Upper Valley Seed Savers
Meeting Notes
February 14, 2019
Facilitator: Dixie
Time keeper: Sylvia D.
Note taker: Ruth
Present: Dixie, Li, Stuart, Jeff, Kye, Margaret, Sylvia S., Sylvia D., Ruth
We started with our very colorful and delectable potluck and then proceeded with the meeting.
Announcements
NOFA-NY Seed Conference - Sylvia S. and Sylvia D. attended this event in January. The seed workshops were very weighted towards breeding, with an emphasis on breeding in the lab. One even seemed to be describing a process very similar to CRISPR. There was very little if anything geared to beginner seed savers or even breeding techniques in the garden. There was some talk about updating the Safe Seed Pledge to cover new developments in the seed world. Rowen White talked about the indigenous group working towards the rematriation of native crops. They are working with Hudson Valley Seed Company.
Possible visitor in April - Kye talked to Nando Jaramillo of High Fields Farm in Randolph. He is from Colombia and is both interested in and experienced with growing and cooking with many different native corn varieties. She will invite him to our meetings in general and to talk to us about what he does at our April meeting.
Photo exhibit/contest at the Howe Library – Li has two photographs in this current exhibit/contest, and they both received first place awards!
New projects /Proposals /Ideas – partnering on projects
We decided not to attend Flavors of the Valley but will find out from Vital Communities if we could have a table next year without paying a fee, since we wouldn’t be there to make money but rather to educate the public.
Sylvia Smith suggested again that we have a group project to grow cabbage seed. Because the required population is so large, we could perhaps grow smaller numbers in several of our gardens and then combine the seed. We will talk to Eric about how effective this method is and then choose a variety if it seems like a good idea. Maybe we can get going on this this year.
Please put your seed saving plans for this year on the wiki. You can add them at the bottom of your current inventory page likeStuart has done here. If you have trouble with the wiki, send your list to Ruth and she will add them. It’s really good to be able to see what each one of us is working on.
Plan for March meeting with Eric
Stuart will introduce Eric at the beginning of the meeting. We aren’t expecting a presentation from him but rather an opportunity for him to answer our questions and clarify some important things.
PLEASE SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO STUART BY FEBRUARY 21 so he can get them to Eric in plenty of time.
Stuart will contact Eric for a final confirmation, an invitation to join us for our potluck before the meeting, and to send him our questions ahead of time if that is something he would like.
We collected money from each of us for an honorarium for Eric. Sylvia D. will turn it into crisp large bills and find a card.
March Meeting Jobs:
Facilitator: Stuart
Note Takers: Li and Sylvia Smith
Later meetings and parking lot
April
Nando Jaramillo may be with us.
Decide on hosts for summer meetings May - October
Organize the cabbage project?
Crop coordinator discussion?
April meeting jobs:
Facilitator: Kye
Time Keeper: Stuart
Note takers: Ruth and Margaret
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