There are a few (very few) pictures here, just pictures in a folder;
nothing fancy. My abject apologies for not taking more.
http://home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic/images/SSE2010/
First of all, the Seed Saver's Exchange
www.seedsavers.org
has been around for 35 years, starting as a small group of like-minded
loonies who thought saving seed from old vegetable varieties, many not
available from commercial sources, was a Good Idea. As will happen with
such ventures, it grew steadily over the years, eventually settling at a
farm near Decorah, Iowa.
[Warning: I digress. A lot]
Northeast Iowa is NOT what most folks think of as "Iowa," I..E. Zillions of
acres of corn and soybeans, though there is a lot of that. The topography
is rolling limestone hills, more like Minnesota, which is just next door to
the north.
Since the beginning, SSE has been holding a campout convention in mid-July,
and I've been attending since I retired in 2002. There are always seminars
on subjects of interest, speakers, demonstrations, and most important, a
couple hundred of the aforementioned loonies to talk with (now called
"networking"). Years ago at a seminar put on by RCA on broadcast video gear
(you were warned, right?) the instructor said he felt eighty percent of the
education happened in the coffee breaks. And so it is at SSE. The speakers
were great: Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of SSE, Maria Rodale, CEO of
Rodale, Inc, Dr. Kenneth Street, heirloom seed hunter and subject of a
NatGeo special "The Seed Hunter" There were classes ranging from how to
grow and list heirloom seeds in the SSE yearbook to how and why to graft
vegetable plants. For the past couple of years, there has been a kids'
program, since there are many more younger folk attending, and a fresh
atmosphere that I hadn't seen the first years. Typical moment and
mini-digression: I was on a tour of the new seed processing building (SSE
gets about 60% of its income from retail seed sales now), admiring the new
pneumatic seed envelope packing machine, when I noticed a familiar looking
fellow in the tour group. I thought, "I know I've never met him, but he
looks very, very familiar." Looked at his name tag: "Rob Johnston, Albion,
Maine" Which most of us will recognize as the founder of Johnny's Selected
Seeds. He's also a member of the board of SSE, which I consider a Good
Thing. I sat and chatted a while with John Swenson, amazing garlic maven
and researcher into ancient foods. I brought a number of packets of
Rutabaga and Daikon seed that I've been raising for a while for the swap
table, and noted with pleasure that they all disappeared fairly quickly.
Brought home some "Hutterite soup beans" to add to the garden next year,
and resisted as best I could the "kid in the candy store" syndrome at that
swap table. There were hay wagon rides out through the pasture that house a
herd of ancient White Park cattle- after the last round of acquisitions,
Heritage Farm is just under a thousand acres- and a popular Sunday morning
birdwalk.
For the first time this year, the campout was open to none-members as well;
probably a good thing, since heirloom gardening is more infectious than
late blight. Attendees can camp on the grounds as I did (The early Sunday
morning Thunderstorm was ….erm...interesting), stay at local motels, or get
inexpensive dorm rooms at nearby Luther College. Kudos to Patti my dear
partner for putting up with this obsession, and even encouraging it
("Honey, is there enough Basil for me to make some more pesto?"), even
while she isn't thrilled that plants grow in dirt, much of which travels
with me in a little pigpen cloud.
In these days of more and more of our food supply being controlled by ever
fewer and bigger corporations, I feel the Seed Saver's Exchange is an
absolute necessity to ensure that the foundations of our food remain in
diverse private hands. Parallels to "Fahrenheit 451"come to mind from time
to time, so you can call me "Macomber Rutabaga."
Thanks for listening.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

In article ,
Gary Woods wrote:

There are a few (very few) pictures here, just pictures in a folder;
nothing fancy. My abject apologies for not taking more.
http://home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic/images/SSE2010/
First of all, the Seed Saver's Exchange
www.seedsavers.org
has been around for 35 years, starting as a small group of like-minded
loonies who thought saving seed from old vegetable varieties, many not
available from commercial sources, was a Good Idea. As will happen with
such ventures, it grew steadily over the years, eventually settling at a
farm near Decorah, Iowa.
[Warning: I digress. A lot]
Northeast Iowa is NOT what most folks think of as "Iowa," I..E. Zillions of
acres of corn and soybeans, though there is a lot of that. The topography
is rolling limestone hills, more like Minnesota, which is just next door to
the north.
Since the beginning, SSE has been holding a campout convention in mid-July,
and I've been attending since I retired in 2002. There are always seminars
on subjects of interest, speakers, demonstrations, and most important, a
couple hundred of the aforementioned loonies to talk with (now called
"networking"). Years ago at a seminar put on by RCA on broadcast video gear
(you were warned, right?) the instructor said he felt eighty percent of the
education happened in the coffee breaks. And so it is at SSE. The speakers
were great: Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of SSE, Maria Rodale, CEO of
Rodale, Inc, Dr. Kenneth Street, heirloom seed hunter and subject of a
NatGeo special "The Seed Hunter" There were classes ranging from how to
grow and list heirloom seeds in the SSE yearbook to how and why to graft
vegetable plants. For the past couple of years, there has been a kids'
program, since there are many more younger folk attending, and a fresh
atmosphere that I hadn't seen the first years. Typical moment and
mini-digression: I was on a tour of the new seed processing building (SSE
gets about 60% of its income from retail seed sales now), admiring the new
pneumatic seed envelope packing machine, when I noticed a familiar looking
fellow in the tour group. I thought, "I know I've never met him, but he
looks very, very familiar." Looked at his name tag: "Rob Johnston, Albion,
Maine" Which most of us will recognize as the founder of Johnny's Selected
Seeds. He's also a member of the board of SSE, which I consider a Good
Thing. I sat and chatted a while with John Swenson, amazing garlic maven
and researcher into ancient foods. I brought a number of packets of
Rutabaga and Daikon seed that I've been raising for a while for the swap
table, and noted with pleasure that they all disappeared fairly quickly.
Brought home some "Hutterite soup beans" to add to the garden next year,
and resisted as best I could the "kid in the candy store" syndrome at that
swap table. There were hay wagon rides out through the pasture that house a
herd of ancient White Park cattle- after the last round of acquisitions,
Heritage Farm is just under a thousand acres- and a popular Sunday morning
birdwalk.
For the first time this year, the campout was open to none-members as well;
probably a good thing, since heirloom gardening is more infectious than
late blight. Attendees can camp on the grounds as I did (The early Sunday
morning Thunderstorm was ….erm...interesting), stay at local motels, or get
inexpensive dorm rooms at nearby Luther College. Kudos to Patti my dear
partner for putting up with this obsession, and even encouraging it
("Honey, is there enough Basil for me to make some more pesto?"), even
while she isn't thrilled that plants grow in dirt, much of which travels
with me in a little pigpen cloud.
In these days of more and more of our food supply being controlled by ever
fewer and bigger corporations, I feel the Seed Saver's Exchange is an
absolute necessity to ensure that the foundations of our food remain in
diverse private hands. Parallels to "Fahrenheit 451"come to mind from time
to time, so you can call me "Macomber Rutabaga."
Thanks for listening.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Thanks for the report of concerning your summer and seed savers
Macomber Rutabaga. I'd like a follow up in about 5 or 10 years. Have a
feeling 10 years may offer a tipping point for appreciation of some
traditional ways of gardening. However I may be delusional.
I've not met anyone under 30 years of age with an interest in
gardening. So your post is inspiring. It is something Ingrid and I do
and my father did. Show by example is sort of impacting my oldest and
we keep giving them plants and occasional fresh vegetables. Gut says
my canning equipment may be called to duty. )

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?
globalvoicesonline.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY