[simage=15,200,n,none] I’d like to introduce you to my favorite plant in the garden at the moment. It is Bronze Arrow lettuce grown from seed that I received in a seed swap at the 2008 Bioneers conference. A California heirloom variety, it is my first step towards bringing in heritage varieties into my garden. While at the Bioneers conference, I also had the pleasure of listening to a local foodshed panel with Gary Nabhan, Michael Dimock and Jo Ann Baumgartner . It was there that I was introduced to the concept of a foodshed and the need to strengthen local foodsheds as a way to work towards more sustainable communities.
That was just a few months ago and the issues like food security and diversity were inspiring but didn’t feel extremely urgent. Yet as drought continues to hammer us, the federal water supply is planned to be cut off to California farms in March and the fragility of our food system starts to show through. Suddenly local resilience has an obvious and pressing appeal. Especially when staring at the fact that California produces over half of the nations vegetables, fruits, and nuts. If our drought persists, the prices for produce will creep up, further aggravate the current economic quagmire and push people deeper into the cheaper, less healthy processed foods that already dominate our diet.
It doesn’t have to be that way though, our gardens and community spaces provide so many answers as we gaze down the road at the continued drought and further in the distance (probably much closer than we would like) at declining soil, increased competition for oil, an uncertain climate and a finite global water supply. As a way to spread out safety nets and mitigate these tough challenges, we have to grow more food locally. A huge part of that involves growing varieties local or adapted to our area. Local heritage varieties have stood the test of time and thrive in the local growing conditions while resisting local diseases and pests. They bring great resilience to our food supply. I personally can’t wait to get the rest of my seed swap goodies into the ground so that I can do my part to carry on the tradition, and keep our seed supply flowing.
For those interested, here are a few great ways to find local and national heritage varieties:
Local seed swaps are an excellent place to start, as the seeds that are being exchanged have stood the test of your bioregion, and were deemed worthy of exchange by the person who brought them and you may be able to glean growing tips as well. If you can, be sure to bring your own seed successes to share when you go and keep the cross pollination going!
Check out the Ark of Taste! The wonderful people at Slow Food USA have drawn up a list of foods that are US heritage foods with superb flavor. There is a list of foods by region so see what pops up for your state.
For those of you in California, be sure to check out this publication of California RAFT foods (pdf) to discover California foods that are at risk. Since they are “at risk”, these may be difficult to find. If you are growing ANY of the plants on this list, please, please, please let me know!!! (Email me: chris at porchsideecology dot com). I am trying to find people who have these varieties. For more information on Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) you can check out their website.
If you are looking for Monsanto-free, organic, non-GMO, heirloom seeds: a good resource is Freedom Seeds . The Dervaes down in SoCal have put a lot of hard work to compile and package a catalog of seeds that promote seed sovereignty.The website is still in the works, but they are currently taking seed orders. I’ve been a big fan of the Dervaes for a while now and when I found out about their seed project, I ordered a few packets of seeds to support the cause and try out some new things. Their service was fast and my seeds are sprouting away.
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