Gone to Seed with Colleen Dieter
“How often in your day to day life do you get to contribute to the effort of preventing something from becoming extinct? ... It’s a lot different from sending your money off to like save the pandas. It’s happening in your backyard. It’s what you can do with your own hands.”
Colleen Dieter, co-founder of the the Central Texas Seed Library, talks about how saving, swapping, and sharing seeds can help us build community, reclaim lost agricultural knowledge, and preserve crucial genetic diversity in our global food supply.
Thanks to Colleen and a group of other volunteers and librarians, a seed library is coming soon to Austin’s fabulous new downtown Central Library. Here, anybody can browse and take home free, open-pollinated seeds to grow in the garden. In addition to a permanent home at the library and a mobile “seedmobile” that will travel to community gardens and farmers’ markets, the CTSL will host seed-swap events and classes. The first of these events will be held on October 20, 2018. (See flyer below.) For more info on the Central Texas Seed Library, visit them on Facebook.
Music this episode is “Elatan” by Gustav Landin and “Nostalgia of an ex-gangsta rapper” by Deef.
PS — Leah and Colleen are on KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener and Fox 7’s Good Day Austin to talk about seed saving! Clips below.
Leah and Colleen demonstrate how to collect seeds to celebrate the newly launched Central Texas Seed Library.
Leah explains how to clean and store seeds on Good Day Austin, Fox 7 News, in preparation for the Seed Library’s seed swap on 1/26/19.
Leah and Colleen demonstrate how to plant seeds, from flowers to food. Find out why boiling water helps bluebonnet seeds germinate. And watch how to plant lettuce seeds.