Local sources of open-pollenated seeds

[Mudwoman]

Liz ~ This is dismaying news. Guess I won't be making my gardening wish-list or ordering from 'Seeds of Change' anymore....and their name now takes on a chilling implication. Thanks for posting this link.

And I didn't even know there was GMO cocoa. How dismaying. Poor beleaguered Africa.

By the way, I just heard today that Seeds of Change, one of the largest organic seed companies, is owned by pro GMO corporate giant, Mars. Does anyone see a conflict of interest? Does anyone think there might be a problem?

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Liz

[bfrank]

If you listen to the anti-biotech activists, you hear lots of claims about people who are ‘pro-GMO’ and who believe that GMOs are a ‘magic bullet’ and ‘will feed the world’.
If you look around in the real world, you will discover such people are very difficult to find, anywhere.
If you listen to the anti-biotech activists, you hear things about people who want to ‘poison the planet’, ‘destroy biodiversity’ and ‘put the food supply in the hands of multinational corporations’. People who, by the way, are ‘being paid by Whole Foods’.
Those people are very difficult to find, as well.
One thing about these claims, which is markedly consistent, is that they appear to involve ad hominem attacks on straw men. It’s prima facie reasonable to frame things that way, but that’s missing the point.
What’s ad hominem to you is for them completely reasonable. Their main interest is whether you are a member of their tribe. Their tribe assumes what it believes to be the ‘moral high ground’, and defines itself by being against Mars, Hobbs and IBM. If you personally are not against such things, you are a member of the ‘bad’ tribe.

[peggykarp]

Liz ~ This is dismaying news. Guess I won't be making my gardening wish-list or ordering from 'Seeds of Change' anymore....and their name now takes on a chilling implication. Thanks for posting this link.

And I didn't even know there was GMO cocoa. How dismaying. Poor beleaguered Africa.

No need to buy from Seeds of Change when there are such wonderful open-pollinated seed companies available. The two I've ordered from so far are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com), right here in Petaluma, and Bountiful Gardens (www.bountifulgardens.org) in Willits, but there are many others, like Sustainable Seed Co. in Round Valley (sustainableseedco.com). The people at these small companies are dedicated, inspired individuals, doing the important work preserving the genetic diversity of our food supply--and their seeds are stellar!

[Barry]

No need to buy from Seeds of Change when there are such wonderful open-pollinated seed companies available. The two I've ordered from so far are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com), right here in Petaluma, and Bountiful Gardens (www.bountifulgardens.org) in Willits, but there are many others, like Sustainable Seed Co. in Round Valley (sustainableseedco.com). The people at these small companies are dedicated, inspired individuals, doing the important work preserving the genetic diversity of our food supply--and their seeds are stellar!

Thanks for sharing the info Peggy! It should be noted that Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is based in Missouri, and the Seed Bank in Petaluma is one of their outlets. I think they deserve a prize for the best re-purposing of an old bank building!

[ravenwhale]

Not to mention the West County Community Seed Exchange! Check it out if you have not already. I just received their monthly email and pasted below:

Get the dirt on seeds, at the West County Community Seed Exchange Monthly Gathering, this Saturday February 26. (See event information below.)

The west county roadsides are offering a great view of dark rich soil, and it appears as though Earth has been frosted in rich dark chocolate. Here and there a few wheel tracks along the roadside create the image that someone has stuck their fingers in to taste the richness. Seeing this beautiful soil sparks a desire to plant new seeds, literally get the dirt on seeds. The West County Community Seed Exchange not only has a library of seeds to share, we will be presenting a class on How to grow and process seeds.Please mark your calendar and join a growing community of seed savers. You can help get the word out by sharing this email with your friends, or printing the attached flyer to post in a local business.

For those of you who missed last month’s gathering, the West County Seed Exchange seed library was open at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church the location of our garden. The gathering took place in conjunction with the Redwood Empire Chapter of the Rare Fruit Grower’s Scion Exchange held at the Seb. Vet’s building. The place was a buzz of activity. Over a hundred scion samples filled rows of tables, local vendors provided items for the raffles, Rare Fruit grower members made an array of delicious treats to sample from the fruits they grew, a variety of classes were offered all day, one room was set up to graft your scion onto available root stock, and local groups like WCCSE shared information on their group activities. WCCSE members enjoyed the event and look forward to continued partnership with crfg. If you would like more information on crfg visit their web-site:https://www.crfg.org/chapters/redwood_empire/


Saturday, February 25, 2012
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Located At Our Seed Garden Site:
St Stephen’s Episcopal Church
500 Robinson Ave, Sebastopol, CA
This event is free to the community

9:00 - 10:30 Seed Garden Work Party in the Seed Garden
10:30 - 12:00 Class How to grow and process seeds
9:00 - 12:30 Seed Exchange Lots of seeds grown in west county backyards are available for planting

The West County Community Seed Exchange meets the last Saturday of each month January thru October. WCCSE is an all volunteer group with a mission to create a grassroots community seed bank that supports Sonoma County gardeners with free, locally grown, open-pollinated, pesticide and GMO-free seeds. All gardeners with or without seeds to share are welcome. We hope that many gardeners will commit to grow out and donate back to the seed bank.

For information contact: Sara [email protected]
Check out our Blog: westcountyseedbank.blogspot.com

[peggykarp]

I'm aware that the original Baker Creek Store and home base is in Missouri, but I think their participation in the community here qualifies them as a local business. In addition to their amazing store in Petaluma in the old Wells Fargo Bank building, they have hosted a number of events from book signings to the spectacular first annual Heirloom Expo last fall at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds.

Also, I don't think describing the Petaluma Seed Bank as one of their outlets quite conveys the reality. In addition to their Missouri and Petaluma stores, Baker Creek has only one other store, in Connecticut. More accurate to say the Petaluma store is their West Coast branch.

Thanks for sharing the info Peggy! It should be noted that Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is based in Missouri, and the Seed Bank in Petaluma is one of their outlets. I think they deserve a prize for the best re-purposing of an old bank building!

[hales]

I am pretty sure the Seed Bank has local bee products, like honey, beeswax candles, etc., and they have olives cured without lye, and olive oil, and grown right here, so they also carry a lot of wonderful, locally sourced products, in addition to putting on educational local events about farming, gardening, etc.. I went in there a couple of times and was impressed by the quality of the products they have in addition to the wealth of seeds, tools, educational resources, and knowledgeable help available. I'm kind of a wanna be gardener and bee person, but I have been meaning to browse around in there, and buy some more beeswax candles and naturally cured olives, perhaps look for some seends to plant in the spring, like veggies and wildflowers, sunflower seeds, etc.. I wonder if they are open today?
Scott.

BTW. I checked and, yes they are open and they had a record day, already.. : )

https://rareseeds.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Petal...k/354264144419

I'm aware that the original Baker Creek Store and home base is in Missouri, but I think their participation in the community here qualifies them as a local business. In addition to their amazing store in Petaluma in the old Wells Fargo Bank building, they have hosted a number of events from book signings to the spectacular first annual Heirloom Expo last fall at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds.

Also, I don't think describing the Petaluma Seed Bank as one of their outlets quite conveys the reality. In addition to their Missouri and Petaluma stores, Baker Creek has only one other store, in Connecticut. More accurate to say the Petaluma store is their West Coast branch.