What seed growers do when they need to grow

Mar 31, 2023

The family have been seed growers since the 1960s but investing in a new seed plant was a big decision, said Mark Watson of Watson Seeds.

“It was getting to the point that if we wanted to stay in the seed business we needed to build a new cleaning plant or get out. It has been a pretty key part of our farm for a long time,” said Watson, of Avonlea, Sask.

It took two years of planning before work began on the new building. They worked with seed equipment sales staff, toured other plants and spent hours discussing what they wanted from the new facility. Once they settled on an equipment company, they were put in touch with a general contractor who had built other seed cleaning facilities.

“We went through a lot of the planning so we were not making it up as we went along.”

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Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.