Videoconferences of the European meeting in Croatia 2025

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Hello everyone,

As you may have seen in our forum discussions, at the beginning of November we organized a European Going To Seed meeting in Croatia.

It was a great success, both in terms of the spirit of the meetings between us and the local community, but also in terms of our connection with the rest of the world.

In fact, buoyed by our enthusiasm, we had planned workshops with a number of specialists in the agriculture of the future, all of whom were able to attend. These videoconferences, which were fascinating and highly informative, are now set to enrich the knowledge of the entire Going To Seed community.

Here is the exceptional cast we have assembled, whose recordings we can offer you :

Suject: “Bridging the gap between breeders and eaters to improve agricultural and culinary quality in vegetables”

Subject : "Creating a network of small scale breeders, farmers…"

Subject : “Reinventing Agriculture on a Small Continent”

Subject : “Life of a community based on plant breeding projects”

Subject : “Culinary Vegetable Breeding: Experience versus Fantasy”

After consulting with the speakers, we can offer you limited access to the recordings of these videoconferences. To avoid widespread distribution on a public platform, it has been agreed that anyone interested in viewing them should contact us by replying to this forum post, after which we will send you a private message with the viewing link.

We are counting on you not to share this link publicly, as this could damage the relationship of trust between our team and these specialists who have generously offered us their time and knowledge.

We hope that this high-quality content will inspire new and exciting projects within Going to Seed and among all gardeners embarking on the path of adaptive gardening.

From Mare, Laura, Hugo, Emily, Marcela, Sébastien, Boryan, Stéphane, Malte, Dirk and Thomas

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@mare.silba , @Laura , @Hugo , @marcela_v , @Sebastien , @Bore , @stephane_rave , @malterod , @ThomasPicard

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Amazing…

I would really like to watch these recordings.

V

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I would also like to view these talks. I’ve enjoyed following along with your collaborative efforts from the other side of the world and definitely felt a twinge of jealousy at not being able to attend the Croatia gathering. Perhaps in another year.

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I too would like to view these recordings!

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Merci Steph ! Seb et bravo pour le job…

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Thank you so much for sharing the recordings so generously! Could I please get the link?

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Please send me the link.

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Continue your requests. I will not respond here, but will reply via private message with the links. :wink:

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I would like to view it too, thank you!

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I would like to watch the videos, too!
Thank you very much for your effort!
JĂĽrgen

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I would love to watch the recordings as well. Thank you Stephane, thank you everybody :slight_smile:

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After watching these videos…any reactions, ideas, desires, plans…? Did that interrupt you? :grin:

After watching them again at home, I think we need to further open up our minds. These speakers are all so different and passionate, and they didn’t hesitate to follow ideas that were outside the box. There are so many possibilities for our work that it becomes dizzying. :upside_down_face:

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Regarding Lane Selman’s videoconference

1- breeding with chefs, taking their feedback in consideration (as well as csa producers and farmer’s markets sellers)… not only these players help set trends for new vegetables, providing a first contact and sort of the initial “marketing” for many consumers… they are also irreplaceable at constructing a “multi dimensional” feedback that helps inform the breeder of valuable traits that can very positively steer the direction of any breeding work.

2- also, the notion that particular breeding lines should be “tæsted” frequently and the results should help inform their potential, both as a way to minimize the breeder’s own bias and preferences … and also to identify prominant traits.

3- also, also, the thought that governamental institutions can have a role in the coordination of these different players… a little more skeptic on this one.

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I was filled with a sense of wonder and hope when I watched them the videos and seeing what everyone had been able to achieve in their projects, really fascinating stuff! Especially Lanes conference was really interesting with getting the feedback from chefs, really interesting to think that with the chefs help, we could make different types of veggies for different cooking styles.

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Lane’s presentation has already been growing on me and is part of changing my view on the farm-to-table movement. For a couple of years, I’ve jokingly called what I do “farm-to-table - and back again” (since the eaters need to give me the best seed to grow). Lane’s presentation gave me a lot of mental models to think about this connection, specifically how the main actors live in very different worlds. And instead of two actors (farmer and chef), my take-away is to actually think of three main fields: breeders, growers, chefs. These three fields used to be much more intertwined and back in the day probably more common that the same person occupied several of those roles. My realisation is that the world of breeders and growers have gone very apart too. So my own work - in many ways following in some of her footsteps - is changing into bridging all three of those fields.

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Malte, you definitely are the European version of Lane!

The link to the actual food, the finished product is vital. Someone else also mentioned the grandmas knowing what to look for and it really resonated with me: the heritage of a crop or variety, how best to utilise it, the traditional dishes associated with it etc.

Or you can go in the opposite direction and cross outside market class, unleash the potential and create something new…

Many approaches, all adding to the diversity, from the solo breeder in his/her back garden to the crowd breeding projects.

Loved it all, thank you so much guys!!!

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without the red glasses and a few less Italian inspirations :joy:

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You guys are very flattering, but I really don’t think am! I wish we had a European version of Lane - or if there is one, that we knew them. She’s been facilitating these meetings for something like two decades now. I’d like to explore a version of what she does and hope others will too!

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I think Lane’s approach to selection through cooking is just perfect for France. Here, when we talk about plant selection, people think it’s boring, but when we start talking about food and taste, everyone is interested. :smiley:

So this year with my local collective we going to plant a field of squash… and if the harvest is good, we’ll throw a squash fiesta and invite the locals and local chefs! :wink:

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