Annapolis Valley family keeps century-old seed tradition alive

In a remote corner of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, Ken and Kathy Byrka and their daughter, Mallory, are keeping a century-old family tradition alive.

They operate Revival Seeds. They save and sell heritage seed varieties.

Ken's family on both sides has a long history of saving seeds in western Ukraine, bringing seeds with them when they immigrated to Manitoba in the early 20th century. 

They established a successful seed-saving business in Manitoba by the 1920s, which continued as a local tradition even after commercial agriculture grew.

Saving seeds continued through his uncles and aunts into the 1990s, he says.

The business still has about 40 of the regional heirloom varieties that came from western Ukraine, Ken says.

When daughters Victoria and Mallory decided to go to university in Nova Scotia in 2016, Ken and Kathy decided to leave Manitoba and follow them.

They started the background work on the business in 2017 and opened in 2020.

Moshers Corner, near Middleton, proved to be the ideal location for their farm because of its isolation. There is no danger of cross-pollination from nearby crops.

"It's really important to have that ability to control your pollination," Ken says.

"The Annapolis Valley was extremely good.... The fertility was here and we had the isolation to do what we need to do."

Today, their mail-order business offers hundreds of seed varieties that they send across North America.

It's not just a one-way street. People send them seeds from around the world.

Ken says it is especially common during the winter. That gives them time to learn more about the seeds and where they are from.

He says they have been able to revive seeds from the 1930s and even earlier if they have enough seeds to work with.

One example of this is the Dead Viking Pea, he says.

The seeds were sent to them by a customer in Norway. They came from an area where Viking burials took place.

He says the peas do very well in the Maritime climate and have proven popular with customers.

"So many varieties come across like that from Europe and other parts of the world and we don't know the origins particularly, but sometimes there's a story that we can put together," Ken says.

"The exciting part of the business is the story behind the scenes because every seed tells a story."

According to Ken, one of the driving forces behind the business today is food security and sustainability. He says people need to be able to grow their own food and not depend on commercial sources.

Without seed security there can be no food security, he says.

That sustainability is reflected in the farm's use of solar-heated greenhouses and grow rooms and the use of an electric vehicle.

Ken's enthusiasm is echoed by Mallory, a partner in the business. She has a business degree from Acadia University and a certificate in organic agriculture from Dalhousie University.

She is the fourth generation of the family involved in saving seeds in Canada. She has three children of her own.

"It's definitely super special to me just knowing that a lot of the seeds have come from my great-grandparents," Mallory says.

"I'm super happy to be able to continue that on and pass it along to my kids as well."

Ken says his daughters have been instrumental in tracking down information about the family's history of seed saving.

Meanwhile, he says the work continues to find and preserve rare varieties from around the world.

"Once we've lost an heirloom, we've lost it forever," he says.