Local seed swap group forming

Wealth management is a flourishing service provided by professionals who know the ins and outs of finance and investment. You may have noticed ads in magazines, on the internet, and in newspapers that promote investing in the stock market and other ways of growing your lifetime savings. The biggest wealth managers are called hedge fund managers. When times are good, clients and wealth managers both make lots of money. But ordinary people of modest means can expand their wealth in other ways, in times good and bad. They can grow gardens and save seeds for the following year and share them.

So what’s the connection between the stock market and seed saving? Historians and scientists have discovered that agriculture, especially grain production, promoted spikes in human development. Reliable sources of food from agriculture enabled families to grow. As populations grew, cities emerged, and trade developed – within and between cities. Wealth of farmers grew as their granaries swelled with extra grain to trade; entrepreneurs flourished, with their drive and imaginations, to allow them to get richer. Accumulations of assets of land for farmers, and money for businesses are similar. On a smaller scale, the same urge to expand infects gardeners; however, the urge is not to accumulate wealth but to follow their curiosities. These curiosities answer some timeless questions like: how will the new squash variety taste; how will they store and keep? Will the new dahlias grow well in my soil? What do I do with giant 14” radishes (daikon)? Where do I get vegetable seeds that I cannot afford?

Groucho Marx made a weekly offering in the 1950s: “Say the magic word and you get a hundred dollars”. Today’s magic word is VARIETY. One of the big advantages of seed saving and seed sharing is that you can save seeds from plants that you really like and share them with others. On the receiving end, the other advantage is that you can try new things without breaking the bank. Of course, if you are new to all of this, simply save seeds that you might enjoy sharing with others from this year’s crop and then join the China Area Seed Swappers.

This announcement of the formation of the China Area Seed Swappers is to help gardeners pursue your curiosities and save some money, too. The timing is perfect. It is now the harvest season. Veteran gardeners save some of their crops that make seed for the following years’ plantings. If you don’t know how to prepare your own seeds, simply search the internet. Jim Hsiang and Marie Michaud announce the formation of the China Area Seed Swappers, an informal group statement of purpose is: To build community network of gardners who enjoy sharing seeds and recipes, saving money, trying new varieties of flowers and vegetables.

If you are interested in joining the group please contact Jim Hsiang at tojameshsiang@gmail.com.

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