Pioneer Valley SEED FEST

Seed-saving, once an essential skill passed from generation to generation, is almost a lost art. Join us to learn about seed-saving and to become involved in seed projects in the Pioneer Valley. Liberate Diversity!!

Sunday, March 16, 1-5 & Potluck
Montague Grange in Montague Center

For further information, call Suzanne Webber: 367-2281

1:00 Registration - $5. Donation

1:30 Saving Vegetable Seed- Danny Botkin

From the perspective of a backyard permaculturist and food producer, Daniel will offer a compelling rationale for gardeners, farmers and others to become seed savers, ranging from the mundane to the cosmic. He will also discuss simple, inexpensive ways for the amateur seed saver to dive in and get started while dispelling common myths and false beliefs which inhibit would-be seed savers. He will discuss likely varieties to start with, as well as some simple tips, ideas and time -saving techniques he's learned.

After a 20 year career teaching and counseling, Dan returned full time to micro-farming on a tiny, historic hilltop in Gill. Intoduced to some astonishing heirloom tomato varieties, Dan was smitten and began saving his own tomato seed in 2000. He has also experimented with heirloom peppers, beans, peas, winter squash, leeks, lettuce, cilantro and many types of edible and ornamental flowers. Daniel traces his passion for seed saving partly to his life-long love of "free stuff" and of great food... as well as shared hope to help feed a hungry planet!

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2:00 Breed Your Own Vegetables - Suzanne Webber

Breeding vegetables happens naturally through selection practices from year to year. By focusing our goals, we can make this process more specific and breed for vegetables that suit our climate, our customer base and the disease pressures of our farms and gardens. This presentation will look at three projects at Brook's Bend Farm as examples of breeding projects you might try at home:

* Resistance to early blight in tomatoes
* Long storage and strong stems in pumpkins
* Interesting color and leaf shape, and cold hardiness in brassica greens

We'll look at information resources to continue to learn about vegetable breeding for our region.

Brook's Bend Farm is a diversified organic farm in Montague Center. Farmers Suzanne Webber and Al Miller raise Shetland sheep for wool and meat, chemical-free honey, eggs, flowers and vegetables. Suzanne is a passionate seed saver.

2:30 Seed Saving Made Easy - Nina Keller
How was did people save seed before we could rely upon the 'experts'?
Common sense seed saving is the answer. There is nothing difficult or fancy in saving seeds of basic vegetables. Nina, who has saved seed on her family farm for 35 year, will explain how to save seed of lettuce, beans, tomatoes, peppers, flowers, corn, oats, zukes, and cabbage, covering how the seeds are gathered, prepared, dried and stored. Also covered; food for animals, overwintering kale and cabbage and springtime volunteer crops.

3:00 Restoring Heritage Wheat ­ Eli Rogosa

Discover little-known heritage wheats and how to grow them; from wild wheat and the delicious old wheats from Europe to the varieties grown in Pioneer Valley up to the early 1900s. Modern wheat, the most widely grown crop on earth is bred for high yield for industrial white bread. Nutrition and flavor are forgotton. Heritage wheats are twice as tall (competes better with weeds) and have large roots systems (absorbs organic nutrients), and are higher in protein and minerals than modern wheat, that have been dwarfed for easy harvest by mammouth combines, and dependence on agrochemicals.

Eli, an organic farmer and baker from Maine, works every winter in the Fertile Crescent and Europe, researching and collecting rare, almost-extinct wheats in cooperation with traditional farmers and the Israel, Palestine and Jordan Genebanks, and the EUlandrace wheat working group.

3:30 Planning a Community Seed Network­ Adrienne Shelton

Together, we hold the power and responsibility to maintain our seed autonomy! Join in a discussion about how we can utilize resources within our agricultural community to
maintain a diverse selection of locally adapted and regionally specific seeds. Learn about the Red Gate Farm Seed Bank and find out how to get involved!

Adrienne Shelton is the farm manager at Red Gate Farm Education Center in Buckland, MA. In 2007, Red Gate Farm began a community seed bank to each people to save seeds and encourage the preservation and distribution of locally adapted vegetable and flower varieties. Adrienne is passionate about educating people about the importance of saving seeds in order to strengthen our local food systems.

4:00 Seed Swap
5:00 Potluck and Networking

More Resources for How to Grow Seed