9th Annual Santa Barbara Community Seed Swap

Sunday, January 29, 2017

11-3pm, Free

Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery

Start plants from seeds.jpg

A celebration to bring seeds & people together

The seed swap is just around the corner, we hope you can join us!

Seed swapping is about engaging your community, sharing seeds with friends, neighbors and exchanging knowledge & ideas. And it makes you happy! Drives away the blues…

This year we are a bit low on seed donations from donor seed companies, so please bring your seeds, more important than ever to bring what you have grown out from previous years to share. This is the real intention of seed swaps!

And we are always grateful for volunteers! Especially needed are time keepers and assistants for our speakers; and those willing to load and unload, at beginning and end of day. See below for a more ways to help, it’s a fun way to spend the day.

Don’t forget to bring markers, pens, pencils, bags, envelopes, seed saving containers (let’s move away from plastic when possible, zero waste our goal) and mark all your seed donations with as much information as possible; good seed saving etiquette suggests, plant name (common & scientific), where grown, date collected, etc. Most seeds are best if no more than 3 years old.

We would love current seed catalogs to put on our information table if you have some to share.

Every year we honor a Local Food Hero, this year the honor goes to Judy Sims. As many have worked with Judy through the years on a vast array of projects, we invite you to bring photos & memories to share in a special memory book we will have out for that purpose. Judy will be honored between 12:30 & 1pm.

We will also take a moment to remember Bruce Van Dyke who generously shared his immense knowledge and time with pruning demonstrations at almost all the past seed swaps. What a blessing he was to our community.

Marshall Chrostowski of Pacifica Farms, a past Local Food Hero and exemplary Seedman, has recently moved from Santa Barbara, unfortunately he won’t be with us this year, but he has generously bequeathed seeds from his collection for this year’s Seed Swap, thank you Marshall .

We always have great speakers, check out this year’s lineup:

Music Corner - Music by Glendessary Jam – 1-2:30pm – Faulkner Gallery

Children Seed Activities – Location: Faulkner Gallery – West - 11:30 – 2pm

v 1:30 – 1:50pm - Getting the Garden back into Kindergarten, talk with Matt Vogel of Trinity

Seed Swap Speaker Schedule – Location: Faulkner Gallery – East – 11:30 – 3pm (all times subject to change)

v 11:30 – 11:50 Native Bees - Kid Friendly - No Stings with Joan Calder, Master Gardener

v Noon – 12:20 Seed Saving 101, with Oscar Carmona of Healing Grounds Nursery

v 12:30 – 12:50 Soil Biology with Bill Palmisano

v 1 – 1:20pm- Valuing the Maya Forest as a Garden, with Anabel Ford of El Pilar & Meso American Research Center

v 1:30 – 1:50 - Leave Your Carbon Footprint in the Garden , with Michael Whitman of Blue Sky Biochar

v 2 – 2:20 Alternative Ways, Better Solutions with Matthew Dudley

v 2:30 – 3pm Ancient Seeds & Grains-Old World Superfoods! with Larry Kandarian of Kandarian Farms

Volunteer jobs:

Some of the jobs we could use help with are:

v SET UP, we only have a half hour to set up, tables, chairs, signage; it's fast half hour (set-up time starts at 10:15am)

v help organizations with exhibit tables unload their cars from the curb

v timekeepers & assistants for the talks (make intros, etc)

v if you have plant knowledge, assist with questions in the "Seed Island" in the middle of the room

v Keep seed trays in Seed Island filled & tidy

v Volunteer PHOTOGRAPHER to document the day in photos

v Spanish Translations - if exhibitors need assistance with translations for their displays

v BREAK DOWN between 2:45 & 3pm, we must be out of the library very quick, chairs put away, vacuum carpet, help exhibitors break down & carry out

Just reply to this email if you can share some of your time for this wonderful free community event.

And big news for next year, since the library has become increasingly expensive and no longer affordable, and we continue to grow, we will be moving the SB Annual Community Seed Swap to Trinity Gardens, with both indoor and outdoor space available. Trinity Gardens & Santa Barbara Permaculture Network will be the major co-hosts for the event.

Thanks to Trinity Garden for always supporting with seeds and all the children’s activities through the years. Stay tuned for more information next year. In the meantime, check out Trinity Gardens ongoing events: http://www.trinitygardenssb.org/

9th Annual Santa Barbara Community Seed Swap

Sunday, January 29, 2017

11-3pm, Free

Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery

A celebration to bring seeds & people together

A Community program hosted by Santa Barbara Permaculture Network Non-profit
www.sbpermaculture.org

Co-Sponsors: Island Seed & Feed, Botanical Interest Seeds, Santa Barbara Seed Savers Guild,

Healing Grounds Biodynamic Nursery, & Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market

Event Facebook page (English & Spanish): https://www.facebook.com/groups/632203483488117/

More Info: Margie@sbpermaculture.org, (805) 962-2571

2017 Local Real Food Hero Award

Once again we will be honoring a Local Real Food Hero at the Seed Swap. This year the award goes to Judy Sims, whose contribution to local food systems is at the very beginning, with the child! An elementary school teacher who taught for many years at Monte Vista school, Judy used her classroom to teach kids about the environment through gardens. A longtime community volunteer & activist, Judy has been a key participant in many local garden organizations and projects. Read more…. http://www.sbpermaculture.org/events.html

Seeds, they are our past, they are our future. In past times, they were skillfully adapted to climate and location.

Come join us as we encourage our community to save and grow out seed specific to our own climate and place,

while honoring our ancestors gift & legacy.

We have some very special exhibitors this year

Are you feeling bit out of sorts with humanity lately, tiny bit lonely, and tired of the thing called politics? We have the cure, join other friends, neighbors & passionate seed activists as a volunteer for a few hours, its fun and happy way to spend a day.

Seed swaps are a passionate

Seed activism…

What is a seed swap? Why swap seeds?

Seed swapping is about engaging your community, sharing seeds with friends, neighbors and exchanging knowledge & ideas.

Every year we honor a Local Food Hero, this year the honor goes to Judy Sims, we invite you to bring any photos you might have of working with her through the years, so many projects and organizations she has been involved with. We will also have a memory book for you to sign in and share memories. (Judy will be honored at 12:30pm)

We will also take a moment to remember Bruce Van Dyke who gave pruning demonstrations at almost all the past seed swaps.

Marshall Chrowtowski of Pacifica Farms, a Local Food Hero from a previous years, and exemplary seedsman, won’t be with us this year as he recently moved, but you will have a last chance for some of his seeds, as he has generously bequeathed some from extensive collection for the 2017 Seed Swap.

Our Seed Swap speakers are always excellent, this year is no exception, please see below for the speaker schedule (changes always possible)

Although we host the event in January, on the last Sunday of Jan same date as the International Seed Swap day, we are always encouraging others to pick up and do seed swaps in other neighborhoods in a round robin style throughout the year at various locations, so we can share surplus seeds and continue to grow out seeds that are adapted to our specific climate & location. And make gardens affordable for all! Build community and food security in your own neighborhood by hosting seed swap

Seeds are the source of life, the ultimate food security, plants are always adapting their seeds to survive in a world that is always changing & evolving, its nature’s way.

Other Stuffr:

A celebration of the seed keepers that stand at the source of humanity's diverse food heritage.

SEED ETIQUETTE: Seeds should be labeled with at least the type and variety name (e.g., “Bush bean – Contender” or “Winter storage cabbage, savoy – January King”).

Safe seed pledge: look for seed companies that have signed the pledge.

The magic of seeds, they are our past, they are our future. Like a small computer chip, they are tiny, but they contain vast amounts of information, the blueprint for life... seed saving the most permaculture thing you can do, and an antidote to GMO's, do-able in our own backyards.

ADD TO SEED RESOURCE WEBSITE Exhibit Sheet:

https://www.facebook.com/TheRareVegetableSeedConsortium

The Rare Vegetable Seed Consortium seeks to disseminate knowledge about lesser known world food plants and to offer its accessions for enthusiast gardeners
http://www.therarevegetableseedconsortium.com/

helpful to bring markers, pens, pencils, bags, envelopes, seed saving containers (nice to move away from plastic, even zip lock bags if possible, it all goes to the landfill in the end) and mark all your seed donations with as much information as possible, plant name, where grown, date collected, etc. we would love current seed catalogs to put on our information table. Seed saving websites listed bottom of this email.

Seeds, they are our past, they are our future.

In past times, they were skillfully adapted to climate and location.

Are we as smart as our ancestors? In the America's, the Western Hemisphere, amazing skill was exhibited to develop a huge array of edible plants---a wild, bitter gourd is encouraged to become an edible and nutritious squash; a simple and weed-like grass into corn---all done without GMOs!

Come join us as we encourage our community to save and grow out seed specific to our own climate and place, while honoring our ancestors gift & legacy.

Santa Babara Permaculture Network Logo
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie@sbpermaculture.org
http://www.sbpermaculture.org

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