April 2014 - Thank You!
In honour of National Volunteer Week we would like to express our deep appreciation to the huge team that supports the work of seed saving and food biodiversity protection across Canada. Volunteers are involved with Seedy Saturdays, pollinator events, seed saving trainings, seed growing and saving, article writing and translation, and a wide range of other projects. Being national in scope, we need passionate people to engage in local communities.
Thank you so much to our dedicated volunteers for your time, expertise and passion.
This month, in addition to celebrating the incredible work you do, we're offering some suggestions as you plan for the coming summer: tips for planning your seed saving garden, an idea for your wedding planning, and even some thoughts on encouraging insects to contribute art to your garden!
Celebrating your amazing work!
It's National Volunteer Week! What a great excuse to celebrate the many passionate volunteers across the country who work for seed biodiversity protection. So much of what Seeds of Diversity does is initiated and carried out by volunteers, and we wanted to highlight a few projects that simply couldn’t happen without you – your work is absolutely inspiring.
Planning your Seed Saving Garden
In many ways, planning a seed saving garden is the same as planning any garden. You want the plants to receive their nutritional, water, light and pollination requirements, and to reach the end of their life cycles as healthily and productively as possible. For a seed saving garden, however, there are a few additional considerations:
Tie the Knot with the Canadian Seed Library
Last summer, two Seeds of Diversity members came up with a great idea for their wedding, which may be adaptable for those of you planning your own special days this year. Mike Barer and Vanessa Partington asked their guests to donate towards adopting a variety into Seeds of Diversity’s Canadian Seed Library. Their guests’ donations meant that an heirloom variety of corn, called Amazing Early Alberta, is now fully and permanently adopted into the library.
Pollinator Patch: Insects as Garden Artists
If you feel you would like to help out our pollinators and other insects which contribute to the harmonious balance of our ecoystem called LIFE, Dr. Peter Kevan, professor emeritus at the University of Guelph, has proposed a new gardening contest, in which we can embrace the "pests" in our life and further eliminate a need to use chemicals against them. Curious? There are 3 ways you can win $50 for documenting the art that insects create in your garden! To encourage biodiversity in your garden, we challenge gardeners to enter a competition to show off this beauty.
In this issue
Celebrating your amazing work!
Planning your Seed Saving Garden
Tie the Knot with the Canadian Seed Library
Pollinator Patch: Insects as Garden Artists
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.
Seedy Saturdays wrap up this month. We'd love to see photos of your event.
Members - English magazines are being posted this week!
Our 1-866-509-7333 number is no longer in service. Please use 905-372-8983 to reach us.
We depend on donations to do our work.
Thank you for your support!
Stay in Touch!
