DoPE 2023 Seed Exchange

How It Works

• Sign up HERE by March 21st with your name, email, country of residence, and what you want to grow this season (we ask for country of residence because shipping seeds across borders can be difficult)
• We’ll randomly pair you with someone and introduce y’all via email, and you can exchange seeds and stories
• Figure out an exchange method that works for the both of you, and when you get your seeds, shout us out with the hashtag #DOPEseeds and tag us on Instagram (@DOPEUKY) or Twitter (@DOPEUKY). Keep posting through the season as your gardens grow!
• If you fall out of contact or seeds aren’t on the way, let us know and we’ll pair you with someone new in April (or send some ourselves)

What seed should I send?

• Whatever you want! Preferably something ethically grown and open-pollinated (so they can be saved and grown out in later years), that fits your seed pal’s interests, growing space, and environmental conditions
• Your own seed: Extra seed from last season, or maybe seed that you’ve been saving and growing for multiple seasons
• From your landscape: Collect non-edible seeds from in the landscape during the fall process of cutback and deadheading. Check plants in the winter to see if their seeds have been dropped or if there are some for collecting and sharing. Remember to collect seeds only in populations that are sustainably saturated and never from protected wildscapes.
  • ​​​​​​​https://npn.rngr.net/publications/tribal-nursery-manual
• From a local seed bank: Check around for any seed libraries or local seed exchanges in your area. These sites may help:
  • http://seedlibraries.weebly.com/sister-libraries.html
• From a seed company: Here are some U.S.-based seed companies that we know and trust. If you have any others in mind, especially those outside the U.S., let us know!
  • Truelove Seeds (Philadelphia PA)
  • Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Mineral VA)
  • Seed Savers Exchange (Decorah IA)
  • Hudson Valley Seed Co (Hudson Valley)
  • 2 Seeds in a Pod (Morgantown WV)
  • Sow True Seed (Asheville NC)
  • Row 7 Seeds (New York / Hudson Valley)
  • Open Source Seed Initiative 
  • Native Seeds SEARCH (Tucson AZ) 
  • Johnny’s Selected Seeds (Maine)
  • Fedco Seeds (Clinton ME)
  • High Mowing Organic Seeds (Wolcott VT)
  • Lakeview Organic Grain (Penn Yan NY)
  • Indigenous Seed Initiative (based in BLANK)
  • Fruition Seeds (Naples NY)
  • North Circle Seeds (Minnesota)
  • Melanated Organic Seeds
  • Gods Garden Girl
  • Grow The Block
  • Seed Mail Seed
  • Carter Brothers
  • Eloheh Farm & Seeds (OR)
  • Desde Mi Huerto (PR)

Live cuttings (experiment): Some plants propagate best and are more successfully shared through live cutting. This practice recognizes how communities engage through plant sharing within indoor environments, but many outdoor species are also exchanged in this way. Pack these with special care in a box and ship quickly!

Remember to include a note

Along with your seeds, include a note about the variety, its history, and its significance, in addition to growing and harvesting. Some guiding questions:

• Where was this variety bred and who was it stewarded by?
• What has been done with it historically and currently? (medicinally, nutritionally, etc)
• What are the important stories that should stay with these seeds?
• Why did you choose it?
  • Is it personally significant?
  • Is it an ancestral food?
  • Did you just think it was cool?
• Under what conditions does it thrive?
  • Hardiness zone
  • When and how to start seeds, direct sew, transplant, etc.
  • How it should be grown and harvested
  • How to save its seeds

Remember to sign up by March 21st!

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