New Seed List released, 'Adopt-A-Crop' initiative launched!
Thu, 09/09/2010 - 14:59 — bart
Hello food growers of the South!
I'd like to take this opportunity to extend a huge thanks to all of those who have contributed to the network recently, whether by donating seeds, contributing on our website forums, or helping me sort through our collection of 131 varieties of vegetable seeds in order to get this seed list put together. Your efforts are much appreciated, and it is satisfying to see information exchange and seed saving activities on the increase as the network gets more established. And to all of those who have donated seed this year, your names are in the draw for the free copy of Suzanne Ashworth's 'Seed to Seed'.
So, think about what kind of effort you want to put into seed saving, and choose your adopted seed accordingly. We need all kinds of seed to be saved in order for them to remain in our catalog, so if you're willing to have a bit more attention to detail about isolation distances etc, then get a medium or difficult crop! Think of it like a pet project - you're learning things, growing and eating delicious and unique food crops, and making a genuine contribution to the wider southern gardening community all at the same time!
Ordering Seeds
Seeds are all $1.00 per pack. Postage to Otago or Southland is $3.00. We don't send seeds beyond Otago or Southland. As always, members who donate seeds to us will receive credits for some free packs of seeds. If you get into this, you may never have to pay for seeds ever again! (And a reminder to past seed donators - get in touch, use your credits now!). To order, just email is at otepoti.urban.organics@gmail.
Allright guys, thats probably enough info to keep you occupied for now... keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more details on what we've got planned for the next little while! We're ramping this project up from a regular organic gardening network, to a sustainability driven grass-roots research network! Until then, feel free to jump on the web forums at www.urbanorganics.org.nz and have a yarn with other local growers!
Cheers,
Bart Acres
Hello food growers of the South!
Well, with the days definitely continuing on a slow but steady warming trend, the sowing of seed for spring and summer crops is surely on our minds. I figured it was high time to do a stock take of our seeds, compile the new seed list, and get it out to you folks so you can make your orders and grow some radical crops this season!
I'd like to take this opportunity to extend a huge thanks to all of those who have contributed to the network recently, whether by donating seeds, contributing on our website forums, or helping me sort through our collection of 131 varieties of vegetable seeds in order to get this seed list put together. Your efforts are much appreciated, and it is satisfying to see information exchange and seed saving activities on the increase as the network gets more established. And to all of those who have donated seed this year, your names are in the draw for the free copy of Suzanne Ashworth's 'Seed to Seed'.
I'd also like to remind you guys that although this seed list is now released, we are more than happy to receive seed donations at any time of the year. Also, now is a great time to jump onto our website and have a look in our gardening guide and web forum sections to make sure you have all the info you need for a productive vegetable garden in our Southern climate. Theres heaps of knowledgeable people around to help you answer any gardening questions etc.
Right, now on to the seed list. I'd like to introduce to you a new initiative that we are running this year called Adopt-A-Crop. Basically, we are looking at ways to increase seed saving practices amongst our members, to that this seed exchange can continue to survive. The network needs people like you to make the effort to save seeds from at least some of your crops, to return to us and keep our seed bank well stocked (Hence the name, symbiosis seed exchange). Traditionally, the percentage of people who return seeds to us is quite small compared to the numbers who order seeds. This is not sustainable folks!
So I decided that we need to make it really easy and simple for people to save seeds. As such, I'm asking you...yes, you...consider 'adopting' one of our listed varieties and making the effort to save the seeds. Of course you can order as many different kinds of vegetables as you want, but you will focus on your adopted crop for seed saving efforts. We will provide you all the info that you need on how to grow the crop and how to harvest the seeds. And you can ask any extra questions in our online forum. You're more than welcome to save more than one kind of seed as well, that would be ideal for us, but at the very least, choose one!
The Seed List
As you will notice when looking at the seed list (avaliable HERE), it is divided into two sections - the main list, which is varieties that we have decent stocks of and generally grow well in Otago, and then there is the 'Adopt-A-Crop Special Selection', which is our rarer varieties that we have less of. We cannot afford to loose these varieties by sending them out to people who do not want to save seeds. Having said that, I would whole heartedly encourage you to pick a variety from the special list and give it a shot. Don't be shy, get into it! Like I mentioned, we will help you out with all the info you need.
All of the varieties on the main list still need to be 'adopted' as well. These are our most popular varieties and we need lots of seed of them. If you're feeling adventurous, you could adopt one kind off each list. If you're feeling undecided, you can just email us and say you want to adopt a 'wildcard' and we'll send you something that we want to see grown and saved.
Different species of vegetable have different ways of pollinating and as such some are harder to save seeds from than others. Roughly categorised in difficulty of seed saving they are:
EASY:
Tomatoes, Peas, Beans, Lettuce
MEDIUM:
Spinach, Pumpkin, Zucchini, Leek, Onion, Kale, Radish, Silver beet, beet root
DIFFICULT:
Carrot, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn
So, think about what kind of effort you want to put into seed saving, and choose your adopted seed accordingly. We need all kinds of seed to be saved in order for them to remain in our catalog, so if you're willing to have a bit more attention to detail about isolation distances etc, then get a medium or difficult crop! Think of it like a pet project - you're learning things, growing and eating delicious and unique food crops, and making a genuine contribution to the wider southern gardening community all at the same time!
Ordering Seeds
Seeds are all $1.00 per pack. Postage to Otago or Southland is $3.00. We don't send seeds beyond Otago or Southland. As always, members who donate seeds to us will receive credits for some free packs of seeds. If you get into this, you may never have to pay for seeds ever again! (And a reminder to past seed donators - get in touch, use your credits now!). To order, just email is at otepoti.urban.organics@gmail.
Allright guys, thats probably enough info to keep you occupied for now... keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more details on what we've got planned for the next little while! We're ramping this project up from a regular organic gardening network, to a sustainability driven grass-roots research network! Until then, feel free to jump on the web forums at www.urbanorganics.org.nz and have a yarn with other local growers!
Cheers,
Bart Acres
