2025 BC Seed Gathering

FarmFolk CityFolkis a not for profit society working with farm and city to cultivate local, sustainable food systems across British Columbia. Our projects provide access to and protection of farmland; support local growers and producers; and engage communities in the celebration of local food.

FarmFolk CityFolk

The biennial BC Seed Gathering is a place for farmers, gardeners, students, and seed community activists to come together to learn and share

Harrison Hot Springs Resort

Join us this year, following the Organic BC Conference on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28, for the 2025 BC Seed Gathering in Harrison Hot Springs.Thursday features an afternoon farm tour co-hosted with Organic BC at Cedar Isle Farm from 2-4 PM and a harvest dinner ($35) from 6-9 PM. Please ensure to add these to your tickets at checkout to register. Please see the tentative schedule on our website <a href="https://farmfolkcityfolk.ca/bc-seed-security-program/bc-seed-gathering/" title="https://farmfolkcityfolk.ca/bc-seed-security-program/bc-seed-gathering/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here.</a>Our BC Seed Gathering connects over 100 seed growers, advocates, and community organizers from across BC to build and align a strong provincial seed sector. Biennial seed-gathering events increase the availability, supply, quality, and diversity of locally produced seeds by providing learning and engagement opportunities. We collaborate with stakeholders to build momentum from these gatherings for a broader impact on BC’s sustainable seed sector. BC Seed Gathering’s diverse session content intentionally facilitates meaningful dialogue and opportunities for participants to connect in a greater capacity. There are no other seed-specific events like this around.The biennial BC Seed Gathering is a place for farmers, gardeners, students, and seed community activists to come together to learn and share ideas on a range of issues related to seed security. Workshops cover topics such as seed saving, community organizing, and seed ownership. These workshops are geared toward improving communication and seed-saving skills and serve as a place to share knowledge about how seed security is integral to food security.

Friday, November 28

Breakfast will be at Harrison Corner Cafe

Breakfast 

Welcome and Check In

Land Acknowledgement 

Dr T'uy't'tanat-Cease Wyss
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh/Sto:Lo/Hawaiian/Swiss

Dr T'uy't'tanat- Cease Wyss is an interdisciplinary artist who works with digital media, writing, performance and land based remediations as her multi-disciplinary arts practice. She is a community engaged and public artist, Indigi-Futurisms developer/artist, land based artist and ethnobotanist/permaculture designer.

She is currently working on bringing the healing sounds of plants and fungi, through biosonification with modular synthesizers. Wyss is working on bridging the languages of plants and mushroom as well as other forms of fungi, with indigenous languages and creating conversations between them all.

Her works range over 30+ years and have always focussed on sustainability, permaculture techniques, Coast Salish Cultural elements and have included themes of ethnobotany, indigenous language revival, Salish weaving and digital media technology.

Native Plants and Seeds

Break & Engagement Stations

Organic farmers in Canada depend on internationally sourced seeds that are poorly suited to Canadian climates and that have been bred under high-input farming conditions. In this talk, we will introduce the Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI) program and the approaches we are taking to increase seed diversity and climate resilience within Canada's organic vegetable sector. CANOVI collaborates with farmers to select and develop vegetable varieties that are better adapted to regional conditions and more resilient to environmental stresses. However, our breeding populations lack desirable variation for some traits, including resistance to some biotic and abiotic stressors. By incorporating genetic diversity from crop wild relatives and landrace populations, combined with increased precision offered by environmental genomic methods, we hope to accelerate breeding for resistance drought, heat, and low nutrient stress, as well as disease, focusing initially on carrot. 

Tapping genetic diversity from crop wild relatives and landrace populations

Lunch at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort in the Canada Room

Lunch & Engagement Stations

This session brings together passionate and knowledgeable voices in seed production. Learn about seed production from the perspective of seed producers, seed company operators, and diverse to specialized seed variety stewards. Whether you’re a seasoned seed producer, researcher, or curious about the future of food & seed systems in BC, this session will be an excellent opportunity to get your burning questions answered by diverse and knowledgeable local seed producers.

Seed Production: Facilitated discussion with Experienced Seed Producers

Community-led seed initiatives are at the heart of preserving biodiversity in our food system. This session explores the power of collective seed stewardship through seed libraries, local seed production, and inclusive engagement strategies. Join Nikki and Michi for an inspiring and practical conversation on how to strengthen your community’s connection to seeds and strategies to involve farmers, educators, and youth in seed production. This session offers tools, stories, and sparks of inspiration for anyone working to grow a more resilient and connected seed future, along with creative models for seed library returns. Whether you're starting from scratch or growing an existing project, come ready to share, learn, and plant the seeds of possibility.

Community Seed Stewardship: Seed Libraries and Beyond

Growing perennials on your farm can help ease the spring planting rush, but they come with their own suite of considerations in planting, maintenance, and seed selling. We'll talk about some of the perennial vegetables we've been growing and trialling at Cicada Seeds, some of the issues we've run into, and nuances in marketing seed that can be tricky to germinate.

Growing Perennial Vegetables for Seed

Closing

Thursday, November 27

Join us at Cedar Isle Farm in Agassiz for a tour of Jim’s farm, his participatory wheat breeding projects, and seed cleaning with FarmFolk CityFolk’s mobile seed cleaning trailer. Co-hosted by Organic BC and FarmFolk CityFolk.

This tour is happening on Thursday, November 27th, from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm (travel time not included). Participants are responsible for their own travel to and from the farm–approximately a 15-minute drive.

Pre-registration is required.

Farm Tour: Cedar Isle Farm with Organic BC

Join us on Thursday, November 27, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm for a harvest dinner, Pecha Kucha-style talk, and networking time at Harrison Corner Cafe.

A pre-purchased ticket is required.