SEED JOURNAL

Posts from the making of Open Sesame and the years since: conversations with seed keepers, notes from the road and news from the seed movement.

Seed Saving, Sustainable Agriculture

The following interview is a transcript of an on-camera interview done with Sean Ludden at his farm in Albuquerque. This interview has been edited for content but may include the occasional transcription error – please don’t blame Sean. SEAN LUDDEN:   My name is Sean Ludden. I’m the Farm Manager at a local non-profit. We provide […]

Food Sovereignty, OSGATA

From Wood Prairie Farm newsletter: The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a decision in the landmark federal lawsuit, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al v. Monsanto. Farmers were denied the right to argue their case in court and gain protection from potential abuse by the agrichemical and genetic engineering giant, Monsanto. Additionally, the high […]

Gardening, Seed Saving

Ken Greene and Doug Muller are founders of the Hudson Valley Seed Library in Accord, NY. Open Sesame: What was the origin of the Hudson Valley Seed Library? I lucked into a job at the library in Gardner, New York. It was a tiny two room library and it was really just me and the […]

Gardening

Last year we went and interviewed Lea Redmond in Oakland, CA about her cool and amazing endeavor: seed money. Check it out below!

Monocultures

The Great Famine that occurred in Ireland in the 1840s resulted from the dependence of Irish Farmers on a single potato variety, The Lumper. The Irish Lumper was praised for its nutrition and the ease at which the potato thrived even in nutrient poor soils. During the Lumper’s hay day, it’s been said that the […]

Monocultures, Sustainable Agriculture

With Valentines Day just around the corner, your thoughts might turn to romance…and perhaps chocolate. Every year U.S. consumers purchase (and presumably consume) approximately 60 million pounds of chocolate. Despite this being a phenomenal amount, Easter is actually an even bigger chocolate frenzy, clocking in at approximately 71 million pounds of cacao bean goodness. The biggest chocolate feast of […]

Organic Seeds

When I tell folks about my documentary, occasionally I get the response that organic is a luxury for the rich, but that it can’t feed the planet. They tell me that organic seeds are for home gardeners and specialty market growers.  There is a grain of truth to what they say. We currently have a […]

Heirloom Seeds

Once planted, seeds increase their value 100 times in 30 days. A subject I interviewed for Open Sesame – The Story of Seeds shared this observation. Of course this is an approximation and obviously varies from variety-to-variety. But I enjoyed thinking about seeds in this way. One tiny seed packet purchased for a few dollars can result in […]

Food Sovereignty, Monocultures

Did you realize that 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa? When I started buying it about ten years ago, it was little known in the Western world and had no international celebrations in its honor to my knowledge. Back then I pronounced it ‘keen-oh-a’ which probably gave those in the know something to chuckle […]

Gardening

It’s deep winter. The weather is cold and miserable in most of the Northern Hemisphere. Now is the time of year when those who have gardens wistfully think about the planting ahead. People buy seeds, they sterilize flats, they even set-up elaborate grow-lights and indoor greenhouses to ready themselves for Spring planting. (If you lack a […]

Heirloom Seeds, Seed Extinction

Ninety-four percent of the seeds that existed one hundred years ago are now extinct. These are primarily what are known as ‘heirloom seeds’, open-pollinated varieties that were passed down for generations. It may seem incredible, but these are the findings of the Food and Agriculture Organization.  Just six percent of the gorgeous biodiversity that emerged over twelve […]