permaculture

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

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        The One Seed at a Time Project is Launched
Date:   Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:25:03 -0500
From:   Cricket Rakita <cricket@savingourseed.org>

The Saving Our Seed Project is starting *One Seed At A Time*, an organic
seed bank, to save the biodiversity of heirloom southeast vegetables and
flowers.  As seed saving has become less a part of our culture, hundreds
of heirloom varieties are on the verge of being lost.  This bank will
play a crucial roll in preserving our heritage for us and for our
future.  *We are asking you to support us in this important work.*

One Seed At a Time will address this crisis by:

    * *Seeking out and collecting samples of the heirloom varieties that
      are currently being raised and banked by farmers and gardeners in
      Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi,
      Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Tennessee.*
    * *Banking these seeds both here in the Southeast and also at the
      Seed Saver’s Exchange in Decorah, IA.*
    * *Regularly growing out all of the collected varieties at least
      every five years to ensure their viability today and for
      generations to come*
    * *Enlisting the support of the network of amateur and professional
      seed savers built up by the Saving Our Seed project.*



Seed Savers and others in the seed business from around the country are
excited about this project.  There are similar seed banks already set up
in other regions of the country, but as of yet, there is no such bank in
the Southeast and we need to fix this now if we are to save our
vegetable heritage.  Seed saving organizations and foundations from
around the country have indicated they are interested in supporting this
project, but for it to succeed, we also need support of folks in our
region, folks like you.



To help get it started, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association has
agreed to allow us to operate under its wing.  All donations to the
project are tax deductible.  To make a donation, you can write a check
to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association with the words “Seed Bank”
on the memo line or go to our website at www.savingourseed.org
<http://savingourseed.org/pages/OSAT.htm> and click on the “One Seed at
a Time” link.



Sincerely,

Brian (Cricket) Rakita

Seed Project Coordinator

* *

*P.S.  The only way to keep a public variety from being patented by the
largest seed dealers in the world is to document it and preserve a
sample, as the One Seed At A Time project will do.  Currently, the major
seed companies of the world have pattented thousands of open pollinated
varieties.*

**

Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license
are available from the North Carolina State Solicitation Licensing
Section at 1-888-830-4989.  The license is not an endorsement by the state.