This month, Jess Colby (Riparian Lands Project Coordinator) and Brooke Fleischman (State Seed Coordinator for the Intervale Conservation Nursery) visited the New York State Tree Nursery in Saratoga to learn more about their seed collection, processing, and storage techniques. The Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery is the oldest state forest tree nursery in the country. The nursery currently produces more than 1.5 million seedlings annually and maintains more than 200 acres of seed production areas and orchards across the state. More than 6 million seedlings, representing over 50 species, are currently growing at the Nursery. By using local seed collected from around New York State, these trees and shrubs are hardy and adapted to the state’s climatic condition.
The seed collecting effort here in Vermont is nowhere near the scale found in New York (at least not yet!). NorthWoods first began collecting seeds in 2021 in a limited capacity as a part of our Riparian Lands program in partnership with Vermont Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Intervale Conservation Nursery, The Nature Conservancy, and the Connecticut River Conservancy. Jess and Meg Carter (Conservation Science Director) first visited the Saratoga Tree Nursery in Fall 2021. It was great to see New York’s equipment and facilities, but definitely overwhelming as well. In 2022, we expanded the field season for the Riparian Lands Crew to allow NorthWoods to have a dedicated crew for seed collection. Over the past year, we have learned through trial and error, research, and experience sharing with our partners how to best collect seeds from our target tree and shrub species, how to process those seeds by hand or with our Dybvig Seed Cleaner, and how to store these processed seeds for future use in a hydroseeder to revegetate old agricultural fields that are currently filled with invasive reed canary grass.
Saratoga Tree Nursery staff member Brayton Pendell points out their industrial sized seed sorting and cleaning machines.
For this visit, Jess and Brooke came prepared with a long list of questions including specifics on what to look for and how to collect certain species, how to maintain records of collections, germination testing protocols, and brainstorming ideas on long-term storage methods. Staff from the Saratoga Tree Nursery were able to walk those two through their processing and storage facility, taking time to show them what each piece of equipment does and brainstorm ideas on how to potentially recreate machines on a smaller scale to fit our needs. Looking ahead, the team is hoping to have another successful season of seed collection that will include consistent germination testing and more precise storage methods (e.g., testing seed moisture content before storage!) for each of our seed types. We are currently working on a seed tumbler prototype to improve our techniques for removing seed from fluff and cone materials!
