Salish Seed Swap 2024: Bellingham Community Seed Exchange

The Salish Seed Swap 2024 event, hosted by Inspiration Farm in collaboration with the Salish Seed Guild, took place on February 24, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Downstairs, located at 1207 Ellsworth St, Bellingham, WA 98225. This annual gathering serves as a cornerstone for the guild's mission to honor seed biodiversity in the local foodshed and promote the caretaking of genetic diversity for future generations. Participants exchange open-pollinated, locally adapted seeds that demonstrate resilience to regional soils and changing weather conditions, along with unique heirloom varieties to enhance food system resiliency. The event builds on over 25 years of seed swap tradition, starting from informal fall exchanges among a small group of growers and evolving into a major community event drawing hundreds. It aligns with permaculture principles emphasized by co-founder Brian Kerkvliet, who runs the biodynamic Inspiration Farms nearby. Swaps extend beyond seeds to include knowledge sharing, skills workshops, and barter of value-added items, fostering a sense of self-reliance and community strength. The guild's broader activities include weekly seed garden days every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Inspiration Farms (617 E Laurel Rd, Bellingham), where volunteers learn harvesting, threshing, cleaning, and storage techniques, particularly in late summer and fall. Educational workshops at the farm cover biodynamics and seed saving for diverse audiences, from schoolchildren to university students. The community seed garden, launched around the COVID-19 pandemic, allows growers to propagate seeds and contribute to regional seed security, though recent participation has declined. Networking spans the Salish Sea region, partnering with groups in Skagit Valley, San Juan Islands, and beyond to identify microclimate-suited heirlooms. Addressing global seed consolidation—where four corporations dominate 60% of sales—the guild promotes independence from corporate seeds, countering variety loss and rising prices. Local context includes Skagit County's leadership in vegetable seed production, valued at $6.8 million in 2017. Membership invites gardeners, farmers, and advocates to steward varieties, with goals of appropriate-scale processing equipment and self-sustaining swaps. This event exemplifies the guild's vision of thriving local food systems through education, collaboration, and practical seed stewardship, ensuring nutritional well-being and ecological adaptation.