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The idea of forming a seed saving organization came about at a fall harvest party in 1994. A small group of gardeners had gathered at the former Grow Organic Store in Yelm to celebrate the harvest season and talk about the state of seeds in our world. It was decided that the best approach was to start a seed saving group in our own area to meet the needs of local gardeners and to produce locally-adapted seed. With the support of Nadja Galadram, owner of Grow Organic, Dave Mitman, Terra Kram, Jeanie Wilcox and many others, the South Sound Seed Stewards, aka S4, was established. In 1999, S4 became a Washington State non-profit corporation. I can’t begin to thank all the people who have made S4 a reality; the humble gardeners who understood the need to save our own seed. As with any organization, we have had our challenges--the biggest of which was keeping old members interested while giving new members the basic information needed to save seed. The breakthrough came in 2004 when we restructured our meeting format and included garden information along with seed-saving training. Currently, in addition to providing general gardening information, we offer 9 training sessions, which specifically relates to seed saving, to new students. The response has been very positive. We are now able to train those who are new to seed saving, while, at the same time, provide continuing education to our entire membership. Our organization has grown and with it, the number of people--all unpaid volunteers, who have offered their time and skills to make this endeavor succeed. With their help, and the help of those to come, the goal of producing a wide variety of open-pollinated seed will continue to grow and prosper. . (Submitted by Dave Mitman, president) |