permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

Seeds for Afghanistan

*** Call for Seeds for the People of Afghanistan ***

Seeds for Afghanistan began as a living-room operation on October 7, 
2001 --
the day the U.S. declared war -- to help the people and culture of this 
region
survive and thrive. To date, more than two and a half million packages of
seeds have been delivered to widows, farmers, refugee camps, women's 
projects,
individual gardens, and schools.

Many seed packets were contributed by afghans for Afghans' volunteers and
friends, in time for Nawruz 2006 and 2007, the beginning of the planting 
season
on the spring equinox.

Individuals, organizations, seed companies, school children, churches,
libraries, book clubs, and others have provided much needed resources to 
the
struggling population of Afghanistan. Once a rural and self-sufficient 
people,
decades of war have diminished their ability to sustain themselves. In 
addition to
suffering drought, thousand-year-old irrigation systems have been rendered
useless. Farmland is covered with landmines. Forests are destroyed. 
Millions fled
to refugee camps that, within less than a generation, lost the skills once
held by their people.

In the garden lies hope. In addition to providing the means for Afghans to
grow their own food and once again flourish, Seeds for Afghanistan has 
enabled
beauty to blossom amid the rubble and hope to grow.

Seeds for Afghanistan is now collecting for the 2008 planting season. All
types of ordinary vegetable, herbs, flowers seeds that grow in Zone 4 of 
the
North American continent are most appreciated and will grow in Afghanistan.
Ordinary types are best, especially eggplant, tomatoes and leafy greens 
-- exotics
like mizuma are not desirable. While vegetable seeds are important, so are
flowers, which can be sold at market to help sustain a widow and her 
family and
provide the beauty so loved by the Afghan people. Beauty is as essential 
as food
toward encouraging peace. Particularly flowers that last so they can be 
taken
to market (straw flowers, sunflowers ...), but no poppies, please.

Please send fresh seeds. No seeds more than a year old. The fresher, the
better! Seeds for Afghanistan collects year-round, but the urgency is 
the spring
planting months.

We would appreciate receiving seeds by February 28, 2007, so that seeds can
be delivered to Afghanistan by March 21.

Please send seed donations directly to:
Seeds for Afghanistan
1838 Pine Street
Boulder, CO
80302 USA



















































--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
http://www.PermacultureTradingPost.com
Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way
http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower
http://www.PowUr.com/KeithJ-SunPower
Blog: http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html
also Association for Regenerative Culture
http://www.ARCulture.org
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild
http://my.calendars.net/bloomingtonpccal/
and: http://bloomingtonpermacultureguild.blogspot.com/
also: Bioregional Congress
http://www.bioregional-congress.org