Garrett Seed is thrilled to be featured in Our State Magazine! In the September 2021 edition, Ramblin’ Man Columns‘ T. Edward Nickens sits down with our very own Don Lee to talk seed. ‘The Seed Saver‘ writes, “A passion for indigenous grasses and wildflowers turned a ninth-generation farmer into a steward of seeds. On a ramble down to Johnston County, our roving writer learns how Don Lee is helping restore native landscapes across the South.”
The following is an excerpt from ‘The Seed Saver’:
“It was a long, hard pull to the end of the crop row, I’ll tell you that. The narrow-leaved sunflower seed heads were burnished bronze in the high sun, and the giant combine blades on the John Deere 9500 churned through the chest-high crop with a low growl as I wrestled the steering wheel to keep the green machine headed straight for the far edge of the field. One hundred eighty horsepower, and we were clipping along at a blistering 1.5 miles per hour. In a single pass, the sunflowers were cut and threshed, the undesired stems and chaff separated from the seeds by carefully calibrated airflow deep in the bowels of the machine. Whoo, boy. My hands were practically shaking. It’s not just anybody that can operate a combine.
“That’s pretty good, Eddie,” Don Lee said, crouched beside me in the cockpit, his voice slow and smooth like molasses you stuck in the refrigerator by mistake. “One whole row down, and you didn’t drive the combine into the ditch. What are you doing tomorrow for, say, 10 hours straight? I sure could use the help.”