I think it’s written by a she, who’s interested in permaculture, sustainable living and gardening.  In her most recent post she mentions she has a PhD in land reclamation:

…which involved studying the re-creation of vegetation systems on restored open cast coal sites. I am fascinated by looking at natural relationships and seeing how these can be applied to physical and social systems created by people. For me, the easiest way to think about this sort of design is in my garden, because I understand the value and function of things like soil structure, micro-organisms, micro-climate, water, pollinators, decomposers and vegetation. But I am increasingly intrigued about how I can apply systems-level thinking to other aspects of my life: starting a new business, working with other people, designing a course for adult learners…

Her blog is already bringing back memories of the first few years of this blog, and I think it’s going to be very interesting to follow as she goes along.

Wageningen is the main agricultural university in the Netherlands.

The second video here is of the day following the seed exchange, where some people got together and started a garden on an empty construction site in Amsterdam.

English:

Nederlands:

I gave two workshops, the first a seed saving introduction, and the second a presentation on my garden and this blog.  Both workshops were packed, with people standing outside the door in the hallway.  There were other workshops given by other people, and I understand they were given to overflowing audiences as well.

If you were one of the people who attended or participated, thanks for coming and making it such a great success!

In the afternoon there was a debate, with some of the most important people involved in traditional agriculture and plant breeding in the country on the panel, as well as participants from Germany and Belgium.  There were some gentle disagreements, but overall broad agreement on the general direction future agriculture needs to take.

In the evening was dinner.  Later was live music, but we didn’t stay that long because we were very tired from a long day.

For the people who got seeds from me, here’s a description:

Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans:  One of the best ‘ordinary’ green beans available.  Grows very strong, and gives harvest over a long period.  Heavy cropper.  Pole bean (stokboon).  These beans were not grown in isolation, expect 2-3% crossing.  Plant after the soil warms, about 15 May in Amsterdam.

Hidatsa Early Edamame Soy:  North hardy soy bean that grows well in Amsterdam.  Normal beans need rhizobia bacteria, and these beans need a different one.  This means the first year you grow these they may not do as well as you expect, but the second year of growing them in the same spot they will probably do much better. Plant after the soil warms, about 15 May in Amsterdam.

O Driscall Pole Bean (stokboon):  A bean from the UK Heritage Seed Library that seems to do well in my garden.  This is my second year growing it, and it is very prolific.  Probably best suited for dry beans, but the green beans are also reasonably good.  These beans were not grown in isolation, expect 2-3% crossing. Plant after the soil warms, about 15 May in Amsterdam.

Yellow Forest Bush Bean (stamboon):  These are originally from Friesland, and in my garden are a sort of ‘no weed’ bean.  That is, when grown in healthy and initially weed free soil, and in a block or adjacent rows, they are very vigorous and smother nearly all weeds.  A little weeding may still be necessary, but not very much.  They are also a good tasting green bean, and also good dry.  The green beans have a very nice appearance, and are a little unusual.  These beans were not grown in isolation, expect 2-3% crossing. Plant after the soil warms, about 15 May in Amsterdam.

Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli:  This is a very large broccoli plant that must be grown over the winter (start seeds in August) and won’t stand up to a very cold winter like this last one.  In the spring it produces broccoli shoots instead of the usual heads, and they are purple in color but turn green during cooking.  The distance between two plants needs to be about 1 meter.  I purchased these seeds from Baker Creek Seeds in the US.

Paquebot recently asked me to update the list of tomatoes he’s offering from what I posted here for him last year.

Emphasis in 2011 was on big fruit so about half were to a pound or more.

Paquebot lives in Wisconsin, USA. He’s offering more than 350 tomatoes, organized into the year grown, giving an indication of the age of the seeds. Tomato seed are normally good for about 10 years, sometimes more, so age isn’t an issue if you plant them within the next couple of years.

He’s offering them as part of the Seed Network, and in particular he said they are available to anyone, anywhere in the world. You have to discuss payment or trading terms with him yourself.

If you’re interested in anything here, send me an email and I’ll forward it to him.

2011 Seeds
1884
1884 Purple
ABC Potato Leaf (ch)
African Queen
Andes Horn
Anna Aasa, Red (ch)
Anna Aasa, Yellow (ch)
Ashleigh
Banana Legs
Believe It Or Not
Big Zebra
Brimmer
Buckbee’s New 50 Day
Cabin
Canadian Heart
Carol Chyko’s Big Paste
Count Banyani
Doubloon
Eli
Gildo Pietroboni
Green Ghost
Heinz 2653
Homer Fike’s Yellow Oxheart
Hunt’s Family Favorite
Libanaise des Montagnes
Magyar Piros Boker
Mirabell, Red
Mr. Tartar’s
New Yorker
Novosadski Jabucar
Orange Oxheart
OSU Blue
Paquebot Roma
Pomodoro di Albenga/Luguria
Red Barn
Rio Grande
Rostova
Sicilian Saucer
Skorospelka
Spark’s Yellow
Stardust Cherry (ch)
Strawberry Margarita
Sun Baby (ch)
Sylvan Gaume
Tangello
Tappy’s Heritage
Tarasenko 6
T.C. Jones
Terhune
Tlacolula
Tlacolula, Yellow
Veepick
White Rabbit (ch)
White Snowball
Wild Rose
Winsall
Winsall Gold
Wisconsin 55
Wisconsin 55 Gold

2010 seeds
Absinthe
Amazon Chocolate
Arkansas Traveller
Armenian
Aunt Ruby’s German Green Cherry
Babywine
Barnes Mountain Yellow
Basket Vee
Beaute Blanche de Canada
Belle Angevine
Big Rainbow
Black Crimson
Black Elephant
Black Ethiopian
Black Zebra
Bonne du Roussillon
Canestrino
Chadwick Cherry
Cherokee Chocolate
Chuda Rynka
Coburg
Copia
Coyotte
Creole
Early Chatham
Falcon
Fidelio
Gary O’Sena
German Gold
Goji Faranji
Goldman’s Italian American
Gold Nugget
Grandma Josie
Hong Yuen
Huayu
Indian Stripe
Jack White
Large Black & Red Boar
Large Red Cherry
Livingston’s Golden Queen
Livingston’s Paragon
Marion
Mark Twain
Mazarini
Meme Beauce
Mule Team
Negro Azteca
Old Brooks
Peaches & Cream
Quingza
Radio
Red Target
Regina’s Yellow
Rita’s Black Pear
Rutgers
Serre Wonder
Shumway’s Sensation
Sioux
Southern Night
Sugar Plum
Super Sioux
Tangella
Tasmanian Yellow
Urbanite
Valiant
Velvet Red
Wagon Wheel
White Oxheart
Wisconsin Chief
Yellow Scotland
Zigan

2009 seeds
Aker’s West Virginia Black
Albany Georgia Heirloom
Amish Paste
Anna Hermann
Apelsin
Apricot Brandywine
Aunt Ruby’s German Green
Banjan Roomii
Belgian Heart
Big White Pink Stripes
Black Sea Man
Bosu
Buckeye Yellow
Carbon
Caro Rich
Chico III
Chocolate Cherry
Cour de Bou
Cow’s Tit
Eagle’s Beak
Endless Summer
Ernesto
Fantome de Laos
Giraffe
Guido
Guernsey Island
Hawaiian Orange Cherry
Hawaiian Pineapple
Hazelfield Farm Red
Heinz 1439
Japanese Black Triffle
Kardinal
Lagidny
Limmony
Marizol Purple
Mirabell, Yellow
Monkey Ass
Moya
Northern Crown
Northern Lights
Pantano Romanesco
Persimmon
Pink Ruffled
Portugal Monster
Principe Borghese
Riesentraube
Rozovii Giant
Sainte Lucie
Siberian
Silvery Fir Tree
Snowberry
Super Snow White
Ten Fingers of Naples
Tennessee Britches
The Orange
Tiny Tim
Togo Trefele
Turks Muts
Volgogradskij 5/95
Vorlon
West Virginia Pink Slicer
Willamette
Yellow 1884 Pinkheart

2008 seeds
Amish Red
Belarusan Heart
Besser
Black From Tula
Black Plum
Black Prince
Bloody Butcher
Boondocks
Borgio Cellano
Brianna
Cherokee Purple (PL)
Chianti Rose
Chocolate Stripes
Dinner Plate
Dr. Lyle
Dorothy’s Mennonite Beefsteak
Dorothy’s Mennonite Bicolor
Dorothy’s Mennonite Big Heart
Douce de Picardie (PL)
German Head
Giant Belgium
Giant Oxheart
Giant Roma
Giant Tree
Gigante Liscio
Golden Dwarf Champion
Hungarian Italian Paste
Japanese Oxheart
King Pineapple
Lancaster Pink
Large Pink Bulgarian
Legend
Long Keeper
Marglobe
Market Miracle
Mexico
Noire Russie
Old German
Preacher
Red Heart Yellow
Red Penna
Red Zebra
Russian Annie
Sandul Moldovan
Spoon
Super Beefsteak
Super Choice
Tater Kin
Taxi
Teton de Venus
Thessaloniki Oxheart
Valencia Pink
Watermelon Beefsteak
White Tomesol
Woodle Orange
Wuhib
Yamal

2007 seeds
Ace 55
Amana Orange
Ananas Noir
Aunt Madge’s
Aussie
Bear Claw
Beauty King
Berkeley Tie Dyed
Black Oxheart
Blue Beech
Boyarsky
Boy Boy
Brown Berry
Bull’s Heart
Burracker’s Favorite
Carmelo
Chateau Rose
Clover Trefle
Costoluto Fiorentino
Crimson Cushion
Crnkovic Jugoslavian
Danish Export
Des Andes Jaune
German Queen
Gogosha
Greater Baltimore
Gregori Altai
Grosse Cotelee
Hartman’s Yellow Gooseberry
Hog Heart
Howard German
Japanese Golden Pear
Julia Child
Kalman’s Hungarian
Korney’s Jelly Bean
Kosovo
Lemon Giant
Lumpy Red
Mandarine
Matt’s Wild Cherry
Mennonite Orange
Merveilles des Marches
Minibel
Nelson’s Golden Giant
Novikov Giant
Oaxacan Jewel
Olive Doree
Orange Giant
Paul Robeson
Peacevine Cherry
Pigmeo
Pipo
Pomodoro Palla di Fuoco
Pomodoro Red Pear
Raspberry Giant
Sausage
Scatalone
Selandia
Super Marmande
Tiger Tom
Tumbling Tom
UC82B
Ukrainian Pear
Wanda’s PT
Wes
Zebra
Zorica’s Croatian Bull Eye

2006 Seeds
Abraham Lincoln
Amish Salad
Amish Yellow
Aunt Gertie’s Gold
Aztec
Balkon Star
Black Cherry
Bradley
Cherry Roma
Cherokee Green
Cosmonaut Volkov
Croatian Heart
Douce de Picardie (RL)
Emeraude
Gardeners Delight
Garden Peach, Red
Garden Peach, Yellow
German Pink
Giant Syrian
Goose Creek
Greenbush Italian
Green Cherry
Green Giant
Green Zebra
Harvard Square
John Baer
Kristina Vatcheva
Leatha’s
Lemon Drop
Lithuanian
Long Tom
Marianna’s Conflict
Marianna’s Peace
Medford
Moby Grape
Mr. Fumo
Novogogoshary
Nyagous, Red
Oregon Spring
Perito Italian
Roman Candle
Segler
Sheyenne
Striped Cavern
Surender’s Indian Curry
Tigerella
Tommy Toes, Red
Tommy Toes, Yellow
Ugly Ripe
Voyage
West Virginia 63
Yellow Pear
Yoder’s German Yellow

I received an email about this in French and German that had some wrong information, and then found the opinion had only been issued by the EU Court of Justice in Spanish, German, Estonian, Greek, French, Italian, Latvian, Dutch, Portuguese and Finnish — not English.  I was also not very familiar with this case, not familiar with how the EU Court of Justice works, and not very good with legal things in general.  I was struggling to sort this all out with Google Translate.

Anyway, thanks mostly to an email exchange with Ben of The Real Seed Catalogue, who is a lot more familiar with this subject in general, I have some more information to share.

Not Binding, But Very Important

First of all, what exactly is an Advocate-General or in some places called the Attorney General?

The EU Court of Justice is made up of 27 judges from each of the EU countries, and 8 Advocate-Generals.  According to Wikipedia:

…The intention behind having Advocate-General attached is to provide independent and impartial opinions concerning the Court’s cases. Unlike the Court’s judgements, the written opinions of the Advocates-General are the works of a single author and are consequently generally more readable and deal with the legal issues more comprehensively than the Court, which is limited to the particular matters at hand. The AGs opinions are advisory and do not bind the Court, but they are nonetheless very influential and are followed in the majority of cases…

So the opinion that came out concerning Kokopelli is not binding but very important.  It has the possibility to greatly influence the future of EU Seed Law.  As I understand it, it was requested by Kokopelli’s lawyer as part of their trial in France.

It’s also important to point out this Advocate-General might change her mind, or another Advocate-General might issue a conflicting opinion.  Nothing is certain.

It’s also important to understand that this opinion was issued at the EU level, so has the possibility to influence similar court cases across Europe.

What Was in the Opinion

What the opinion said was very important.  It addressed specifically the part of EU and related French Seed Law that requires food crop varieties be categorized according to so-called DUS (Distinct, Uniform and Stable) criteria, and then listed in official seed lists.  The opinion specifically excluded all other parts of EU Seed Law.  It has to be said that this is certainly the most contentious part of the law.

What’s currently being discussed by the EU Agriculture Ministers, NGOs and others like me, is if a good fix for the current law would be to simply make listing varieties optional and legalize unlisted varieties.  While this seems to be favored by the Agricultural Ministers, most of us in opposition don’t agree this is a real solution.  As long as there are lists of varieties categorized by DUS, these will always be in competition to farmers and others who grow and sell unlisted varieties.  Unlisted varieties in this case will become second class, a situation similar to the US and Canada.  It was of particular interest how this was addressed in the Advocate-General’s opinion.

First of all the Advocate-General said it is not legal to interpret EU or French Seed Laws as meaning you cannot sell unlisted varieties.  YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SELL UNLISTED VARIETIES.

Secondly, the provisions of EU Seed Law that refer to the DUS standard are NOT VALID.

The Advocate-General then went on to use very strong language to back up this opinion; biodiversity, the principle of proportionality, freedom of enterprise within the meaning of Article 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights European Union, free movement of goods within the meaning of Article 34, principle of equal treatment within the meaning of Article 20, restriction of consumer choice.  She really seemed to have a good understanding of the issues at hand, at least from the point of view of agriculture and biodiversity.  She addressed many of the issues from multiple points of view.

This is potentially a very important ruling.  A big thanks is due to Kokopelli’s lawyer who argued this case, Blanche Magarinos-Rey.

Yesterday an EU Advocate-General sided with French seed organization Kokopelli on the provision in EU law prohibiting the sale of unregistered varieties.

In reference to EU seed laws and related French regulations, the Advocate-General said they

“violate the principle of proportionality, free enterprise, free movement of goods, and the principle of non discrimination.”

The Advocate-General said the official seed catalog has

“nothing to do with plant health”

and

“it is up to farmers to decide which varieties they grow”

the Advocate-General added

“the fact that farmers are confined to the listed varieties greatly reduces genetic diversity in European fields.”

Unfortunately the original opinion was written in German, and as of the time of this post had not yet been translated into English.  You can read the opinion in a variety of non-English languages here.

Almost all of Kokopelli’s arguments were upheld, and most of the opposition’s arguments were not.

If you’re in the area, please come by!  Entrance is free.

If you’re able to sponsor a stand or presentation on either day, please get in touch!  You can either contact me, and I will put you in touch with the right person, or you can contact them directly via their websites.  There is no cost to sponsor a stand.  You can either give seeds and plants away at no cost, or you can sell them.  You can also run an information only stand.

Margarida of the Portuguese Seed Savers recently sent an email to a mailing list I’m on, telling everyone about the visit to their country by the founders of the Australian Seedsavers. One of the coordinators of the Australian organization is Kate, known to some of you because she has a blog and visited some of us in Europe too.

Anyway, the Australian Seedsavers met more than 400 people in Portugal. They visited food gardens at several locations and taught workshops on collecting and saving seeds, traditional plant varieties, edible seeds, permaculture, activism and kitchen gardens in schools.

You can read more about this in Portuguese here, or in English here.

I first wrote about this cauliflower 6 years ago.  Bayu who lives in Indonesia left a comment asking if I had any spare seeds I would send for free, but I don’t have these any more.  Does anyone have some seeds, or would like to buy some seeds, and send them to Indonesia for free?  If so, please let me know and I’ll forward the email address.

These are pretty ordinary seeds.  If you live in the US, they are available for example at Baker Creek.  There are similar varieties with different names, so if you have something that looks the same it probably is.

I was looking around for other films made by Ella von der Haide, the same person who made Resilient Seed the film about our Brussels action last spring, and I came across this.  What a find!  This is a really interesting look into Community Gardens in South Africa, and the sorts of problems they face.

Thanks to Mike who mentioned these videos in a comment on my last post.  These videos are of Dan Jason of Salt Spring Seeds and The Plant Sanctuary for Canada, and Owen Bridge of Annapolis Valley Seeds, representing Canada’s two coasts at a Seedy Sunday event from earlier this year.

It’s really a great example on how in different parts of the world we have slightly different battles and laws, but in the end our overall problems and goals are the same.  Here is Europe we are fighting the battle of legalizing seed saving, but in North America they’re not only fighting to keep seed saving legal, but also facing the real prospect of aggressive police action if they are unsuccessful.

Recently some laws were changed in Canada and other parts of the world like Europe to protect the pharmaceutical industry from the competition of natural foods and herbal remedies.  This resulted in raids in Canada where unlicensed vitamins were confiscated by swat teams at gunpoint.  It’s very possible heirloom seed companies will one day see their stocks of seeds confiscated in the same way.

We all need to act locally and think globally.  We should grow seeds in our own gardens that are locally obtained and suitable for our local climate, but we shouldn’t forget seeds can be obtained elsewhere if necessary.  In the same way, we should be fighting our own battles locally, but not forgetting there’s a whole world out there with other people fighting the same battle.