"Save Our Seeds" One Seed At A Time

The Saving Our Seed Project is starting One Seed At A Time, an organic seed bank, to save the biodiversity of heirloom southeast vegetables and flowers. As seed saving has become less a part of our culture, hundreds of heirloom varieties are on the verge of being lost. This bank will play a crucial roll in preserving our heritage for us and for our future. We are asking you to support us in this important work.

One Seed At a Time will address this crisis by:

• Seeking out and collecting samples of the heirloom varieties that are currently being raised and banked by farmers and gardeners in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Tennessee
• Banking these seeds both here in the Southeast and also at the Seed Saver’s Exchange in Decorah, IA
• Regularly growing out all of the collected varieties at least every five years to ensure their viability today and for generations to come
• Enlisting the support of the network of amateur and professional seed savers built up by the Saving Our Seed project

Seed Savers and others in the seed business from around the country are excited about this project. There are similar seed banks already set up in other regions of the country, but as of yet, there is no such bank in the Southeast and we need to fix this now if we are to save our vegetable heritage. Seed saving organizations and foundations from around the country have indicated they are interested in supporting this project, but for it to succeed, we also need support of folks in our region, folks like you.

To help get it started, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association has agreed to allow us to operate under its wing. All donations to the project are tax deductible. To make a donation, you can write a check to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association with the words “Seed Bank” on the memo line or go to our website at www.savingourseed.org and click on the “One Seed at a Time” link.

Sincerely,
Brian (Cricket) Rakita

P.S. The only way to keep a public variety from being patented by the largest seed dealers in the world is to document it and preserve a sample, as the One Seed At A Time project will do. Currently, the major seed companies of the world have pattented thousands of open pollinated varieties.

Cricket Rakita
The Save Our Seed Project Coordinator
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
49 Circle D Dr.
Colbert, GA 30628
home/work: (706) 788-0017
fax: (706) 788-0071
cell: (706) 614-1451
web: http://www.savingourseed.org
email: cricket@savingourseed.org