January 2014
It is that wonderful time of the year when we can drool over seed catalogues and dream of our summer gardens, untainted by the realities of weeds, insects and scorching heat. To that end, we're highlighting some resources for you to assist in your search for heirloom Canadian seeds. Here at Seeds of Diversity, we're dreaming and planning too, and have a few announcements we're particularly excited about:
- It's the start of Seedy Saturday season! Don't miss the great seed exchanges and workshops happening in communities across the country
- Our new manual How to Save Your Own Seeds is now available in French as well as English
- Online Member Seed Directory information will be coming out this month, giving you even more tantalizing seed varieties to pour through. Make sure you have a current membership to access this great resource.
- We're expanding our Canadian Seed Library and looking for members to help us grow out squash and cucumber seed this season. Read the article below for more information...
Sourcing Canadian Seed
We'd love to help you locate some of your favourite or as-yet-undiscovered varieties, so we’ve compiled a list of online resources to assist you in your search. Check out these online services to identify sources of Canadian, heritage, organic, regionally-adapted or other hard-to-find seed:
Call for Squash Growers
As our Canadian Seed Library expands, we need more growers to keep our seed supply viable and get rare varieties into gardens across the country. This year, we've identified the Squash Family (squashes, zucchini, cucumbers, melons) as a priority since they require large isolation distances for seed saving, making them more difficult to find appropriate growers for.
Pollinator Patch: Charitable Clicks
The grey skies of January have descended, and with our landscapes blanketed under snow and ice, it may be easy to forget that a symphony of plants and insects will burst through in about ten weeks. In the meantime, we can warm up our fingers by clicking, voting and sharing links for two organizations that help our pollinators:
Growing Garlic in Quebec
Quebec garlic is a rare commodity. The most recent surveys indicate that Quebec only produces between 3-10% of the garlic it consumes. The rest comes mainly from China and, to a lesser extent, the United States, Mexico, Argentina and Europe. Since local garlic really does taste better, less is more! It also generally stores longer than the imported garlic transported in refrigerators – a process that has the effect of triggering germination sooner after it arrives.
In this issue
Pollinator Patch: Charitable Clicks
Not yet a member?
An annual membership to Seeds of Diversity gives you access to our seed exchange, seed grow-out programs, and our online news.
Seed Resources
Seedy Saturday events listings
Canadian Seed Catalogue Inventory - searchable listing of seed sold in Canada
A glossary to help you parse seed catalogue terminology
Bauta Family Initiative for Canadian Seed Security Online Seed Services list
How to Save Your Own Seeds - now available in English AND French!
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