Author: Jeremy Cherfas

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San Francisco apes Svalbard global seed vault — locally

In our line of work it is common to hear people rave about the importance of informal seed systems for ensuring that farmers have access to the agricultural biodiversity they need and want — in developing countries. Not so common elsewhere. Now, from the Ethicurean, comes news of a project to build a Backyard Seed Vault, which sounds very like an informal seed system in San Francisco, California. The project’s instigator, who is co-executive director of a group called Agrariana (and check out their origins and mission statement), has this to say:

We’re looking for approximately 100 San Francisco Bay Area gardeners for the inaugural season who would like to work as a community to save heirloom vegetable seed. … Agrariana will lead hands-on workshops in participants’ gardens on properly saving seed. The Backyard Seed Vault is working in conjunction with the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL), a project of the Ecology Center, for their immense knowledge on properly saving, labeling, cataloging, and storing seeds. Seeds not redistributed to participants will be donated to BASIL, providing an opportunity for any community member to “check out” seed to grow in their gardens. Gardeners of all skill levels are welcome to participate.

Sounds like a lot of fun. And there are actually lots of similar seed exchanges all over Europe, North America, Australia etc etc. Will they, I wonder, ever attract the attention of people who study the value of informal seed networks elsewhere?

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Carnival Time: Science for the People No. 27

Yes indeedy, the latest edition of Scientia Pro Publica — science for the people — the blog that celebrates good science blogging is up at Melliferax. As usual, there’s a load of interesting stuff there, though not much of it is specifically agricultural. We should note, however, that Melliferax is herself a bee-keeper, and where would we be without bees? That said, two pieces caught my eye. In Always eat fruits before a meal?? the science behind false claims, Akshat Rati dissects the ludicrosity of an email that is apparently doing the rounds but that has so far had the good sense to leave me alone. And in Evolution: watching speciation occur Christie Wilcox gives not one but two examples of evolution in action, one from a neglected and absolutely delicious and beautiful crop, salsify, and one from a crop pest, the apple maggot fly.