Frequently answered questions

What does Seed Savers do?

The Seed Savers' Network was established in 1986 in Australia. Its aims have not waivered since then. It has the following charitable and educational purposes in its deeds:

We seek to develop and promote:

•    Educational programmes for the preservation of open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds and the genetic diversity of plant varieties that help urban and rural gardeners to thrive;
•    Non-profit seed exchanges such as Local Seed networks;
•    Preservation and community gardens for open-pollinated plant varieties;
•    Short term seed banks and field collections for original plant varieties;
•    Scientific research relating to the above matters, either alone or in conjunction with a public university or other institution.

and to provide:

•    Educational assistance to community development projects - local and overseas;
•    Assistanced to organisations to collect and circulate open-pollinated seed stock to individuals, groups and communities.

What services do you provide?

We supply promotional and educational material on seed saving; we coordinate Local Seed Networks in Australia; we train on establishing seed networks, to date in more than thirty countries; we make ourselves available to speak at conferences and meetings on issues around biodiversity and community conservation of useful plants and we write and make video clips and films on food and food plant diversity issues. We are available to present the 57 mn documentary "Our Seeds" in Australia and overseas.

Do you supply seeds?

No, we did in the past supply to subscribers. In wenty years we disseminated over 500 000 packets of more than 9 000 varieties that had been sent to us by the Australian public.

However in 2001 we made the decision to devolve to Local Seed Networks and there are now over seventy around Australia. Contact your nearest Local Seed Networks to offer or request seeds, and once you have them, do save them yourself! The best way to adapt seeds to your locality, gardening and harvesting style and to your cuisine is to keep on saving its seeds years after years. Within a few years you will have  a local adaptation.

Otherwise kindly visit elderly local gardeners  or try bright and bushy tailled Permaculture gardeners, or any local food gardeners that save their seeds and are therefore likely to have local adaptations or simply start a Local Seed Network yourself.  if you buy from a seed company make sure you ask them where they source their seeds. Too many Australian companies, even quite small and organic ones, import their seeds.

Do you organise the exchange of seeds between countries?

No. We encourage individuals and projects within any one country or even one region to collect, conserve and distribute their own locally adapted seeds. In each of the other countries that we have worked, we encourage seed saving projects to collect locally, as it is best if seed is already locally adapted. it takes from two to five years to adapt a variety. Try it. You will like it.

Since 1986, within Australia we have received each year on average 450 incoming samples of vegetable seeds sent in by gardening seed savers. These we have tested for viability, repackaged and sent out. In our first twenty years, we sent out half a million packets, mostly to our subscribers but not exclusively, also to community garden projects, schools and reliable growers. They multiply up the seed and redistribute them freely to their friends family and generally in their locality.

What types of seeds do you conserve?

The seeds of food plants. We founded The Seed Savers' Network in 1986 because we became very concerned about the loss of diversity of food plants. Seed Savers was born. It was at a time where our Australian Labour Government legislated for plant patenting called in Australia Plant Breeders Rights.

How do you save seeds of vegetables?

This can be as simple as spitting the seeds into a bowl while eating a watermelon, or as complex as selecting for specific characteristics from a large population of one variety.

The important steps come next. Dry the seeds for a week to ten days in light shade. Pack them in an envelope, recording the name of the variety and date of harvest. Nearly fill a jar with packets of seeds and dry wood ash at the bottom. Keep the jar in a dark place in a constant temperature. The lower the temperature the better. Lastly and most importantly: replant them and pass them on to others.

We have published a 180 page book on how to save the seeds of 117 vegetables, culinary herbs and flowers: "The Seed Savers' Handbook". 30 000 copies have been sold in Australia.

• Order the Handbook on-line now.

How do I start a food garden in a school?

We have published an eighty page book on how to establish, maintain and use food gardens in schools, available as a free downloadable pdf. It encourages water-wise, biodiverse and seed saving gardens: "Seed to Seed Food Gardens in Schools".

How do you start a Local Seed Network?

See

• http://www.seedsavers.net/local-seed-networks for charter and guidelines on setting up your own Local Seed Network.

We have published a comprehensive manual (100 pages) on how to establish and run a Local Seed Network: "Local Seed Network Manual".

What promotional material do you have?

We have four designs of posters, available as a set from this website.

How do I get involved?

You can support our work, donate to our projects, watch our film clips, start a Local Seed Network, or institute a seed to seed food garden in a school.

How can I support your work?

We work on seed issues and bio-cultural matters both within Australia and in thirty other countries. As spokespeople for local and traditional varieties of food crops we speak up for the genetic basis of tomorrow's food. If you would like to support our work, you can pay AUD$30 per year or AUD$50 for two years. Your payment supports Seed Savers to continue these activities:

• Register and support Local Seed Networks
• Promote seed saving within Australia and internationally
• Support and establish seed saving organisations in twenty countries
• Campaign about food issues and biocultural matters
• Produce film clips to promote seed saving
• Maintain this website

I would like to support Seed Savers' work.

Enquiry from  Margaret 29/12/09

<!--EndFragment-->