Currently I am in the process of making a Seed Exchange Bank. The idea behind a Seed Exchange Bank is that people donate proven seeds that they have harvested themselves, so that others may get seeds for free. Having a seed bank and maintaining one is about creating an exchange process in other words those who take seed need to harvest seed and re-donate it back to the bank.
This exchange process helps to renew the amount of seed that is stored within the bank to ensure those that need seed get seed. To create proven seed growers needs to use certain isolation techniques for growing the plants that will provide the seed, and they need to be able to grow it the next year to make sure no cross pollination occurred and that the fruit is what it is supposed to be.
Right now I am working on bagging up tomato seeds that have been proven. In 1 quart bag I have 30 small bags filled with enough seed to grow a minimum of 100 tomato plants. From my calculations that came from my growing experience along with some online research I have discovered that the 30 bags of seed that I have created can grow enough tomato plants to produce 600 bushels of tomatoes. My starting goal is to create 100 bags per species of tomatoes that I have that are proven.
For every species of tomato plants that I create 100 bags for can go forward and potentially produce up to 2000 bushels of tomatoes, and currently I have 9 species of proven seed. The math is simple, which means that all together those tomatoes could produce 18,000 bushels of tomatoes or 900,000 pounds of tomatoes at an average of 50 pounds a bushel. Try to imagine how many people that could feed and for free at least the seed that is!
The seeds are heirloom varieties that were raised organically and are either first or second generation organic seeds. If it is a first generation organic seed this means that it came from seed that was originally not organic and if it is a second generation seed then that means it came from organic seed.
Currently I have taken first generation seed and created second generation organic seed out of it. Even though I am not a certified organic producer I still follow the principles of organic gardening and farming and grow these vegetables on land that has not been touched in several decades if ever by non-organic chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
I have taken great pride in creating this seed and being able to create this Seed Exchange Bank. My inevitable goal is to feed people from plants that are healthy and organic. Gardening and farming is not just a passion for me it is I must admit an obsession. As a child I grew up in an extremely poor household and spent many days hungry and when I did get food it was usually highly processed food, which overtime caused me to have weight issues and health problems.
When I chose to have children I decided that I would not let my kids be exposed to a majority of food that was not organic. The only way for me to affordably do this was to grow my own food and over the years I have learned this skill and mastered it. Creating the Seed Exchange Bank was inspired by a combination of many years of rewarding experiences with gardening, and many childhood experiences with hunger and adult experiences with illness due to childhood malnourishment.
My young childhood experiences deeply motivated me to grow food as early as 13 years of age. Since my first garden at 13 I have had a love of plants and of growing them and over the years it has blossomed into everything you see here on Facebook and more. I guess you could say that my childhood influenced me to the calling of feeding people and I feel that it is a noble calling and I am proud to do it.
Until next time, happy growing and…
Namaste!
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