Seedy Sunday, February
24, 11 am - 3 pm, Cornell Cooperative Extension, 615 Willow Avenue, Ithaca
"Seedy Sunday" will be a combination of a free seed swap and workshops on seed saving. The workshop schedule is below.
Seed swaps are popular in many communities now and are a great opportunity for gardeners to share their own home-saved seeds or purchased seeds that they have in surplus.
A beginners seed saving workshop will help people get started with information on easy plants to grow for seed saving, and there is also an advanced seed saving workshop for people that want to take it a step further.
The goal of the event is to increase the number of people that know how to save seeds to encourage stronger community resiliency and increase local food security.
There will be another seed swap in the fall, the main harvest time for seeds, and the hope is that people who get seeds and information about seed saving at Seedy Sunday will come back in the fall with their own saved seeds to share with others. In this way
we can have our own network of
locally saved seeds that are adapted to our regional climate.
Hope to see you there!
--Chrys Gardener
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
11:00 am - 11:30 am - Screening of the film Seeds of Freedom,
featuring environmental activist Vandana Shiva. The film
charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity-rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolize the global food system.
Seeds of Freedom seeks to challenge the idea that large-scale, industrial agriculture is the only means by which we can feed the world. In tracking the story of seed it becomes clear how the corporate agenda has driven the takeover
of seed in order to make vast profit and control of the global food system.
11:30 am - 12:15 pm: Seed Saving for Beginners (and children!) -
Learn the basics of getting started with seed saving and get some hands-on experience in seed cleaning. This workshop will empower you to start saving your own seeds this year! Learn how to make Magic Seed Wands for children, and how to construct seed cleaning
tools from recycled materials. Presented by Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres
http://www.edibleacres.org/index.htm
12:30 pm - 1:15 pm: Advanced Seed Saving and Selection Techniques -We've all seen tomato blossoms turning to seed-laden fruits, but have you ever seen a parsnip or carrot plant blossom and go to seed? Come learn about biennial life cycles
of root crops and the art and science (mostly the former!) of growing them on to the seed-producing stage. Learn about selection, overwintering of the first year roots, replanting in spring, flowering, seed harvesting and drying. Bring any and all questions
related to seed and feel free to share what you've learned from your garden, as well! Presented by Petra Page-Mann of Fruition Seeds
http://fruitionseeds.com/
1:30 pm - 2:15 pm: Restrictions on Saving Seed in the EU - In the US, we are very fortunate that there currently are no restrictions on saving seed to sell or share with others. However, in the European Union, it's a vastly different situation,
with prohibitive registration fees and tight controls over who is allowed to produce seed. Much of this legislation has been driven by the multi-national agriculture companies in order to protect their profits and this has spurred a lively resistance movement
in the EU for "Seed Sovereignty". Presented by Chrys Gardener, CCE staff and former manager of the Irish Seed Savers Association
http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm: Roundtable Discussion on Seed Saving - Join us for an open discussion on seed saving techniques and anything else to do with seeds! All are welcome to bring questions, tips, and ideas. Discussion leaders include experienced
seed savers Tim Springston of Oxbow Farm
http://www.farmhack.net/wiki/oxbow-farm, Petra Mann-Page and Matthew Goldfarb of Fruition Seeds
http://fruitionseeds.com/, and Chrys Gardener, CCE staff.
