The Seed and the Story: CAAH and Arkansas Seed Swaps

2011 Russellville Seed Swap. Photo by author

The Seed and the Story is a bi-weekly column exploring folklife, sustainability, oral history, human rights,and community in Yell County, Arkansas.   The column is published in the Post Dispatch and is syndicated in the Courier.  Please remember to support your local paper and independent media!

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Beginning earlier this month the organization CAAH (Conserving Arkansas’ Agricultural Heritage) began their yearly series of Seed Swaps across the state.  With the motto “One for the cutworm, one for the crow, one to share and one to grow,” the organization seeks to preserve both the agricultural folkways of Arkansas and the seeds themselves, many of which have been in families for generations.

They operate a Seed Bank on campus at the University of Central Arkansas, studying and preserving the genetic diversity of regional seeds and host twelve statewide swaps, providing a space where community members can trade heirloom seeds and gardening knowledge, sharing the wealth with both fellow community members and the CAAH organization.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting project leader Dr. Brian Campbell and hear him speak about this project and his other work, and I attended the Russellville Swap last year.  Regardless if you’re a master gardener with decades of experience or a person who’s never put a thing in the ground but posses an interest in learning more about growing your own food, CAAH is an excellent resource.

They seek to raise awareness about the problems with crop monoculture, wherein regional heirloom seeds are replaced by hybrids, the seeds patented and owned by major corporations.  As growers shift to these seeds, the regional ones die out, taking with them genetic diversity, regional traditions and a hardiness to local conditions. Just take the example of tomatoes.  There are only few varieties sold in grocery stores but literally hundreds of different heirloom tomatoes you can grow at home, ranging from pink to green to yellow and each with their own unique taste.  Heirloom gardening opens up a whole new world of eating.

Last year when I attended the swap in Russellville there were several people who brought seeds to give away and an even larger group of folks who just wanted to meet other gardeners in the area, many of whom were starting their first plots.  I came home with some okra seed, daffodil bulbs, a hummingbird vine, and French melon seeds, all of which have done well. If you have seeds passed down in your community, donating some to CAAH is an excellent way to make sure they never die out.  But don’t feel like you have to have seeds to swap to attend the event. It’s for everyone, gardener or not.

The event in Russellville will take place on the 25^th of this month at All Saints Episcopal Church from 10:00-1:00.  If you miss the Russellville event, you can make it to the Conway swap on Sunday the 26th 1:30-3:00 at the Faulkner County Library.   You can check out the full list of swaps below.

You can read more about CAAH and learn what’s in their Seed Bank here: www.arkansasagro.wordpress.com.  If you want to read more about last year’s swap and see a few more photos, go here. If you have seeds that have been passed down to you, I’d really love to hear about them!  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for spring.  What are you going to be growing?

Seed Swap in Russellville

Bulbs from CAAH.

This past Saturday CAAH (Conserving Arkansas Agricultural Heritage) hosted a seed swap at All Saints Episcopal Church in Russellville. There was a wonderful turn-out of probably around sixty people from the Russellville community as well as folks from Dardanelle and Dover.

There were heirloom french melon seeds from a family outside of Dover, Russian Kale from Russellville, a hummingbird vine seed from Dardanelle, and much more. The best part was all the conversations that came out of all these gardeners getting together to swap and discuss.

I took my recording equipment and had the opportunity to visit with several folks about seeds, gardening, and local food, including a regional beekeeper, several area gardeners, and the students who are currently volunteering with CAAH. I’ll be producing a radio piece highlighting their stories and voices which should run within the month.

There are several seed swaps coming up, including one in Little Rock next week. Check out this previous post for upcoming swaps. You don’t have to be a seed saver or even a gardener to attend. It’s a learning experience for everyone, and these events are to get people involved with agricultural heritage, local food, gardening traditions, and organic growing, so if this is something that interests you then go! You’ll be glad you did.

What seed swaps are happening in other states? I’d love to hear about them!

Here are a few photos from the event.

Seed swappers.

2011 Arkansas Seed Swaps Co-sponsored by Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage

Heirloom Butterpeas from our garden. Photo by Bryan Moats

Do you have save heirloom seeds? Are you interested in learning more about seed saving?

CAAH, Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage, will sponsor ten seed swaps around the state of Arkansas beginning the 2nd of February. Anyone is welcome to come to bring seeds to swap and share. If you don’t have seeds to swap, bring envelopes or garden implements, or anything else you might have to swap with gardeners. Or just come and learn more about the importance of seed saving and swapping! As noted in the event’s press release, “Arkansas farmers and gardeners have a legacy of heirloom seeds that are in danger of being lost, and sharing of seeds will encourage production of diverse varieties for posterity and sustainable food production.” See below for times and dates and more information!

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Farmer and Seed Advocate Percy Schmeiser on Democracy Now!

Percy Schmesier is a Canadian farmer who has spent decades fighting seed giant Monsanto in an effort to protect regional food systems, heirloom seeds, and farmers’ autonomy against cooperate seed ownership. He is a 1997 recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the alternative Nobel Peace Prize), the subject of the documentary Percy Schmeiser: David versus Monsanto, and travels around the world advocating for farmers’ rights. His work addresses issues such as patents and the right to private ownership of seeds and seed research.

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Visiting with Gardeners Part 1: Sisters Jennifer and Sage

Sage (front) and Jennifer Billig in one of their hoop houses. Fayetteville, Arkansas

I’ve been spending some time lately visiting with gardeners, asking about not only what they grow but how and why they grow. This is part of a larger research project with Utah folklorist Nelda Ault. We will be presenting our research at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in October.

View of Sage's garden (from her son's tree fort) looking toward Jennifer's backyard.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit with sisters Jennifer and Sage Billig.   Continue reading »

Garden Practice: Food, Flowers, Research, People.

Aunt Francis's Garden. Yell County, Arkansas.

It’s gardening season here in Arkansas, and both my daily life and research seem to be circling things in bloom. The tomatoes are ripe; the pole beans are taller than me, and the peppers are plentiful. I love coming home from running errands to find squash, zucchini, snow and purple hull peas on my front porch left by anonymous kind friends who plant for a purposeful surplus. I enjoy the few calm moments I  spend in my own garden picking herbs or engaging in that necessary yet futile feeling task of weeding. And then there are the flowers. The magical, beautiful flowers. But I’ll get to them in a minute.

Here are just a few ramblings and ruminations on fieldwork, garden work, grief work, and dreams for the garden I plan to someday create.
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