Some wonderful person has compiled lots of seed saving resources into one place, including a slideshow version of our ‘zine: A Guide to Seed Saving, Seed Stewardship and Seed Sovereignty. Check them all out out at http://www.slideshare.net/PX8.
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on May 10th 2012
The Spring Propagation Fair will be Saturday, March 24, from 11- 5, at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR.
The free event includes a seed swap, scion wood (root stock available for a small fee), and workshops throughout the event.
The folks putting on this year’s Spring Propagation Fair have a snazzy website. It’s chock full of information, including workshop schedule and info on some of the great scion wood that will be available.
Check out the website at http://springpropagationfair.com.
See you there!
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Mar 15th 2012
The Institute of Contemporary Ethnobotany and the Seed Ambassadors Project present:
The 12th ANNUAL: FOOD NOT LAWNS SEED SWAP
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011
1:00 – 3:00 pm
FREE
The Community Room at the East Blair Housing Coop,
940 W. 4th st. Eugene, OR.
(Btwn. Adams & Jackson also accessable from W. 4th alley)
Build community by sharing surplus harvest bounty with your friends and neighbors at this annual event.
Bring your seeds, plants, canned goods, brews, tinctures, food, instruments, friends, or just yourself!
This is going to be great fun as usual and we hope to see some new faces.
It is OK to come empty handed, however you may be empowered to come next time carrying a bounty to share.
No Comments Andrew Still on Nov 4th 2011
Filed under Oregon & PNW,Our Seeds,Seed Saving,Seed Swaps,Workshops
Northwest Heirloom Seed Saving Workshop
We’ll be leading a seed saving workshop in Eugene this Saturday October 1st, at a super cool community garden plot that was planted as a seed garden.
Nikki Maxwell’s RAFT Garden features endangered Northwest Heirloom crops, including Oregon Giant Pole Beans, Immigrant Bush Dry Beans, Lower Salmon River Squash, Hooker’s Sweet Corn, Marshal Strawberries, and Oregon Delicious Melons. RAFT stands for Renewing America’s Food Traditions, and is an alliance that seeks to preserve, protect, and promote the incredible, regional, food diversity of North America. The vegetables in the RAFT garden are all featured in the Slow Food Ark of Taste which means they are all delicious and are in danger of extinction.
We’ll do some hands on seed saving of each of these crops, and provide samples of some of them for folks to snack on. Did I mention there will be dozens of Oregon Delicious Melons there? In addition to going home with Melon Belly, participants will also have the opportunity to take home seeds of these varieties, Free!
The RAFT garden is located at the east end of the Whittaker Community Garden, near the river bike path at the end of N. Polk in Eugene. Bring your own chair if you want to sit. The event is free and open to the public, and will begin 2pm.
Please spread the word among your gardening friends!
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Sep 28th 2011
Filed under Oregon & PNW,Our Seeds
Tour Open Oak Farm the home of Adaptive Seeds and The Seed Ambassadors Project.
Come and tour Open Oak Farm the home of Adaptive Seeds and The Seed Ambassadors Project. August 4th 4-9PM. It is a potluck dinner event and Tour Organized by the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. Parking is limited so RSVP is required. Contact Dan Armstrong at danlarmstrong@comcast.net if you would like to come.
No Comments Andrew Still on Jul 18th 2011
Institute of Biowisdom in Corvallis
Seed Saving And Seed Stewardship Workshop:
The Path to Locally Adapted Seed and True Food Freedom
May 15, 2011
Instructors: Andrew Still & Sarah Kleeger of the Seed Ambassadors Project , Adaptive Seeds and Open Oak Farm in Brownsville area. Member of Willamette Seed and Grain.
No Comments Andrew Still on May 7th 2011
Filed under Oregon & PNW,Our Seeds,Seed Saving,Seed Swaps,Workshops
Spring Propagation Fair March 27 in Eugene
Hi Everyone,
Spring has sprung, and now it’s time to propagate! (Plants, that is.)
This year’s Spring Propagation fair will be this Sunday, March 27, at Lane Community College in Eugene, from 11 – 5.
Come share and gather seeds, fruit tree scion wood, and other plant propagation materials with your friends and neighbors.
More information is below, including workshop schedule. For more information or to volunteer, please contact victorygardensforall@gmail.com
Hope to see you this Seedy Sunday
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Mar 22nd 2011
I know it is mid winter and winter gardens get planted in August at the latest, but we have been looking at an acre of winter vegetables and have been inspired to complete a long needed update of this document. It is version 4.0 and full of new info and opinions. Let us know what you think and we will update it like open source software, slowly but surely.
Big Willamette Winter Garden Chart 4
Western Front Kale was one of the best winter vegetables in 2010
2 Comments Andrew Still on Jan 23rd 2011
The Institute of Contemporary Ethnobotany and the
Seed Ambassadors Project present:
The 11th ANNUAL: FOOD NOT LAWNS SEED SWAP
Sunday, Dec. 5
1:00 – 3:00 pm
(come at noon to help set up!)
FREE
The Community Room at the East Blair Housing Coop,
940 W. 4th St, Eugene, Oregon
(Between Adams & Jackson also accessible from W. 4th alley)
Build community by sharing surplus harvest bounty with
your friends and neighbors at this annual event.
Bring your seeds, plants, canned goods, brews,
tinctures, food, instruments, friends, or just
yourself! (piano on site…)
See you there!
Your seedy friends
http://www.foodnotlawns.net/
www.seedambassadors.org
http://plants-people.blogspot.com
3 Comments Sarah Kleeger on Nov 27th 2010
We are delighted to have been selected as delegates for this year’s Slow Food Terra Madre gathering in Turin, Italy.
Terra Madre is an international gathering of more than 5,000 people, including “food communities, cooks, academics, youth and musicians, who are united in a desire to promote sustainable local food production in harmony with the environment while respecting knowledge handed down over the generations.”
Now we just need to raise the funds to get us there. To this end, we will be having a benefit dinner this July 31 in Eugene, OR, from 6pm to 9 pm.
We will begin the eventing with a slide show presentation about the importance of local and international seed networks, and what we hope to bring back from Terra Madre.
A five course meal will follow at 7pm, prepared by local chef Tiffany Norton of Party Cart. The meal will feature many ingredients grown on our farm, Open Oak Farm.
There will also be live music and a silent auction, with good local seedy and foodie stuff.
Please join us! There will be lots of pretty pictures, delicious food, and good company.
The cost is $50 per plate ($25 is tax-deductible).
RSVP by July 25 to seedambassadors(at)gmail.com
If you can’t make it but would like to help support our efforts, you can make a donation through PayPal on the Participate page of our website, or by sending check payable to Slow Food Eugene to: The Seed Ambassadors Project, 25079 Brush Creek Road, Sweet Home, OR 97386. Donations made through Slow Food Eugene are tax-deductible; donations made directly to The Seed Ambassadors Project are not.
Thank you for your support!
Back Yard Seed Garden, June 2010
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Jul 15th 2010
7th Annual Winter Cropping Roundtable and Seed Exchange
Where: Food For Lane County Youth Farm in N. Springfield
When: SATURDAY June 19th, 2010 1.00 – 4.00 p.m.
Who: with Nick Routledge and Andrew Still, Adaptive Seeds,
Workshop is free and no pre-registration is required. Just show up and bring your gardening friends
Advanced winter cropping including a discussion of the specific vegetable and grain crop-types and varieties establishing themselves as proven, local mainstays in the light of tougher winter conditions of late; and our bioregion’s foremost winter seed exchange.
Bring your winter gardening experiences to share and seed to share if you have some.
Directions to the FFLC youth farm:
From Springfield, go north on Pioneer Parkway. At the big roundabout, go west on Hayden Bridge Rd, turn right on Game Farm Rd. At the Baptist church, six blocks down, turn left on Flamingo and go two blocks to the end of the street. You’ll see the Youth Farm on your left.
From Eugene, take Coburg Rd north, then Harlow Rd east, cross I-5, pass Gateway, and turn left on Game Farm Rd (if you hit the big roundabout, you’ve gone one block too far). Six blocks down, at the Baptist church, turn left on Flamingo and go two blocks to the end of the street. You’ll see the Youth Farm on your left.
From I-5 going north: Take Beltline Rd east exit. Continue east on Beltline, cross Gateway. Follow Beltline east until you have passed the large hospital development on your left. Take the next right, which is Cardinal, then go immediately left on Game Farm. At the Baptist church a few blocks up, turn right on Flamingo (the road after Mallard) and go two blocks to the end of the street. You’ll see the Youth Farm on your left.
1 Comment Andrew Still on Jun 16th 2010
For those of you that want all of the delightful details about seed saving, we will be doing it up this Sunday at Sunbow Farm’s Institute of BioWisdom in Corvallis. This workshop really might just contain everything we know about seeds jam packed into five fun-filled hours! Details are below. Please note there is a fee for this class and pre-registration is appreciated (though you may pay at the door).
Hope to see you there!
Sarah and Andrew
SEED SAVING AND SEED STEWARDSHIP: The Path to Locally Adapted Seed and True Food Freedom
May 16 – Instructors: Andrew Still & Sarah Kleeger of the Seed Ambassadors Project and Adaptive Seeds
Workshop focuses:
* -Why Save Seed: A profound act of social and ecological empowerment.
* -History of an Ancient Tradition
* -Seed Sovereignty and Food Freedom in a changing world
* -Willamette Valley as one of the best seed saving regions in the world.
* -Open Pollinated, Heritage/Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO
* -Sources: the importance of choice and diversity
* -Strategies: planning your garden for seed saving
* -Isolation: Crossers and Selfers
* -Population: Inbreeding and Outbreeding
* -Selection: Simple plant breeding for locally adapted seed
* -Harvest, Cleaning and Storage
* -Examples seed stewardship
* -Re-localizing a seed stewardship community
10-3pm, $30 prepay, please register by email and send check to address below, bring lunch.
sunbow@peak.org
Sunbow Farm- Certified Organic since 1984
Institute of BioWisdom-Workshops/Consulting
6910 SW Plymouth Dr
Corvallis,Oregon 97333
541-929-5782
www.SunbowFarm.org
1 Comment Sarah Kleeger on May 12th 2010
Attention Garden enthusiasts and Seed Savers,
4 important details:
1) Plant and Seed Swap
2) Sat March 20th 2:30-5pm
3) Westminster House (23rd and Monroe, Corvallis, OR)
4) FREE EVENT
This Seed Swap is being put on by the HOURS Exchange — Corvallis’ Community Currency group. In addition to the seed swap, they will be hosting a Market Event where people can buy and sell goods using the community currency. So not only do you get to swap some garden goodies to get your garden year started off right, you also get to see the local currency in action (and participate if you wish) in the indoor market.
How to participate:
- Bring your extra cuttings, bulbs, plant starts, etc. (Please label clearly – labels will also be available at the swap)
- Bring extra seeds (saved or what-not). You don’t have to pre-divide into small quantities
- Invite your fellow gardeners to bring their extras and enjoy the bounty (no need to be an HOURS member)
- Bring extra containers/grocery sacks or seed envelopes, as items may not already be divided
- Or just come ready to learn!
This will be held outdoors and organized to facilitate easy trades. We will be bringing will be plenty of seed so don’t worry if you have nothing to contribute. Wannabe gardeners are encouraged to attend.
Just to entice you, I know the following will be coming just from the HOURS organizers: chocolate mint starts, rosemary starts, marionberry starts, broccoli starts, amaranth seed, local barley seed, local wheat seed, etc.
What a great way to spread the wealth around! Any leftovers plants will be given to Lincoln K-8 School Garden, the Environmental Center’s SAGE Garden or to other charity groups.
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Mar 16th 2010
The Eugene Permaculture Guild’s big Spring Propagation Fair is coming up the second Saturday in March, the 13th, at Lane Community College. More details will follow on that one, but for those of you that don’t live within driving distance of Eugene, Oregon, here are a few tips for organizing your own Seed Swap. (Thanks to Kim in central Virginia for the e-mail prompting this blog post.)
The folks at Seedy Sunday Brighton have a whole page devoted to hosting a seed swap. Food not Lawns also has a bit about organizing one.
The first thing is to get some friends involved, because it can be a lot of work (organizing, set up, clean up, promotion, etc.). If you don’t know anyone that will help you, post some fliers at garden stores or your local natural foods store, or maybe even the community garden bulletin board if your community is lucky enough to have one.
We have seen a few ways seed swaps can be organized. You have to decide which is best for your group.
Seedy Sunday Brighton has a central table, and when people come in, they give their seeds to the table, then volunteers organize them for redistribution. This way seems overly centralized and impersonal to me, but it works for them, and it may be necessary to do it this way at an event that draws upwards of 1,000 people. They also charge a small entrance fee to cover their expenses and require either a straight across swap of seed for seed or 50 pence for a seed pack, partly because “people don’t value that which is free.” At every other seed swap I have been to, everything is free.
A second way is to set up tables and have people stand near their stuff, so they can explain it to others that might have questions. This is what we do at the smaller fall seed swap.
A third way, which is also good, is to set up tables and have designated areas for different types of plants: flowers, herbs, tomatoes, etc. this is what we do at our large spring seed swap.
Most seed swaps descend into a sort of chaos even with the rough framework, so you could just have some tables and have people toss their seeds wherever they land. Then it’s a real treasure hunt! Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments Sarah Kleeger on Feb 3rd 2010
Hi all,
The Good Earth Home Show is happening this weekend at the Lane County Fair Grounds.
The best thing about the Show is the great lineup of seminars — there’s 40 of them, on everything from Apples to Worms … and maybe even something that starts with a Z.
The second best thing about the Show is that it’s free when you bring a canned food donation for Food for Lane County. Ok, it’s free even without the donation.
Andrew and I will be talking about winter gardening and feeding yourself year-round at noon on Sunday — filling in for Nick, who isn’t feeling well.
Please come by and say hello, and add what you know to the conversation!
Hope to see you there!
No Comments Sarah Kleeger on Jan 23rd 2010