October 2016
Seed Festival and Annual General Meeting!
Meet other members at our Seed Festival in Truro, Nova Scotia, on Saturday November 5th and stay for our Annual General Meeting at 2:00 pm. Read the details here.
Thank you for your donation!
How to Overwinter Dormant Biennials in a Cold Frame
Almost all plants grow flowers, and almost all flowers make seeds, but there are a lot of plants whose flowers you might never have seen. What about cabbage? Where are the flowers on beets? Why don't parsnips and celery have any flowers? The reason is that they're biennials — they make flowers in the second year of their lives.
Volunteer at a Seedy Saturday or Sunday
Every year, over 70 incredible volunteers staff Seeds of Diversity tables at Seedy Saturdays and Sundays across the country. Thanks to these dedicated volunteers, we are able to inform thousands of gardeners about our own seedy story, and share information about the importance of preserving our seed heritage. Over 40% of new members who tell us why they join report that they first heard about us at a Seedy Saturday.
A Little Undercover Gardening
I’ve always wanted to be part of an underground movement involved in clandestine missions under the cloak of darkness. Be assured I am no spy or terrorist – heck, I have always been a law-abiding citizen with a community conscience. But when my 50th birthday came along some years ago, I had an insatiable urge to do something crazy, like taking part in a revolution. So that’s just what I did. I joined the movement, and have been sneaking out at night with bags of seeds and vandalizing the city.
Combining Arts and Science for Pollinators: Making Seed Paper
The first time I attended the Pollination Guelph Symposium, in 2013, I attended a workshop that has stayed with me over the years. In it, artist Christina Kingsbury shared her presentation on Sewing Seeds: Arts Education and Artist Projects, and then taught us how to make seed paper. Christina shared her experiences making seed paper with children at local schools, connecting them to nature with the hands-on project, and educating them on the importance of pollinators. The paper has seeds of native plants embedded in it, and once it is laid on the ground and successfully germinates, it provides food and habitat for native pollinators such as butterflies and moths, wasps, bees and beetles.
In this issue
How to Overwinter Dormant Biennials in a Cold Frame
Volunteer at a Seedy Saturday or Sunday
Combining Arts and Science for Pollinators: Making Seed Paper
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.
Our new address
Seeds of Diversity
1-12 Dupont St W
Waterloo, ON
N2L2X6
UPCOMING SEED WORKSHOPS
Seeds of Diversity's AGM and Seed Festival!
Saturday, November 5
Truro, NS
Organic Seed Production Webinar
November 15
Seeds of Change ECOSGN conference
November 28-30
Moncton, NB
Ecological Farmers of Ontario Conference
November 30- December 3, 2016
Kingston, ON
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