Our mission is to Inspire and Empower You to Grow Your Own Food in a Northern Garden.
The Why of Taiga Farm and Seed
In reading the 2022 USDA survey results, there is a continued trend of farmers aging out faster than new farmers are coming on board. What can we do? In looking back in history, when farming was in similar crisis during WWI and WWII, the solution was Victory Gardens. When ordinary people, like you and me, came together in their communities, to grow healthy, sustainable, local food in their backyards. Powerful stuff.
The Modern Victory Garden is growing food now to reclaim our local food and fill the gap in our farming communities; appreciating farmer efforts by understanding food doesn't just come to stores in the back of a truck, but from dedicated people working the soil.
The second why; the lack of boots-on-the-ground information for growing food in hardiness zones 3 and 4 where winter temps can reach -30°s and summers in the 90°s. There are 13 states, from the Colorado Rockies through the Midwest to the Upper Atlantic states, that experience this 120° swing in a six month period. Add in a short growing season and things become more challenging. Yet, people have successfully grown food in this extreme for generations. And we can too.
Lastly, to remove the fear of growing your own food. Plants die, things don't grow like we hope, and the harvest isn't what we expected. This is normal. Growing food is a practice. Each season your practice expands, becoming more knowledgeable and adept. It is being outside with hands in the soil, learning to provide for yourself and your family. There is a deep sense of pride and accomplishment; don't let fear keep you from growing wholesome, fresh, nutritious, clean food.
To support this mission, Taiga has completely re-designing seed envelopes with detailed and insightful instructions for proven vegetable and flowers that not only grow, but flourish, in these tough northern growing zones 3 and 4. Seed collections have the right balance of fresh seeds for one season and sized to be adaptable to your lifestyle and garden size. You may not use all the seeds in the packet, plant all the seedlings you started, or eat all the food you have grown. And this is where the magic begins ~ share your extra seeds, plants, and produce with your neighbors, colleagues, family, and friends ~
and begin growing a community.
Let's CULTIVATE THE NORTH together!
Challenges of The North
WE ARE HERE ON YOUR JOURNEY
to Grow Your Own Food
It is difficult to find practical information in growing food in Zones 3 and 4 where frost dates are not consistent and summers are short. We remove the barriers to simple growing in The North.
Seed packets are written for warmers zones and often lacking detailed information about the plant specifics, how to start seeds, when to fertilize and to harvest. We put all that information and more at your fingertips.
Too many seeds, not the right seeds for short seasons, upsizing or downsizing your garden, new to gardening, relocated to a new home in a new Zone ~ so many life variables outside of a seed packet. We are flexible to your lifestyle.
Grow Your Own Table
Our vision is the Modern Victory Garden, taking inspiration from past heroic beginning gardeners and when local foods were the norm to being empowered today to take steps to champion regional foods, become more sustainable and be knowledgable and active in our food system.
As a gardener, the Modern Victory Garden is notably reflected in pride in having a vegetable or herb garden, learning skills of self-sufficiency, providing dinner from your garden, deeper connections with family and neighbors, and improving your health with your own highly nutritious food.
Let's CULTIVATE THE NORTH together!
Taiga is a woman-owned and founded seed company specializing in northern growing.
At the Heart, we are here to