Seeds of Change

Flavor-driven, sustainable vegetables are providing opportunities for local family farms

Award-winning farm-to-table chef Dan Barber, whose book The Third Table provided a blueprint for the future of the food movement, is partnering with two Monterey Bay area farms to grow vegetables that are tastier and more nutritious.

Barber owns two acclaimed restaurants in New York and in 2018 co-founded Row 7 Seed Co. to create new plant varieties for the wholesale market and consumers.

Inspiration for the company started years earlier when Barber was working with plant breeder Michael Mazourek to develop crops for his Stone Barns farm. “He came to the restaurant for dinner, and I asked him, ‘If you’re such a great breeder, why don’t you make a butternut squash that actually tastes good?’” says Barber. “Why do we have to smother them with maple syrup or butter to make them taste good?”

Mazourek’s response shocked Barber. “He said that in all his years of breeding, no one had ever asked him to select for flavor. I had the idea, ‘What if breeders talked to chefs?’”

Row 7 sells specialty, and often organic, seeds for crops like badger flame beets, tetra squash and Beauregarde purple snow peas. These crops aren’t antique or heirloom varieties that have been handed down through the generations. Rather, Row 7 selects, develops and sells hybrid, open-pollinated (effected by pollinators, humans, wind or rain) seeds produced and selected in organic systems that are the result of modern plant breeders evolving heirloom seeds.

“Heirlooms are delicious and deserve a place at the table, but I think we should spend more time celebrating the work of modern plant breeders. These new crops taste good, but they’re also adapted to thrive in today’s environment,” says Barber.

To that end, Row 7 started working last year with Lakeside Organic Gardens in Watsonville and Spade & Plow Organics in San Martin.

“We reached out to these growers because they represent diverse approaches to farming in their region,” says Dev Patel, grower relations manager for Row 7. “Their farms are of different sizes, which allows us to scale and be flexible with more significant acreage, work with different styles of growers and strengthen community ties.”

Yield, size, color and shelf stability are more traditional requirements for crops destined for the wholesale market, says Sam Thorp, co-owner of Spade & Plow. “Row 7 seeds are still very much niche items rather than commodity crops like broccoli. It’s really hard to bring a new variety to market on a wholesale scale. It requires a lot of time and expertise.”

Row 7 launched with six seed varieties, but today sells 20 varieties and also has a branded produce business to complement the seed offerings. Row 7 produce is sold at Whole Foods stores nationwide and through wholesale partners.

To reduce the risk for trial growers, Row 7 commits to purchasing the full harvest, regardless of yield, at a premium price, as well as to handling all administration, marketing and logistics needed to get crops to consumers. If a crop fails, Row 7 will pay the growing price, so farmers still recoup expenses.

“We’re a mid-size wholesale and retail grower and it’s really challenging to grow the right amount and scale,” says Thorp. “It takes time to establish that, and Row 7 really helps us grow without the big risk. Some of these varieties are a bit more finicky than standard hybrids, so one reason Row 7 likes to partner with small growers is because they can keep a close eye on crops.”

Larger growers like Lakeside, which farms 3,000 acres in Watsonville and 1,300 acres near El Centro, also benefit from their partnership with Row 7. “We’re able to integrate what we already grow with their specialty crops,” says owner Dick Peixoto. “We started with a quarter-acre of garleek (a mellow leek-garlic hybrid) on our 20-acre leek plot and we’re hoping to increase that next year. We practice crop rotation, which helps combat disease resistance and prevent soil depletion, so being able to blend crops helps with that.”

Lakeside also grows badger flame beets and koginut squash (a small, nutty pumpkin) for Row 7. This winter, the farm will begin trials on its desert acreage. “From my perspective, growing for Row 7 has so much potential,” says Peixoto. “We’re hoping to cultivate more varieties down the road, on increased acreage. We both prioritize flavor, so this partnership was a good fit for us both.”

While heirloom seeds are now widely available, most of the crops grown from these don’t lend themselves to the wholesale market due to their innate fragility. Row 7’s objective is to provide delicious, nutrient- dense crops that are also resilient to disease.

“Deliciousness is my number one priority, but by selecting for flavor, you’re also selecting for nutrition and the right kind of growing systems.”

“Our 7082 cucumbers are a good example,” says Barber. “Modern cucumbers have been bred for size and sweetness, which means they lack the complexity and resilience of older varieties. Heirloom cucumbers have depth of flavor and natural disease resistance that has been lost in most commercial hybrids, so we created the 7082 seed, which is both delicious and disease resistant, making it ideal for organic and regenerative growers.”

Spade & Plow dedicates two of its 40 acres to growing garleek for Row 7’s Whole Foods accounts; the vegetables are then sold under the Row 7 label. The farm also grows Row 7’s badger flame beets, a sweet, cylindrical variety with vibrant orange flesh, for its own farmers market customers.

Thorp praises both crops for their outstanding flavor and versatility. “Garleek is like a baby leek, but it has a nice garlicky, mellow flavor and super tender tops that are similar to a garlic chive in flavor. It’s like having two crops in one, and it grows from spring into fall. The beets don’t have that ‘dirt’ flavor and they’re easy to work with due to their shape. Chefs appreciate that.”

Having a chef like Barber behind a seed company puts Row 7 into a niche of its own. “Deliciousness is my number one priority, but by selecting for flavor, you’re also selecting for nutrition and the right kind of growing systems,” he says. “Without healthy soil, those genetics aren’t going to get turned on.”

Barber is extremely fond of Row 7’s spinach lettuce, which was created by Bill Waycott, a former Monsanto lettuce breeder who was disillusioned with “bland, watery romaine, which is the most popular American vegetable,” he says. “Our analyses show that spinach lettuce is three times as nutritious as organic romaine, but it’s depth of flavor is just as exciting. It’s succulent and pleasantly bitter; I love it raw, grilled or lightly sauteed.”

While flavor is at the crux of Row 7’s ethos, the company has a more important overarching goal. “The urgency to support regional organic farmers has never been greater, and that work has to begin with seed,” says Barber. “Organic sales might be increasing, but organic plant breeding only receives a sliver of our R&D investment. Our goal is to catalyze more investment in organic plant breeding, and breeding varieties fit for organic systems.”