Carol Deppe

A few years ago when I attended the Herefordshire seed swap for the first time I was talking to one of the guys that helps run it and he recommend an author for me to try out. In the back of my diary he wrote the name Carol Deppe and a few of her books for me to try. 

Now her books aren't cheap but they are full of information (I've ordered another one this week but don't tell the wife - I'll say I'm using Christmas money!), her book on breeding your own veg is fascinating and has given me many ideas to try. There's a level of detail that you don't find in many books outside of an educational course, but she still writes in an interesting way with examples from her life and that of her friends.

Here's an interesting interview with Carol Deppe, what she has to say on seed saving and breeding is so true. We need to keep the gene pool available to everyone for breeding and having patents on a living thing is a ridiculous idea funded by large seed companies. In doing so they have control over what we eat and how it's grown.

The Open Source Seed Initiative that she is promoting in this video is a great idea. It ensure the rights of farmers and gardeners to be able to save and replant seeds (that have been pledged to the initiative) for generations as well as being able to breed from them to develop new strains, which then have to be available under the same initiative. A great idea that I hope continues to grow. 

For some reason she ends on a song, don't judge the video on that song!