Oh, and for what it’s worth, I recently applied for the Executive Director position of a large seed organization. I ended up withdrawing my application because of the political stances that the organization takes. I commend Going to Seed for focusing on our core mission.
Adaptation Agriculture seems to be the winning option.
Might I suggest finishing up the first season/year on the Going to Seed podcast first, then making the rebranding when we launch season 2? We could do a few other things to make the next season a bit more polished (like commissioning a simple music stab for the opening to get listeners in the mood). Offering a few sponsorship/ad slots could also be worth considering.
Yes thank you everybody! We’re going to summarize some more of this conversation because there were other excellent suggestions for phrasing to newbies that will be useful.
And there were a lot of suggestions for some version of the word Adapt (mostly ‘Adaptive’). It’s a great word but it’s already taken (handicap accessible gardening).
“Adaptation agriculture” is a great choice, both because of the alliteration and because the term encompasses both gardening and farming.
I would love to see this mindset become a common practice among large-scale farmers, just like crop rotation and composting. I think this approach will be very helpful to a lot of farmers, and a delight to the communities they serve.
I agree Adaptation Agriculture/Gardening is good and an improvement.
Personally I still prefer ‘diversity’ instead. It seems to me that it’s possible to get adaptation - - even very effective adaptation - - without a basis of genetic diversity.
I’m sure this was discussed as an alternative, along with the fact that you have the same challenge in either direction. If you go with diversity, there are types of diversity that are not genetic within a cross-breeding population. You can also have diversity without saving seeds.
If you go with adaptation, you can have effective adaptation without emphasizing genetic diversity, though all other things being equal it’ll almost certainly be less effective. It doesn’t seem to me like you can really accomplish much without saving seeds though, so ‘adaptation’ does seem to imply seed-saving more strongly than ‘diversity’.
I still like ‘diversity’ better, as promiscuous pollination with a basis of genetic diversity seems to me to be the secret sauce of landrace gardening. Emphasizing the unique dimension of practice seems better to me and a clearer and more immediate differentiator from other systems than emphasizing the uniquely strong adaptation that comes as a result
@ShaneS I’d assumed we would keep the podcast name as “Going to Seed” and Adaptation Agriculture / Gardening would appear in the description. Not re-branding our organization or website, but rather re-naming the method.
What about Zero-Input Agriculture?
When I first introduce the subject with someone, I find myself using phrases like:
Low-input gardening
Neglect gardening (if I’m feeling cheeky)
Adaptive plant breeding
Developing crops that grow like weeds on your land
Farming locally adapted plants
Adapt the plants to your land, not the other way around
Creating genetically diverse, adaptable crops that can respond quickly to climate change
I agree that “landrace” rings no bells for most people and includes a word which, out of context, can raise people’s resistance to what you have to say.
P.S. I am new here and just realizing that this discussion already came to a conclusion, but I’ll just leave this post here anyway. Adaptation Gardening/Agriculture is great.
That’s such a brilliant phrase. Would make a good subtitle. “Land” is simpler but in reality, adaptation encompasses much more: your climate, personal growing practices, etc. If I’d replace any word, it may be “land.” Just my two cents
@JonathanDeRevonah Thanks for the input. What would you replace ‘land’ with? garden? climate? growing style?
environment?
Something broader. I was also thinking “environment,” like @Patate suggested, or maybe “growing conditions.” I think “land” sounds better but is less precise, although a simple explanation could elaborate on “land” meaning more than just your soil and locale.
“Adapt your plants to their environment/growing conditions/land, not the other way around.”
The phrase is catchy and encapsulates the whole idea.
“Terroir” fits the bill, encapsulating all those concepts, but is usually reserved for viniculture in English. Of course, in French it just means “land.”
I really do like the term “land.” It’s so simple, intuitive, and easy to understand. It will speak to small-scale gardeners, large-scale farmers, and everyone in between.