Seeds for our 2000th Blip

22nd June 2015:

If you look through our previous 1999 blips you will realize that our main focus in on wells, pumps and water. Now that we have given clean, safe drinking water to maybe 500,000 of the poorest, we realize that we can make use of these good links and relationships to promote our conservation farming and agroforestry systems to increase their farm productivity and reduce the impact of climate change on their fragile link with existence. Open pollinated, savable seeds are vital to this work, so important that I make them my 2000th Blip
 
This package of seeds arrived from Jo and Valerie in Irish Seedsavers on Thursday last, well in time for our next trip to Malawi on June 28  (our 35th visit). Our connection with them began in 2007 when we took a trip down to Scarriff and observed the amazing work they were doing for OUR planet.

Our first interest was in apples, so they gave us rootstock and scions (together with passports) to try out. They are growing and multiplying.
We were told it couldn’t t be done so Malawi continues to import its apples from South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

We are carrying on a difficult battle in Malawi, in our little patch, against the Monsanto, Dupont and Synergia brigades promoting GM seeds, and toxic chemicals like roundup and worse. As a chemist, I am astounded at what and how they spray on their crops, particularly their commonly eaten vegetable, the tomato. Of course these people promote their products easily where corruption is a matter of course, which is almost everywhere!

Open pollinated, saved seeds are a rarity in Malawi, and generally unavailable. Its native heritage plants remain undeveloped and forgotten in a blaze of publicity by foreign bodies and NGO’s promoting what they call hybrid seeds.

In so far as we can, we use little chemical fertilizer, using conservation techniques and agroforestry systems and NO chemical pesticides.
 
Irish Seed Savers Association exists as a living testimony to the richness and wealth of the agricultural legacy of our ancestors. Irish Seed Savers Association was founded by Anita Hayes in 1991. The work was initially done on a small farm in Co. Carlow before moving to Capparoe, Scarriff in 1996. To date they have the following achievements under their belts:


- The creation of the Native Apple Collection containing over 140 distinct varieties;
- The creation of the Native Irish Grain Collection with 48 varieties;
- The establishment of a Seed Bank containing more than 600 rare and endangered vegetable varieties;
- The establishment of a Native Brassica Collection;
- The creation of a Native Broadleaf Woodland and Wildlife Sanctuary;
- Extensive areas of beautifully landscaped seed gardens and peaceful orchards which are open to the public;
- Establishment of a colony of hives of Native Black Bee;
- Maintenance of a separate living malus (apple) gene bank helping Ireland to meet its obligations in the area of conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture (PGRFA);
- A unique orchard of over 33 self rooting varieties of apple trees that require no grafting for propagation. This is probably the largest collection of this type of apple tree in the world;
- The donation of 1% of their earned yearly income to support other organizations with similar aims within Ireland and in the developing world.


They locate rare varieties of vegetables, soft fruit, flowers, grains, potatoes and apple trees and then conduct research on them in their gardens. They then select varieties, which are hardy and suitable for the local climate. This process takes time patience and skill and our subscribers, Friends of Seed Savers and the public are rewarded with tasty and productive varieties to grow at home.
 
We will bring these seeds with us and try to copy the process, with uneducated farmers, who know little about research or seed saving
 
I love this comment from them:
   
As environmental issues come more the forefront in all of our lives, the small efforts of many make a real difference