WELCOME

We are a family farm focused on seed and herb production. Located in central Alberta, near Barrhead (120 km northwest of Edmonton), we specialize in varieties that do well in our short northern growing season. All of our seeds are open pollinated, so the seed they make can be saved, and most are classic heirloom varieties. Each year we trial new plants to evaluate their performance in our Prairie environment, adding our favourites to the selection of seeds we offer. Our 2012 trials are concentrated on staples, mainly grains and beans that are useful in small scale food production - as well as finding the tastiest early tomatoes. We currently produce most of the varieties we sell and, at least so far, we enjoy the challenge of growing more kinds of seed every year. The remainder is sourced from our network of trusted suppliers, including some of the best organic seed breeders in North America.

At Harmonic Herbs we care about life on Earth and its future prospects. This love and respect for the world we share influences our farming practices. We draw from a number of sustainable farming systems and in particular have been influenced by Permaculture, Bio-Intensive Farming, Fukuoka's Natural Farming and Deep Organic Farming principles. We do not use any synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. We emphasize on-farm fertility, water retention, weed suppression and soil building through composting, compost crops and green manures. We are currently experimenting with alfalfa, barley, fall rye, buckwheat, phacelia and an oats-clover combination. We brew our own herbal and compost tea fertilizers and have tried dandelion, nettle and comfrey with promising results.

We utilize shelterbelts and have planted over five hundred new saplings in the last couple of years; Siberian Larch, Hawthorn and Seabuckthorn. We also use sunflowers, Maralroot, angelica, raspberries and Saskatoon bushes to create windbreaks. These shelterbelts serve a multitude of purposes and provide food, medicine, wood, forage and habitat for other species. We harvest rainwater from our metal roofs and use it for transplant starts and in drought conditions. Otherwise we do not irrigate. We watch the weather closely and time our plantings to precede the rains.

Our appreciation of the importance of seed as a common genetic resource continues to evolve, as does our skill in seed stewardship. We believe in ecological crop improvement, adapting plants to our bioregion with each carefully selected generation of seed. We see ourselves as caretakers of the land, and we want to leave it in better condition than we found it. We don't have all the answers, but we are looking - exploring techniques to farm in harmony with nature and learning through experience, fleshing out our vision of sustainable agriculture.

We think that small batches are beautiful. We enjoy being involved in all parts of the production process: planting, harvesting, cleaning and packaging are all done by our hands. The fruits of our labour are available through our own Harmonic Herbs line of fine garden seeds, sold here online and in select retail stores across Alberta. In addition, we will be attending four Seedy Saturdays and Sundays this spring (see right sidebar for details). Our teas, grown here on the farm or ethically wildcrafted from the Boreal forest, are available in limited supply from Community Natural Foods in Calgary. All photos on the website were taken on the farm or in our trials garden in Calgary. We encourage feedback from our customers - feel free to send us a note to let us know what you thought of our products.

HERB OF THE YEAR 2012: Milk Thistle

Our Herb of the Year for 2012 is Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum). Another herb was going to receive this honour, but then a strange thing happened: we started drinking and enjoying milk thistle tea. I first grew milk thistle 12 years ago and have grown it every few years since, but I hadn't found a way to consume the seeds that really appealed. I knew that the bioactives were poorly absorbed (~40%) when the seed was eaten, and ground milk thistle in soups or cereals was rather dry and fibrous, so not much got used. Until, that is, I came across a report of successful hot water extraction of bioactives from milk thistle seed. Hmmm, that sounded like making tea, so we tried it and we liked it.

We use 1 heaped tablespoon of seed per cup of water. Grind the seed in a coffee/spice grinder, add to water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes (or more) to make a decoction. Technically some compounds extract better at 85 C and others at 100 C, but in practice we often brew a "second press" and sometimes add other herbs to the pot and boil it up again, satisfied with diminishing returns of "silymarin" - milk thistle's unique complex of polyphenolic flavonolignan molecules which may enhance liver function.

Growing milk thistle is easy. Plant seeds up to 1.85 cm (3/4 in) deep in garden or field in early May and expect germination in 10 to 20 days. Milk thistle grows with impressive vigour - allow for 60 cm (2 ft) spacing between plants. The white veining on large green leaves presents a showy appearance. In August multiple purple flower heads will grow up to 150 cm (6 ft) tall, maturing in September. When the seed starts to come loose from the head and fly away on its fluffy white parachute-like pappus, then it's time to harvest. The seeds should pull easily and be a dark brown or black colour. Clip the heads (on 10 cm/4 in of stem) every few days as they mature - pruners and a tote, bucket or cardboard box to collect them in works well, and gloves will reduce the inevitable pricks from the thorns on both the leaves and flower heads. Spread the seed heads out to cure and dry, then process or store for later fun. It takes a bit of dedication not to let mature seed escape to become a weed next year. Eventually a hard frost will kill the plants and any immature seed will stay a light tan colour.

Cleaning milk thistle seed is hard work. It is possible to use a combine to separate the seeds from the heads, but most of us have to do it by hand. Grab a stem with a head and tease the seeds out with a screwdriver, a stick, or your finger. Watch those thorns! Most wear gloves. Let the seed drop into a big bowl, then rub it between your hands (preferably outside on account of the dust) to detach the pappi. Winnow the fluff off and use a screen or tea strainer to get rid of the smaller impurities. Hopefully the subtle nutty taste of the milk thistle tea will be worth all the trouble. We are on the lookout for small scale threshing equipment that would work for milk thistle - please email if you have the answer.

And if you grow this herb of the year, then raise a cup and toast a cheer... To our dear chum, Silybum: Damn the slivers! Long live our livers!