Seed libraries struggle with state laws limiting exchanges (DUer on the lam now?)
Last edited Sun Dec 28, 2014, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)
Seed exchanges gave us the Cherokee Purple Tomato.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025319364
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141228/us-seed-struggle-f9479293cc.html
Dec 28, 10:18 AM (ET)
By SCOTT McFETRIDGE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — For thousands of years, people have exchanged seeds to grow terrific tomatoes or produce the perfect potato, but a new effort to loan and borrow seeds has created a conflict between well-meaning gardeners and state agriculture officials who feel obligated to enforce laws restricting the practice.
Seed exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations around the country, most often in libraries, where gardeners can exchange self-pollinating seeds rather than buy standard, hybrid seeds. In spots like Duluth, Minnesota, the conflict with agriculture departments has surprised gardeners and library officials, who established exchanges to meet a growing interest in locally grown food and preserving certain varieties, never thinking to examine the intricacies of state seed laws.
In this Dec. 18, 2014 photo, Betsy Goodman handles seed packets at the Benson public library in Omaha, Neb. Goodman established a seed library at the library branch in 2012, and patrons checked out nearly 5,000 packets this year. Seed exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations around the country, most often in libraries, but the effort has created a conflict between well-meaning gardeners and state agriculture officials who feel obligated to enforce laws restricting the practice. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
"It's about the philosophy, the legacy of shared seeds," Duluth Library Manager Carla Powers said. Its seed exchange is operated by library employees and volunteers out of a converted wardrobe. "It's about sharing with our friends and neighbors in the community."
Agriculture officials say they weren't looking for a fight but felt obligated as they became aware of the increasingly popular seed libraries to enforce laws, which are largely uniform across the country.
FULL story at link.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and I'm still not sure why a seed library would be illegal. 
If it really is, then laws need to be changed, and seed sharers need to find more ways to accomplish that sharing in the meantime.
Amazon is a bad place to work.
Use this link first: http://ilwulocal5.com/ At no extra charge the union employees get paid FMLA, sick time, additional training like new automation, family emergency funds, college scholarships, etc.
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Savor your best tomato harvest ever! Craig LeHoullier, tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange, offers everything a tomato enthusiast needs to know about growing more than 200 varieties of tomatoes — from sowing seeds and planting to cultivating and collecting seeds at the end of the season. He also offers a comprehensive guide to the various pests and diseases of tomatoes and explains how best to avoid them. No other book offers such a detailed look at the specifics of growing tomatoes, with beautiful photographs and helpful tomato profiles throughout.
Synopsis:
Sweet Success
Grow and harvest the best tomatoes ever with this practical and beautiful guide by tomato expert Craig LeHoullier. Along the way, you'll learn about this fruit's fascinating history and meet 33 of LeHoullier's favorite varieties.
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About the Author
Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes, is the tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange. In the last 30 years, he has trialed more than 1,200 tomato varieties and has introduced more than 100 varieties to the trade. He lectures widely, from local Master Gardener groups to Monticello and Seed Savers Exchange. He's one of the founders of Tomatopalooza, an event in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. His blog and website are located at nctomatoman.weebly.com.
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Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 The Origins of Today's Tomato
2 Anatomy of a Tomato
3 Planning and Planting
4 Growing, Maintenance, and Care
5 Harvest Celebration
6 Saving for the Future
7 Breed Your Own Tomatoes
8 Q & A
9 Troubleshooting (Diseases, Pests, and Other Problems)
Recommended Tomatoes
Resources and Sources
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index
Last edited Sun Dec 28, 2014, 06:31 PM - Edit history (1)
this book will inspire you.
Not only that, but it's a fascinating historical read with wonderful anecdotes and photographs.
Managed to get early copies to send to relatives for holiday presents..and they are raving about how interesting it is. One particularly found his info on "deer control" fascinating and another has very little light for a garden but lives on the edge of a lake in upstate NY and has been doing boxed gardens on the lake shore to get the sun. She's really excited about being able to try growing the heirlooms with his methods.
It's a good time to reflect - before the craziness of the coming year. I decided that I really do enjoy writing (I've no formal training - I just sit and let it flow!) - book 2 is already with the editor (Dec 2015 release date) and I am waiting to hear if/what they want me to do next (I have ideas!). The words are the words, the info is the info - but what I love is what the publisher did in terms of layout, the care they took - including providing two photographers (one each the past two summers) - and the book looks real.
It was a compromise between what I wanted the book to be and what they wanted - and I think I tilted it in my favor!
(psst psst....Amazon reviews are really helpful for getting attention for the book - honest reviews, of course!)
There is a post in gardening about it...saw it in a store in Durham just before Christmas...a surreal experience!
My new website is www.epictomatoes.com
I wanted to see how long it would be before you commented. So your on the lam now?
The book seems to hit the etailers over the next few days. I've got 20 events scheduled around the country in 2015....with more to be scheduled, I think (makes me tired even thinking about it, but I will be energized when the time comes!)
having to do "Die In's" and Massive Protests so that we can protest our RIGHTS to "SAVE OUR SEEDS?"
Who could have Thunk? 
But local communities?
We truly live in nation controlled by corporations.
A nation where it's fine to buy an Uzi, but not go to a library and exchange seeds. What is communism like? Is it different from this?
In one sense, these corporations no longer sell seeds - they lease them, requiring farmers to renew their lease with every subsequent growing season. Monsanto itself compares its GM seeds to rental cars. When you are finished using them, rights revert to the owner of the "intellectual property" contained within the seed.
Some farmers have saved their seeds anyway (called "brown bagging"
, in some cases to save money, in others because they don't like the big companies telling them how to farm. Monsanto has responded with an all-out effort to track down the brown baggers and prosecute them as an example to others who might be tempted to violate its patent. By aggressively enforcing its "no replant policy," Monsanto has initiated a permanent low-grade war against farmers...
http://www.alternet.org/food/monsantos-rural-police-state
I guess its a war against all of us.
