First Annual SEED

Exchange
and
reception

______Meet the people that grow your favorite local foods! Help bring back a time honored tradition! Up until a few years ago, most of us wouldn’t reflect much on where the food on our plates came from. We knew it came from the grocery store shelf, and before it arrived there, it grew from a tiny seed out of the ground, somewhere in the world. As a budding “foodie” I became interested in the idea that when a vegetable is grown organically and locally, it often tastes better, looks better, and just plain feels better to eat. While pondering this phenomenon, I came

back to that tiny thing that both the food in the grocery store and the food I got from my local farmers’ market have in common: the seed. The seed that grows into my favorite local green pepper is different than the seed that grows into the pepper I get from the grocery store. The local pepper probably tastes, looks and feels better because that seed has been passed from farmer to farmer within New Mexico until it has adapted to our climate. It tastes unique in my most cherished dishes. But what happens when the farmer doesn’t plant those seeds anymore? My favorite pepper disappears. And that unique flavor MY stuffed peppers had is gone. What can we do to change this,
and how do I make a difference? The answer is simple: seed exchange.
On Sunday, March 30th, 2008, from 1-3pm, Rio Grande Community Farm (RGCF) is
hosting its first annual Seed Exchange, to be followed by a fundraising reception to benefit RGCF. The seed exchange will be a chance for you to come and meet your local growers and help them to continue the tradition of seed saving. Growers will be
exchanging their own seeds and will have some for sale, along with early plant startsso that YOU can begin to grow food right in your backyard! Along with the growers, you can mingle with local craftsmen, Master Gardeners and community organizations. From 3:30-5pm a fundraising reception will be held in the barn,
featuring live music, food and drink, and information on RGCF, Los Poblanos Fields. New Mexico Organic Commodities Commission Chief Inspector, Brett Bakker, will speak on seed saving and sustainable agriculture. Rio Grande Community Farm is a donor-funded non-profit organization, working in cooperation with the Open Space Division at Los Poblanos Fields Open Space, just east of Rio Grande Blvd. at Montano and Tierra Viva. This event will help support important educational and food security programs at the farm. RGCF manages approximately 50 acres of farmland, including a community garden and greenhouse operations. Our mission is to connect people,
food and public land by: demonstrating sustainable urban agriculture; providing educational and training opportunities; providing wildlife habitat, and celebrating traditions of agriculture!