Our Activities

Our current activities have grown out of our past ones ... in 1986 we began our Seed Savers' Network in Australia and continued around the globe.

Improving Seed Saving in Australia

In response to the financial crisis, we are keen to elevate the level of seed saving skills of the Australian public through promoting The Seed Savers' Handbook and encouraging the formation of more Local Seed Networks. Over the next few weeks we are sending bulk seeds from our seed bank to our nearly one hundred Local Seed Networks.

Promoting Food Gardens in Schools

We have a strong programme of encouraging more food gardens in schools through the distribution of our book, Seed to Seed Food Gardens in Schools that gives practical steps for planning, establishing, maintaining and utilising food gardens in schools.

Preparing Slide Shows

We have taken over 10 000 images and eight Powerpoint Presentations. You can see one for schools under Resources.

Producing our doucmentary, "Our Seeds"

 We have produced a one hour documentary, "Our Seeds" on seed saving practices around the world, seed guardians' lives, and interviews on the international seed situation. We have taken 250 hours of footage in fifteen countries and have produced several clips for the internet on a range of topics including a series on wild harvested foods like mushrooms, fruits, nuts and berries. See www.youtube.com/seedsavers.

 
And writing this....If you have serious skills to edit and upload on Youtube please contact us. We also need translators.

 

Growing 130 varieties of tomatoes in one season

In 1988 we grew out 130 varieties of tomatoes in our gardens and passed them around to our network of gardening friends. 

Receiving 8500 seed samples

From 1986 to 2006, we received 8500 seed samples of every size either at our post office box or dropped at Seed Savers office. We recorded each in a FileMaker Pro database, allocated them an accession number, tested them for viability with our volunteers and multiplied them. One third were multiplied in our Seed Gardens and the rest by our supporters and a team of expert seed savers, that we call regenerators. Now that activity is undertaken by our Local Seed Networks around Australia.

Coordinating friends and volunteers

Volunteers and retired helpers on and near the Gold Coast in Queensland packed the seeds into little packets recording sowing cultivation and usage details. We then sent out each packet to a gardener in what we thought would be a suitable location for that variety. In total we sent out in excess of 500 000 seed packets. Hot potatoes!

Creating locally adapted varieties in thousands of gardens

The rare seed stocks have to be shared around the country to be saved from oblivion. By saving seed several times over in a different climate, altitude or soil, new varieties are created; the genetic dice is thrown once again. Some will die in the process, some make it very well: local adaptions began to emerge providing the seed saver was crafty and observant of changes at each generation. For this reason we wrote a guideline for seed production that became the best selling Seed Savers' Handbook.
 

Monsanto sues seed savers

From the horse's mouth you can find out what happens to farmers who re-use Monsanto seeds a second time.

http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto_today/for_the_record/monsanto_saved_seed_lawsuits.asp

 

Our archives: pamphlets 

Our first ever pamphlet, 1986

Pamphlet 1999