The SEEDS Farm

at Historic Barns Park

Historic Barns Park was once part of the extensive campus of the State Hospital Asylum and served to grow much of the produce needed to feed the Hospital staff and patients. The SEEDS Farm at Historic Barns Park is proud to continue this tradition of feeding the neighborhood. The average age of the US Farmer has been rising rapidly for the last 30 years. For over a decade, the SEEDS Farm has expanded opportunities for early-career farmers to practice through the farmer residency program.

Our current Resident Farmer, Brenin Wertz-Roth of Poesis Farm, has extensive experience with organic farming and is partnering with SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers to keep the soils at the Park productive. His areas of special interest are in heritage breeds, seed saving, and other soil research projects. In addition to growing fresh food, Brenin is engaged in the practice of using agricultural lands to sequester carbon from the atmosphere back into the soil. We think of it as Carbon Farming and building soil is one of many practical solutions to reversing global warming that can be adapted to work almost anywhere in the world.

Award-Winning Garlic

SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers continues the tradition of agriculture at Historic Barns Park with our annual garlic crop. Music Garlic is a hard-neck variety that is hardy and likes cold weather, stores well and has large cloves that are easy to peel. SEEDS’ Garlic won ‘Best Garlic’ at the 2015 Garlic Auction hosted by Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology. It has been planted at Interlochen Community School! Culinary garlic and seed garlic are available for sale each Fall, email hello@ecoseeds.org to be added to our newsletter and receive the announcement when the crop is ready for purchase.