I’m currently working on a project that is all about connecting people with seed libraries, with the hopes of encouraging communities to create locally adapted landrace-style seed varieties.
I have created a website for this, and while I am based in Auckland, New Zealand, anyone can add their local seed library to the map through our website.
I am also in the midst of creating resources for the website, including how to save seeds from different types of plants. If anyone is willing to share their resources on the website, I would be very grateful!
I would also love to hear any ideas/advice regarding this project.
Hi Chris,
Very cool project. We are also working on a model and applying for grants to support communities in creating their own landraces, there is a thread here.
Message me and I can share our most recent grant application.
Have you seen the Community Seed Network? They also have a map and share learning resources. I heard they are actually looking for help with the website, I wonder if it would make sense to partner up efforts if International is the goal.
Looking forward to seeing these projects evolve! Super important.
Thanks for sharing that info with me! I had no idea about the Community Seed Network!
It would be a great idea to collab with them if they are interested!
Would love to take a look at your grant application- I’m looking at a few grants at the moment and some inspiration would be great!
Just stumbled upon this tread luckily from an email
Our global community at www.plantforchange.org started a project the first Global Seed Directory in early 2020-2021. Listing organic seed suppliers, seed banks, and even landrace suppliers. It has been a huge but wonderful undertaking. We and seed stewards around the world did this as a community collab that had hundreds of people submitting and building from countries all around the world. Truly remarkable the momentum and reach has been shocking & so beautiful to witness. We are also slowly building out seed saving resources, a new seed steward pledge for home an market growers etc if you’d like the connect or even collab reach out wecare@plantforchange.org
We need millions more caring deeply about our seed supply diversity and local adaptation. So great to see many hear on this path. Honoured to be in great company. I will try to pop on here more often when time allows.
We’d love to have Going To Seed featured on our site as well if admins what to reach out! Our community would love!
Amazing project and beautiful website! I am downloading Telegram now…
Going to Seed would love to be featured on your site and to talk more. I’ll email you.
Hi Chris,
You might like to have a look at the considerable Australian resources and map at Australian Seed Savers Connect
.
We are having our national zoom hookup this Sunday, 6 August, open to all seed savers. Link for registration under the ‘Events’ header. 7pm Auckland time, I think.
Just getting this message and received your email Julie, looking forward to connecting very soon. If you comment on PFC telegram I can send your direct message there as well! -M talk soon
@seedmapchris , just thought I would chime in from Central Taranaki on only a tangentially related topic - do you know about Sentinel’s Group? They’re my favourite seed suppliers - just a collective of individuals growing on for future, a few of them intentionally breeding grexes and landraces. They’re the ONLY resource I’ve found here in NZ where I can buy seeds that will give me a bit of a jumpstart on creating our own landrace varieties.
I’m laid up at the moment, so will see if I can’t add the Taranaki Seed Savers locations to your map today.
Hi Thomas, cheers for adding the Taranaki locations to the map.
I will check out Sentinel’s group- there’s not enough grexing going on in NZ for my taste!
I love this idea and find maps very useful way to navigate. Have you considered using a more open tool to make the map? If you want people to add data and participate over time, it might be disappointing to find all the hard work closed into google’s format. If you instead used an open map protocol, that allowed to interoperate (cross-pollinate, as it where) with other map tools, a person could take the whole thing and turn it into something else or something better. Or, if you chose to change the project or move it somewhere else later, you can more easily do so.
There are many map tools based on the open map protocol called OpenStreetMaps (OSM). Perhaps you can find something that is to your liking.
I think it should be possible for someone to take all of the data points and add them to their own map? I’m not experienced with software engineering etc. but I’m pretty sure Google MyMaps is designed to be open source?
I would be keen to discuss the open-source idea further though- if you had any time to chat/resources to share regarding implementing a more open-source method I would be more than open to this idea. Originally, I wanted to have an editable/interactive map, but went with Google MyMaps as I found that existing API’s such as MapBox were too expensive to justify.
Yes, there are ways to migrate the data once-and-for-all. I don’t have experience with that. Google Maps lack interoperability. A bit like plants bred for inbreeding. Interoperability is a bit like promiscuous pollination in that way. It keeps whatever gifts you bring into the world open and continues to be locally adaptive, possible to tinker with and use in other ways. Google’s business model is built on a strategy that makes interoperability difficult. A quote from a recent post about an open and interoperable map project indenting to give Google Maps some competition makes that point:
The Maps API started as a low-priced service that enticed companies to build a business on top of Google’s API, but since Google’s rise to mapping dominance, it has put the screws to developers with anti-competitive terms and rising prices. In 2018, Google Maps hiked the price by more than 1,400 percent, and many developers were forced to stop using Google Maps or go bankrupt. The US Justice Department began an investigation of Google Maps earlier in the year over concerns about car app bundling and anti-competitive terms of service. Google prohibits Maps API customers from “Re-Creating Google Products or Features,” which is an impossible standard for a company as big as Google and would potentially mean a developer would have to shut down if one day Google launches a competing project. It also bans combining Google Maps data with any other dataset and completely bans its use in cars.
The way my website works is that someone fills out a form on the website, which is linked to google sheets. I am able to sync the google sheets data to the map whenever I see there are new uploads (unfortunately this cannot be done automatically ). I’m pretty sure that if I want to migrate the data somewhere else, it should be pretty straightforward as long as the people entering the data format the address correctly (GIGO). What do you guys think?
The newly formed National Seed Library Network is looking for volunteers to help update a list of seed libraries all over the world. The census itself will happen in 2024. I signed up for a few counties near me.
A great way to find and talk to the seed libraries in your area! And then they will be mapped.
). I’m pretty sure that if I want to migrate the data somewhere else, it should be pretty straightforward as long as the people entering the data format the address correctly (GIGO). What do you guys think?