Revival Seeds
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Over 100 years of family seed saving revived. Organically grown, open-pollinated, heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower varieties.
In 1903, Iwan and Anna Guryn immigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (which is now known as the Western Ukraine) to Canada with fifteen dollars and a trunk of assorted seeds. They were farmers lured by the availability of the free land grants on the prairies. In 1905 they began breaking land and seeding their first crops near Riding Mountain, Manitoba. It was on this original homestead in 1925 where Katie Guryn would marry Dmytro Byrka. Together, they would establish a market garden business selling and trading their heirloom vegetables and seeds to local merchants and settlers. They soon gained a reputation for having produce and seeds of superior quality. The heritage of quality seed and hardy selection continued for almost fifty years at mostly a local level, however the Byrka seed saving endeavour would be continued by many of their eight children. Today, a 4th and 5th generation of Byrka family seed savers are fortunate enough to have retained a few of the original heirloom varieties along with the growing knowledge and seed selection. The seed saving tradition was officially revived in 2017 by Ken & Kathy Byrka along with their two daughters Rachel (Elsie Morden) & Mallory, almost 100 years after the original garden plots and trials were first carried out on the prairie soils near Riding Mountain, Manitoba. Revival Seeds is located in the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. The farm and business is owned and operated by Ken and Kathy, along with their dog Leo. It is our family commitment to provide hardy heirloom, open pollinated, and diverse seed varieties that are grown under organic production principles to our customers, continuing the tradition of the original family farm.
We are fortunate enough to have Ken’s parents out for a visit and sure appreciate their labour contribution to this season’s heavy harvest! 😁
Taking advantage of the 70 km wind gusts! A great day for winnowing corn seed! 🌽 💨
10/02/2026
Heirloom watermelons, a favourite to harvest every year! Many seeds and smoothies! 😋 🍉 Check out the seeds from this Turkish Cekirdegi Oyali variety! 😎
09/30/2026
🧡Today, we take time to listen, learn, reflect, and remember.
Revival Seeds is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship.
As a small family farm, we are grateful for the opportunity to grow on this land and recognize the deep relationship Indigenous Peoples have with the land, water, and communities that have cared for them for generations.
🧡To mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, 20% of sales from our ORANGE products will be donated to the Downie & Wenjack Fund, supporting efforts to build understanding, awareness, education, and meaningful connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
🧡 Learn more about the land you are on through Native Land Digital and learn more about the work of the Downie & Wenjack Fund Downie Wenjack Fund
Blue Monday Sage, another late season bloomer! 😀
09/28/2026
Our Armenian Snake Melons (also called cucumbers but are botanically classified as a melon) were outstanding this year! 🐍 🍈
26 growing plots now sown with fall rye. 12 more to go! Cover crops are a very important part of our production strategy! Fall rye builds healthy soil and prevents erosion over the winter and spring. The rye will be incorporated in the late spring as a green manure crop, adding biomass! Many of these plots had buckwheat over the summer months which was recently incorporated. 🐝
09/18/2026
We are grateful for having more family helping out with the harvest! We welcome grandma Jude and aunt Sylvia from Thunder Bay this week! Lots of peas and beans to work through with a pleasant selection of vinyl! 🎶 🫛 🫘 😀
09/17/2026
Long days in the field and busy evenings in the kitchen! 🔪 🧑🍳 🍅 The perks of managing over 130 tomato varieties! 😋 San Marzano paste up for processing tonight!
09/14/2026
It was great to have the students from LEC here this morning. They were able to gather some of our extra tomatoes and peppers for their upcoming salsa presentation! 🌶️ 🍅 Leo was also quite pleased with the visit! 🐕
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77 Delusion Road
Middleton, NS
B0S1P0
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