International gathering taking place on the french-italian border, from Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th October included, with about 400 people from all around the world, farmers, breeders, gardeners… 20 technical workshops, some speeches, one main forum on saturday, some plot visits, conferences, etc.
… More on this within a few weeks.
Save the date. Please consider coming in, particularly all europeans. Could be a time and place to gather, meet each other, do seed swaps, exchange with others, etc.
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It’s going to be great! Hope to sée y’all there.
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Just to let you know: the 3 main days will be from the 3rd to the 5th, so from Thursday to Saturday in Antibes. Tuesday and Wednesday will be technical workshops only: some for market gardeners, and others for farmers working with cereals and other grain crops.
If some are interested to come for a longer period, there is also the Slow Food International Festival (“Terra Madre”) the week-end before in Torino, so in Italy, not very far from Antibes: Home - Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024
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Not only will it be great but it is strategically placed in France extreme east south is halfway between Spain, North Africa, the Baltics, the Balkans…
Note my distorted geography of commercial that encourages us to find ourselves there all!
in addition it is a beautiful city, it is hot down, there is the sea to swim… good ice cream… 
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Thomas, the official program with the different events and guests 
will come out when ?
This is such an amazing initiative 
Will it be possible to join just for one day? I could stop by on Thursday. I am going to Malaga that weekend, but I haven’t booked flights yet, so I could combine a stop in France for one day and night, and then catch a flight to Malaga.
I am looking forward
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Are you wrong, Thomas? October 4 to 6 is Friday to Sunday 
Can you give us an update on the dates with the technical days and the 3 main days to be sure to block the right dates?
It would be so cool to get together with GTS members! I can already see the suitcases full of seeds, on the beach feet in the water eating an ice cream while struggling to align two words in English with you lol 
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Within a few weeks. But many details will come out later. Landrace gardening (aka “adaptation agriculture”) and other promising breeding methods celebrating diversity will be one of the focuses. With at least one workshop dedicated to this + guests at the main conference, and (hopefully… But I am quite sure we will do it! ) presence of Going to Seed at saturday’s forum. It will be great sharing with others having similar methodologies and mindsets from all over the world… Hopefully they will bring their seeds with them
The overall theme is “Seeds and migrations”. The idea is to question identity related problems. So will promote the use of diversity, for example by highlighting problems of inbreeding induced weaknesses and the vigor and qualities of diversified populations. Thus showing examples of the selection processes. Case study will be the ratatouille nicoise: so called french patrimonial meal (recognise as such by the state) identified with the Nice region. When looking into it:
- all vegetables come from America, Africa or India (eggplant, zucchini, tomato, sweet pepper, onions…)
- there are ratatouilles of many kinds of over the Mediterranean
Then we will talk about diversity within our fields as 95% of organic market gardeners grow f1hybrids from industry, maybe 99% in conventionnal market gardening… So the question will be: how landrace gardening, or PEPs (pre-selected evolutionary populations), or whatever method,could be a response to this multiple problem: loss of diversity in the field, dependance on agrochemical companies, lack of understanding of market gardeners about seef saving, absence of understanding of anything breeding-related. At best there is a conservative mindset of “old varieties”, with economical problem to low yields associted. And then the purpose is to talk about the potentials related to relocating the breeding work in the farmers/gardeners fields, by using appropriate methodologies. That is seen as having great leverage, as many pioneers have shown us that it works well. Joseph being maybe the most advanced in the western world. Others from other continents will show how they never left this kind of breeding work - for example one breeder from Peru.
There will be a concert on saturday evening.
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Sorry.
Thursday 3rd
Friday 4th
Saturday 5th
These are the main days
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Sure! Please do
More on that, before I send you a link to the newly created dedicated website, and other infos:
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the event is called “sow your resistance”. It is a once in every 4-5 years event, with hundreds of people from around the globe. This year’s theme is “seeds and migrations”, and is all about peasant seeds. Co-organized by the french network (Réseau Semences paysannes), the SOL NGO (alternatives agroécologiques et solidaires), and the local Seed House (Maison des Semences Maralpines) that will host the event on the french-italian border and yes, for the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October, in Antibes right by the sea…
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a video of the last meeting in 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onEoo9mepf4&t=908s You will see it is multi-lingual and multi-cultural
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A link to what is already available with a form to fill in : Réseau Semences Paysannes - Rencontres Sème ta résistance 2024 !
It is still in French but will be multilingual in the future website.
We are hoping to welcome at least @Joseph_Lofthouse.
There should be 2 workshops dedicated to modern landracing or “evolutionary populations” as others have coined… so new populations created intentionnally and then resselected in the farmers fields by the farmers, in collaboration with nature… First probably about those pioneering those selection processes, second about inititives currently developing populations all over the world. For example @Holly_S with her work with 18 different farmers in the UK and Ireland, or Sophie from the MSPM (Antibes, France) launching a population of eggplants quasi-fixist on the genotype (same as Joseph did with his yellow crookneck landrace): globe shaped and dark violet/black, for market gardeners, wishing to obtain vigor and yield, when most heirlooms do poorly compared to F1 hybrids grafted on other f1 hybrids. And also launching even more diversifiied populations of zucchinis, tomatoes, onions, eggplants, mild peppers for doing ratatouille: as all these are blended and cooked before selling as ratatouille, market gardeners can do the breeding work without the fear of not selling those really diversified crops at the market, notably at first stages of breeding, when tastes are not always best, and clients still not used to buying such diversified vegetables
Also, probably there will another workshop dedicated to endophytes, so to “seed microbiome care”. As it is a new focus we would like to:
- get an understanding of modern practises (sterilizing in fear of pathogens) in regard to modern science (James White and others…)
- Then ask for testimonials of pioneers along 2 lines:
- first best practises when harvesting for seeds / then drying (relatively: what is the impact of fermentation?) / then storage
- and then potentials of coating seeds with self-produced either aerobic (oxygenated compost tea for example) or anaerobic (lactofermentations) products + use of these during the cultivation season. What is the impact?
The idea is that: as we get to an understanding of modern landracing it speaks for diversity within our fields, then we could go a step further as considering microbiomes that go with the seeds, as Julia’s exchanges with James White showed.
Then there will be a plenary session, and then eventually saturday a forum where I would love to create a space to show what we do as Going to Seed, mostly within gardeners group, but with such a deep impact on our practises and enjoyment gardening… That this could inspire professionals, and we could share seeds, concepts, ideas. There will be a space dedicated to adaptation agriculture / evolutionary population anyway + a seed swap dedicated to the launch of new populations. Maybe autograph sessions with authors, entertaining stuff how to select from a pile of, let’s say, squash grew at the 3rd generation, etc.
It is mainly a professionnal event: I mean mostly farmers and researchers, apart from the saturday when it becomes an event open to everyone. Of course members of GTS can come anytime, all the week if you want. Starts with events on farm Tueasday and Wednesday.
My personnal involvement is all about helping a pardigm shifts towards better adaptation, resilience, and joy cultivating, thanks to these diverse populations. Touched by Joseph’s way and then spread the message… Please join in. I am sure it will a great moment to meet each other.
More on that soon.
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Checked the vidéo out. Lovely. Peeps from all over. It would be nice to have a precense there and make connections. Especially with Africans could be interesting to prépare for droughts and heatwaves, although at the minute i have relid the stove because it’s freezing.
Anyway i think you’re taking the right angle by posturing us GTS ers as more fun expérimental obsessed growers then idealistic farmers. We could easier bridge a gap to the interested gardening public. Maybe we could colonise some gardens down there with wide genetics.
I’ve met another lady grower recently at a seed swap who independently came to similar conclusions regarding seed saving. I’ve talked about you and @stephane_rave and his Brionnais project. Gts and Joseph’s book and she notes everything in het phone. She kept nodding and filling in détails. Times are changing. Let’s push and get helpers.
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Yes. Just to get it clear: it is also how do we hybridize - temporally or not - with an existing organisation of farmers whose first focus, unfortunately, is survival… I mean: economic survival of their farms (as you understand very well). So then the question becomes how do our landracing practises relate to their economical problem?.. So then promises of different acquired resistances is what matters to them (droughts, etc.), yield reliabilty, then taste, etc. All things related to potentials.
Not to say that the most advanced on the landracing path don’t understand the underlying philosophy (guys like Bruno Viennois or Maxime Schmitt do, clearly), but for the common market gardener the first question is “could I make a living with these?” And if then he get to love the overall philosophy of landracing, the questions becomes: could I afford it? Meaning is there promise of renewal behind this sounding-great idea? And then it becomes for them: "how do “WE” organize, as a collective, or a network of collectives, to go through this demanding selection process, so to say without shutting down our farms? "
We, as GTS, are an amazing collective/community, and yes we are mostly gardeners, so I look at this as we BEING a diversification in these professionnaly centered networks, and more advanced than most professionnals on this path… so I believe that our difference is great, and their differences will be a value to us too. So we may collaborate on things later. Accelerate a bit things for both sub-groups. Our existing landraces may be of interest to them (but they will ask “what is the yield?”), their potentials cultivating hectares of vegetables could be a potential for us for doing some heavy selection in the field, chosing 50 crazily growing eggplants within a diverse population of 3000 for example…
To summarize it: what is at stake for me is how do we get to a good mutual understanding. Then this difference between “professionnals” and “gardeners” may become absolutely irrelevant. Meaning: if we become friends, with a clear understanding of where everybody is at, we can collaborate along the same path… in surprising, unexpectable manners, I am sure.
… the beauty of outcrossing
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the program in English :
I imagine this one will be more detailed in the coming months.
European friends we are all waiting for you!
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I’m looking into making plans to come to the gathering in Antibes. How does accommodation look in the area? Let me know if you live there and have a guest room
cool! we start to form a small group 
For the French part as far as I know, Thomas, Hugo and I should be there. However we do not live at all in this region and we will also have to stay.
@ThomasPicard can be more info by participating in the organization on what is planned for housing.
Otherwise if we have to stay, I looked briefly the hotels are around 60 €/people/ night and if we gather the RBNB apartments around 40 €/people/ night.
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So we’re going to be represented at the event and Joseph will speak, we’ll connect to the farmers organizations through @Joseph_Lofthouse and @ThomasPicard. I reckon this will happen in the first bit of the week. Enthousiast/obsessed plant breeders meeting farmers. Then comes the public day where all gardeners are welcome. Time for us t shine! So i think we’ll have a stand selling hopefully the French version of the book, but maybe not, but maybe the English. I’m sure we’ll make some good new connections and can explain. But ideally we’ll have a glossy folder of Going to Seed in four languages, French/English/Italian/Spanish for people to take home and look back at and connect to us through info. Or at least an A4 copy with info in those languages.
It would make speaking to strangers that much easier as well, having something in your hand,pointing at pictures. A picture book or laptop loaded with website info would also be great. Sometimes people have like these big layout papers with explanation.
So i don’t want to add to your workload again Thomas and would like to offer help making something like this reality. But this is not the first nor last time we’re going to be represented as Going to Seed, should we standardize this? @julia.dakin Are folders/ A4’s and a photobook available for download to be printed somewhere? Or do i/we start from scratch.
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Great ideas there. I have 2 meetings this week about these international gatherings, one tomorrow about the organisation of a technical workshop dedicated to endophytes, and thursday a collective to know where each sub-group is at. There should be also a meeting dedicated to our “breeding with diversity” (i.e. our modern landraces and others similar practises, like with Ceccarelli who will be there but also many others and notablys guys from Peru and elsewhere talking about breeding with diversity as a tradition) . Will let you know more post thursday. Sorry I am very in the garden.
Personnally I would love if we rent a house for all Going to Seed members, for fun and creating interpersonnal relationship, i.e. friendship… or hatred. Joking
A simple trick to do and ultra effective when holding a stand is to make badges for representatives, so that people wanting to get in touch with going to seed can challenge us on the stand but also during our participation in different workshops.
there could be:
-the Going to Seed logo
-the name and surname of the member
-the country of origin
-the spoken language
I can take charge of making the models and printing these badges if necessary.
it would be necessary to find the support clamp or neck also before to have the size of the document.
Also in relation to the language spoken on the stand, we will at least have English with you all, French with Thomas and I, Dutch with Hugo, but given the location we would need at least one person who knows Italian.
Indeed these are not very famous (like me) to master the English language and more they will surely be numerous with the geographical proximity.
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to simplify the centralization of the information of the participants and helped the organization I sketched a piece of table.
This will allow to know who comes when, and especially to put in contact those who wish to coordinate for housing.
I also put the means of transport to know who can transport what (plants, crops, seeds…).
The table is editable, we can then add the list of things that everyone can manage
https://lite.framacalc.org/8firslgxv8-a8k7
PS: I am not sure to participate on the 3rd (the general assembly does not interest me and I am waiting for the worshop program). I would probably take half a day this day (or the day before) to visit one of the most beautiful acclimatization garden in the south of France located in the same city of Antibes Villa Thuret. It is a free but very famous botanical garden where there are extraordinary collections of trees and shrubs resistant to the dry climate of the Mediterranean, I will collect seeds and of course if some want to join the visit it is possible.
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