Seed swap

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A seed swap in Urbana, Illinois Seed swap.jpg
A seed swap in Urbana, Illinois

Seed swaps are events where gardeners meet to exchange seeds. Swapping can be arranged online or by mail, [1] especially when participants are spread out geographically. Swap meet events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are also growing in popularity. In part this is due to increased interest in organic gardening and heritage or heirloom plant varietals. This reflects gardeners' interest in "unusual or particular varieties of flowers and vegetables", according to Kathy Jentz of Washington Gardener Magazine (Maryland). [2]

Contents

Seed swaps also help consumers who, due to increases in the cost of living or cut down on expenditures, wish to grow their own food. [3] [4] Some events are organized as part of an educational effort, where visitors are taught gardening and growing skills [5] [6] and how to preserve an area's cultural heritage [7] and biodiversity. [8] In the United States, the last Saturday of January is "National Seed Swap Day". [9] [10] [11]

Cultural and culinary significance

Swapping seeds is of great cultural significance for many of the people involved, because it allows a culture which has become widely distributed, such as Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States, to continue to grow the food they are accustomed to, foods which often have great significance, and for which seeds are often transported over great distances. Mike Szuberla, organizer of a seed swap in Toledo, Ohio, noted, "Seeds are, in a sense, suitcases in which people can transport their cultures with them... Many families have brought their favorite seeds on tremendous journeys." [12]

In some cases seed swaps are annual events and function as community celebrations (comparable to potlucks), [13] : 158  such as the annual seed swap (in its eleventh year in 2008) [8] on the Oglethorpe farm near Athens, Georgia, organized by two anthropology professors from the University of Georgia (the university has a seedbank, the "Southern Seed Legacy"). [8] Participants share seeds of heirloom fruits and vegetables grown in their families or communities for generations; for some, the goal of such swaps is to preserve a "dying" heritage. [14] A similar goal is stated for a seed swap in Devon, England, where the North Devon Seed Swap has been held since 1 February 2004. [15] [16]

The Dixon Community Seed Exchange, in Dixon, New Mexico, has been taking place annually since 2003. It distributes free seed of homegrown and commercial varieties as available and also provides a forum for the exchange of varieties peculiar to the high mountain areas of northern New Mexico. It attracts several hundred participants and photos may be viewed at its website. [17]

A distinct and less public kind of seed swap involves the seeds of marijuana. [18] : 103–104  [19] : 291–292 

Biological significance

Some seed swaps explicitly have a biological goal—usually either educating the public in organic gardening or the attempt to maintain crop diversity. [8] [14] [16] The larger global relevance and beneficial long-range effects of ecological farming sustained by seed swaps, and the effects of such practices in countering the effects of agrichemical monoculture, are beginning to be studied. [20] : 201 

Restrictions in the European Union

The European Court of Justice ruled in 2012 that farmers in the European Union are allowed under restricted circumstances to both produce and market seeds from plant varieties that are not officially registered and approved. Sale of such seeds could not be categorically prohibited on the basis of an existing EU guideline on seed registering. The corporation Graines Baumax had taken the domestic farmers' network Kokopelli to court and demanded €50,000 (US$61,000). [21] Kokopelli won this case. [22]

France has the most strict implementation of the seed laws. [23] Indications in 2011 is that even more restrictions are on their way. [24] [ needs update ] The European Parliament rejected the European Commission's proposal for plant reproductive material law, also known as the "seed regulation" in 2014. [25] [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest gardening</span> Agroforestry food production system modeled on woodland ecosystems

Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers to build a woodland habitat. Forest gardening is a prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas. In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates.

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A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under 0.40 hectares to some hectares, or sometimes in greenhouses, distinguishes it from other types of farming. A market garden is sometimes called a truck farm.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heirloom plant</span> Historic food crop cultivar

An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit, or heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particularly in isolated or ethnic minority communities of the Western world. These were commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale agriculture.

Kent Whealy was an American activist, journalist and philanthropist who co-founded Seed Savers Exchange and promoted organic agriculture and the saving of heirloom seeds. Raised in Wellington, Kansas he was inspired by the works of agricultural geneticists Jack Harlan and H.Garrison Wilkes to use his training in communications to promote the protection of genetic diversity in agriculture.

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The heart of a Seedy Sunday or Seedy Saturday event is the swapping and sale of seeds of landraces, folk varieties, farmer varieties and heritage seed. Sharing information about the social, cultural and culinary aspects of the seed is an important part of heritage seed saving around the world. Providing education about techniques for seed-saving, small-scale agriculture and horticulture, and about local, national and international laws that affect public-domain crop plants can also be an important part of the event.

Seed Savers Exchange, or SSE, is a non-profit organization based near Decorah, Iowa, that preserves heirloom plant varieties through regeneration, distribution and seed exchange. It is one of the largest nongovernmental seedbanks in the United States. The mission of SSE is to preserve the world’s diverse but endangered garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, and educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity. Since 1975, Seed Savers has produced an annual yearbook of members’ seed offerings, as well as multiple editions of The Garden Seed Inventory, and The Fruit, Nut and Berry Inventory. SSE also publishes Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. The nonprofit has sold seeds to about 600 retail stores in the United States and Canada.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seed library</span>

A seed library is an institution that lends or shares seed. It is distinguished from a seedbank in that the main purpose is not to store or hold germplasm or seeds against possible destruction, but to disseminate them to the public which preserves the shared plant varieties through propagation and further sharing of seed.

Seed of Diversity, Semences du patrimoine, is a Canadian charitable organization that aims to "search out, preserve, perpetuate, study, and encourage the cultivation of heirloom and endangered varieties of food crops", particularly Canadian plants, and to educate the public about their use. It has been called "The Canadian NGO leader in two key areas of food system sustainability: crop genetic diversity and the redesign of pollination strategies".

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Will Bonsall is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine. He is a regular speaker about seed saving, organic farming and veganic farming.

References

  1. ↑ In England, the Cottage Garden Society organizes an annual seed exchange, where members mail in their seeds to the Society; members may then select a number of kinds of seed from a list of submissions. Bennett, Jill (July 2008). "Seed Distribution Programme". Cottage Garden Society. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  2. ↑ Dutton, Melissa Kossler (29 May 2009). "Up For Grabs: Gardeners Gather to Swap Seeds, Know-how". Montgomery Advertiser . pp. D1.
  3. ↑ Nicholson, Scott (24 March 2008). "Seed swap sprouts garden traditions". Watauga Democrat . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  4. ↑ Gray, Rich (2005). The Frugal Senior: Hundreds of Creative Ways to Stretch a Dollar!. Quill Driver Books. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-884956-49-2.
  5. ↑ Nicholson, Scott (23 February 2007). "Organic Growers School and Seed Swap coming up March 3". Watauga Democrat . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  6. ↑ "First seed-swap event for gardeners". Bristol Evening Post . 19 January 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Carrier, Susan (24 January 2009). "Seed Swap Day of Action events in Southern California". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Shearer, Lee (28 April 2008). "Seed swap maintains diversity, knowledge of Southern plants". Athens Banner-Herald . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Rufus, Anneli; Kristan Lawson (April 2008). "Seed swapping: An established way to share and trade seeds". Plenty. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "Seed Exchange Event". 2007. Rochester Civic Garden Center. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  11. ↑ The Editors of Chase's (2004). Chase's ... calendar of events. McGraw-Hill. p. 107. ISBN   978-0-07-159956-6.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. ↑ Lane, Tahree (24 February 2006). "Good to grow: Annual seed swap is a kind of cultural exchange program". The Blade . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  13. ↑ Flores, H.C.; Holmstrom, Jackie; Hemenway, Toby (2006). Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard Into a Garden and Your Neighborhood Into a Community. Chelsea Green. ISBN   978-1-933392-07-3.
  14. 1 2 "Seed swap continues tradition on Oglethorpe farm". Athens Banner-Herald . 6 May 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  15. ↑ "North Devon Seed Swap 1st February 2004". Permaculture Association (Britain). Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  16. 1 2 "Seed swap aims to keep diversity of vegetables". Western Daily Press . 16 February 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  17. ↑ Talon de Gato Farm
  18. ↑ Preston, Brian (2002). Pot Planet: Adventures in Global Marijuana Culture. Grove Press. ISBN   978-0-8021-3897-2.
  19. ↑ Green, Greg (2003). The Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use. Green Candy Press. ISBN   978-1-931160-17-9.
  20. ↑ McMichael, Philip (2007). Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective. Pine Forge Press. ISBN   978-1-4129-5592-8.
  21. ↑ "European court rules on trade in non-approved seeds". dw.de. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  22. ↑ "Procès Kokopelli c. Graines Baumaux : Après presque 10 ans de procédure, la Cour d'Appel de Nancy donne enfin raison à Kokopelli !". kokopelli-semences.fr. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "GRAIN — Seed laws in Europe: locking farmers out". grain.org. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  24. ↑ "New EU Seed Law: "all power to the multinationals"" (PDF). seed-sovereignty.org. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  25. ↑ "MEPs reject draft seed regulation". europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  26. ↑ "The Commissions proposal for a seed regulation is politically dead". seed-sovereignty.org. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
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