Caitlin Youngquist, a soil scientist in Worland, Wyoming, grew a crop of different grains she had hand selected when she made a colorful discovery.
The combination of grains, blue flax, zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers she had planted as a cover crop also created a beautiful array of flowers.
“They all make good livestock feed, so I just planted them together,” she said. “I refined it a little bit this year, and it was just a fun way to cover the ground, provide some livestock feed, and get some cut flowers at the same time.”
This seed mix is now available through Generous Roots Garden Co., a new nonprofit designed to help gardeners in the Bighorn Basin select the right seeds for Northern Wyoming’s growing conditions. It is all about having a successful harvest in a harsher climate.
“We have some unique challenges,” Youngquist said. “We have a long growing season, but we are very cool in the spring and very hot in the summer. And that hot, hot summer can be stressful in a lot of cool season crops.”
Many gardeners, she said, struggle with seed selection due to a lack of knowledge on varieties suitable for the climate.
Entire gardens have been known to die because of planting the wrong seeds. This garden crisis is what Youngquist hopes to prevent.
As spring looms in the Cowboy State, she is determined to make sure gardeners have the right seeds to succeed.
Saving Dying Gardens
By selecting these regionally adapted seeds and plant varieties, the Generous Roots Garden Company are hoping to take the pain out of choosing the best plants for your garden.
“One of the challenges is not using quality seed,” Youngquist said. “These are either varieties that were selected for the wrong area, or just low-quality seeds that have a poor germination rate.”
Janet Hofmann, education coordinator for the Washakie County Conservation District, is as passionate as Youngquist to help gardeners succeed. She understands that many gardeners feel overwhelmed when planting.
“You can get a seed catalog and there's hundreds of seeds in there, and you might not know exactly how to pick the ones that are going to work in your area,” Hofmann said. “We're curating the right seeds for our area out of hundreds that you could choose from.”
The idea to sell seeds specific to the area came about when people were asking Youngquist why their cucumbers and other vegetables were not doing so well.
“She realized that a lot of times people don't understand how to pick the right seed and how to look at the growing conditions in their area. They also may pick a variety that's not going to get to maturity in time,” Hofmann said.
The seed selections are based on what was successful in the Worland Community Garden that is overseen by the conservation district.
“We've tried some things over the years and found a few things we liked,” Youngquist said. “We wanted to be able to share that success with others.”
Over the years, for example, Youngquist has planted different cucumbers and discovered which ones kept a mild flavor in the extreme climate of the Bighorn Basin.
These are the seeds they now sell in their online store rather than the ones that get bitter under stress.
“It just tastes good,” she said. “We wanted to choose some cool season crops that were very heat tolerant.”
The seeds for Generous Roots Garden Company are bought in bulk and packaged in Worland, Wyoming. They are specifically chosen for the Bighorn Basin region. (Courtesy Janet Hofmann) 
Ivy Asay, the manager of the Worland Community Garden, poses with a display of the seeds from the brand new company she has helped found, Generous Roots Garden Company. The goal is to help take the headache out of selecting seeds that will do well in the Bighorn Basin region. (Courtesy Janet Hofmann) 
The seeds for Generous Roots Garden Company are bought in bulk and packaged in Worland, Wyoming. They are specifically chosen for the Bighorn Basin region. (Courtesy Janet Hofmann) 
The seed packets for the new company, Generous Roots Garden Company, are specifically chosen to thrive in the unique environment of the Bighorn Basin region. (Courtesy Janet Hofmann)
The Right Seeds
When purchasing the wholesale seeds to sell to their customers, Youngquist said that there are many factors to determine. These include the germination rate, seed purity, age of the seed, and how clean they are.
They have purchased their seeds for Generous Roots Garden Company at sites that use traditional plant breeding rather than bio-engineered seeds.
“This is done by cross-pollinating different plants in the field thousands of times to find the right one. That way you get a product that the plant breeders are looking for,” she said.
Both Youngquist and Hofmann said that it matters what your purpose for your garden is as well. If you are growing pickling cucumbers, then you will want a cucumber that puts on all the fruit all at one time so that you can pickle all at one time. If you want cucumbers to eat throughout the season, that would be a different variety.
“It really is just about growing success,” Hofmann said. “We are looking for seeds that are resistance to disease and, obviously the days until maturation matters in Wyoming because we have such a short growing season.”
The selection of seeds that Generous Roots offer for now include lettuce, cabbage, melons, peas, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and squash, that are specific for Northern Wyoming gardeners.
“If you really get into it, there's hundreds of varieties that have been developed for so many different purposes,” Youngquist said. “It can be overwhelming to decide what you want.”
The Community Garden
The proceeds from the seed sales will be used to fund the Worland Community Garden which is also the test garden for the seeds.
“We chose the broccoli and the cauliflowers that have really done well in the community garden,” Youngquist said. “Kabocha squash has done really, really well for us here in the area. And so we have that blend in three different colors, which is just fun.”
The seeds they chose for this first year are ones that can be planted in the ground this spring rather than those that needed to be planted earlier in the year in a greenhouse environment.
“Most people are going to buy their tomatoes that have already been propagated beforehand because of the growing season,” Hofmann said. “Instead of tomatoes, we wanted to pick some of these solid winners that we know people can be successful with.”
Growing a garden in Wyoming’s climate can be difficult, especially when you plant the wrong seeds. A new company is helping Bighorn Basin gardeners find the right seeds for the Cowboy State’s unique climate. (Courtesy Worland Community Garden) 
Growing a garden in Wyoming’s climate can be difficult, especially when you plant the wrong seeds. A new company is helping Bighorn Basin gardeners find the right seeds for the Cowboy State’s unique climate. (Courtesy Worland Community Garden)
Helping Gardeners Statewide
As they continue to curate the seeds and bare root trees that they offer, the goal remains to help people get the most out of their garden. Eventually, they hope to offer this service statewide for all the regions in Wyoming.
“There's definitely a lot of room for growth, but we're starting pretty small this year with just 12 varieties,” Hofmann said. “Our hope is to expand and be a seed supplier for this northern region that has a climate similar to this area.”
Long term, Youngquist said, is to have seed selections specific for the different growing conditions in regions such as the High Plains, Laramie and Cheyenne areas.
“It would be really great at some point to have several different collections that would thrive in those different areas and work with the local gardens and farms to identify those varieties and create those collections as well,” she said.
For now, the goal of the new seed company is to make their community garden self-sufficient and not reliant on grants. They also want to help feed those in need.
“We encourage home gardeners to plan ahead and plant extra,” Youngquist said. “To have the intention of growing their garden to give some away in their community.”
For those contemplating planting a garden this year, Hofmann said it is not just about a bountiful crop.
“To be outside in the sunshine and touch the earth, I just think there's health benefits innately in that process,” she said. “It helps to just
kind of calm the soul. Then on the other hand, it's really nice to know that I can support myself and be self-reliant by growing my own food.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
