This post is the second of three posts about my visit to Fruition Seeds.
Last post we walked Fruition’s fields, this post we tour their warehouse.
Let’s see how seed travels through the warehouse.
From The Field
Seed lots comes in from the field and then travel through a series of Bins.
- Bin A is for seed lots straight from the field.
- Bin B is for seed lots that have been cleaned and are ready for germination tests.
- Bin C is for seed lots that have passed germ test and can move on to bulk storage prior to packing.
- Bin D is for seed lots that failed a first round of germ tests and might need extra care.
Germination Tests
Seeds are carefully counted and placed on a moist blotter paper in petri dish.
Each dish is carefully labelled with the variety being testesd, the lot number and the test’s start date.
The tests are placed in a germination chamber kept at a specific temperature.
The chamber is a fridge heated by a crock pot full of water on a thermostat.
Bulk Seed Storage
Clean seeds that have successfully passed a germination test (in Bin C!) move into a cold room used for bulk seed storage.
This is where seeds wait until they are packed into small packs.
Shipping Orders
I know I’ve skipped some steps but here’s what orders look like once they are pulled and ready to ship.
What About Seed Packing?
That my friends is for my next post!