Donation Program Update

Over the past year, we’ve donated seeds to more than 160 worthy organizations. We’re thrilled to be able to support so many groups working in such diverse ways to promote sustainable agriculture, varietal preservation, and better access to healthy food. We would like to thank all these groups for their wonderful work!

Organizations benefitting from SESE seed donations include:

Some of the other organizations we’ve donated seeds to: Dancing Rabbit EcovillageOberon Associates Preservation Initiative, The Traditional Native American Farmers’ AssociationJubilee Partners,  The Chesterfield Historical Society, The American Horticultural Society Seed Exchange Program, and Appalachia Science in the Public Interest.

The next few months are the best time of year to request a donation of seeds. Most of the seeds we donate are slightly past their sell-by dates, but we find they’ll still grow well, with good germination rates and seedling vigor. To request a donation, email us with the word “donation” in the subject line. Please include the following information:

  • the organization’s name,
  • a brief description of the organization’s mission and activities,
  • the organization’s website if it has one,
  • whether you are tax-exempt,
  • the approximate number of people you’re working with,
  • the approximate area cultivated,
  • the address you’d like the seed sent to,
  • and a list of which crops you would be most interested in growing.

Take a Chance on Late Fall Plantings

Article by Ira Wallace, with Lisa Dermer

seedlings nestled into a cold frameCold nights let us know fall is really here, along with the certainty that a killing frost will arrive any day. We’re enjoying bushels of broccoli along with the last outdoor beans, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Beds of greens promise frost-touched sweetness for months to come.

For those who still haven’t made fall sowings of winter greens, it may not be too late. Last year we sowed greens under quickly put together cold frames on November 9, thinking they
would overwinter and be ready for early spring harvest. To our surprise, we were harvesting baby greens from those frames in late December and occasionally throughout the rest of winter. And when the weather warmed up in February, those plants took off well ahead of spring-sown greens.

My fastest growing fall-sown greens were arugula, cress, tatsoi, and kale. Baby lettuce seedlings transplanted from a crowded bed in the garden took off and grew quickly under row cover supported by hoops. We even harvested a last round of radishes from that November planting.

It’s best to avoid unrealistic expectations: last winter was unusually mild, and direct sown plantings made this late in the year may not reach harvestable size until early spring. Transplanting seedlings under protection in late fall gives a better guarantee of winter harvests. We’re transplanting crowded seedlings from the outdoor garden into cold frames or under row cover. A circle of gardening friends is also a great resource for extra fall seedlings, ready to be nestled into their cozy winter homes.

I hope you’ll take a chance on late fall sowings or transplants. Fresh winter harvesrts are one of the most important steps we can take towards food independence.

Get Inspired in the Fight Against Monsanto with The Agtivists

We’re reposting this message from Zofia Hausman, director of the Agtivists. Zofia has the blessing of OSGATA (the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association). We hope you’ll spread the word about this film!

Watch the trailer on the indiegogo site!

My fight against GMOs

My name is Zofia Hausman and I am a British film maker and human rights activist. I am in the process of producing a documentary that will take a critical look at the prevalence of genetically modified organisms in our food supply and the bio-tech industries that have monopolized and patented mother nature.

The film will delve into the work of The Agtivists, four American pioneers who have put their lives and reputations on the line to challenge the corporate control of our food supply. Groundbreaking new research will be revealed, helping us to understand GMOs and how their effects have an impact on every single human being on the planet.

Did you know that 70 percent of ingredients in our supermarkets contain genetically modified organisms, crops that have had their DNA altered in a laboratory by the addition of genes from other plants, animals, or bacteria? This type of genetic modification is experimental and largely untested, and over 80 percent of the transmuted crops are being designed to withstand direct application of herbicides and pesticides – chemicals that end up on your plate. Many countries have banned or severely restricted the production of GMOs, but here in the United States, the companies producing our food don’t even have to mention them on the label.

Why should this be a matter for concern?

GMO Bt corn, an EPA registered pesticide, is engineered so that when corn worms bite into the ear of corn, their stomaches explode. These Bt pesticide toxins have been linked to cell membrane death and leaky gut, as well as kidney cell damage in humans. They have been recently found in the blood of 93% of pregnant women tested, as well as 80% of their unborn babies. Other GMOs such as GMO sugar, canola and soy have also been genetically engineered to tolerate high levels of a chemical called glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp. This chemical is being linked to birth defects, inflammatory bowel disease, certain cancers, organ damage as well as environmental problems.

We have a right to know what we are putting into our bodies but right now we are ingesting these toxins without consent and involuntarily participating in what some scientists believe to be the greatest human experiment in the history of mankind!

My goal is to finish this film as soon as possible, so we can release this information to the world and afford the mainstream an opportunity to become conscious of the issue and reclaim control over their health and food supply. In this war on GMOs, information is power. I invite you to join me on this journey and become a sponsor of The Agtivists and an integral part of the larger solution. We can no longer rely on our governments to stand up against corporate agendas; it is we, the people, who must take action to ensure a just and cooperative world. It is up to us to bring an end to this human experiment and reclaim our food supply!

Watch the trailer and donate to the film here: www.indiegogo.com/agtivistsmovie

Please help to spread the word with your friends, family, and professional networks. We are all in this together, and what we need right now is each other.

Saving the Past for the Future