Cover crops have gained growing interest among farmers and researchers—for good reason. They offer a wide range of benefits: soil cover, improved soil health, nitrogen fixation, weed suppression, erosion control, and support for beneficial insects.

There’s a long list of species used—brassicas, summer grasses, clovers, winter pea, vetch, rye, and more. Each has its unique properties and acts as a tool in the regenerative agriculture toolbox.

But here’s something often overlooked: within each cover crop species, there are significant varietal differences—just like with any crop. Traits such as early vigor, biomass production, weed suppression, flowering time, and ground cover can vary widely, and they matter.

Cover cropping is a long-term investment, and for many farms, it’s seen as an additional cost. As a result, private investment in cover crop breeding has historically been low. Farmers often purchase VNS (Variety Not Stated) seed, which limits progress and transparency.

As a former breeder, I remember working on summer grasses and clovers for a large seed company—only to have those efforts dropped due to low margins. That’s part of what led me to start SeedLinked to make it easier to trial, breed, and share data on cover crops and other specialty crops at low cost.

Today, thanks to incredible partners like:

  • Dr. Solveig Hanson (Cornell University, Cover Crop Breeding Network)
  • Dr. Etienne Sutton (Herrick), Ph.D. (National Cover Crop Variety Development Project, MU Center for Regenerative Agriculture)
  • Megan Williams (Virginia Cooperative Extension) … and many others, we’re seeing major improvements in how cover crops are trialed and characterized on SeedLinked.

This fall, we’re launching nearly a dozen cover crop trials across the U.S.—with seeds being shipped to hundreds of farmers. Two of these are Winter Pea trials, and we’re still accepting participants!

Winter Pea Cover Crop Trials – Now Open

Why Winter Pea? As a fall-planted legume, winter pea helps:

  • Fix atmospheric nitrogen, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers
  • Suppress winter weeds
  • Reduce erosion
  • Improve soil structure with deep roots
  • Add organic matter when incorporated as green manure
  • Support early-season pollinators with its flowers And yes—some varieties are edible!

About the Trials:

  • Led by Virginia Cooperative Extension (Zones 5-8)
  • Led by Solveig Hanson at Cornell (Zone 5 and below)
  • 3 varieties per participant (100 seeds each): including commercial and experimental lines
  • Traits evaluated: emergence, vigor, winter survival, biomass, and flavor

Participation Details: • Planting: Fall 2025 (around 16 row feet per variety) • Observations: Submit photos & ratings three times—Fall, Spring, and Termination • Equipment: Hand-plant or use a push seeder

If you—or your farmer network—are interested in participating, DM us or comment below. Let’s grow better cover crops together.

Over the past five years, SeedLinked has become a go-to platform for trialing and evaluating annual crops, empowering over 14,500 growers and 35 partner organizations to trial more than 5,750 varieties across 850+ collaborative trials. While our roots are in tomatoes, peppers, grains, and other annuals, 2024 marked a turning point: SeedLinked is going perennial.

And we’re starting with one promising—and underappreciated—perennial crops for northern growers: Honeyberry, also known as Haskap (Lonicera caerulea).

Why Start with Honeyberry?

Honeyberry is an early-fruiting, cold-hardy perennial berry that thrives in northern climates and organic systems. Originally bred in Russia and Japan and further improved in North America over the past 10-15 years, honeyberry stands out for:

  • Suitability for USDA zones 2-7
  • Adaptation to short growing seasons
  • Applications for U-pick, CSA, fresh market, and processing (juice, jam, wine)
  • Ecosystem services

But despite its potential, adoption is risky. Establishment requires patience—3-4 years before full yields—and significant investment:

  • $4-6 per plant
  • $3,800+/acre for bird netting
  • 80% of production costs go to manual harvest

Making the right varietal choice is critical.

Variety Selection: High Stakes, High Reward

Honeyberry is not a one-variety crop. Most growers need multiple varieties for cross-pollination, and success depends on compatibility, flowering overlaps, and ripening time. Performance varies significantly by zone, management system, and end use (fresh vs. processed).

honeyberries has 2 mains types:

1. Russian-Type Varieties

Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica/edulis

  • Extremely cold-hardy (down to -40°C)
  • Early bloom and fruit set
  • Tart, cylindrical berries Examples: Indigo Gem, Aurora, Berry Blue

2. Japanese-Type Varieties

Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx

  • Slightly less hardy but later blooming (avoids spring frost)
  • Larger, often sweeter berries with teardrop or heart shapes Examples: Keiko, Tana, Kawai, Yezberry® series Variety Spotlights: Grower-Backed Top Picks

Our 2024 season brought rich data from 18 growers across 6 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces. Here’s a look at some of the standout performers based on real-world reviews:

Boreal Beast (Late-Season, Russian-Type)

  • Large, firm, oblong berries with a sweet-tart, banana-like flavor
  • Upright architecture, ideal for mechanical harvest
  • Excellent for fresh and processing; stores and freezes well
  • Consistent, high yields — 1.5 pints/plant in user reports 👉 Pair with Boreal Blizzard or Boreal Beauty for pollination See on SeedLinked →

Aurora (Mid-Season, Russian-Type)

  • Early ripening, sweet-tart flavor—consistently top-rated for taste
  • Oblong, juicy berries with blueberry-like aroma
  • Upright growth, easy harvest
  • Yields up to 7.7 lbs/plant at maturity 👉 Pair with Borealis or Tundra for pollination See on SeedLinked →

Keiko (Mid-Late, Japanese-Type)

  • Larger, sweeter berries, often heart-shaped
  • Newer variety from Dr. Maxine Thompson’s Oregon program
  • Better suited for fresh market and southern growers (late bloom avoids frost)

Additional Noteworthy Varieties

  • Tundra: Compact and early, great for container growing
  • Boreal Beauty: Late, flavorful, and excellent companion for Beast
  • Honey Gin: Unique floral notes; favored in tastings

Crowdsourced Innovation: The SeedLinked Honeyberry Trial

In partnership with growers, researchers Steffen Mirsky , and breeders, we launched a 2-year SARE-funded initiative titled:

“Establishing Honeyberry Collaborative Trials using SeedLinked to Crowdsource Cultivar Performance Data and Inform Grower Selections.”

2024 Highlights:

  • 18 growers actively submitted data
  • 29 varieties evaluated, here live results
  • 599 trait ratings, 203 qualitative comments
  • Top traits: Yield, berry characteristic Flavor, Bloom Timing, Harvest Duration

Growers used SeedLinked’s mobile app and web dashboard to track:

  • Yield (Lb/plant)
  • Marketability yield (fresh and processed)
  • Flavor (fresh and processed)
  • Berry shape, size, and uniformity
  • Plant habit (upright vs. spreading)
  • Bloom and harvest window
  • Management challenges (weed pressure, netting, harvest method)

Platform Upgrades for Perennial Crops

To meet the needs of perennial systems, we’re upgrading SeedLinked with:

  • Multi-year trial capacity (starting winter 2025)
  • Crop-specific trait ontologies (e.g., bloom timing, harvest duration)
  • Peer discussion feeds and community photo galleries
  • Geo-specific cultivar insights for better regional recommendations

Looking Ahead: Perennials Are the Future

Honeyberry is just the start. We’re planning to expand trials to:

  • Hazelnuts
  • Currants & Elderberries
  • Perennial tree fruits (e.g., apples, peach)

As interest grows in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and climate-resilient systems, the demand for collaborative perennial crop research will grow.

We believe that crowdsourced, decentralized data = faster adoption + better outcomes for all stakeholders.

Join the Perennial movement

If you’re a grower, breeder, extension agent, nursery, or value chain player interested in perennials—now get involved, reach out to us

You can:

  • Start or join a honeyberry trial, Share your data and photos
  • Reach out to us to pilot SeedLinked on other perrenials, Contribute to trait design and platform feedback
  • Use insights to support your customers and networks

Let’s build the tools—and the community—to power perennial crop innovation.

As climate change reshapes agriculture across Europe, resilient and regionally adapted seeds are more essential than ever. At SeedLinked , we’re proud to contribute to this future through our collaborative work in Portugal as part of the EU-funded LiveSeeding project, a multi-country effort to boost organic seed sovereignty and participatory breeding.

In Portugal, we are working alongside:

  • Living Seeds- Sementes Vivas , a certified organic seed company leading breeding efforts for drought-tolerant open-pollinated tomato varieties. Their focus is on selecting lines that thrive under low-input, low-irrigation systems while delivering high yield and flavor. Micha Groenewegen
  • @ESAC (Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra) and INIAV (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária), who coordinate citizen science and farmer trials, engaging a broad network of growers across diverse microclimates.

Trial Design & Protocol:

In 2024, over 30 farmers and gardeners in Portugal participated in trials evaluating tomato populations and breeding lines for:

  • Flavor (rated 1-5 on sweetness, acidity, complexity, and texture)
  • Vigor and yield under drought stress
  • Days to maturity and fruit size
  • Resistance to blossom end rot and cracking

Participants used the SeedLinked platform and mobile app to:

  • Log planting and harvest dates
  • Enter trait ratings during and post-harvest
  • Upload photos of fruits and plants for collective analysis

Early Insights (2024 Season):

  • Varieties bred by Living Seeds- Sementes Vivas under dryland conditions outperformed several commercial checks in terms of fruit set under heat stress, with up to 20% higher yield in low-irrigation plots.
  • Participatory flavor evaluations revealed strong consumer preference for two heirloom-derived lines, with over 80% of participants ranking them 4 or 5 on a 5-point flavor scale.
  • One standout line showed early maturity (65 DTM) combined with good drought performance, making it a top candidate for further selection and potential release.

LIVeseeding has enabled the deployment of the SeedLinked platform across the EU, now translated into eight languages, making collaborative, climate-smart breeding more accessible than ever before.

This vision—and the use of SeedLinked—is now taking root across Europe. From soybean and cereal breeding in Poland, to tomato selection in Austria, wheat development in the Netherlands, germplasm characterization in Germany and Switzerland, and carrot and radish trials in France, the LiveSeeding project is fueling a decentralized, farmer- and citizen-led seed movement that is reshaping the future of organic seed systems in European agriculture.

Flavor. Drought tolerance. Co-creation.