A Seed exchange: A celebration of abundance

I just returned from a seed exchange. People brought seeds to give and we all took what we wanted. Isn’t it amazing how many seeds come from one plant? We just need to learn how to save them .

I envision that eventually every neighborhood will have a seed exchange because so many people are growing food. In our case, everyone lived in the same city, Fayetteville. I want to share with you how to do a seed exchange, and how useful it is.

Mariah was kind enough to facilitate the event, which has been happening annually, this time for the third year. She brought the following items:

Sharpie pens to mark the seed packets

Old envelopes cut in half, and other packets to put seeds in.

Tape to close up the envelopes

Some seeds that  someone had given her left over from another seed exchange.

yoghurt container and other white lids (so seeds could show up easily) for people to put seeds into to give away.

Everyone put the seeds they wanted to give away on the table–like a big potluck. Some were still in packets, some were in the lids.

People made up envelopes and put seeds into the packets and marked them.

That’s it! Simple!

There were tons of seeds left over. Amazing abundance.

I enjoyed the conversation. We talked about such things as:

Collecting seeds: some are easier than others. It is something worth learning. Tomato seeds all you have to do is let the tomato rot and then take the seeds out. (I didn’t hear the rest)

What to feed chickens instead of regular feed. We thought about growing some special greens for chickens–like amaranth. We are going to do some research. Some people got compost from the local organic restaurant or the local natural foods coop.

How beautiful and great amaranth is. You can eat the greens and the seeds. It is a beautiful plant. Hard to collect the seeds, but possible.

What would we grow if we had to survive on what we grew. We decided potatoes are really good. They are supposed to have the highest mineral content of any vegie–and they keep during the winter. They are also easy to grow. If you don’t have a lot of space–go verticle with tires.

Spinach can grow right now in the cold weather.

Someone brought some hot pepper seeds all the way from Nepal.

Someone brought potatoes and shared how to plant them. There should be 3 eyes on the part you cut up. Then let it cure for a few days.

We had a potluck as well.  It was a very kind event–generous in all ways. I came away with about 25 varieties of seed. I am excited about my garden like I have never been! Thanks, Mariah, for facilitating this very important event.