Hello all,
  The Mother Earth Rights/Defense of the Commons Committee of the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA) is conducting a survey of folks who save seeds and who advocate for seed saving in the US. 

We are trying to paint a picture of the way seed saving is alive in our different communities, Urban and Rural as well as those who are advocating for it.  You can take the surveyonline<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bzabmDdcTRr5KfVXDKMNzFUrTR5LRD7m6U3MV7coxPg/viewform or fill out the attached form and send it to the address in the letter below.

 We would appeciate it if you could pass this letter on to friends and collegues  so that we can get a diverse set of experiences and practices represented.  The letter below describes the project in more depth and explains how we intend to work with the information you provide.

Thanks for all you do for the people, the plants and the planet


Bill Aal
Tools for Change
Unconference.net

Dear friends:
This is your invitation. You may participate if you save seeds, or even if you don't but do advocacy or other work related to seeds. And please pass to farmers and groups you know of. Thanks! You can take thesurvey online<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bzabmDdcTRr5KfVXDKMNzFUrTR5LRD7m6U3MV7coxPg/viewform> if you prefer.
The Mother Earth Rights/Defense of the Commons Committee of the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA) supports and promotes the concept and practice of saving seeds. Farmers of many crops have savedseeds for millennia, but the practice has recently come under fire by corporations that have developed and patented seeds largely for profit.

To support the growing number of farmers, gardeners, eaters and advocates of seedsaving, this committee wishes to understand who in the U.S. saves seeds, as well as which, how, and why these seeds are saved. We conduct this seedsurvey as an act of food sovereignty. In this spirit, collecting data on agroecological practices and heirloom seedswill move us all forward towards seed and food sovereignty.

The women of La Via Campesina International, who recently declared the following in their manifesto in their international convening in Jakarta, Indonesia in June 2013, share the value of seed saving:

The first day of fall came and went, and September was a bone crusher.  So busy, so much work.  It was the time of harvest, time of fall planting and tucking gardens in for winter, time of shifting obligations to school and soccer, and letting go of what you just can’t seem to get around to.  Canning, pickling, fermenting, drying, sorting, sharing food I have gathered from garden, neighbor or market.  

A busy, productive market season ended with the Bow Little Market Festival and Food Swap.  I will miss the people and the fresh weekly produce, but look forward to less computer time and multitasking with my two, eight and 12-year-old boys tripping around being kids.  I have spent a lot of time awake at night this September worrying about how overwhelming everything seems and if I am moving too fast. 

Why do I do it?  Because it is how our single income family of five can afford our local, seasonal diet, while supporting our growing regional food system.  I rely on my community in so many ways to help me achieve my frugal, but abundant lifestyle, and the Bow Little Market Food Swap is a fun way of trading my surplus for my neighbors’.  In this way I can not only diversify my winter pantry and root cellar but also get an idea of who is doing what: who has goat cheese, who has extra ground beef, who has an unusual recipe for fermented vegetables.

I anticipate winter and slowing down, and look back on the recent business as a seasonal necessity.  With it comes the idea that there is a time for intensive work, and there is a time in the dark of winter when you can crack a jar of apricot jam, spread it over warm toast, and dream about next spring’s garden. 

Sarai Stevens

Woods in Autumn
 
Green colors play with each other in the dim light under the canopy
Trees sing above, the tall sentinels taming the wind with their dance
Mosses display their varied textures
and the forest floor is pillow soft and quiet under our feet
Mushrooms reach their tiny heights to drop their spores
in the small breeze that manages to make its way through the tall trees
Fallen leaves and some mushrooms pretend to be each other
Different mushrooms shine out with color or glistening
shouting "look at me, I'm beautiful!"
My companion and I take turns showing each other special gems
Smiles of wonder and amazement gently massage our faces
Movement over fallen logs and through brush
keeps us warm in the pervasive cool and wet
Gnarled tree shapes show the influence of powerful events in the past
and the creative architecture of the fairies
A spiritual uplift overshadows the human nonsense we left at the car

Peace from Peace Lane,
Chuck
Hope, love and peace will bring prosperity.

This years 4th Annual Bow Little Harvest Festival was a roaring success.  Thank you all who volunteered to help clean and set up this year: Stan Ross, Dan and Patty Sweaney, John and Elaine Blackmore, Sarai Stevens, Allen Berry, Cindy, Cathy and Earl Curry, Kathi Marlowe, Janet McKinney, and Anette and Keith Witter.  Sue Shellenberger was educating and engaging the public on this important topic. Thank you Sue for your volunteer grassroots efforts.  Finally, thank you to the Curry Family, owners of the Belfast Feed Store, for once again donating their space for the event.  Belfast is an example of local business investing in community by helping to build our area's resiliency and local economy. 

The Bow Little Market is an all volunteer cooperative effort working towards recreating community resiliency through local economy and network building.  The market is not a place or a board of directors, it is the agreement between volunteers, customers, producers and neighbors to meet at an agreed upon spot on a country road miles away from the city.  The Market Ladies and Men, would like to think that we are helping to create a new economy, one that is healthier and happier for people and communities, while we address the global threats of resource depletion, economic, social and climate instability.

As usual, children are a central focus to the market.  Steve Hoffman of the NW Center for Sustainability and Innovation and his sons Galen and Forrest were there leading a kid's music workshop, and there were free pumpkins for kids.  As a parent, I find it essential to include children in our positive responses and actions.  Thank you Hoffman Family for being such a wonderful part of the market this year!

This years 3rd Annual Food Swap was a celebration of rural can do spirit and informal economy.  There was a great selection of plants, seeds, food, and medicine that criss-crossed across the market.  Aronia and gooseberry bushes, bean, corn, potato, squash seeds, fresh potatoes, cabbage, winter squash, gourds, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, beets, carrots, apples, dried beans, tincture, chocolate, coffee beans, canned tuna, apricot jam, syrup, salsa, pickled asparagus, poor man's capers, goat cheese, and lots more was up for trade.

Finally, the day was capped off with our annual vendor pizza party with pizza from our local pizzaria, the Pizza Shack.  It was a moment to gather and tell everyone how much we appreciate them.  Waylon, my two year old's favorite thing to do is to go the market because the vendors have become part of our family.  I helped to start this market out of love and concern for my children's future, but now my motivations have grown to include the love and respect I have for our market community.  

Thank you,
Sarai Stevens
Market Lady

Bow Little Market's First Annual Mushroom Day was enjoyed by all who attended.  

A special thanks goes out to NW Mushroom Association, for helping with the identification table and display, Kathi Marlowe for cooking up such a fantastic pot of soup, and Garrett of Cascadia Mushroom for vending at our little market.  This year the Association held a poster contest for their annual Wild Mushroom Event, scheduled for Oct. 20, 12-5pm (read more about the event on our events blog), and all poster submissions were displayed at the market.  Books, art, hands on displays, and local experts made this an exceptional educational event for both children and adults.

This was a celebration of the natural world and the change of the season.  Because of the early rain this year, there was a beautiful array of fungus among us.

NEW White Paper "Climate After Growth: Why Environmentalists Must Embrace Post-Growth Economics & Community Resilience"

To coincide with his US tour, Rob Hopkins and Post Carbon Institute's Asher Miller are putting out a call to environmental organizations and policy makers to recognize we live in an era of "new normals" which force us to adopt a new approach to the challenges we face.

Responding to each of these new energy, climate, and economic "normals" will require one common strategy: building community resilience.

According to the Skagit Valley Herald article below, potatoes are the second most valuable crop in Skagit County at $45 million annually.  The 11,000 acres needed each year to produce potatoes must be rotated every 5 years to prevent pests, which means that the valley must have 55,000 acres available.  In the interim years the land can produce other crops, which is the key to the diversity of production (over 80 different crops) in Skagit County.
Protecting farmland for the future is possible through the Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program, funded by a public property tax.  
Skagit County can receive tax-deductible contributions for the FLP should you want to send a contribution.  Make your check in any amount to Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program and mail to 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273.  For more information click on the link below.

http://www.skagitcounty.net/Common/asp/default.asp?d=ConservationFutures&c=General&p=main.htm

Thanks,
Ellen


Please see Rain complicates potato harvest on Page A1 of Tuesday, October 01, 2013 issue of Skagit Valley Herald

The Rhody Cafe has new owners!
The Rhododendron is a restaurant that has been proudly serving local, seasonal cuisine that will continue its commitment to serving our Valley's finest produce, cheeses, seafood, and meat.

It is the changing of guard at the Rhododendron Café.  After just shy of 30 years of operation -  Don and Carol are passing the torch to new owners Jim Kowalski and Lisa Cooney.
The entire Rhody Crew (see below) will be staying on with Jim & Lisa so there will be many familiar faces (We plan on being there as well ~  to eat ;-)
Jim & Lisa have a lot of experience in the hospitality business ~ running the Farm to Market Bakery in Edison for over 5 years.
To read more go to Don and Carols (old owners) farewell newsletter.

Please consider giving this local business your support.  When you eat there you are also supporting all the local farmers that provide for the restaurant.