Researched, collated and written by the faculty, associated fellows and staff of the Ecology & Regeneration discipline at NewEarth University’s School of Socio-Economics & Ecology
Seed Sovereignty is… Learning to Save Our Seeds
NewEarth University’s faculty, fellows and staff have engaged in doing some research to help establish a Global Network of Seed Sanctuaries by creating a database of species for each climate of the planet. The purpose of this brief paper is to educate and inspire you, dear reader, to get involved with us in saving our precious seeds for future generations.
Some are already “living” the change, but most of us burn in eagerness to see a world that we envision, which is fulfilling, divinely creative, truly healthy and full of Heart.
As conscious beings, we know that seeds are a most precious heritage that Nature is offering us. Seeds enable humans and animals to create a forest, an oasis, and a garden able to nourish our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies. It is our gift, responsibility, and honor to take care for them, to multiply and share them.
For this purpose NEU’s Ecology & Regeneration team is interested in creating Seed Banks (wherever you are), while connecting with seed banks already functioning in your surroundings; and, inviting ALL to help newcomers for access to the seeds that are adapted to climatic conditions in which they live.
Road to Preservation
Preserving seeds has its own science and our most precious ally is observation. Some seeds are designed to stay long periods of time in the cold, some in the dry, and some are simply not used for preservation. Therefore, we need to adapt a whole-systems approach with appropriate strategies depending on the climate that we live in.
Climates
Cold climates: Seeds stay dormant throughout the winter and are therefore designed to stay many months in a cold condition. We should do the same assuring first to dry them to avoid any mold to break down the germinating power of the seed.
In a dry climate, the seeds are able to survive a long period of time without any moisture. We should do the same by preserving them in a dry and cool condition.
The tropical humid climate is much more challenging as seeds (in general) are not designed to be stored for a long period of time, therefore the best way to have the species preserved is to have them…growing! In that case our blossoming seed bank would be an alive! one, especially for trees. The best way to dispatch seeds of that climate would be to harvest them and send them immediately through the post (express in some cases may help) or with the help of someone traveling personally in that direction.
Precautions
Nature has many organisms fulfilling different functions and many are there to recycle recent dead material into new fertilizer and we want to avoid them in our seeds so they may stay alive for longer. For this reason it is important to clean the seed through soaking in water (to separate any aerobic bacteria from the seed) and then drying (to separate any anaerobic bacteria from the seed). Small plastic zip bags are the best for preserving seeds if they are really dry (sometimes hard in the wet tropics). Otherwise, paper bags can help for shorter period of time.
It is important to always write on the bag the actual day of harvesting, so we are able to estimate for how long they may be able to germinate.
As many know, seeds were kept alive within the Egyptian pyramids for millennium… so we may like to experiment in our little scale for our seed storage sanctuary!
A New Earth Database
Please contact us to assist in this noble endeavor. We are blossoming our network with volunteer seed bank experts, faculty researchers, permaculture teachers, and all lovers of the earth to build alliances in honor of the Sacredness of Seeds.
Contact@newearth.university
Help in the Fight for Seed Sovereignty! Thank you
