Sakata Seed Corp, a large international corporation established in 1913 and headquartered in Japan, does business in 170 countries around the world. Within that framework, Sakata Home Grown, a small division of Sakata Seed America that was launched just a few years ago, focuses specifically on vegetables appropriate for the small grower and the home gardener. Product Development and Marketing Manager Tracy Lee came to the company in 2009 with the explicit mission of exploring the market and developing flowers and vegetables that appeal to the individual consumer.

“Our business is wholesale. We sell our seeds to large dealers, who then distribute them to farm shops and mail order companies. The small grower is our main focus,” explains Tracy. Sakata has a long history of breeding breakthrough vegetables—a few of their all-stars are ‘Red Ace’ beet, ‘Marathon’ broccoli, ‘Sweet Hearts’ grape tomato, and Profusion series zinnias. Sakata Home Grown draws on that breeding expertise to create crops that appeal to the farmers’ market shopper, the home gardener, and the foodie who enjoys farm-to-table restaurants.

“The plants I’m currently working with at Sakata are eggplant, okra, rutabaga, lettuce, arugula, and micro and baby greens,” she notes. Tomatoes also continue to be a focus. Year in and year out Tracy subjects family and friends to tomato tastings in the never-ending quest for the best tomato ever. Sakata is currently supporting a tomato project in conjunction with the University of Florida, with the objective of creating a great tasting tomato, measured using chemical profiling and taste testing. “Both are important,” Tracy emphasizes.

Having begun her studies as a Landscape Architecture student at Clemson University, Stacy switched gears after taking a job at the South Carolina Botanical Garden working with the head of the Horticulture Department. “I just really liked plants,” she recalled, “and not just as design elements.” She began taking horticulture electives and went on to earn a Masters degree in horticulture with a focus on organic production of sweet potatoes, corn, and green beans. A job as Vegetable Seed Product manager at Park Seed followed. In 2005 she moved from South Sakata breeds personal-sized melons and squash, including ‘Lilliput’. Carolina where she had grown up to Fordhook Farm in the Philadelphia region. There she took on the role of Vegetable and Flower Product Manager at Burpee Seeds.

Tracy has lived in city row house in Philadelphia for eight years with her life partner Kamil and their three cats. Her backyard garden is small, but she has access to a roof deck, where she trials container plants. She also loves to work in her basement wood shop, a hobby she got hooked on at a young age when she and her grandfather built an entire dollhouse using scrap wood. Now, many years later, she still uses his hammer and circular saw. “And Kamil gave me a new miter saw for Valentine’s Day,” she said excitedly.

She also likes to tinker with cars and has, to date, owned five Karmann Ghias. “The last one was bright green. We called it the pickle car,” she laughed. She’s now on the lookout for a bargain ’71 C10 Chevy pickup.

Working in the international seed business involves travel, another of Tracy’s passions. Sakata’s employees are spread among 33 international offices, and evaluating plants means going to plant trials to examine the products of the Sakata’s many breeders. It’s all part of finding the best new vegetables and flowers on the market. “When I worked for mail order seed companies for all those years, I was the customer. I know what I wanted and expected. Now that I’m on the production end, I want to be able to offer that to my customers.”