CAAH! to Co-Sponsor Twelve Seed Swaps throughout Arkansas in Spring 2012
CAAH! Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage
“One for the cut worm, one for the crow, one to share, and one to grow”
In addition to the 5th Annual Ozark Seed Swap at the Ozark Folk Center State Park and the 4th Annual Faulkner County Seed Swap at the Faulkner County Library, CAAH! has collaborated with organizations all over the state to co-sponsor 3rd annual Seed Swaps in El Dorado, Fayetteville, Jasper, Russellville and Beebe, 2nd annual Seed Swaps in Eureka Springs, Hot Springs, and Little Rock, and to establish inaugural Seed Swaps in Little River County and Yellville.
| Date | Community | Location/Address | Time | Local Contact |
| Feb 11 | Yellville | Fred Berry Conservation Education Center | 1-4 | Pamela Westerman radiantwellness@aol.comKatie Murray erd0295@eritter.net |
| Feb 18 | Mountain View | Ozark Folk CenterBois D’arc Conference Center 1032 Park Ave | 1-4 | Tina Wilcox, Ozark Folk CenterTina.Wilcox@arkansas.gov |
| Feb 25 | Beebe/Searcy | ASU-BeebeFarm | 10-12 | Alicia Allen, Conway Urban Farming Project, amaallen2@gmail.com |
| Feb 25 | Little River County | Ashdown Farmer’s Market, 222 Frisco | 10-12 | Clayton Castleman, Ashdown Farmer’s Marketccastleman@arkansas.net |
| Feb 25 | Russellville | All Saints Episcopal Church, Sutherland Hall, 501 South Phoenix | 10-1 | Carolyn McLellan, Russellville Community Marketcarolynmclellan@suddenlink.net |
| Feb 26 | Conway | Faulkner County Public Library1900 Tyler Street | 1:30-3 | Nancy Allen, Faulkner County Library Nancy@fcl.org501-327-7482 |
| March 3 | Hot Springs | The Art Church Studio301 Whittington Ave. | 3-5 | The Art Churchartchurchorg@gmail.com
Southern Seed Legacy |
| March 3 | Jasper | Newton County LibraryCommunity Room | 10-2 | Jennifer Tapp, Newton County LibraryNewtonark@yahoo.com |
| March 3 | Fayetteville | Global Campus, 2 East Center Street, Fayetteville Square | 1-4 | Katy Deaton, Fayetteville Community Gardening Coalition (FCGC)fayettevillegardens@gmail.com |
| March 10 | Eldorado | Barton (El Dorado) Public Library200 East 5th Street | 10-12 | Nancy Arn, Barton Public Librarynarn@bartonlibrary.org |
| March 10 | Eureka Springs | Eureka Springs Carnegie Library194 Spring Street | 10-2 | Kate Zaker, Carnegie Libraryinfo@eurekalibrary.org |
| March 17 | Little Rock | Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St, LR, AR 72201 | 10-1 | Katy Elliott, Arkansas Sustainability Network emailasn@gmail.com |
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS, CONWAY, ARKANSAS –Co-sponsored by churches, farmer groups, libraries, a state park, and the Southern Seed Legacy, the University of Central Arkansas’s Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage (CAAH!) project will host Seed Swaps around the state throughout Spring 2012. The 5th annual Ozark Seed Swap at the Ozark Folk Center State Park will coincide with a cold frame construction workshop, the 3rd Annual Fayetteville Seed Swap will be hosted by the Dig In! Food and Farming Festival, the 2nd Annual Little Rock Seed Swap will be hosted by the Arkansas Sustainability Network in conjunction with the Little Rock Food Club pickup, the 2nd Annual Hot Springs Seed Swap will be co-sponsored by the eminent Southern Seed Legacy and will be followed by a fundraiser film screening and musical performance for the Art Church and Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute, and the 2nd Annual Eureka Springs Seed Swap will coincide with a CAAH! fundraiser featuring a film screening and live music by Mountain Sprout. We are also very pleased to announce that the communities of Ashdown and Yellville reached out to CAAH! to assist them in their efforts to establish inaugural Seed Swaps which they foresee as annual events.
We invite you to bring some open-pollinated (heirloom) seeds, bulbs, plants, and stories to swap with other seed savers at any of the Swaps. If you have no seeds to swap but want to get started, come mingle with gardeners and farmers who can help, and perhaps bring along some coin envelopes, garden implements, or good cheer to trade. We conserve the heritage of Arkansas as we share good stories, beautify our yards, feed our friends and family, and of course, trade open-pollinated seeds.
WHAT: 2012 Seed Swaps
WHEN: Spring 2012
WHERE: Ashdown, Beebe, Conway, El Dorado, Eureka Springs, Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Jasper, Little Rock, Mountain View, Russellville, Yellville
WHO: University of Central Arkansas Anthropology program‘s CAAH! partnering with the Arkansas Sustainability Network, Churches, Garden Coalitions, Libraries, the Ozark Folk Center State Park, the Southern Seed Legacy, and any interested farmers and gardeners
WHY: Arkansas farmers and gardeners have a legacy of heirloom seeds that are in danger of being lost, and sharing of seeds will encourage production of diverse varieties for posterity and more sustainable food production.
HOW IT WORKS: Anyone can bring open-pollinated/heirloom seeds to swap or share. If you do not have seeds, you could bring envelopes or garden implements, anything to share or trade with other gardeners.
COST: None.
Got Whippoorwills? Razorbacks? Red Rippers? Pencil Cob? Hickory King? Creasebacks? Turkey Craws? Want some? Come to the Old-Timey Ozark Seed Swap
The CAAH! project establishes a master collection of endangered seeds and related cultural and agronomic information, and distributes such seeds at annual Seed Swaps. University of Central Arkansas students document the seeds, grow them out in CAAH! gardens to distribute the next season, and catalogue them in a database of local varieties. CAAH! is always looking for gardeners and farmers to assist by growing out seeds and returning the surplus seeds to the seed bank for redistribution.
