I mentioned recently that I had done a search for some women in the
West Indies whom I'd met at the Second International Conference on
Women in Ag, in DC, early July. They were seeking leads to sources
of heirloom and/or open-pollinated seed, as well as public varieties.
A number of you all wrote to ask me for this info, enough of you that
I thought I'd post it to the list. I hope you find it helpful. This
is by no means an exhaustive list; it was what I could find and
summarize in an hour on a weekday evening, and I was looking mainly
for sources that related to the tropics.
If you want to reproduce my search, I searched on phrases including
--heirloom seeds
--open-pollinated
--seed saving
--seed savers
--seed bank
--seed exchange
Then scanned for leads to appropriate tropical resources. One might
also add +temperate or AND temperate (or whatever your growing region
is) to these search phrases.
peace
misha
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Rural Advancement Foundation International
Web:
http://www.rafi.ca
E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
RAFI is an international non-governmental organization headquartered
in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) with affiliate offices in Pittsboro,
North Carolina (USA). RAFI is dedicated to the conservation and
sustainable improvement of agricultural biodiversity, and to the
socially responsible development of technologies useful to rural
societies. RAFI is concerned about the loss of genetic diversity -
especially in agriculture - and about the impact of intellectual
property rights on agriculture and world food security
One RAFI product:
The Community Seed Bank Kit
Designed for development workers, rural organizers and others working
with farmers and gardeners, the kit describes the dangers of losing
traditional crop varieties and explains how to establish a community
based system for preserving them.
Published: 1986 Available in: English, Spanish, and French US $4.50 in
North America, $8.50 elsewhere
It seems to me that starting here and with Seed Savers, below, on how
to save seeds is a good idea--they can give you strategies for
getting started on seed saving--the things you need to look for and
do, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA, has a huge bank of seeds and
a global network of seed savers:
Seed Savers Exchange, Rural Route 3, Box 239; Decorah, Iowa 52101
Their founder is Kent Whealy.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is an extensive on-line seed catalog, including heirloom
varieties:
http://www.virtualseeds.com/seedsCat.html
Their home page at
http://www.virtualseeds.com/index.html
includes a SEARCH ENGINE that lets you look for plant varieties on
the Web by plant name!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here is a wonderful list of seed sources:
http://www.starblanket.com/~susan/amcat.spml
Some of them have Web links.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If you go to this site:
http://www.cog.brown.edu/gardening/cat16/frame-cat.html
and click on the link in the list at the upper left hand corner that
says "tropical plants and seeds," it gives you a list of links to
catalogs specializing in tropical plants and seeds. I believe many of
them are exotics and non-food...but thought you'd like to know about
it anyway.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is a kinda miscellaneous on-line heirloom seed catalog:
http://gardenmag.com/seeds.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here's the catalog for Backyard Biodiversity:
http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~jjharlan/catalog.htm
Also:
Write or fax for a FREE catalog.
P.O. Box 3022
Lake St. Louis, MO 63367
TEL/FAX: (314) 561-GROW(4769)
E-mail: jjharlan@artsci.wustl.edu
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I found the following resource list at:
http://cube.ice.net/~nehring/postamerikan/seed.htm
at the bottom of the article.
SOME GOOD PLACES TO START
Online:
Brown University's Heirloom Seed Directory:
http://www.cog.brown.edu/gardening/f16cat.html
Algy's Herb and Seed Exchange:
http://www.algy.com/herb.html
Midwestern Addresses:
Down on the Farm Seed, PO Box 184, Hiram, OH 44234
Flower and Herb Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101 --
Membership $7/year -- annual Yearbook with listings of flowers and
herbs for exchange.
Home Grown Exchange, 16428 Woodstock, Macomb, MI 48044 -- Membership
$12/year --monthly issues of a newsletter which includes articles and
letters from seed savers as well as a seed exchange listing; send $2
for a sample copy or a send a listing of seeds you will offer for
exchange and get a free copy.
Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101--
Membership $25/year -- 3 large publications: summer and harvest
editions with informative articles, and the spring seed.
Southmeadow Fruit Gardens, Box SM, Lakeside, MI 49116 (616) 469-2865
Offering scores of historic fruit varieties, particularly apples.
Books & Articles:
Ashworth, Suzanne. SEED TO SEED. Seed Saver Publications, RR 3 Box
239, Decorah, Iowa 52101, 1991
Ausubel, Kenny. SEEDS OF CHANGE: THE LIVING TREASURE.
Nabhan, Gary Paul. ENDURING SEEDS: NATIVE AMERICAN AGRICULTURE AND
WILD PLANT CONSERVATION. North Point Press, San Francisco, 1989
Raeburn, Paul. THE LAST HARVEST: THE GENETIC GAMBLE THAT THREATENS TO
DESTROY AMERICAN AGRICULTURE.
Any book or article by Jeremy Rifkin.
Shiva, Vandana. BIODIVERSITY, BIOTECHNOLOGY AND PROFITS. in Vandana
Shiva et al. Biodiversity: Social and Ecological Perspectives. London:
Zed Books Ltd., 1991. pp. 43-58.
Shiva, Vandana. THE SEED AND THE EARTH: BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE
COLONIZATION OF REGENERATION. in Vandana Shiva, ed. Close to Home:
Women Reconnect Ecology, Health and Development Worldwide. Gabriola
Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 1994.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here is a very lengthy list of tropical seeds available from Sandeman
Seeds in the UK:
http://www.ukexnet.co.uk/hort/sandeman/med.htm
You'd have to go thru and pick out what you're looking for by
variety. I imagine a lot of these are exotics.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Deborah's Tropical Seeds appears to be worth a look:
http://www.seedman.com/WP/Deborah.html
12403 Dermott Dr., Houston, TX 77065
cyd13@aol.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And finally, here is a mega-list of links:
http://www.datasync.com/sbe/links.html
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I've verified each of the links listed here (that they work),
however, I can't vouch for the sub-links under them.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
Center for Integrated Ag Systems
UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020
http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Take a deep breath. Yeah, I know it doesn't make
you feel better, but it oxygenates your blood and
allows you to swear in longer strings. --Mister 3D
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