Posted on 04/04/2008 10:30:40 AM PDT by Gabz
Seed swapping
Q. I have a backyard vegetable/fruit/herb garden, and every year I wind up with lots of leftover seeds, more than I can possibly plant next time around, yet throwing them away seems like an awful waste. Is there any established way to share, trade, or recycle seeds? - Jacey, WY
A. Absolutely. Seed-sharing has been an officially time-honored tradition since at least 1989, when Canada and Britain founded their respective “Seedy Saturday” and “Seedy Sunday” swaps. And in the US, the last Saturday in January is “National Seed Swap Day,” so start saving your seeds up for January 31, 2009. But community seed swaps—essentially free horticultural flea markets—aren’t confined to these national seed days. Gardeners all over the place are trading "extras" year-round, in local swap groups. Oregon permaculturist Heather Coburn Flores, author of Food Not Lawns, has traded seeds with more than 2,000 people so far. “By this simple act,” she says, “I am helping to build regional food security." Coburn Flores says swapping has also been a fun way to meet neighbors, widen her culinary horizons, and save money. “Weaving together people and plants strengthens the genetic fabric in our gardens and in our bioregion," she adds.
Seed swappers like Coburn Flores are also promoting biodiversity. Our global food industries promote hyperproductive, hyperdurable varieties like your “typical tennis-ball tomato,” says National Gardening Association senior horticulturalist Charlie Nardozzi. So seed swaps are one of the best ways to preserve old heirloom varieties that would otherwise probably slip through the cracks and disappear forever.
Call up your local ecology center or garden club and find out if any seed-swaps are already scheduled. If nothing’s in place yet, get out of that garden bed and organize one yourself, using the detailed instructions in Coburn-Flores’ book as a guide. If interacting with people isn’t your thing, or if you hate all your neighbors and wouldn’t trade seeds with them if your life depended on it, just Google “seed swapping” to find dozens of websites that’ll do the trick. At GardenWeb’s Seed Exchange, for example, users post lists of seeds they have available for trade, and others respond with posts like this one:
Hi, I would be interested in your Canterbury Bells, Celosia Purple Flamingo, Joe Pye Weed Chocolate and Basil Red Rubin. I have palisandra Coleus and a heliotrope, maybe more, Please check my list and let me know. Thanks for looking! Boop
Okay, yes, we just wanted to say “Boop.”
- Anneli Rufus & Kristan Lawson
Eco-inquiries, conundrums, snafus? Write to askplenty@plentymag.com. Posted on Apr 4, 2008 at 11:20 AM
hey, i may be a nova gal but i certainly don’t resemble that
snobby breed of tourist. ;)
on the beltway side there was a long stretch of time this
morning when a few miles or so an entire side of the beltway
was shut down. seems a few tractor trailers and a car got into
a mighty tangle this morning. one of the trucks even flipped.
so glad i don’t have to commute around on that nightmare of
a highway every day.
I hear you loud and clear! Uh, yeah. There’s only one road in and one road out—put a drawbridge at the end of a causeway, funnel it into a two lane road with a stoplight about every block—yeah. Right. Go ahead and blow your horn. Blow your nose—you’ll get more out of it. And for the owners of the boats that make the drawbridge open, don’t go half a mile to the high rise and go in and out that way. Nooooo—you just sail on thru and watch the traffic line up for miles in both directions.
One of my fave bumper stickers says—IF it’s tourist season, why can’t we shoot them? LOL
Used to be they were just here in the summer—now we can’t get rid of them.
Stevia is a natural sweetener—way sweeter than sugar. You can chew the leaves and get the taste. If my pkant ever gets big enough, I’m going to try the hot water/drying method and see.
Surface area. The plants spread out quite a bit. My boss is the one who is the expert watermelon grower. I’ll double check with him, but I think I remember him telling me that when the vines start to run, you need to add more fert.
I think the wyatt-quarles planting chart says to space mounds 3-4 feet apart, rows 6 feet.
Looks like the weather we had here yesterday is headed your way. Meridian Naval Air Station is about 15 miles north of me and they measured the high wind of 87 mph.
Thanks for the ping.
LOL, we will make the 5,000 posts.
You are behind on reading, we are at 1064 now.
I put undiluted vinegar in a old spray bottle and spray it right where I want it...also kills ants, weeds and just about everything...so maybe not in your compost unless yyou are foing to wait some time before using it. Maybe just use the product Sevin “non systemic” bug killer.
Did not know vinegar would kill weeds! Now that is something I will try!
On Thur I repaired one of our bins and Friday my wife mowed our lawn and I weed-smacked the oat cover crop and then I started a new compost pile here. We set 3 new overnight low temps here the past week. I'm waiting for gorebull warming to arrive
I really like GardenWeb. It’s a great resource. I haven’t gotten involved in the seed exchanges yet ... not sure how addicting it might be.
Just measured the temp. of my compost pile with a Celsius thermometer it is 30 deg. which is 86 F.
I think seed swapping is a fun idea. I haven’t been able to find any local event yet, but I’ll keep looking. I did trade for some heirloom tomato seeds with a friend.
My tulips are blooming this week! I’m pretty excited about that. Foxglove, lupine, bee balm, canterbury bells, and columbine plants have re-emerged and look nice and healthy. I’m am highly anticipating my first blooms this year, as they didn’t bloom for me last summer. I’ve also got snap peas, spinach, carrots, lettuce, kohlrabi, beets, and parsnips beginning to sprout in my raised garden bed. I’m a little nervous because it’s supposed to freeze this weekend, but it’s supposed to be pretty mild at least. I hope I don’t lose my spring sprouts this year. Last year, my spinach actually made it through days of temps in the teens, though not much else did.
How’s your veggie garden coming?
Vinegar Update....1 part vinegar to 10 parts water, put solution in old Windex spray bottle and wipe with newsprint....guaranteed “streak free” lol
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