The Need for Seed
​Seeds lays at the heart of this work. Climate smart trees depend upon seeds with broad-based genetic diversity, which after being grown out are planted 200+ miles north of the mother populations. These "climate smart" tree seedlings, are more adapted, resilient, and thriving, as observed through UMD research under the leadership of Dr. Julie Etterson and Dr. Briana Cross.
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Through an expanding corps of seed collectors, tree seed is collected throughout central and southern Minnesota from populations of native trees, mostly in the Fall. This seed is processed, counted and stored overwinter in coolers. Then come Spring, the seed is distributed out to our network of growers.
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Read more about The Need for Seed here!
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Be a Seed Collector
Seed collecting is an amazing way to be a part of the project and help the Minnesota forests be healthy and resilient for generations to come. There are seeds to collect most of the year but the bulk of the collection happens in August, September, and October.
There are a few intricacies around successfully gathering quality native tree seed. To this end, U of M Extension Service has a an introductory page on seed gathering, and twice per year offers seed collection training workshops called "ACORNS". The network collects seeds from Northern Red Oak, Bur Oak, Pin Oak, Swamp White Oak, Sugar Maple, Silver Maple, American Basswood, Yellow Birch, Black Cherry, Black Walnut, and more.
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The other part of seed collection is identifying populations of native trees where seed collectors can work. Do you have land where seed collectors can collect seed or know of good locations in your region? The network is always looking for more diverse tree populations.​
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Feel free to email the Co-op for more information or to pass along seed gathering locations.