Susana Lein
Susana Lein
Susana Lein has farmed regeneratively for more than 3 decades without tillage, using diverse cover crops and saving seed for the majority of the farm’s crops. Starting with a self-built tiny house from local lumber, clay, straw and recycled materials, she built Salamander Springs Farm near Berea, Kentucky, on a logged and eroded ridge without topsoil. Today the farm is renown for its deep, living soils, crop biodiversity, and flavorful, nutrient-dense vegetables, fruits, cornmeal, popcorn & dry beans. Susana teaches regenerative agriculture and permaculture practices on the completely off-grid farm, as well as for organizations throughout the eastern USA. She is also known for selecting and developing the beautiful, productive KY Rainbow dent corn from inbred heirloom varieties of the lower Appalachians.
Susana’s Workshop
Landrace Seed Selection for the Regenerative Farm:
Resilience, Productivity & Flavor!
Learn to select and maintain locally-adapted landrace seed for more resilient, productive, and nutrient-dense crops that resist pests and disease! After more than 3 decades of regenerative organic food production, Susana Lein of Salamander Springs Farm considers seed stewardship a key element of a regenerative farm. For some crops, the difference in productivity, flavor and resistance has been dramatic, compared to commercial organic seed.
Understand and work with the pollination and seed production characteristics of important crop families, and how to harvest, dry, process and store seeds at small farm or garden scale without expensive equipment. Learn to select and maintain your own landraces with nutrient-dense flavor and the genetic diversity for ongoing local adaption and reliability in challenging climate conditions. Seed crop families covered will include the key staple crops of the milpa indigenous agricultural system that Susana learned during 8 1/2 years of working Mayan farmers in Latin America in the 1990’s.