Subject: Re: saving rare Seeds

From: "April Sampson-Kelly" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 20:01:30 +1100

many people don't know how to preserve rare species
as an active member of seed savers ( and seed savers will be able to advise
even better than I, i have a link to them on my linx page)
I want to stress that it is important to select seed from the first fruit,
the best fruit
and choose for insect resistance, and suitablity to your own unique climate
as mentioned by Dan.
what grows well over the mountain, may not be ideal for you.
I hear of a guy in Nimbin that makes it his life long passion to
deliberately de-hybridize
commercial food species.  some people do this for interest, I do. but when
it comes
to saving rare species from extinction, losing thousands of years of
selective breeding, I am not so tardy.  I save only seed that I know can't
possibly cross with the seed that I get
from the foods we buy (tomatoes, citrus, avodcado and much more - see my
home page for that one)
seed savers do have trouble from time to time ensuring that the rare breeds
stay true.
The whole aim of that game is preserving genetic material that may be lost
by
cross-pollination.
It makes the permaculture a lot more complex and isn't the kind of work that
comes
naturally as it requires intervention (record keeping, labelling, sometimes
hand pollination) not just natural energies.  but I think it is worthwhile
and builds my skill base.

April Sampson-Kelly
LC permaculture Visions
[email-masked]
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~askpv
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
To: UNC Perm List <[email-masked]>; Envirolink Perm List
<[email-masked]>
Date: Thursday, 30 October 1997 9:36
Subject: Seeds

Good point about not over-selecting, Dan. Near the center of where corn
(Zea mays) was originally selected from teosinte (Zea mexicana)
populations, Mexican farmers still let a few wild teosinte plants grow
among their corn, claiming that it invigorates the corn in succeeding
generations. And Gary Nabhan tells a wonderful story (Enduring Seeds?)
about watching an elderly Mexicana collect a few seeds for her next year's
crop from among each ear of corn, even the smaller or 'mis-shapen' ones.
She replied that to be too selective was disrespectful of this gift from
the gods, and that if this happened the corn would lose vigor and suffer in
later years. Corn populations, as it turns out, are especially-susceptible
to damage due to excessive narrowing of the genetic base by over-selection.

As far as obtaining seeds, the Seed Exchange is a membership organization
whose members offer their seeds directly, paying each other $1.50 per
sample. I'll send our seed list to any who ask, and then can give
directions for obtaining them. We have some really good, tough heirloom
corns, okras, cowpeas and other veggies, an heirloom cane sorghum, Mat Bean
(an interesting, low-growing Vigna (V. aconitifolia... Vigna is the cowpea,
mung bean genus) with good potential as a living mulch... about 321
varieties of veggie or native plant at present.

Another good idea would be for people to join the Permaculture Seed
Exchange (3020 Whiteoak Creek Road, Burnsville, NC 28714 USA; phone
(704)-675-5664; membership $7/year), and in the spring I should have most
of these low-input seeds offered through there. I'm trying to get the
drought-adapted Tahitian squash seed made available next spring, it's a
great producer and very low-care.

Jack

---

From: "April Sampson-Kelly" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 20:01:30 +1100

April Sampson-Kelly
LC permaculture Visions
[email-masked]
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
To: UNC Perm List <[email-masked]>; Envirolink Perm List

Jack