Seeds of Diversity Canada
1 - 12 Dupont St West N2J2W6 Waterloo, ON, Canada

Bob Wildfong is our executive director here at Seeds of Diversity and the speaker behind two of our Seedy Saturday presentations this year (and three from last year). One of his recent presentations teaches you how to space your garden plants apart for good seed-saving isolation, choose an assortment of varieties that will lend themselves to easy seed saving, and plan how many plants to grow for food and how many for harvesting seeds. You can find it alongside the rest of our Seedy Saturday Speaker Series: https://seeds.ca/seedy-saturday-series/

Did you know that last year prices for durum wheat rose by 90%? This came after the widespread drought and unprecedented heatwaves in Canada. As one of the world’s biggest grain producers, our production of wheat heavily influenced the global market. Over the last century, Canadian farmers have increasingly relied on genetically similar high yield wheat varieties, and this comes at a cost: precarious food systems. An article from The Guardian showcases via chart form how drastically wheat varieties have become more genetically similar here in Canada over the last 100+ years: https://www.theguardian.com//climate-food-biodiversity-fiv

All hands (and paws) on deck today for a cozy afternoon of seed packaging.

Feeling concerned about the transmission of COVID-19 when swapping seeds this year? Studies have shown that the virus can only survive on cardboard for about 24 hours so setting your newly-acquired seeds aside for at least a day should be adequate. For extra precaution, you can directly spray envelopes and the seeds inside with hand sanitizing liquid without harming them, as long as the seeds dry again within twenty minutes.

Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays are here! Don't miss out on the events happening near you this year. You can visit our listings page to read more about each event: seeds.ca/events

Jaana Espegren is a gardening enthusiast in Sault Ste. Marie. Last year, she offered up this piece of advice about Seedy Saturdays: It’s just about teaching people and giving people resources and just getting out and sharing a passion for gardening. Although this year will be less getting out and more staying in, we are excited for the many Seedy Saturday events coming up from coast to coast. Are you looking forward to any Seedy Saturday events this year? ... https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/helpful-seed-tips-shared

Find an event near you & go to seeds.ca/events or click on the links in the captions for more information. Have a poster to promote? Send it to us!

#Herbspotlight: Agastache feoniculum, aka anise hyssop, is a perennial plant in the mint family that is native to much of Canada - Quebec to BC and up to Northwest Territories. It is typically found in prairies, plains, and fields, distinguishable by its lovely lavender to blue coloured flowers and scent of anise. Anise hyssop is easy to grow from seed in moist, sandy soils with plenty of sunlight. It’s primary benefit is in its importance to pollinator species in Canada, and is useful as a pest deterrent in gardens. The aromatic leaves can be harvested and used in food such as herbal teas and jellies.

The loss of agrobiodiversity around the world is accelerating, and we are not seeing conservation efforts keeping pace. We need renewed efforts and support to make sure the agricultural biodiversity that remains in food systems is kept safe for future generations. Hannes Dempewolf, Director of External Affairs at the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust), emphasizes the need for reinvigoration to save, preserve, and back up the millions of seed samples housed in seed banks. These seeds are the key to securing our food biodiversity. https://news.globallandscapesforum.org//seed-conservation/

"Their results [show] that increasing plant biodiversity could help reduce pesticide inputs in agricultural systems by enhancing natural biological control." Yet another reason to support plant diversity. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-diversity-pesticide.html

It’s that time of year again! We invite you to contribute to our 2021 Member Seed Directory. This person-to-person system allows you the opportunity to list any seeds you would like to share - whether you are a long-time seed saver, beginner, or something in between. You can do this by heading over to our website or by downloading our paper form and mailing it to us. Website: https://seeds.ca/app/mbr/msd-edit.php ... Form: http://seeds.ca/d/?n=www/msd/SeedOffers.pdf See more

This year more than ever, it’s important to take pause, plant our roots, reconnect, and get inspired by how we can reach new heights together. Our friends at th...e Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario - EFAO have put together their first-ever virtual EFAO Conference to allow you to do just that! As our partners in the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, the conference will feature seed production and plant breeding sessions, farmer-researchers presenting on their variety trials and breeding work, an opportunity to share ideas for future research and breeding trials, as well as a community meeting to talk about how we can support each other in learning how to conserve, improve, and create new high-quality Canadian seed. Other session topics will include distribution in COVID times, racial justice in farming, holistic management, silvopasture, organic grain production, cover crops, and much more. Full program and registration details at https://conference.efao.ca/ Early bird pricing ends Nov. 23rd! #efao2020 #EFAO #ecologicalfarming #farmerledresearch #ontag #ecologicalagriculture

Many of us have forgotten to uphold our agreement to take care of the seeds. All of us eat because of the generosity of a seed. Part of this is remembering that we can’t abdicate that relationship to multinational corporations or to industry, monoculture, [or] corporate ag. Another beautiful message from Rowen White, member of the Mohawk tribe, an Indigenous seed steward, and organizer of the Regional Indigenous Seed Growers Cooperative.

Are you taking part in the Virtual Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario - EFAO Conference next week? Plenty of seedy breedy workshops and conversations to join as well as sessions on soil health, regenerative agriculture and more. Sign up for a day or a full week. Program and registration details at https://conference.efao.ca/

#NameThatSeed Week 6 is here! Hint: This variety comes from Beauce County, Quebec, and is believed to have originally come from the Iroquoian Nation of the Saint-Lawrence, who occupied Beauce territory from about the 14th to 16th centuries. Guesses?

"I like to keep seeds as free access and in the public commons. They are living beings, they are our ancestors. They’re not meant to be commodified, but that’s ...what’s happened." Tiffany Traverse, seed steward at Fourth Sister Farm in B.C., (and SeedChange board member!) is featured in this lovely Q&A in Modern Farmer with four Indigenous farmers. Please give it a read!

#NameThatSeed Another week, another seed! This gorgeous variety traces its origins to the gardens and cooking fires of a certain community of people who lived in Michigan’s northwest Lower Peninsula. It shares its name with this community, a name which translates to traders. This seed appeared in one of our 2016 e-bulletins, and has been generously adopted into our Seed Library. Guesses, anyone?

Thank you to everyone who made it to our virtual Seed Library tour and AGM yesterday. We had a fantastic turnout - about 150 people! For those who missed it, we'll be posting it to our website in the near future so stay tuned for that.

#Microseedbanking101 So, how should you store your seeds? At Seeds of Diversity, we store our seeds in three different ways for three different purposes. Level 1: Intended for distribution within 1-2 years Level 2: Those not available for distribution and level 1 backups Level 3: For the long-term (ie. in case of catastrophe) ... Most people will only ever store their seeds at levels 1 or 2. You can explore how by reading our free primer: http://www.seeds.ca/d/

#Microseedbanking101 Micro seed banking is mostly about storing and subsequently finding the seeds. Once you are past the shoebox stage, a strictly organized catalogue system is essential for keeping track of where each variety is located. And putting the seeds back in the right place is equally important for the system to work. https://buff.ly/3oUwJaN