permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

permPermaculture Design Magazine(Formally Permaculture Activist)
ISSUE #91 SEEDS 
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EDITOR’S EDGE 2
Stewards of Arizona Seed-Sheds 3
Chris Franco
Seed Saving Primer 7
Randel Agrella
Remember the Leucaena 12
Marjory Wildcraft
Volunteer Plants in the Garden 14
Michael Pilarski
Successful Seed-Saving 19
Hillie Salo
Bioregional Seed-Sheds 22
Don Tipping
Saving the Seeds of Cheese 25
David Asher Rotzstain
Create Your Own Seed Bank 29
Randel Agrella
The Seeds of Community: Forest Garden Emerging 32
Frank Raymond Cetera
Start a Community Seed Bank 35
Ellen Rainwalker
GMO Seeds: The New Green Revolution in Africa 37
Trina Moyles
Index to Permaculture Activist #59-74 (2006-2009) 42

Seed-Bearers of Democracy
John Wages
Whenever I look around me, I wonder what old things are about to bear fruit, 
what seemingly solid institutions might soon rupture, and what seeds we might 
now be planting whose harvest will come at some unpredictable moment in the 
future.
—Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby
While permaculture isn’t synonymous with “gardening by design,” it makes 
sense that  lling one of the most basic human needs would appeal to the most 
people. The best gardeners are those who’ve seen the  res burning in living 
things: the energy  ows that sustain life on this planet. The response to 
this issue’s theme was overwhelming: articles arrived from the four corners, 
setting out the philosophy and practices of seed-saving. As editor, I had 
little to do but ponder whether to use a hyphen in “seed-saving” or not 
(“seedsaving”).

Climate change will require breeding new crop varieties in the short term. 
Where commercial types fail without dependable irrigation plus fertilizers 
and biocides, locally adapted heir- looms may continue to perform. As Zone 7a 
becomes 7b, then 8, we will need to change the varieties we grow. For example,
...a question of democracy and local control.
in considering what apples to plant this winter on our nascent farm back home 
in northeast Mississippi, Gwen and I skipped the recommendations of the 
Extension Service and chose even lower-chill varieties now best suited to the 
Gulf Coast. They should bear in our current zone, but will do better, not 
worse, with moderate warming. Under similar climate pressures, we should not 
discount the robustness of hybrids, but should urgently collaborate to 
develop locally adapted and controlled, open-pollinated, and also hybrid, 
vegetables and staples.

The overall direction of this issue may make it appear that hybrids are 
worthless, and heirloom varieties the answer to all our problems. A more 
accurate assessment would acknowledge the bene ts and shortcomings of each. 
Hybrids represent a rich genetic resource from which to develop new 
open-pollinated varieties. Though hybrid seeds will not breed true their 
choice traits can be stabilized over time by patient gardeners who know basic 
plant genetics and can maintain good records. Hybrid vigor is not a myth. And 
though most hybrids were developed to bear well under conventional cropping, 
others could be devel- oped for high yields under organic growing conditions, 
under permanent mulch, or as part of a particular intercropping system.

Anyone can save open-pollinated seed, but some vegetables require gene pools 
large enough to make long-term backyard seed-saving dif cult or impractical. 
Thus, we are likely to continue to rely on ethical seedsmen to maintain 
highly productive strains of these varieties. Also, some strains quickly go 
off-type without strong selection pressure. The legendary Stewart’s Zeebest 
okra quickly loses the highly branching habit that con- tributes to its high 
yields. Each season, in addition to maintain- ing the required separation 
distance, the seed-saver must apply selection pressure by choosing only the 
most branched plants. Saving tomato seeds is, by comparison, a cakewalk.

To me, the question of heirlooms and hybrids is largely a question of 
democracy and local control. Who makes the deci- sions that affect our lives: 
multinational companies, the govern- ment in Washington, the City Council, 
neighborhood associa- tions, or we ourselves? For whom do land-grant 
researchers and Extension agents work—the people or agribusiness? Without the 
ability to make our own decisions, including economic ones, democracy is a 
sham. When we take back the right to save our own seeds, establish 
open-access seed banks, and buy from small seed companies with high-yielding, 
regionally adapted varieties, we loosen the octopus’ grip just a little bit 
more, and make more space for the seeds of democracy to grow.

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