Hello friends, European members of the Going to Seed Community,
Great news : @Joseph_Lofthouse will be with us at the International Farmer Seeds Gathering that will be held Antibes, France, from the 3rd to the 5th of October (link to the programme)!
I would love us welcoming him warmly at this event, and as many as we can!
There will be notably 2 workshops dedicated to modern landracing on friday morning + saturday’s forum where we could have a stand, as Going to Seed. More details soon…ish
Then, what is even better is that he just announced that October was free for him and that he would love spending “as much time as needed” in Europe, so I believe we could here brainstorm with him about how best welcoming him after this gathering… for example bringing him on a tour to discover different parts of Europe, rural or not, your places and others, offer him events to do talks in your community, things like that. Just my first thoughts.
We have also talked about the Slow Food Fest in Torino the week-end prior to the gathering.
Let’s gather ideas and exchange with Joseph about this exciting opportunity!
If Joseph happens to be coming to North-Western Poland for any reason, then I will gladly do what I can to be of assistance. It would be an honor to be able to hang out and learn from him personally.
I do, potentially, have a couple of hectares of my own land here that I am hoping to close on very soon. I intend to develop it in a way to be able to experiment widely with direct seeded perennials and trees that aren’t normally found in this climate.
If there is a way to be of service to Joseph and the GTS community in the process then Id love to play a part.
I’ve initiated a conversation with @Soeren and @Logan about inviting @Joseph_Lofthouse to Denmark. I hope he would be interested to come. We’re all very excited about the idea and are looking into which partners and communities to collaborate with to make it happen.
I’m the same as Marianne, if it goes in the schedule Joseph and entourage are welcome to pass by and can stay at mine’s. It’s a couple of hours drive from airport Charles the Gaulle or halfway to the channel tunnel in UK. @stephane_rave is not far either.
If this looks like worth a visit, welcome. Hugo's grexes - #11 by Hugo
I was able to bring banana and taro starts, and all kinds of seeds when i travelled from Taiwan to Poland. Nobody gave me any trouble. My wife also had seeds with her. Her baggage was checked by security, and they asked what the seeds were. She told them, and they didn’t give her any trouble. She got to keep them.
My parents recently came here from Florida, and mom had a huge amount of seeds. The baggage was inspected, but they didn’t give her any trouble either. Everything got through. Im not sure what the regulations are, but if there are any, then they don’t seem to be enforced at the moment.
Although lovely if you bring seeds Joseph, the ones beng sold are trickling in. I would hâte to sée you in trouble.
Maybe post to some attendees in advance? That could give peace of mind while traveling.
It’s going to be great!
Greetings from Croatia
I am still considering if I would manage to come to Antibes or not since I have an even in Malaga (Spain) the same weekend.
However, even if I don’t come, I think Croatia would also be an amazing host for Joseph after Antibes. I have started introducing the “landrace” concept everywhere I go to around Croatia, and it seems it “has sprouted in minds of many gardeners and seed keepers”. There is an increasing interest about this topic, and I am sure many people would love to hear more. We have started landrace projects in several parallel locations, and hopefully we will have awesome results in autumn to show and many seeds to exchange.
I have carried many seeds on many flights, and nobody cares. Sometimes if the security people are not busy they ask questions, but it’s all good. If you enter EU / Shengen zone there should be absolutely no fear. And for outside EU as well. I have brought seeds from different countries from outside EU… had more seeds than clothes in my bags.
@Joseph_Lofthouse there is possibility on the side of the center of France, if you wish and have the time, to make a conference via my association Charolais Brionnais in Transition working on the ecological transition and the agricultural experimentation of our territory.
1st case: do something simple as we usually do with national stakeholders and receive about 150 local people for whom the landrace gardenning idea is new and unknown. It would certainly be less interesting for you
2nd case: take advantage of your exceptional arrival in our country, to shake the coconut tree , assemble with other collectives in a broader scope and bring a public mostly professionals (farmers, market gardeners, seed producers…etc). I can have a partnership with Kokopelli to take advantage of their reputation on the subject of seeds to help such an event.
If you consider this, we should have the maximum information at the beginning of July to get in order and ensure the organization. We also need to finance this and know your conditions, and see if we can succeed such a project.
To sum up: everything is possible in Charolais Brionnais!
, assemble with other collectives in a broader scope and bring a public mostly professionals (farmers, market gardeners, seed producers…etc). I can have a partnership with Kokopelli to take advantage of their reputation on the subject of seeds to help such an event.