Founding 'Mother" to Speak at Seedy Saturday

FOUNDING ‘MOTHER’ TO SPEAK AT SEEDY SATURDAY
(Directly from the press release)


(Vancouver, BC) — The old adage that good things come from small packets could easily be used to describe VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Seedy Saturday. Now in its 18th year, Canada’s original Seedy Saturday takes place Saturday, February 24th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Floral Hall at VanDusen Botanical Garden at Oak and W.37th Avenue. Featuring growers and exhibitors the event is a celebration of heritage varieties, organic gardening, urban agriculture and the joys of growing rare and unusual plants.

This year, Seedy Saturday is pleased to present two distinguished speakers. At 11 a.m. Lee Larking will give an illustrated talk on BC Wild Heritage Plants.

Then at 1 p.m. we are pleased to welcome back Sharon Rempel, the ‘founding mother’ of Seedy Saturday. She developed the idea for the event and went on to produce the first-ever Seedy Saturday at VanDusen Botanical Garden in 1989. Ms. Rempel is an innovator of projects that work towards regional food systems and community development work around seeds. She has been working with heritage seed since 1987. Her presentation is entitled Saving Our Souls, Seed by Seed. Anyone interested in the important of preserving bio-diversity and heritage/heirloom varieties should not miss this presentation by one of the foremost leaders in the field.

In addition to seed sales and demonstrations the event also features informational booths and displays by organizations such as Seeds of Diversity, VanDusen Seed Collectors, FarmFolk/City Folk, Environmental Youth Alliance and City Farmer. "Seeds of Curiosity", organized by VanDusen’s Education Department will offer interactive displays and seedy science demonstrations sure to intrigue the whole family. VanDusen’s Master Gardeners, the producers of this year’s Seedy Saturday, will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about plant and garden care.

Seedy Saturday brings to our attention the great need to focus on conserving and expanding the bio-diversity of plant life around us. In this age of climate change, it is important that we be constantly aware of the necessity of maintaining our plant resources and heritage seeds.

Started by Ms. Rempel at VanDusen Botanical Garden in 1989, Seedy Saturday celebrates the bio-diversity of heritage plant varieties along with the benefits of organic growing. The relevance of Seedy Saturday has sprouted dozens of offshoots across Canada from the Comox Valley and Galiano Island in British Columbia to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It has spread to the UK and heritage seed days are now popping up throughout the USA.

Admission to Seedy Saturday is by donation. Proceeds go to support the national organization Seeds of Diversity and VanDusen Botanical Garden. For more information the public is invited to visit the Seedy Saturday website at www.seedysaturday.ca For more information on Vandusen Botanical Garden and its events, please visit our web site at www.vandusengarden.org -- Nancy Wong