February 2014 - Swapping Seeds
We are deep in the heart of Seedy Saturday season. Don't forget that Seedy Saturdays & Sundays continue over the next couple of months across the country - watch for dates on our events listing to find an event near your community. Also - a reminder that we love getting photos and stories from events to share in the newsletter or on facebook!
In other seed swapping news, members should have received access to our 2014 Member Seed Directory a couple of weeks ago. (The paper copy is in the mail!) If you're not a member, join now to gain access to nearly 3000 seed varieties saved by our members across the country. Just reading the names is like perusing a gardeners' candy store! Wonderberry... Old Time Looney Lettuce... Green Sausage Tomato... Strawberry Spinach.... Early Moonbeam Watermelon... mmmmm.... Find vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, flowers and medicinals ranging from the common to the crazy.
Finally, we have once again been selected as an inspirational charity for the Nature's Bounty Share the Bounty contest. Vote for us daily until April 8th and increase our chances at $15,000!
Your Member Seed Directory
Have you ever heard of Litchi Tomato, Wonderberry or Ground Cherries (hint: they're species not varieties!)? Have you grown a purple potato or Jerusalem artichoke? Our members make thousands of both standard and bizarre varieties available in our Member Seed Directory every year. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, grains and even some trees and shrubs are listed. Not just a seed catalogue, the directory is a preservation tool - allowing for rare and regionally-adapted varieties to be saved and grown out by more and more people every year. We encourage anyone to give seed saving a try. Request a variety, grow it out, save the seed, and offer it back the following season. The directory is available both in book form and in an online database, but only members can list and request seeds.
Bill C-18 poses threats to seed saving in Canada
Bill C-18, the “Agricultural Growth Act” is an omnibus bill introduced in Parliament on December 9, 2013. If passed, it will amend several federal agricultural laws which govern Plant Breeders Rights (PBR), seeds, fertilizer use, animal health, and marketing programs. The law presents some significant threats to farmers' rights to save seed, and introduces additional costs for farmers growing PBR-protected varieties of common commodities. Please read on to learn more about how this bill would affect seed sovereignty in our country.
Seedy Saturday Season Underway - Highlighting Salt Spring Island
We're well into Seedy Saturday season for the year, with ~100 events being held across the country. Each organized independently by local communities, what these events hold in common is that they bring together gardeners, farmers, seed companies, nurseries, gardening organizations, and community groups to learn from one another, exchange ideas, and purchase or swap seeds and plants. Every event hosts a Community Seed Exchange where participants can share seeds saved from their own gardens.
Pollinator Patch: Volunteer for the love of pollinators
Pollination Canada has a couple of events coming up that we'd like to not only draw your attention to, but even request some help with! As you are likely aware, pollinators provide us with a third of our tasty foods and beverages. However, declines have been noted in recent years, in both the managed honeybee industry, and in native wild pollinator populations. Multiple stressors contribute to these declines: habitat loss, chemical use, pests, disease and climatic shifts. Habitat destruction - including loss of nesting and mating sites as well as diversity of food sources from flowering native plants - all contribute to the decline of pollinators. By plowing, digging, cutting, paving and chemically spraying unwanted vegetation, we destroy the sites where wild bees make their homes.
In this issue
Bill C-18 poses threats to seed saving in Canada
Seedy Saturday Season Underway - Highlighting Salt Spring Island
Pollinator Patch: Volunteer for the love of pollinators
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.
We're a finalist in the annual Share the Bounty charitable giveaway - Vote for us daily to help us win up to $15,000!
Check our Seedy Saturday events listings for an event near you!
How to Save Your Own Seeds - now available in English AND French!
We depend on donations to do our work.
Thank you for your support!
Stay in Touch!
