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Library to hold seed swap Sunday
This article was published February 23, 2012 at 3:43 a.m.
CONWAY — The Faulkner County Library will host the fourth
annual Seed Swap from 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday. The seed swaps are
sponsored by the University of Central Arkansas Department of
Sociology’s Conserving Arkansas’ Agricultural Heritage (CAAH!)
project Residents are asked to bring open-pollinated (heirloom) seeds,
bulbs, plants and stories to swap with other seed savers. Those who
have no seeds to swap but want to get started are invited come
to mingle with gardeners and farmers who can help. Organizers
say this exchange of seeds and ideas helps to conserve Arkansas’
heritage.
“Trading open-pollinated seeds conserves important genetics
that may otherwise be lost, in addition to the invaluable stories of
Arkansas’ agricultural history,” said Dr. Brian C. Campbell, assistant
professor of anthropology in the UCA Department of Sociology.
Campbell’s research team provides seeds and logistical help at
each of the swaps.
“The objective is to reorient the public to the sustainable prac
tice of growing local food to supplement one’s income and to
connect the younger generation interested in sustainability with
the older, wiser generation with experience growing their own
food,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the CAAH! project establishes a master col
lection of endangered seeds and related cultural and agronomic
information and distributes such seeds at annual seed swaps. UCA
students document the seeds, grow them out in CAAH! gardens
to distribute the next season and catalog them in a database of
local varieties.
For more information on the CAAH! project, visit www.arkansas
agro.wordpress.com.
The library event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call the library at (501)327-7482; email
Nancy@fc.org; or find the library on Twitter or facebook.com.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 60 on 02/23/2012
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