Yes, I have started it.
I’d like to add that in hindsight the number of necombers is lower than I imagined and can not be the reason of thie depletion Marcela noticed.
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It was a highly probable hypothesis to warn that the causes of seed loss are not necessarily internal. 
may not be what happened this time, but the package is often subject to deterioration in its travel with regard to frequent comments where people have to repack it.
Cathy said recetlythat the packet was completely blown up before it arrived at her home.
We must therefore be vigilant on this point.
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+1 
in view of what is happening in the USA, some people spend a lot of time on this point with always a lack of return of seeds.
It would be a shame to lose the pioneers of the Europe group due to exhaustion on this project. 
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No all the seeds weight the same. With beans you add a lot of weight, but not much on number. And then you add thousands of tomato seeds and the box weight is the same.
The starter kits are only for what we have in excess.
Some people have loads of seeds.
I’ve put in serendipity, exchanged with members, done seed swaps where i gave more away then i got (but more diversity, always yay), done a Spanish tour, left a seed bank in Spain, seeded and reseeded and i can seed some more, done the starter packs and new plants are growing which will provide more seeds for this year.
Where is my medal?Hihi.
Ok it’s rough seed saving, not the highest standards drying and seperating, if at all. But nature provides shitloads. If some of us decide to harvest them roughstyle and save a lot of time (90 % of time goes into achieving perfection, like you are so good at Stephan, here is your medal.) We can provide many more people with nice enough grexes.
And yes true Alexandra, we can work out some payment system for the post in future. Marcela proposed Paypal for that.
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Let me summarize several things, and clarify some points, before we go into conspiracy theories and 1984. 
I would not like that we point fingers and call out names. Depletion of the box happens over time. Someone takes more cucumbers and less other things, other person takes more beans, another takes more beetroots, another more corn, or maximas etc. Everyone is passionate about something different and taking seeds because it is planting season. Yes, I was a little bit disappointed with the box, but all is good, I will survive. Don’t take that personally It’s my problem Instead I wanted to go in the direction of finding the best possible solution so that Serendipity continues enriched and reaches as many people as possible.
My original post said that I estimate that the diversity of most main crops is very low, except several categories (moschatas, melons, kale) This cannot happen overnight, it is a chain effect.
Everyone before took what they wanted, and added what they could. So now we are at the point when we need to add more diversity from different people to send the box forward. That’s the point of the box, we shouldn’t point fingers to anyone specific because different seeds weight differently. Weight cannot be a reference point always.
I would contact individual people myself who had the package before me it I believed someone was responsible for something. It never crossed my mind to do that because the intention behind my post was to see how we can enrich the box at this point - either now or in autumn when most people have more seeds before sending it forward to people waiting in the line who are new to landracing and would benefit from getting much more seeds so that they can do some serious projects.
And I would encourage this in the future, that whoever receives the box in the future can say out loud that diversity in the box is getting low, and ask people who have excess of seeds to send more to the box. So it is all the time overflowing with diversity. Maybe even put it in “instructions” like a signal for all of us to activate.
At this point, I would propose the following:
- I will go through the box tomorrow (because it will be raining heavily so I cannot do much in the garden)
- then make a list of crops we need to fill with more seeds
- whoever is able to contribute (from people who really have a lot of seeds) send some to me to put in the box - but don’t send too much because it will be too heavy then if we combine seeds from multiple sources
- I send it then to whoever wants to receive it next in several weeks when I put inside seeds from several sources (I will send a smaller packages before to Saskia and Tomas because they reached out saying they would like to get seeds as soon as possible to be able to plant them)
- we continue the serendipity train without introducing police measures because not all seeds weight the same, but we encourage that everyone feels safe to say that some crops are getting low and need input (if that person is not able to fill the gap), and that people before don’t take it personally like they did something wrong, because like Cathy said in one of the posts before, the point of the Serendipity is to get as many diverse seeds growing wherever they want to grow. If you share with friends and other gardeners, perfectly… just feel free to say that the box needs more seeds and more diversity.
- This pause should be a point for evolution instead of looking for someone to “blame” because we all share responsibility. As Malte said to me - it is a community owned project, we are all co-creating it.
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I totally agree with you Stéphane! I think the US program is now offering grants/payments (I can’t really remember exactly how it was phrased) for seed grow-outs.
It’s important to have a plan in place for when the demand increases.
This would be my version:
the best seeds/diversity goes to people who contribute with their own seeds (they already have the skills to grow the crops to seed). If a crop is in short supply, priority to people who can grow this particular crop to seed and return to the group (making it available to more people the following year). Seed Train and collective seed swap (everyone is contributing).
Keep a small proportion for future back up/grow out/seed bank.
Whatever is left to be divided up into starter packs and for community gifting (schools etc).
As demand increases for starter packs/community gifting, that’s when you need to find volunteers (or grants or whatever) willing to do grow outs and not expect people from the first group to contribute seeds for the whole program.
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in my associative seed bank we also have the same problem people take seeds and almost never bring back…by failure of cultivation, fear of poor quality seeds, potential hybridization, etc… the stock is slowly emptied 
The argument often heard is: “I leave this work to those who know how” but over time those who know how no longer have the energy to produce seeds to distribute to those who confuse community project with free service…
We are therefore on standby to find a sustainable solution to ensure the production of seeds in this small group…
All these people are honest people with individual goodwill… so there must be somewhere in this universe a way to mobilize people collectively and durably on the subject of seeds !
let’s continue to look for the solution together
may be it necessary to assign functions ? that correspond to the different characters of each person, and each one register in a category:
- Organizers who design the strategy
- facilitators who accompany the new
- seed multipliers
- seed sorters
- seed distributors
- stock managers
- logistics specialists to optimize shipments
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It may be just a sample kidnapping of our seeds by aliens who have understood their value! besides the postal services are probably undercover agents of the secret services who work in Roswell 
more seriously, don’t let us get upset…nothing serious these seeds are just surplus as Hugo says…
Find some way to make the diversity and quantity of seed infinite and free in this trading world. Let’s build the alternative together ! 
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I see the seed library as a gift to the community. I don’t expect seeds back anymore. The very little seed I got back was more hassle than anything, “beans” or “pumpkin” that I would have to grow out myself to figure out what they are or packets of seeds from 2013… no thanks! I use my extra extra seeds (after my own back up and seeds for exchanges etc). When I run out, I run out.
I like the idea of finding ways for people to contribute that are not purely “send in seeds”.
Having said that, having experienced people to do grow outs is going to be the limiting factor on the whole operation… Or maybe it will encourage regional hubs with community gardens dedicated to seed saving (another dream )
We’ll see how it goes with people giving back and sharing amongst on the Telegram group. I don’t get the negativity . This is not a one time hand out to people feeling pressured to say yes to some well meant initiative who hardly garden.
.
As Holly explained in Antibes, in UK they gathered a group of gardeners who were willing to give it a try and during the season everybody was ooohing and aaahing over each others photos. She said it worked better than expected and people got really excited.
Already people have been sending me seeds as a thank you and more is on the way.
Stop shitting on the Starter Kit. Grrrrrr.
And something else, there are a lot of people in prison nowadays just for venting their opinion! Free speech is out and we’re moving towards authoritarianism.
Do you really think powerful lobbygroups representing a multi billion euro seed industry aren’t going to fight back at some point against a people finding solutions preventing them making this money. I’m a life long activist of sorts and can tell you. You’re being rather naive.
Sorry Hugo I gave you this impression.
I think the Starter Kit is a fantastic idea and the way you’ve organised it should see good returns.
What I was referring to is my experience with the seed library, which is very different (I put seeds out but I don’t know who’s taking the seeds). I enjoy the fact that someone out there is growing my seeds but that’s it. It’s a gift.
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A small note after a good night’s sleep and a day’s hindsight :
1.This discussion was very followed and animated for a few hours with many people who gave their opinion.
2.Comments were very engaged, including from new people, people who have not yet used the seed train or people who participated in discussions more than usual
Morality :
the subject is of great interest.
we are people attached to our seeds and community
Conclusion:
This is very positive for the future and with these updated qualities we should achieve something big collectively… 
I therefore reserve a slightly longer workshop in the autumn program in Croatia to discuss this topic. I will think of a formula that will allow everyone to express themselves freely and calmly 
, while allowing decisions to be made that will allow us to realize our dreams for our seeds.
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I applaude because I wasn’t following the discussion, didn’t read any of it and will probably not. So I let to the Community - i.e. technically those who participate in such discussions - the decisions making for all of us.
Nonetheless I feel it’s an excellent idea to gave a time dedicated to this in Croatia + emphasize the need for guidelines not only easily accessible on this Discourse but also IN the box… and let them be reevaluated from time to time, for sure…
So I’m not adding anything to the topic just want make sure those discussions end up in clear guidelines + say it’s a super idea to have one or two rounds of discussions/decisions around that in Croatia.
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