“Moreshet Seeds”

Background

The variety of heirloom seeds has been decimated in recent generations on the backdrop of modern commercial agricultural production. Modern agriculture favors specific characteristics suitable for industrial production, and many varieties stopped being cultivated and were lost to history.

The Bank

The bank will comprise facilities to farm, process and conserve the seeds. The bank is also a place open to the public, where the preservation process and the richness of our heritage can be experienced.

The Moreshet Seed Bank follows 3 main goals:

–        Conserving/promoting the agricultural heritage of the land and people in this country

–        Developing a stable stock of heirloom seeds available to future generations in Israel

–        To make all seeds available to the farming and gardening community

The Seeds

The collection will aim to comprise the entirety of heirloom seeds that are associated with the land and its peoples. Seeds that are well adapted to the local environment are the basis for securing the supply of food for future generations.

For this endeavor the seed bank will include seeds that

–       have been grown in this land in the near and distant past

–       are native to the wider region

–       were handed down in native families and communities past and present

–       were brought here by families and communities that immigrated to Israel

The Community

The Moreshet Seed Bank offers programs for community projects in which participants learn processes of seed saving. These programs convey useful knowledge of different varieties and teach the conservation skills needed to become a part of the seed saving community. Community projects can use Moreshet Seed programs for their purposes/activities.

The Moreshet Seed Bank depends on the involvement of gardeners and farmers to plant and grow the Bank’s seeds in their fields and gardens.