Gardener's Holiday Gift Supports Regional Seed Saving in NC
With growing conditions varying tremendously from place to place, it seems insane that the majority of seeds grown in the US come either from the Pacific Northwest, or Japan, Holland or Israel. Matthew has noted before how saving seeds is a critical strategy for adapting to climate change. Just as open-source programming makes for better software, so a living network of farmers, gardeners and plant breeders is our best bet for maintaining a dynamic and secure gene pool of crops for our future. Now a charity that I am involved with is offering a chance for folks in the Carolinas and the South East to give the gift of diversity by purchasing a ‘share’ in the Abundance Pepper as a gift.
The Abundance Foundation (whose work with local agriculture and renewable energy I wrote about before being asked to join the board) has been concerned for some time that our region lacks a viable seed industry. And even though some farmers and gardeners save seed, there is hardly the kind of culture of seed saving that we need to create a critical mass of regionally adapted crops.
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