Non-GMO Corn Preservation Project

This year we were fortunate enough to get a small grant from the Bellingham Community Food Co-op's Farm Fund, for our Non-GMO Corn Preservation Project. The grant paid for pollination supplies, outreach, and a portion of the labor required to launch this community program aimed at ensuring an enduring supply of locally-adapted Non-GMO grain corn varieties. 

As part of the project we learned to do hand pollination and trained other farmers in the skills required to keep their own corn patch from receiving pollen from neighboring GMO corn field. Our hand pollination efforts were focused on varieties already known to do well here: Nothstine and Mandan Bride dent corn, Lavendar Mandan parching corn, Cascade Ruby-Gold flint corn, and Painted Mountain Flour Corn.  

We will begin harvesting our corn at our upcoming Threshing and Harvest work party, sunday September 15. We will have the results of the first year's work at a free community information session at the Food Co-op on October 21st, 6:30pm. There, we will also discuss the importance of protecting corn from GMO contamination, threats from GM crops in general, and how you can get involved as a farmer to steward a variety yourself.