Saturday was a busy day. As far as I know, it was the largest and possibly the first seed swap organized in Amsterdam. I think it’s safe to say the number of people attending exceeded most people’s expectations. Personally, I think it’s quite astonishing to find out there are so many people here interested in sharing seeds. I gave away a lot of seeds, as did most other stands. People attended from The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada. I spoke with someone visiting from Chile. People probably came from other countries as well.
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.
One Reply to “Reclaim the Seeds”