High Five to High Mowing Organic Seeds (The Seeds Being Used in the White House Veggie Garden)

So I was just at the Georgia Organics Annual Conference and I met the owner of High Mowing Organic Seeds, a very nice guy in his late 20s named Tom Stearns who started saving seeds at 18 years old and sold his first seeds one year later. Every year since then, his Vermont-based company has experienced 60-80% growth.

I said, "That's something about the White House garden, isn't it? Where do you think they got their seeds?"

And he smiled. Yep. High Mowing Seeds.

Young guy. Small company. Completely independent. An old-time American success story, if you ask me.

High Mowing grows a third of its seeds on the company's 100-acre farm in Hardwick, Vermont, and the others with farmer partners mostly in the arid Southwest (where there are particularly good conditions for seed saving). High Mowing Seeds are available via the internet or at about 400 retailers nationwide (including Farmer D Organics). Or, you could try to wrangle up an invitation to the White House for dinner to taste those crops, I suppose.

Here's a little snippet about High Mowing Seeds' philosophy:

At High Mowing Organic Seeds, we believe in re-imagining what our world can be like. We believe in a deeper understanding of how re-built food systems can support health on all levels – healthy environments, healthy economies, healthy communities and healthy bodies. We believe in a hopeful and inspired view of the future based on better stewardship for our planet. Everyday that we are in business, we are growing; working to provide an essential component in the re-building of our healthy food systems: the seeds.

I bought a few packets of Tom's seeds. Ya' think it's time to rip up another piece of my front lawn? Hey, if Michelle can do it . . .

High five to Tom Stearns of High Mowing Seeds, along with Roger Doiron of Eat the View and everyone else who worked to make this possible, and a big thank you to Michelle for digging in.