permaculture

["Cricket Rakita" <cricket@savingourseed.org>]

Good Folks

In this update, we are proud to announce the Certified Organic Seed Sourcing
Service! This service is designed to support certified organic growers in
finding the seeds they need, as well as being clear when the seeds they are
looking for are not available. See below for more information.

Also, we are excited to announce three up coming seed saving workshops. See
below for more information.

Finally, if you have not already, please take a few minutes to fill out our
Certified Organic Seed Availability Survey at
http://www.savingourseed.org/Survey/survey.html.  Your input is essential
for us to know what seeds you are most in need of.

Certified Organic Seed Sourcing Service:
In my work with the Save Our Seed Project, I have come into contact with a
large number of growers that are experiencing stress over the requirement
that they plant certified organic seeds. The Save Our Seed Project will
therefore introduce the Certified Organic Seed Sourcing Service. This
service will be COMPLETELY FREE for growers for the year 2005.

It will work in the following way. Any grower that would like to plant
certified organic seeds may submit a list of all of the cultivars
(varieties) of seeds that she/he would like to plant to the Save Our Seed
Project, along with the quantity of seed needed. In turn, we will promptly
send to the grower a list of all of the certified organic sources for every
cultivar. Furthermore, if no sources exist, we will send the grower full
documentation of this that they can show to their certification agent.

Here at the Save Our Seed Project, we have been working hard to document all
of the organic cultivars that are currently available. Available on this
list are seeds, tubers (e.g. potatoes, garlic), and rootstocks. Not
available in 2005 are mixtures (e.g. summer mesclun), trees, and seedlings.

This service will be available as of January 20, 2005. Growers can submit
lists by fax or mail or by emailing them to sourcing@savingourseed.org.
If the service is successful this year, we hope to expand it next year.

Three Seed Saving Workshops Scheduled for the Southeast:
Pittsboro, NC - 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. 9:00 AM to
Noon
.       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. Breakfast and
Lunch are included.  8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
.       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. Breakfast
and Lunch are included.  Participation in the Introduction to Seed Saving is
a requirement for attendance.  8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
.       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.  Breakfast and
Lunch are included.  8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
.       


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