Thanks To All Our Volunteers!
For National Volunteer Week, this issue of our e-bulletin is dedicated to our volunteers and the many ways that they make Seeds of Diversity's programs possible.
To all of you who grow and share seeds, who promote seed diversity at Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays, our youth volunteers, our excellent board of directors, and everyone in communities across Canada who help friends and neighbours learn more about food sustainability, seed biodiversity, and local seed sharing -- thank you for making our programs come alive for so many people!
Volunteers at Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays
Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events have, for decades, been important venues for gathering, swapping, exchanging, and buying seeds, getting exciting varieties that other seed savers are sharing (as well as the stories that come with them), attending workshops and talks, and meeting vendors of all kinds. Anyone who has attended a Seedy event knows what we’re talking about - they’re fun, lively hubs of connection and sharing!
All of this means that we like being there, too! They are a wonderful chance to inform thousands of gardeners about our own seedy story, and share information about the importance of preserving our seed heritage.
Celebrating Youth this National Volunteer Week
As of this month, it has been three years since the launch of Youth in Food Systems (YFS), the hybrid youth program that has become a major component of what Seeds of Diversity does. When YFS began, we didn’t necessarily have a long-term strategy or vision for the program. Rather, it was a solution to the immediate challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns brought - school closures, online learning, lack of volunteer opportunities for high school students, lack of opportunities for young people to remain connected to each other and with their communities and interests.
Here we are now, three years later and with a program that has become leaps and bounds more meaningful than we could have imagined. And at the heart of it all is… the youth.
Our youth volunteers (a.k.a. “participants”) are what make this program what it is. They are everything: the primary beneficiaries - learning and building skills and exploring careers in food and agriculture - but also the individuals who make the work possible in the first place.
Three Ways to Start Seedlings Indoors
There are many ways to start your seedlings indoors. You can buy expensive contraptions or just re-use containers like egg cartons. There are many different kinds of soil, and some planting mixes that aren't even soil. I haven't tried them all, but I've found three methods that work well for me and used them enough to discover their pros and cons.
Seed Libraries Across Canada, Part 9: MYSL
Mississauga Youth Seed Library (MYSL or MY Seed Library) is a youth-led seed library based on Treaty 13 land (City of Mississauga, Ontario) that launched in September of 2022. MYSL was co-created out of the desire to welcome and steward the world we want to live in. We craved to see more youth-centred initiatives in environmental and community spaces. That youth would be leading and empowered in these spaces.
In this issue
Volunteers at Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays
Celebrating Youth this National Volunteer Week
Three Ways to Start Seedlings Indoors
Seed Libraries Across Canada, Part 9: MYSL
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