Join the Seed Academy with teachers Don Tipping, (Siskiyou Seeds), Stacey Denton (Flora Farm) & Special Guests TBA
An in-depth, hands-on training for farmers, gardeners, educators, entrepreneurs, permaculturalists & anyone interested in becoming a part of the Seed Movement. Learn with the experts. Gain the essential skills you need to harvest & process seed. Learn the fundamentals of plant breeding & propagation. Receive the step-by step tools, strategies & inspired vision required to start or upgrade a seed business. Meet & network with your bioregional neighbors to optimize results. Seed Academy’s mission is to increase network capacity, collaboration & synergy in the Seed Freedom Movement in the Rogue Bioregion & beyond.
WHEN: The 5 day Event begins Wednesday, October 3 @ 9 am and runs through Sunday, 10/7 at 4pm. The event is 9:30am through 6pm with dinner to follow and a more open, salon type format after dinner.
WHAT: We invite you to join us for a 5 day intensive training in seed saving, basic botany, reproductive biology in plants, understanding selection, planting seeds, soil mixes, seed germination, isolation, crossing, seed libraries, seed storage, germination tests and much more. Don Tipping is the lead instructor who brings 20 years experience in organic farming, seeds, permaculture and enthusiastic on-farm education. The first day (Wednesday, 10/3) is field trip to a number of seed farms in the Applegate valley with tours by their farmers. This can be taken as a stand alone, one day event. (Please select this option when registering on the Eventbrite page)
WHO: Gardeners, farmers, permaculturalists , those interested in starting a neighborhood seed library or seed bank, those interested in stewarding and preserving heirloom varieties, and all who see growing and saving seed as a wonderful way to grow a positive future. No prior experience is necessary, however, some gardening familiarity will be helpful.
HOW: includes delicious organic meals from the farm, camping, showers, instruction, handouts, field trips and a deeply nourishing dive into co-creating regenerative culture. In order to support local growers who envision themselves becoming part of a local seed production network we are offering a Locals (Cascadia Bioregion) discount (seed below)
Course Fees: Full Price – $750
Cascadia Locals – $650
Early Bird (purchased before 8/31/18) – $700 Full / $600 Cascadia Local
Farm Tour Only (Wed., 10/3/18) – $100
SCHOLARSHIPS: We offer limited work exchange opportunbities for folks who want to pay half the fee and lend a hand with course logistics. We have fixed costs to host this event, so we do not have any full scholarships available as we did in the past when our Indiegogo campaign of 2016 covered some of these costs. Please send an email sharing a bit about why attending this course will benefit your journey to become a seed steward to don@siskiyouseeds.com to apply.
VISION: The journey with connecting more deeply with seeds as a source point of life begins with seed saving, then progresses to seed growing on a farm or garden preservation scale. The master level is seed stewardship, cultivating a deep relationship with the species and all of its potential for bioregional adaptation to climate, pests, disease and agronomic & culinary preferences.
We visualize interconnected seed production hubs that are capable of doing breeding, selection, and improvement that work with bioregional centers that can do finish cleaning, climate controlled storage, marketing and distribution of high quality, open-pollinated organic seeds. In this way we can co-create a sustainable seed system that will support organic food production for local markets and resilient local food systems. Seven Seeds Farm is home to Siskiyou Seeds – a certified organic family farm seed company.