For Gardeners

Gardeners can participate in many of the same trials as farmers, on a smaller scale. In addition, we have several Master Gardener groups, educational gardens and community garden groups participating in our trials.

We are currently in the middle of the winter greenhouse season. In partnership with the Organic Seed Alliance, SeedLinked, eOrganic and independent breeders (Nature and Nuture Seeds and KC Tomato), for 2024 we are offering trials focused on varieties close to commercial release. We are also offering variety trials.

Our trials this year will include five different tomato breeding trials, two pepper breeding trials, and five potato trials with breeding lines from the University of Wisconsin program. Trials are currently open for registration, which you can find links to below.

We send each farm all the seeds they need for their trial as well as stakes, and a planting map. Farmers manage the trial as they would manage their normal crop. The research station trials are managed organically, and while we prefer that farmers manage their trial without pesticides so that we get good observations on disease resistance, there is no requirement for participants to be certified organic.

We are working with SeedLinked to make on-farm trials easier and results more immediate. Trial links will take you to the SeedLinked website to complete your trial request. SeedLinked works in any web browser, on a computer or smartphone. Seedlinked also has iPhone and Android apps so that you can do trial ratings and take photos of entries on your smartphone offline, and automatically uploads data when you have a Wi-Fi connection. A benefit of using SeedLinked is that you can see all trial results as soon as you have completed the trial, rather than waiting for us to process all the data. You always have the option to collect observations on paper, but we encourage you to try the app, it makes the trials logistically much simpler for all of us!

Seed photos and Non-GMO statements for organic certification for each year are shared on this page. All trial varieties are also planted on our certified organic land. We will also share more information about all trial varieties.