Hi folks,

Wow! I don't think I've ever gone so long without posting over here! My life has been too hectic, in part because we're working on a homesteading education website and in part due to other "extra jobs" I've been working on.

Our garden is going "okay." I've not spent enough time in it. But I have been fortunate to hit it at strategic times, which make the work count for more.

Anyway, I want to let anyone interested know that Green Country Seed Savers is meeting in Tahlequah, this coming Sunday afternoon. Below, is the text of the announcement I sent to the paper. We tend to kind of informal.

George

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It was 1837 and the Cherokee woman was at snapping beans for dinner
when the soldiers arrived to remove her and her family from their
Georgia homestead. She and her family were informed that they were to
go with the soldiers and be relocated to Oklahoma. Little time was
given for them to gather their things. She grabbed some utensils and
clothes, a bit of food and, reaching into the colander, she hurredly
picked out a couple handfuls of dried pods, which she had intended to
shell for seed. Her husband quickly grabbed some tools and his seed
bag, which contained a couple pounds of the corn which they had grown
all of their lives as well as some of these very same beans, and even
tomato seed. Within hours they were in an internment camp and within
months they walked hundreds of miles, under military supervision, to
reach their new home in Oklahoma. They lost family members during
that difficult winter. But enough survived for their family to
continue. And, in their new land they planted their old seed while
remembering their family homestead and friends left behind. Each new
generation received seed from their parents and grandparents.

In 1977 Dr. John Wyche, Hugo Oklahoma was packaging seed of this very
same bean, passed on down through his family. His purpose was to
share it with others who, in turn, would also preserve it. Dr. Wyche
was renowned for sharing seed without asking for even the cost of
postage! Since that time many have come to enjoy this bean and it has
been grown all over the world!

This is what seed savers do. They keep varieties alive, use them and
pass them on. Many is the time that a seed saver has lost seed to a
variety and been able to regain it by requesting it from someone who
has also kept it going.

Green Country Seed Savers is a group of gardeners dedicated to
teaching and learning how to save and preserve seed. It is our desire
to encourage others to learn this skill and thus have a better, more
resilient lifestyle.

We’re having a gathering on July 24, at Napolis Italian Restaurant
(901
S. Muskogee Ave., Tahlequah, Oklahoma) from 2:00 –
4:00 PM. We will gather in their meeting room. Come on out! Meet
other people interested in seed saving. It is likely that a number
of those who come will bring plants or seeds to share. We will have a
demonstration of how to save tomato seed through the fermentation
method, which makes it possible to save a LOT of seed easily. It’s
certain that you will meet gardeners who will be able to give advise
on varieties suited for our climate and soil, and who, over time,
will freely share seed! For any questions contact George McLaughlin
at 918-457-8284.