all the available kales on the market. Our Ruso-Siberian type kales had done better than anything else in the plots, and our ‘White Russian’ kale in particular was both the best flavored kale (by staff vote), and the only kale to survive the Montana winter. I replied with something apologetic, acknowledging that the variety wasn’t completely uniform…and John stopped me mid-sentence. He liked the variation, the genetic diversity within the population. He said that was the real power in the seeds. The remaining plasticity meant that wherever those seeds were planted, the better fit genetics would rise to the fore, and anyone selecting their own seeds from them would be well ahead.