[Southern California Permaculture] A Library For Your Seeds ONPoint Radio interview with Belle Star co-founder of the Seed School/Ken Greene owner Hudson Valley Seed Library.

[Margie Bushman, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

A Library For Your Seeds ONPoint Radio interview
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/04/10/seed-libraries-seed-exchanges

Seed libraries sprouting all over. We’ll dig into 
the populist push to preserve diversity – and 
flavor — in our gardens and diets.
In this Dec. 18, 2014 photo, Betsy Goodman 
handles seed packets at the Benson public library 
in Omaha, Neb. Goodman established a seed library 
at the library branch in 2012, and patrons 
checked out nearly 5,000 packets this year. Seed 
exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations 
around the country, most often in libraries, but 
the effort has created a conflict between 
well-meaning gardeners and state agriculture 
officials who feel obligated to enforce laws restricting the practice. (AP)

In this Dec. 18, 2014 photo, Betsy Goodman 
handles seed packets at the Benson public library 
in Omaha, Neb. Goodman established a seed library 
at the library branch in 2012, and patrons 
checked out nearly 5,000 packets this year. Seed 
exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations 
around the country, most often in libraries, but 
the effort has created a conflict between 
well-meaning gardeners and state agriculture 
officials who feel obligated to enforce laws restricting the practice. (AP)

We all know what a library is. But do you know 
seed libraries? Not the corporate seed catalogs 
that plenty of people have already been scouring 
this season, to get their gardens going. But a 
seed library, where ordinary citizens – gardeners 
– check seeds in and out. Check them out when 
it’s planting time. Bring seeds back when you’ve 
harvested. To keep and celebrate the local, the 
regional, in veggies and more. To keep and 
celebrate diversity – bio-diversity – at a time 
when Big Food pushes toward monocultures. This 
hour On Point: the populist push in local seed libraries, to save the world.

– Tom Ashbrook
Guests

Ken Greene, owner, Hudson Valley Seed Library. 
Set up the nation’s first seed library in Gardiner, NY. (@seedlibrary)

Belle Star, co-founder of the Seed School, a seed 
educational company. Co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.

Dan Barber, chef and co-owner, Blue Hill 
Restaurants. Author of “The Third Plate.” (@danbarber)

Johnny Zook, seed program supervisor for the 
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
 From Tom’s Reading List

Boston Globe: ‘Seed libraries’  The Wall Street 
Journal: Gardeners on Alert as Pennsylvania 
Targets Risks of Seed Exchanges — “In June, the 
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture told a 
public library in Mechanicsburg, Pa., that it 
couldn’t distribute homegrown seeds. The agency 
said a planned seed-exchange program would run 
afoul of a 2004 state law requiring anyone who 
distributes seeds to conduct certain quality 
tests, adhere to labeling and storage rules and acquire a license.”

Mother Earth News: Seed-Sharing Snafu — “The 
creation of seed libraries to facilitate seed 
sharing and preserve seed diversity has been 
spreading, with an estimated 300 libraries now 
operating nationally. Officials in several other 
states are now saying that the libraries can’t 
give away or exchange seeds unless they first 
obtain a permit and comply with the numerous 
requirements of the seed-labeling law.”


http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/04/10/seed-libraries-seed-exchanges

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(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie at sbpermaculture.org
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