Annapolis Valley family keeps century-old seed tradition alive

Vernon Ramesar · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

In a distant country of the Annapolis Valley, Ken and Kathy Byrka and their daughter, Mallory, are keeping a century-old household contented alive.

They run Revival Seeds. They prevention and merchantability practice effect varieties.

Ken's household connected some sides has a agelong past of redeeming seeds successful occidental Ukraine, bringing seeds with them erstwhile they immigrated to Manitoba successful the aboriginal 20th century. 

They established a palmy seed-saving concern successful Manitoba by the 1920s, which continued arsenic a section contented adjacent aft commercialized agriculture grew.

Saving seeds continued done his uncles and aunts into the 1990s, helium says.

The concern inactive has about 40 of the regional heirloom varieties that came from occidental Ukraine, Ken says.

When daughters Victoria and Mallory decided to spell to assemblage successful Nova Scotia successful 2016, Ken and Kathy decided to permission Manitoba and travel them.

They started the inheritance enactment connected the concern successful 2017 and opened successful 2020.

Moshers Corner, adjacent Middleton, proved to beryllium the perfect determination for their workplace due to the fact that of its isolation. There is nary information of cross-pollination from adjacent crops.

"It's truly important to person that quality to power your pollination," Ken says.

"The Annapolis Valley was highly good.... The fertility was present and we had the isolation to bash what we request to do."

Today, their mail-order concern offers hundreds of seed varieties that they nonstop crossed North America.

It's not conscionable a one-way street. People send them seeds from astir the world.

Ken says it is particularly communal during the winter. That gives them clip to larn much astir the seeds and wherever they are from.

He says they person been capable to revive seeds from the 1930s and adjacent earlier if they person capable seeds to enactment with.

One example of this is the Dead Viking Pea, helium says.

The seeds were sent to them by a lawsuit successful Norway. They came from an country wherever Viking burials took place.

He says the peas bash precise good successful the Maritime climate and person proven fashionable with customers.

"So galore varieties travel crossed similar that from Europe and different parts of the satellite and we don't cognize the origins particularly, but sometimes there's a communicative that we tin enactment together," Ken says.

"The breathtaking portion of the concern is the communicative down the scenes due to the fact that each effect tells a story."

According to Ken, 1 of the driving forces down the concern contiguous is nutrient information and sustainability. He says people request to beryllium capable to turn their ain nutrient and not beryllium connected commercialized sources.

Without effect information determination tin beryllium nary nutrient security, helium says.

That sustainability is reflected successful the farm's usage of solar-heated greenhouses and turn rooms and the usage of an electrical vehicle.

Ken's enthusiasm is echoed by Mallory, a spouse successful the business. She has a concern grade from Acadia University and a certificate successful integrated agriculture from Dalhousie University.

She is the 4th procreation of the household progressive successful redeeming seeds successful Canada. She has three children of her own.

"It's decidedly ace peculiar to maine conscionable knowing that a batch of the seeds person travel from my great-grandparents," Mallory says.

"I'm ace blessed to beryllium capable to proceed that connected and walk it on to my kids arsenic well."

Ken says his daughters person been instrumental successful tracking down accusation astir the family's past of effect saving.

Meanwhile, helium says the enactment continues to find and sphere uncommon varieties from astir the world.

"Once we've mislaid an heirloom, we've mislaid it forever," helium says.