SLOLA Is Real!

It was a bitter cold afternoon, and I honestly don't know if my goosebumps were from the cold or being awed at the participation and dedication of the people who braved the cold to come out to The Learning Garden's Chi Patio to form the Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA).  We elected officers and established a $10 membership fee.  It is hoped that this will be a lifetime fee, but we have no history to go on.

The meeting went smoothly - perhaps the cold inspired folks with more  to say to moderate their comments? - and we all left with a real sense that we had 'done something' to make Los Angeles a better place to live, a more sustainable, yes, even 'resilient', city.  It was as though we had offered a stone from David's sling at the Goliaths of the seed industry who have pushed the home gardener further and further from their demographic. 

We meet again on January 15th at 2:30 in the afternoon.  Part of our agenda will be ask all members to sign the Safe Seed Pledge and promise to learn to grow their plants in a way that will help us provide a long term solution to the crises of our loss of genetic diversity and to keep alive these valuable older seed varieties that gardeners can save to grow next year and be independent of the seed industry that pushes more and more hybrids on the average gardener.

This was an exciting meeting and already we have twelve initial members.  When I handed over my ten bucks, I felt almost as though I signed another Declaration of Independence.  All these wonderful people out in the cold to insure a safe seed supply in Los Angeles just made me absolutely giddy!

Please come out and be a part of this vital community effort to help save the seeds of history to feed us today and tomorrow.

david

Seed Library of Los Angeles; SLOLA

Vegetable seeds tightly closed in jars to keep them more viable are all from The Learning Garden's growing over the past couple of years. These very seeds could be the beginning of a seed library for the Los Angeles area.

The Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA) has been brewing for some time – and it's not quite soup yet – there are hurdles still to cross. But it is closer to reality because The Learning Garden has taken on the challenge of making it happen.

A seed library works very similar to a book library or a tool library. The main difference – and the real nut of the difficulty in making it viable – is that seeds are living entities having a life expiration that puts a whole new urgency into the program.

Once you have joined a seed library – you check out seeds from them just like you would a book. You plant the seeds and grow out your crop, at the end of the season, you return fresh seeds, from your crop, to the library. The library benefits from being able to offer the next person fresh seed and you benefit from having free seeds. It's a win/win and it keeps Monsanto out of your garden and denies them profit from feeding your family.

The Learning Garden, more than any other local entity is the perfect place for a seed library because of the wealth of variety we alone can bring to the table. We have vegetables, California Natives and medicinal plants from which we can store and provide seed – our own inventory of seed is massive giving us the lead in this field. We also have space to be able to grow out seed that needs to be refreshed.

The challenges of making this work are, as follows:

1. We need volunteers to run the seed library – catalog and inventory the supplies and to run the 'open' days
2. We need a database complicated enough to thoroughly track the seed and insuring viability for those checking out the seed but simple enough to be used by volunteers – I have experience with Access and it is certainly complicated enough, not so much usable. Friends suggest File Maker Pro, but I have never used it and don't have the cash to get it, making that a moot point.
3. We need to create a space just for the library to store seeds and have available to them. That, I think can be managed by the Garden by rearranging some of the space in my office and we can turn part of that over to a seed storage space.

So, at this time, I'm looking for some folks willing to devote some of their time to start and run a seed library and some way to log the seeds and the persons who have joined. AND I'd like to learn who is interested in joining a seed library and checking out seeds. At this point, I'm considering a nominal $10 membership fee, which I think should net someone life time membership (your life or my life or the life of the seeds?) – other than the start up costs, I can't see a seed bank costing a great deal to run. I've got an ancient computer around here, if I can get a database program on it to run, that solves that end of the equation. Perhaps there will need to be a fine if you don't bring back the seeds on time, like an overdue book.

Let me know – and I'll keep you posted as we move forward.

david

Seed Swap - February 6, 1:00 - 3:00 PM

Got an extra handful of carrot seed?  Carrots being sown in the Garden a while back - we had to get five pounds of carrots to pay off Mike McGrath (it was a baseball bet... don't ask... some of us are still sore).

In conjunction with Environmental Change Makers in Westchester, The Learning Garden will have our first ever seed swap on our patio, February 6, from 1 to 3 PM. 

Bring your packets (or handfuls!) of extra seed and swap it out for something new you've always wanted to try!  (You don't need 'handfuls' - just a few seeds you want to exchange for something else.)  The Garden has a bunch of seeds we'll be swapping - vegetables at least.  We'll also have a few plants for sale. 

We'll have hot coffee and tea so bring your own mug (and sweetener) and remember; the patio is always cooler than the rest of the LA Basin so dress warmly.  Event is canceled in case of rain - I know WE can take it, but wet seeds are not helpful.

The Learning Garden is located on the grounds of Venice High School, at the corner of Walgrove Avenue and Venice Boulevard.  You can see our mission and founding on our web page - the links for the newsletter and events are broken until we can hire the help to fix it, but it is still a good introduction to the Garden. 

Events are listed here or you can contact me on Facebook and ask to be on our email newsletter list (+/- once a month). 

david

Corn!!

I'm very pleased to show this picture of corn from this year's harvest. A flat of unidentified corn plants had come to me needing the space to grow and I planted them out in June unsure of what I had on hand, except some vague mumblings from woman who gave them to me that she thought they might be some 'Indian corn.'

Like there was some other kind? But I took it to mean she thought they were a flour corn, not a 'sweet' corn. As they grew, the kernels did not look like sweet corn, some had neat rows, some were jumbled (like Country Gentleman). I never looked at all the corn, but I knew there were some different colors in the mix.

When I harvested the corn last week, I was dumbfounded pulling the shucks off the ears by the variety and beauty of the kernels! Look at the ear at the bottom of the photo, or the one on the right above the red ear! It is as if each kernel was hand painted by a meticulous painter, each one a true work of art. I am making sure I've got them dried enough to keep and I'll be planting the seeds of those two ears for certain in the coming year!

david