Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Jacksonville Seed Exchange - In-Depth Info
I started the Greater Jacksonville Seed Exchange in February 2008 for a number of reasons. As a quick background, I have self-educated myself on all aspects of environmental concern as well as progressive ideas, and have strong feelings for doing something worthwhile in the local community.
Concerning the seed exchange, I had some seeds on hand that I wasn’t doing anything with. I have long thought about doing a seed exchange and decided to start a blog for it, at http://jacksonvilleseedexchange.wordpress.com/.
I envision it to be a great way to trade and exchange seeds, as well as stockpiling seeds for future use, such as community gardens, personal gardens, etc. Also, I want to express concern on a number of issues and try to educate people about them. The local food movement, organic status (foods produced without fertilizers and pesticides), promotion of biodiversity, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), ownership of patents and claiming intellectual property on food items are just a few of the issues I hope to raise some awareness on.
Just a few generations ago, people grew their own food. They were usually limited to what their region had available, as well as seasonal fluctuations. With industrialization, free trade, and a host of other issues, food started becoming more and more manufactured for convenience.
Now, few people can or do grow their own food. Most of the food we eat is processed and contains many additives, preservatives, and genetically modified organisms. If every part of town in the greater Jacksonville area had a community garden, backed up by farmers markets, we could avoid many of these problems as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The average American meal travels 1,500 miles to reach the plate.
As to how the seed exchange works, most importantly we do not accept genetically modified seeds. If you are unsure if it is genetically modified, or where it came from, please do not send it. The most common GM seeds are soybean, corn, canola (from rapeseed), cotton, maize, and wheat. GM food has not necessarily proven dangerous, but it is too early to tell. Further, behemoth corporations such as Monsanto control most of the GM market, meaning a corporation controls much of our food supply, which is inherently dangerous. Groups have tried to get GM manufacturers to include a label on food products if any of it is GM, but they continue to fight it.
You can request one seed if you have none to exchange. I appreciate a seed or two coming back to the seed exchange after harvesting, of course. If you mail five seeds, we will send 3 in exchange. Feel free to mix and match.
Please try to include the species of the seed as well as the source (whether seed company, supermarket, back yard, farmers market, etc.)
I do accept seed and monetary donations. 100% of all monetary donations will go towards purchasing additional seeds.
If anyone has any recommendations, thoughts, etc. please let me know. I am available at jacksonvilleseedexchange@yahoo.com.
Concerning the seed exchange, I had some seeds on hand that I wasn’t doing anything with. I have long thought about doing a seed exchange and decided to start a blog for it, at http://jacksonvilleseedexchange.wordpress.com/.
I envision it to be a great way to trade and exchange seeds, as well as stockpiling seeds for future use, such as community gardens, personal gardens, etc. Also, I want to express concern on a number of issues and try to educate people about them. The local food movement, organic status (foods produced without fertilizers and pesticides), promotion of biodiversity, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), ownership of patents and claiming intellectual property on food items are just a few of the issues I hope to raise some awareness on.
Just a few generations ago, people grew their own food. They were usually limited to what their region had available, as well as seasonal fluctuations. With industrialization, free trade, and a host of other issues, food started becoming more and more manufactured for convenience.
Now, few people can or do grow their own food. Most of the food we eat is processed and contains many additives, preservatives, and genetically modified organisms. If every part of town in the greater Jacksonville area had a community garden, backed up by farmers markets, we could avoid many of these problems as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The average American meal travels 1,500 miles to reach the plate.
As to how the seed exchange works, most importantly we do not accept genetically modified seeds. If you are unsure if it is genetically modified, or where it came from, please do not send it. The most common GM seeds are soybean, corn, canola (from rapeseed), cotton, maize, and wheat. GM food has not necessarily proven dangerous, but it is too early to tell. Further, behemoth corporations such as Monsanto control most of the GM market, meaning a corporation controls much of our food supply, which is inherently dangerous. Groups have tried to get GM manufacturers to include a label on food products if any of it is GM, but they continue to fight it.
You can request one seed if you have none to exchange. I appreciate a seed or two coming back to the seed exchange after harvesting, of course. If you mail five seeds, we will send 3 in exchange. Feel free to mix and match.
Please try to include the species of the seed as well as the source (whether seed company, supermarket, back yard, farmers market, etc.)
I do accept seed and monetary donations. 100% of all monetary donations will go towards purchasing additional seeds.
If anyone has any recommendations, thoughts, etc. please let me know. I am available at jacksonvilleseedexchange@yahoo.com.
Comments:
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i've recently started reading about seed saving and had a rather silly question - does this imply saving seeds from a packet before planting, or seeds from plants post-harvest? or both? thanks for any clarification!
# posted by 
: February 28, 2008 at 3:17 PM
: February 28, 2008 at 3:17 PM
As far as I know it only refers to harvesting seeds. This means that you'd reserve a portion of your crop, that you wouldn't harvest for food, to allow it to "go to seed". Then you'd collect the seeds and save them for the next planting season. In springfield, for example, we let the biggest of our red oak lettuce plants go to seed. It's no good for eating anymore. It's shot up a tall stalk with buds which will flower and then we'll capture the seeds (and share them with the seed exchange, of course!). If you keep selecting the best of your crops as you go along you'll improve the strength of the genes in the seeds.
thank you very much for the information. i'm completely new to gardening so i still don't 100% understand how it works but at least i now understand how to get to the seeding point. my wife and i will attempt to do this with the next stuff we plant (we miraclegro'd everything before we did some important reading and decided to try organic) and if it works we'll definitely contribute to the exchange. this is a great idea and i appreciate someone taking the initiative to put it in place.
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# posted by : February 28, 2008 at 4:28 PM
: February 28, 2008 at 4:28 PMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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