Level 8
Plants in the Pacific Northwest
In Winter 2024, Mike Bené's Level 8 Writing students completed research projects on the viability of growing a plant that is culturally meaningful to them in the PNW. They worked with the Rock Creek Learning Garden Coordinator, Miriam Latzer, who has a seed savers club to learn about her project and then did research on plants.
Below are two student essays from the class:
Saving from Oblivion
As humans, we have a great talent for adapting to the conditions that surround us. We also tend to perceive reality only from our perspective. Can we experience the lack of diversity of crops in daily life? We feel lucky that living in rich countries lets us have access to many products from all over the world. We openly enjoy the effects of globalization without realizing that some side effects are extremely dangerous to us and nature. For example, a lack of crop diversity caused by various factors such as wars, climate change, inadequate management, or diseases can lead to a sudden reduction in agricultural products in the world (Escalating Crises and Hunger Require Urgent Response, Says FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdo). Therefore, it can cause famine especially in areas directly threatened by the above factors. We can notice the erosion of diversity in every corner of the globe, even though the excessive amount of products in stores does not indicate it. Scientists estimated that we had lost more than half of the world’s food varieties over the past century ( Charles). The loss of biodiversity also reduces the productivity of ecosystems (WHO). Weakened ecosystems lose their ability to deal with natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes. The victims of losing natural balance are wild animals as well (World Wildlife Fund). Awareness of the risks of the future in an ill-balanced environment calls for measures to improve the situation. The storage of grains from different geographic areas, and the effective return of these grains to the ground, can prevent an ecological disaster.
According to FAO’s State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture “Out of 20,000 edible plants, and 6,000 that have historically been used as food, fewer than 200 now make a major contribution to production, and just nine accounts for two-thirds”(Crop Trust). Having such a small range of diversity exposes us to the danger of losing our nutrition sources. Collecting seeds helps us to save natural resources, and actively respond to the needs of the starving areas of the world. Moreover, it helps us to keep our cultural heritage (UNESCO).
The first global seed bank was opened by Russian scientist Nikolay Vavilov, who in the 1920s and 1930s traveled around the world to collect seeds from different corners of the world. His main idea was to deal with the global starvation. He inspired modern scientists, and the reasons for preserving unique grains are only multiplying. Today we have approximately 1,400 seed banks around the world (Siebert). One of the most interesting is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. It is managed by The Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the regional genebank NordGen, and the Crop Trust (Crop Trust). They store duplicates of 1,214,827 seed samples from almost every country in the world, and they still have room for millions more. The popularity of saving seeds spreads all over the world. For example, the Cherokee Nation was the first U.S. tribe, which sent their precious seeds to the Norwegian bank (Lewis). The goal of the seeds bank is to preserve genebank collections as a backup, ensuring the foundation of our future food supply. Awareness of the need to store the unique resources of nature and the heritage of the human race allows us to look favorably to the future. However, we should be able to use these resources rationally and effectively.
Many people actively involved in saving dwindling crops run their own, sometimes local, gardens, aiming to preserve unique seeds and spread the idea of caring for heritage. An inspiring example is the Learning Garden at Rock Creek Community College in Portland. The coordinator of the Learning Garden is the charismatic Miriam Latzer. She used her knowledge and experiences to initiate the seed-saving project. Many plants in the Learning Garden have their roots and stories, and she encouraged students to share their unique stories as well. She explained how everyone can bring a huge change in their local natural environment. By assuring students that diversity enriches and produces greater resilience to climate change, which we are experiencing more often, Miriam turns students' attention to actively engaging in saving the environment. In the Seed Project, she inspires students to search for seeds important to them. Those they would like to save for future generations or they are closely related to origin backgrounds.
If you are aware of decreasing biodiversity, every seed becomes distinct. On the one hand, uniqueness is related to the genetic information necessary for a plant to grow and develop, which is contained in every small seed, on the other hand is an integrated part of human societies for a thousand years. Throughout history, seeds have played a central role in cultural practices, rituals, traditions, and the cycle of life. Poland, thanks to its fertile soils and suitable climate, was and is a country where agriculture is a very important element. In the Middle Ages, it was called the storehouse of Europe. Currently, Polish cuisine is famous for fermented vegetables. Initially, the primary benefit of such dishes was their extended shelf life, but today we value them for their taste and healthy qualities. One of my favorite vegetables is Polish cucumbers, prepared in a special way, named Polish 2 - day Dill Pickles (Polish your kitchen). The best taste we can achieve using cucumbers well known in Poland - pickling cucumbers "Cezar F1" (Cucumis sativus). I love this type of cucumber because, despite the availability of vegetables and fruits all year round, this type was prepared only seasonally. To keep the flavor of the 2-day dill pickles, they had to be eaten between 2 and 4 days after preparation. Otherwise, they turned into standard pickles. Those special cucumbers have always been a real delicacy in my house and disappeared at lightning speed. During the spring and summer, we used to prepare them at home every few days. Living in the U.S., I miss this taste, which I connect with the family competition for the last cucumber. However, I see the opportunity to initiate a new tradition in the US.
Pickling cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is known in the US as well ( mynorthwestgarden.com). My favorites ones (Cezar F1) are dark green with pale smudges. They do not tend to be yellow and take on regular, cylindrical shapes. Their peel is covered with large thick warts. “Cezar F1” displays resistance to diseases, and does not require protection with chemical control (Hortinet.pl). Since cucumbers like sunny and warm places, they are planted in the soil when it is certain that frost will not return. The seeding period in Poland and Oregon begins in late spring. In Oregon, which is climatically similar to the areas of Poland, but a little bit hotter, we can start sowing as early as April, in Poland it is safer to wait for May. A sandy loam substrate with high nutrient and humus content will be suitable. The soil should not dry out excessively, but plants also react negatively to excess water, so on heavy soils care should be taken to ensure adequate drainage. In Willamette Valley (such as Portland) the summer is warm, and the average temperature in summer during the day is 78 F (25,6 C) ( usclimatedata.com), which makes great conditions to grow this plant. This plant requires watering twice a day. Considering that the climatic conditions of Oregon and Poland are similar the Learning Garden area is a suitable place for such cultivation.
Preserving biodiversity is essential to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Storing seeds in appropriately adapted banks and expanding diversity in sowing can protect us from various disasters that may occur in connection with climate change and human’s activity. Sharing a variety of seeds in our communities and keeping our local gardens let us be a part of influential and positive change. Willamette Valley (Portland area) can offer wonderful climate conditions for varieties of plants, so we should at least try to make our own experimental garden. Local activity can have a huge impact on resource conservation.
Written by: Dorota Stepka
Works Cited
Crop Trust. “Svalbard Global Seed Vault - Crop Trust.” Www.croptrust.org, 2023, www.croptrust.org/work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/.
Cucumbers | My Northwest Garden. mynorthwestgarden.com/home/cucumbers. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation. “Escalating Crises and Hunger Require Urgent Response, Says FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol.” Www.youtube.com, 12 Feb. 2004, www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qw5tBStcU.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. THE LOSS of CROP BIODIVERSITY in the CHANGING WORLD Globalization and Crop Genetic Diversity.
Lewis, Sophie. ““This Is History in the Making”: Cherokee Nation Becomes First U.S. Tribe to Preserve Culturally Important Seeds in Arctic “Doomsday” Vault.” Www.cbsnews.com, 8 Feb. 2020, www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsday-vault-cherokee-nation-first-u-s-tribe-preserve-seeds-arctic-svalbard-norway/.
Polish your kitchen. Polish 2-Day Dill Pickles {Ogórki Małosolne} - Polish Your Kitchen. 17 May 2019, www.polishyourkitchen.com/polish-2-day-dill-pickles-ogorki-malosolne/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024.
Siebert, Charles. “Food Ark.” Ebscohost.com, National Geographic, 2019, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
UNESCO. “New Research Underscores the Vital Role Played by the World Heritage Convention in Protecting Biodiversity.” Unesco.org, 2023, www.unesco.org/en/articles/new-research-underscores-vital-role-played-world-heritage-convention-protecting-biodiversity.
“Weather Averages Portland, Oregon.” Www.usclimatedata.com, www.usclimatedata.com/climate/portland/oregon/united-states/usor0275.
webteam@pcc.edu. “Rock Creek Learning Garden.” Www.pcc.edu, www.pcc.edu/sustainability/on-campus/rock-creek/rock-creek-learning-garden/.
World Health Organization. “Biodiversity and Health.” WHO, 3 June 2015, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/biodiversity-and-health.
World Wildlife Fund. “A Warning Sign: Where Biodiversity Loss Is Happening around the World.” World Wildlife Fund, 2021, www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/summer-2021/articles/a-warning-sign-where-biodiversity-loss-is-happening-around-the-world.
“Wymagania Klimatyczne I Glebowe Do Uprawy Ogórka Gruntowego.” Hortinet.pl, 27 Mar. 2017, hortinet.pl/wymagania-klimatyczne-i-glebowe-do-uprawy-ogorka-gruntowego/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024.
Flowers and Scent of Japanese Plums
When you go to grocery stores, you can see variety of vegetables, beans, or fruits. Every time you go stores, you may pick the same kind of potatoes and tomatoes. Even though you go to difference grocery stores, you may still find the same kind of potatoes and tomatoes, and you won’t get bothered to find other choices. Companies growing food crops are inclined to rely on a limited number of seeds to boost their mass production. About one hundred years ago, commercial seed houses offered 497 varieties of cabbages, but to our surprise, they diminished to 28 varieties in 80 years. Ironically, this production method that seems practical contains quite serious risks. Draught, disease, or changes to weather patterns are some possible risks of losing species all at once due to their characteristics. Some experts say monocropping can be very effective when you need to supply a great mount of food crops within a short period of time. However, species with many characteristics, such as fast growth or high yield, tend to be weaker than indigenous crops. Moreover, we need to be aware of expensive chemicals and toxic pesticides that are used for such methods of harvesting (Siebert). In 1845, there was a severe tragedy in Ireland. One third of the people in Ireland depended on potatoes as their food, and sadly, it revealed the risk of depending on a single kind of species. Just one disease wiped out all the potatoes in that area, and as a result, that caused famine and a great number or death (The Great Famine). As this history tells us, leaving existing species behind and depending on limited number of species carry a potential danger in our lives.
To save the seeds that are facing the risks of extinction, there is a movement in the world to save seeds. There are places called seed vaults, doomsday vaults, or seed banks where all different kinds of seeds are gathered and stored in temperature-controlled facilities. There are about 1,700 food vaults in the world, and the largest seed vault, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, is located in one of the Norwegian islands, about 1,300 north of the Arctic Circle. Seeds from all over the world are sent to this seed vault and stored (Svalbard Global Seed Vault). They can be a last resort to retrieve what could be lost from possible disasters, such as hurricanes, climate changes, draught, earthquakes, or even wars. In the US, there are around 20 seed banks as well. Native Seeds/SEARCH, in Tuscan, Arizona is one of them. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a non-profit organization, and they preserve seeds from Southwest areas, such as southern Colorado or central Mexico. Currently they preserve over 2,000 seeds, and such seeds are gathered from indigenous people as well as local people. These seeds are well adapted to the arid weather over years (Our Story).
Seed saving projects are also underway in PCC Rock Creek Campus. There is an area named Learning Garden, and with its 3.5 acres of vegetable, fruit, or observation bee hives, they are giving hands-on education to students (Rock Creek Learning Garden). The Learning Garden Coordinator, Miriam Latzer, is working on seed-saving projects. Miriam is also growing seeds and connecting them to the next generations. She mentioned that the more plants grow, the better people can collect information about plant diversity or learn how plants adapt to the weather in Portland. During my visit to the garden, there was a moment that a humming bird was visiting Fuji apple trees. Fuji apple trees were not originated from the US, but with the care of people at the learning garden, they have been well adapted to the climate of the area and bear apples in autumn. A humming bird’s visit also proved that the trees are organic since humming birds are very delicate and do not tolerate chemicals.
On reflecting the seed story to myself, I think about the Japanese plum tree, also known as Prunus mume or Japanese flowering apricot, that was planted in the garden located in front of my parents’ house. Japanese plums produce very pretty flowers, and people called them as the first flower to bloom at the end of winter. When people see the bloom of Japanese plums, they feel the end of winter and spring is getting close. In Japan we have lots of rain in June, and this period of rain is written in two Chinese characters. One Chinese characters means plums and the other means rain since plums ripen during rainy season in June. You can find lots of Japanese plums at grocery stores in June, and people make juice, liquor, or pickled plums from them. I remember my mom used to make such drinks and pickled plums with the plums picked from our garden. As I grew up, I joined my mom, and although I knew I couldn’t eat the plums unless they would be processed, the sweet scent of the plums was very tempting.
Now I would like to imagine seeing Japanese plums here in Pacific Northwest. If you just want to enjoy flowers, you need to choose trees that produce flowers, and if you want plums, you need to choose trees that produce plums. You can enjoy both flowers and plums with certain kind of trees. There is a website explaining what is needed to grow Japanese plums in the US. They say the trees belong to zone 6 to 8 USDA hardiness zones (Puisis). PCC Rock Creek Campus belongs to Zone 8b in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. At the North Carolina State University Arboretum, they grow varieties of Japanese plum trees, and their campus also belongs to zone 8a, so we can assume there is a similarity in temperature (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Prunus Mume). Other than temperature, we still need to consider following factors, such as light, soil, or moisture. In the Spruce website, they recommend to plant trees in moist but well-draining soil and to choose an area that receives at least four to six hours of sunlight daily. The ideal acidity soil pH is also suggested (Puisis). By considering the above conditions, growing Japanese plums in Pacific Northwest seems viable and is worth giving it a try.
In conclusion, keeping seed is not for someone specific but for all of us. Growing a single kind of vegetable may seem efficient to produce a large volume of vegetable, however, this system could be very vulnerable when unexpected circumstance, such as disease or climate change occur. Food crops that are indigenous means they have thrived despite climate changes or disease over years, and we should not underestimate such characteristics. There are organizations as well as people that strive to keep such seeds, and as safeguards, there are seed vaults all over the world. I did some research to see if Japanese plum trees, which remind me of memories in Japan, could grow in Pacific Northwest. By considering the necessary conditions for the trees to grow, I think it is possible to see the bloom of flowers here in Pacific Northwest. We should keep in mind that once species are extinct, we can hardly ever recover them. Therefore, saving species means saving our lives as well.
Written by: Yuriko Yagi
Works Cited
Siebert, Charles. “FOOD Ark.” National Geographic, vol. 220, no. 1, July 2011, pp. 108–31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=61358509&site=ehost-live.
UK Parliament. “The Great Famine.” Www.parliament.uk, 2023, www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/the-great-famine/.
Crop Trust. “Svalbard Global Seed Vault - Crop Trust.” Www.croptrust.org, 2023, www.croptrust.org/work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/.
“Our Story.” Native-Seeds-Search, www.nativeseeds.org/pages/history-mission. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
webteam@pcc.edu. “Rock Creek Learning Garden.” Www.pcc.edu, www.pcc.edu/sustainability/on-camprock-creek/rock-creek-learning-garden/.
USDA. “USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.” United States Department of Agriculture, 2020, planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
Puisis, Erica. “Love Cherry Blossoms? This Look-a-like Is the Perfect Tree to Grow in Your Garden.” The Spruce, 6 Feb. 2024, www.thespruce.com/prunus-mume-plum-blossom-care-guide-8426994. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
“Prunus Mume (Japanese Apricot) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.” Plants.ces.ncsu.edu, plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-mume/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
Haiku (s) of Empowerment, Protest, and Resistance: Level 8 Reading
Why are you fighting?
I hope to stop violence
for our kids’ future.
Disappearing town
people running away in fear
it is not justice.
Put down the gun
that is not the solution
courage to forgive.
Written by: Keiko Kofuji
Should we have to go?
There was no choice but go.
Hope we can stand still.
Written by: Iris Tsai
Pigeon is a bird.
dining table isn't destiny,
sun and sky are waiting.
Written by: Yichun Song
The world is proud of
students who bravely protest
against oppression.
Written by: Yasaman Sahba
Fireworks and weapons.
Their shine made from same stuff.
Peace may brush with war.
What should I do now?
Should we have noble aims and goals?
Let's think more at ease.
Tell me what you want.
Even if there's no chance.
It just looks that way.
Written by: Anonymous