permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Three Seed Saving Workshops are Scheduled for the Southeast.

January 19, 2005 - The ownership of seed, the foundation of our food system,
is being consolidated into the hands of a small group of multinational
agribusinesses.  Their plan is to buy up the seed companies, genetically
modify and patent the seed and then move towards ownership of our food
system from field to plate.  This issue is most critical in organic
agriculture where farmers must use organic seed and cannot use genetically
modified or treated seed.  The limited availability of organic and open
pollinated heirloom seed adapted to regional conditions is negatively
impacting the growth of organic agriculture in the southeast.
The Save Our Seed Project, a program funded by the USDA's Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and organized by the
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association with nine partnering organizations, is
working to increase the availability of regionally adapted, open pollinated,
certified organic seed and develop a southern seed network.  We're
accomplishing this by:
.       Providing free regional workshops for growers and extension agents
in the techniques of seed production
.       Conducting an on-farm, grow-out program in which we will work with
growers to plant, manage, and distribute specific seed crops
.       Developing and making available detailed regional seed crop
production manuals

The Save Our Seed Project is proud to announce the next three scheduled seed
saving workshops in the Southeast.
They include:
.       On Friday, February 11th in Waco, GA, Introduction to Seed Saving, a
three hour seed saving class, will kick off the Georgia Organics Conference.
This class will be lead by Cricket Rakita and will focus on variety
selection, plant selection, and rouging for raising high quality seed for
the Southeast.   This class is free but folks will need to pay to attend the
rest of the conference.  Contact Cricket to register for the class or visit
www.georgiaorganics.org to register for the entire conference.
.       Friday, February 18th in Pittsboro, NC, Introduction to Seed Saving
with renowned Maryland seed saver Brett Grohsgal.  The class will focus on
variety selection, plant selection, rouging, nutrient management, population
genetics, and isolation distance for raising high quality seed for the
Southeast.  Contact Cricket to register for this free class. Lunch is
included
.       Saturday, February 19th in Pittsboro, NC.   Integrating seed saving
with market growing with renowned Maryland seed saver Brett Grohsgal.  The
workshop will focus on how saving the highest quality seeds can improve your
marketability.  Contact Cricket to register for this free class. Lunch is
included  Participation in the Introduction to Seed Saving is a requirement
for attendance.
.       Thursday, February 24th,in Louisa, VA, Introduction to Seed Saving,
with renowned seed saver Jeff McCormack.  We will focus on the functional
requirements of crop families, variety selection, plant selection, rouging,
nutrient and ecosystem management, population genetics, and isolation
distance for raising high quality seed for the Southeast.  There will also
be discussion of integrating seed saving and market growing.

Cricket Rakita
The Save Our Seed Project Coordinator
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
49 Circle D Dr.
Colbert, GA  30628
home/work:  (706) 788-0017
fax:  (706) 788-0071
cell:  (706) 614-1451
web:  http://www.savingourseed.org
email:  cricket@savingourseed.org