Dan Jason's Message for 2009
Happy growing in 2009!
2009 promises to be a record-breaking year for new gardeners. So eager are people to get growing that the number of our seed orders quadrupled in October, November and December, 2008. I’m receiving many emails, phone calls and letters about lawns and decks being converted into food growing spaces.
People aren’t thinking only about tomatoes and lettuces. I’m happy to say that the beans, grains, quinoa, amaranth and flax that I’ve been promoting since 1986 are now catching on with gardeners across Canada. They are low-maintenance and low-impact crops that can be the basic foods of a wonderful and varied diet.
In 2008, I put many of them into my Zero Mile Diet Seed Kit, which has been extremely popular.
This time of great change in our society provides us with a golden opportunity to re-invent ourselves as humans. Growing healthy food for everyone is a good place to start this awesome job.
Growing good food starts with good seeds. During the past year, I’ve given talks to many communities looking to preserve their best, locally-adapted heritage varieties. Our own Seed Sanctuary on Salt Spring Island continues to add to its collection, which can be perused at www.seedsanctuary.com
Seedy Saturdays in dozens of Canadian towns and cities already perform very important local seed preservation work. These are annual events where all kinds of seeds and seed stories are exchanged. If you click on Events, you will see the times and locations of the Seedy Saturdays we will be attending in 2009.
People are also starting to get the idea that farms and gardens can be shared. I’ve been very lucky the past few seasons to experience how easy, efficient and productive a large garden can be when people work together.
Whole neighbourhoods could be thought of as gardens. What if people on a city block pooled together the peppers and tomatoes you could grow in the hotspots with the greens and peas you could grow in the cool spots, with the nettles from the wet patch, the berries from the berry patch, the apples from the apple tree and the nuts from the walnut and hazelnut trees? The community could not only share fresh produce but also nut butters, apple juice, nettle tea, berry jam and tomato sauce.
Yes indeed, the time is coming when the Mother of Invention will teach us that sustainability is about everyone sitting down at the table together.
Salt Spring Seeds, itself, represents a unique joining of many farmers and gardeners. By bringing together the seeds we each grow and love best, we’ve created this catalogue of special foods, herbs and flowers for your pleasure and satisfaction. Our seeds are all hand-harvested and hand-packaged by us. We hope you find lots that will delight you for years to come.
All of us wish you a wonderful growing year in 2009.