While farmers markets are most known as places to get produce — fruits and vegetables at the end of their growing process – seed stewards Avalon Gulley and Ross Rodgers are there to help you start at the beginning.
Based in McElmo Canyon near Cortez, Vibrant Earth Seeds is just over a year old, Gulley said, though she and Rodgers have been growing seeds for over a decade.
“We’re selling mostly seeds, but we’ve got some tomato starts, tomatillo starts, pepper starts, and some herbs and watermelons,” Gulley said. “We grew the seeds ourselves in Colorado last season, and we’ll have a wider selection – this is our first season, so we’re just getting off the ground.”
The seeds, which are all open-pollinated, chemical-free, non-GMO and Colorado-adapted, include: corn, beans, squash, greens, zucchini and melons.
In addition to seeds, Vibrant Earth is dedicated to disseminating knowledge to better enable people to grow their own food, Gulley said.
“We focus on educating folks about saving their own seeds for food sovereignty and organic gardening education,” she said.
The process is largely teaching people things people have known for generations, Rodgers said.
“We’re reviving what people have always done – why we still have seeds is because of our ancestors knowing these kinds of things,” he said.
“Back in the day, ‘organic gardening’ was called ‘gardening,’” Gulley added.
Vibrant Earth Seeds can be reached at (970) 444-2482 and info@vibrantearthseeds.com.
ngonzales@durangoherald.com
