Carla Hick, co-founder of Okanagan Seed Savers and event organizer. Photo: Okanagan Seed Savers
Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
The upcoming Seedy Saturday in Osoyoos is aiming to keep seeds used by gardeners and growers local while promoting food security and biological preservation.
On Feb. 8 the Sonora Community Centre will host the first event kicking off multiple Seedy Saturdays and Sundays in the Okanagan-Similkameen.
The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with admission by donation (suggested $2), and features a garden tool and seed swap table for unwanted, but useable, goods, locally crafted food and beverages, talks on permaculture and fermented food and door prizes.
The not-for-profit organization putting on the event, Okanagan Seed Savers, aim to support seed knowledge and security in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys — and Saturday marks the first time a Seedy Saturday event has been held in Osoyoos.
“It’s important to buy locally grown seeds because they adapt better to the local environment. So that’s one of the main goals with buying local seeds,” said Carla Hick, co-founder of Okanagan Seed Savers and event organizer. “In order for us to keep having vegetables in the world for people to eat, we continually need to save seeds from them every single year. Otherwise, we’ll see vegetables being lost over time.”
Hick said keeping vegetable varieties alive is one of the goals of the organization and the events.
“There used to be like 1,000 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes and now we have like, 200 or 300, and maybe only one or two varieties you would actually find in the grocery store,” Hick said. “Biological preservation and seed diversity, it feeds in to food security as well. We need to support that if we want to keep eating.”
The Seedy events are structured like a farmers market, where growers can buy in-season and local products to support not only the local economy, but local ecosystems as well.
Those who are curious can also learn more about sustainable growing, with two topics of discussion coming up at the Osoyoos event: fermented food and permaculture.
Raina Luntz from Luntz Nutrition, who makes kombucha, will discuss fermented foods and Rick Hatch will discuss permaculture. Hatch runs Cherry Tree Permaculture, a farm that grows micro-greens, mushrooms, dried fruit, and more.
Upcoming Seedy Saturday and Sunday events are set for Cawston on Feb. 22 at Cawston Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Feb. 29 at Okanagan College in Penticton from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
